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Celebrating a Legendary Guitar Speaker

The Celestion 100
Meticulously hand-crafted in the UK, the Celestion 100 celebrates the world’s first purpose-built guitar loudspeaker which, in various guises, has voiced some of the most legendary and memorable riffs and solos of all time.

Invented in 1936 as a radio speaker, the general purpose ‘G12’ was used in many applications. Several versions including the G44, CT3757 and B024—all built with alnico magnets and in colours such as silver, ‘poly grey’ and ‘hammertone oyster’—were manufactured during the late 1950s as the speaker began to be deployed in the guitar amplifiers of the time. But as amplified music got louder, more robust speakers were needed to keep up with the demand for increased power.

In 1959 Celestion Chief Engineer Les Ward created a specially toughened version of the G12 to withstand more heat and mechanical vibration. This speaker evolved into the T530 Alnico Blue: the world’s first speaker designed specifically for use with guitar amplifiers.

Installed in Vox AC15 and AC30 amplifiers, the speaker was instantly recognisable with its iconic azure blue livery. Soon after, the toughened G12 was also adopted by Marshall Amplification, given a more traditional silver paint job and, as T652, used in legendary Marshall cabinets including the 1962 ‘Bluesbreaker’ combo amp and the early ‘offset’ 4×12 cabinet built for use with the JTM45 amp.

Referencing our own collection of early alnico speakers, the Celestion 100 is born of a painstaking research and development process, analysing, understanding and then replicating the very essence and tone of these exquisite collector’s items.

Each detail has been carefully considered to ensure the sonic character of the 100 is completely in keeping with those late 1950s designs. An all-new cone has been formulated and then benchmarked against our vintage cones. A carefully measured amount of thin and light edge treatment is applied to protect and enhance the cone’s operation which is then matched with a vintage-look dust dome for absolute authenticity.

Exceptional tonality is further assured with the development of a new voice coil based on Les Ward’s original T530 design, which has been re-imagined using today’s more heat-resistant materials to offer an enhanced power rating of 30W. A bolt-on magnet assembly with period-correct label completes a speaker that looks as great as it sounds.

To find out more about the Celestion 100, read the specification here.

Celestion Celebrates their Centennial Anniversary with Release of the Celestion 100 Impulse Response Collection

Ipswich, UK (February 26, 2024) — Celestion, the premier designer and manufacturer of guitar and bass loudspeakers, well-known as the “Voice of Rock and Roll” behind many of music’s most memorable guitar performances, proudly introduces the Celestion 100 Impulse Response Collection. This downloadable library of impulse responses meticulously captures the tone of the Celestion 100 loudspeaker — recently introduced in 2024 commemoration of the company’s 100th anniversary — for any digital music production platform. Whether in a DAW for recording or a modelling amplifier for performance, these impulse responses (IRs) place one of the most iconic and historically significant Celestion sounds within arm’s reach of any musician, recordist, or producer. The Celestion 100 IRs are available for audition and download at celestionplus.com.

The Celestion 100 speaker traces its roots to the original G12, a general-purpose 12-inch radio speaker that was later fortified to meet the rapidly evolving demands of electric guitar amplification in the 1950s and ’60s. This iteration became the T530 or “Alnico Blue,” which worked so well that it was installed in the Vox combo amps (a favorite of The Beatles) that powered the “British Invasion” of the early 1960s. Today’s hardware Celestion 100 delivers the tone of those early alnico speakers and its many descendants and variants, but with more durable materials, state-of-the-art manufacturing processes, and precise tolerances — akin to a collectible automobile that has been not merely restored but tastefully modernized.

The Celestion 100 Impulse Responses digitize these sonic characteristics via a meticulous recording process, beginning with studio-quality, go-to guitar cabinet microphones such as the Royer R-121 ribbon, Shure SM57, and Sennheiser MD421. Each IR thus offers a variety of mic type and placement options and can be loaded into any IR host within a DAW or into stand-alone amp modeling hardware. The result is an authentic speaker emulation that sounds every bit as outstanding as its hardware counterpart.

With the Celestion 100 IRs, musicians can expect a blooming low end and bell-like treble coupled with a sweet, shimmering midrange. When overdriven, the IRs compress gradually and musically, softening the notes’ attack in the exact same fashion as classic Celestion alnico loudspeakers.

The complete Celestion 100 IR Collection includes five cabinet configurations:

  • 1 x 12 open-back
  • 1 x 12 closed-back
  • 2 x 12 open-back,
  • 2 x 12 closed-back
  • 4 x 12 closed-back

These reflect the most widely used setups for studio recording and onstage use across single, dual, and four-speaker cabinet sizes. Each of these can also be purchased and downloaded as a single impulse response, though the full collection represents a significant cost savings compared to buying IRs individually.

Paired with a DAW and IR loader plug-in, modeling amp hardware, or amp-top load box, the Celestion 100 Impulse Response Collection provides authentic tone alongside lively and dynamic response, all without introducing latency. These benefits create a playing experience that is as credibly vintage as any speaker can achieve, but with real-world performance that is predictable and reliable in today’s most demanding recording and performance applications.

The Celestion 100 Impulse Responses join an extensive family of acclaimed Celestion IRs, including the Shades of Greenback Collection, G12-50GL Lynchback, Neo Creamback, Copperback, Hempback, Vintage 30, and many more.

The Celestion 100 Impulse Responses are available for downloadable as individual IRs and as a complete collection at  celestionplus.com..

About Celestion Digital

The introduction of authentic Celestion Impulse Responses represented the company’s forward step in making their celebrated speaker tones available as digital downloads. Celestion IRs capture the essential behavior of a speaker in a particular cabinet in the specific space in which it was recorded, including the frequency and phase response of single drivers as well as the interaction of multiple speakers. They offer significant benefits in both recording and live production, enabling the desired tone to be precisely and consistently reproduced regardless of the recording or live sound environment. Explore, audition, and download the extensive collection of Celestion guitar and bass Impulse Responses at celestionplus.com. Celestion’s own SpeakerMix Pro sees the company delivering a truly forward-thinking studio software solution that enables users to get every ounce of tone from Impulse Response technology. The companion Dynamic Speaker Responses (DSRs) for the plug-in exemplify the next generation in speaker response emulation, representing a true advancement in the technology of digital speaker tone.  Celestion Plus.

About Celestion

With worldwide headquarters in Ipswich, England, Celestion design, develop and manufacture high-quality professional audio loudspeakers and compression drivers for sound reinforcement, premium guitar and bass guitar loudspeakers. These world-renowned speakers are used onstage and in clubs, theatres and other venues the world over. 2024 marks Celestion’s 100th year, please join us in the celebration. celestion.com

Technology leads the way

The Creation of KH Manufacturing

In 1992 Celestion International, along with another British loudspeaker company, KEF, united under the banner of Kinergetics Holdings, Ltd. whose major shareholder was Hong Kong’s Gold Peak. Ultimately the company evolved into GP Acoustics, with the companies both wholly owned by Gold Peak.

June 1996 saw an announcement Celestion would be split into two parts: the Professional Division (musical instrument speakers, transducers for professional audio and finished sound reinforcement systems) and the Consumer Division (HiFi and home theatre), with KEF’s managing director at that time appointed managing director of the latter. And soon after the decision was taken to consolidate HiFi into a single brand for the new millennium. With KEF appearing to be the dominant brand, it became increasingly clear that the writing was on the wall for Celestion HiFi.

Exhibiting finished sound reinforcement systems at the NAMM show in the late 1990s.
Exhibiting finished sound reinforcement systems at the NAMM show in the late 1990s.

Focusing on Technology

In the engine room that was Celestion’s Foxhall Road R&D department, developments were surging forward as the adoption of new software tools brought additional impetus. In 1992 the company’s first mechanical Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was set-up, a computerised method for predicting how a product might react to real-world forces such as vibration, which opened up immense possibilities for future acceleration and streamlining of the development process.

A continued investment in R&D throughout the ‘90s and into the new millennium saw further innovations in compression drivers as well as pioneering work with neodymium magnet technologies, ultimately becoming a catalyst for Celestion’s growth in the pro audio market.

The SR Series was followed by new sound reinforcement systems including the KR, CR, Road and CX, but eventually, the company began to tilt more towards transducers and away from finished cabinet systems. Initially with a focus on guitar speakers for both OEM customer and retailers, moving high-volume manufacturing to Asia while preserving a “Designed in the UK” focus, building marquee products in England. More emphasis was also being placed on sound reinforcement transducers with development of low frequency woofers and high frequency compression drivers again for both OEM customers and also for the retail market.

Paul Cork measures a G12 using laser interferometry.
Paul Cork measures a G12 using laser interferometry.

A Fresh Start

The shift in strategy coincided with a move to a brand-new purpose-designed factory on the outskirts of Ipswich. Replacing the tired old industry environment of Foxhall Road, with a newer, smaller premises built to better facilitate Research and Development.

As the MI side of the business went from strength to strength, the 2000s saw the launch of Celestion’s Partners in Tone guitar speaker endorsement campaign; today the program boasts a line-up of more than 200 artists and producers, including legends Eric Clapton, Brian May, Robben Ford, Tony Iommi, and Steve Vai.

Celestion continued to expand its portfolio of American clients for both guitar and PA products, throughout the 2000s. It was a boom time for guitar gear; during this time Celestion debuted the Heritage Series, which paid homage to the 1960s sound. This was quickly followed by the Gold, a high-powered alnico speaker, the G12 EVH signature speaker for Edward van Halen, and later followed up with the Creamback range of higher-powered range of vintage sounding guitar speakers.

The Celestion Gold, 50W alnico guitar speaker.
The Celestion Gold, 50W alnico guitar speaker.

A Focused Strategy

By 2006, under the leadership of Nigel Wood, the company finally exited its PA systems and consumer hi-fi businesses, turning its focus toward the design and manufacture of a broader and more comprehensive range of sound reinforcement transducers alongside the established and successful guitar and bass speakers.

A streamlined focus on transducers brought major advances in compression driver technology including the introduction of the patented deep drawn diaphragm and maximum modal suppression phase plug for ultra-low distortion HF performance.

In 2016 Celestion debuted the Axi2050 “axiperiodic” compression driver, a revolutionary high-power, high-output transducer capable of reproducing an ultra-wide frequency range of 300 Hz to 20 kHz without the need for a mid-band crossover.

Throughout the 2000s, the company collaborated with a growing roster of leading sound reinforcement companies, developing innovative, often bespoke, pro audio transducers for a broad range of applications. Today, more than two thirds of the company’s business is in this market segment: manufacturing low frequency, high frequency and full range PA products.  Celestion is perhaps the largest branded manufacturer of compression drivers and one of the leading designers of coaxial speakers, making good on the company’s intention to become a force to be reckoned with in the pro audio world.

The Axi2050 wideband compression driver.
The Axi2050 wideband compression driver.

Celestion Digital

Reacting to the needs of the MI marketplace, the 2010s saw Celestion diving deep into digital technologies. Digital modelers evolved from simple combo amps with built-in EQ and effects into sophisticated, standalone computing devices featuring sophisticated DSP, largely enabled by the impulse response (IR), a digitized “snapshot” of an acoustic space or a piece of equipment’s acoustic behavior.

That same year, Celestion launched CelestionPlus.com, offering Celestion guitar speaker and bass speaker tones as downloadable impulse responses, and in 2020 introduced SpeakerMix Pro plug-in, which represented a major leap forward in guitar speaker tone emulation when used together with a new generation of impulse responses developed in-house: Dynamic Speaker Responses.

The company’s newest UK-built guitar speaker, being produced in time for the company’s 100th anniversary celebrations in 2024, is a tribute to the silver alnico speakers of the late 50s and early 60s. Named the 100, it was voiced to be as close as possible to the speakers that were the inspiration for the original G12 guitar speaker—but boasts a beefier power rating of 30 watts.

Celestion IRs were quickly adopted for use with digital modelling hardware.
Celestion IRs were quickly adopted for use with digital modelling hardware.

A Bright Future

As Celestion continues to produce iconic speakers like the Alnico Blue, Greenback and Vintage 30 that have defined its heritage, it further expands into the PA market, focusing on new driver innovations. Most recently this has included the Ten2 (Ten Squared or TSQ) prestige range of  precision low-frequency speakers both designed and manufactured in the UK. The first range to be built using the newly commissioned, robotically assisted production line.

Much has changed within Celestion over the past 100 years. Ownership and leadership have transitioned, and markets have shifted. Yet, at its core, the company’s essence remains the same as it was when Eric Mackintosh and Cyril French pioneered one of the world’s initial cone loudspeakers. Through its unwavering pursuit of sonic perfection and relentless drive for innovation, Celestion has left an indelible imprint on the landscape of sound technology and solidified a legacy that resonates across generations of musicians and industry professionals alike.

The Celestion team outside the Claydon factory.
The Celestion team outside the Claydon factory.

Power to the People

Two Decades of Turbulence

During the early days following the transfer between old and new factories, product supply and distribution raised challenges. It was often necessary to dispatch a vehicle early in the morning from Ipswich to make the 90-mile run through London to Thames Ditton, carrying the previous day’s production run of drive units for HiFi speakers, ready to be loaded into cabinets. But as the weeks passed, the interior of the Ipswich works began to house ever more sophisticated production machinery and measurement systems, and more staff were engaged, first to be trained, and then to operate the lines.

The incorporation of the company as Celestion Industries and its resultant appearance on the London stock market necessitated regular reporting of financial information, and in the early 1970s company results were impressive. After beating its forecast by 54% in its first fiscal year, in 1970–1971 Celestion lifted pre-tax profits by a further 71%—and this even though Foxhall Road was still running some 25% below full production capacity. Pre-tax profits were higher than anticipated, with the impetus said to be still coming from the industrial public address business, despite the runaway success of guitar speakers and Ditton HiFi.

The Foxhall Road site.
The Foxhall Road site.

Staffing levels at Celestion reached a peak in January 1974, with a total of 907 employees across the three sites, including a new production facility at Hadleigh Road Trading Estate.

If HiFi and guitar chassis speakers represented the more glamorous side of the business, sales in the industrial and commercial public address sector remained highly significant, with customers including the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Armed Forces, coal mines, railways and the police.

But the boom wasn’t to last when, in the early ‘80s, an energy crisis akin to the mid-70s again drove up oil prices and inflation grew by 20%. In response, the company took a long, hard look at its approach to HiFi and set out to develop a truly HiFi product that the mass market could afford.

The Golden Decades of Hi-Fi

Enter the game changing SL6, retailing at just £250 a pair, to rave reviews from the HiFi press. It would prove to be a bellwether in the HiFi world, and one which owed its success to the company’s forward-thinking investment in laser interferometry.

With its innovative metal dome tweeter, the SL6 heralded a multi award-winning series of Celestion speakers that would continue to dominate the HiFi landscape throughout the 1980s, and see the development of other innovative technologies including Acoustic Ribbon Technology.

The ground-breaking SL6.
The ground-breaking SL6.

G12 and the Quest for More Power

As the 1970s progressed, it was the G12M and G12H models that remained at the forefront of guitar speaker tone. Thanks to their adoption by the majority of British amplifier firms, these speakers were cemented firmly in place as the voice of rock ’n’ roll for all those seeking the ‘British tone’, helping Celestion to remain the foremost name in guitar speakers. As a result, dozens more soon-to-be-legendary players joined the pantheon of Celestion players during the 70s, a small sample of whom included Brian May of Queen, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC and Edward Van Halen.

As the decade wore on, amps became more powerful and overdrive more savage, and there was an increasing need for speakers of greater power capacity. A speaker’s power handling is determined to a large extent by the heat-resistant properties of its component parts—in particular, the former around which the voice coil is wound.

The G12/50, first supplied in 1974 with its distinctive yellow chassis and black rear can, was probably the first guitar speaker to feature a fibreglass voice coil former, determining its 50W power rating. It was also the first G12 speaker documented as featuring a black (rather than a green) can. This was followed by the G12/75, which later led the way to a full range of new-style G Series speakers that superseded the former G12M, G12H, et al.

A stack of G12 cones prepared for assembly.
A stack of G12 cones prepared for assembly.

The Vintage 30

Creating the signature sound of 60s guitar was one thing—emulating it nearly a quarter of a century later, when times (materials, suppliers and manufacturing processes) had moved on, was quite another. But when Marshall came calling once more, Celestion was required to respond with a new speaker that had a sound that was comfortingly close to the old sound.

The laser system was used to analyse the behaviour of the original Blue cone and, more than anything else, this was the key resource that led to the development of the Vintage 30. ‘It was especially good at looking at cones,’ remembered Celestion Development Engineer Ian White. ‘We used that data to form a precise model of the vintage speaker’s characteristics.’ A crucial step in re-formulating the cone.

‘The speaker really took off and I felt very proud.’

The Vintage 30 guitar speaker & Vintage 30 advertising.
The Vintage 30 guitar speaker & Vintage 30 advertising.

Sound Reinforcement Systems

With the disco era in full swing, Celestion entered the world of complete sound reinforcement systems in 1987 with the development a large system for a local Roller Disco. The company had already flirted with the idea of sound reinforcement speakers, having offered several column speaker models during the 1960s, and by 1980 it had marketed the 500W P1 system as a compact and roadworthy touring system.

However, it was the successful, large-scale system built for Rollerbury that had proven to be the real catalyst, and by the mid-80s the concept of Celestion Systems had begun to be taken more seriously.

The resultant design was for a cabinet that contained 2in x 8in drivers, which incorporated a decoupled coil and rigid hemispheric concentric centre dome for extended HF response. The cabinet would come complete with a controller/limiter that dynamically adjusted the low-frequency response to optimise bass levels and protect the drive units from both excessive LF input and thermal overload. This was the SR1, the first product in the long-running and revolutionary SR Series.

And as the 1990s dawned, the modern identity of the company was becoming clear: forged in Britain and nurtured and grown overseas, no more so than in the United States, where the company had finally begun to take root. Celestion was now seen as an innovative and international brand, both consumer and business-to-business focused; recognised for music production and reproduction. This was the era that brought the modern Celestion into being.

The Celestion SR1
The Celestion SR1

CONTINUE READING
1992 – 2024
Technology leads the way

Transformation and Evolution

THE Celestion Brand Continues to Grow

In the November 1953 edition of Wireless World, it was announced that the sale, distribution and service of Rola and Celestion loudspeakers, along with Truvox public address loudspeakers, would ‘henceforth be undertaken by Rola Celestion, Ltd.’ and not, as previously, by Truvox.

Although trading as Rola Celestion, the company continued to manufacture products branded as Rola, Celestion and Truvox. However, by the late 1950s, it was Celestion that prevailed as the dominant brand name.

Truvox immediately brought a greater range of public address loudspeakers into the combined range, and as the dust of the takeover settled, Rola Celestion began manufacturing this new wave of public address components: pressure drive units, re-entrant and exponential horns, alongside the mains-powered and permanent-magnet speakers and transformers for which the brands had been noted throughout the 1930s and 40s.

Around this time, Jelinek the hairbrush manufacturer moved out of Ferry Works, and Rola Celestion wasted no time in occupying the whole building, which gave the company the space required to manufacture the additional products in its newly expanded portfolio. The arrival of the stereophonic long-playing record by the end of the ‘50s would have a significant impact, as enthusiasts of high-fidelity sound were keen to build and improve their own equipment. To take advantage of this, Celestion produced the G44/1300, which enabled an existing radio gramophone to be modified to incorporate two 12in G44 speakers (a variant of Rola’s popular and versatile G12 format moving coil speaker) and HF1300 high frequency units, which would soon take on a starring role when the company began building its own complete HiFi speakers.

Truvox/Rola Celestion trade fair stand, early 1950s.
Truvox/Rola Celestion trade fair stand, early 1950s.

Vox, Marshall and the Evolution of the G12

Invented in 1936 as a radio speaker, the general purpose ‘G12’ was used in many applications. Several versions including the G44, CT3757 and B024—all built with alnico magnets and in colours such as silver, ‘poly grey’ and ‘hammertone oyster’—were manufactured during the late 1950s as the speaker began to be deployed in the guitar amplifiers of the time. But as amplified music got louder, more robust speakers were needed to keep up with the demand for increased power.

In 1959 Celestion Chief Engineer Les Ward created a specially toughened version of the G12 to withstand more heat and mechanical vibration. This speaker evolved into the T530 Alnico Blue: the world’s first speaker designed specifically for use with guitar amplifiers.

Installed in Vox AC15 and AC30 amplifiers, the speaker was instantly recognisable with its iconic azure blue livery. Soon after, the toughened G12 was also adopted by Marshall Amplification, given a more traditional silver paint job and, as T652, used in legendary Marshall cabinets including the 1962 ‘Bluesbreaker’ combo amp.

And so, this landmark loudspeaker and its many subsequent evolutions have gone on to voice many of the most memorable guitar riffs and solos of all time, and Celestion guitar speakers continue to be the first choice of leading players and amp manufacturers around the world.

A B024, 8Ω alnico speaker loaded in a pre-1960 Vox AC15.
A B024, 8Ω alnico speaker loaded in a pre-1960 Vox AC15.

Pioneering Modern PA

Later in the ‘60s, Celestion played an important role in the development of modern PA technology, supplying cone drivers and HF horn-loaded pressure units to pioneering British PA brand WEM, responsible for a tectonic shift in festival sound reproduction with its ‘Wall of Sound’ PA providing 1000W power capacity for promoters Harold and Barbara Pendleton at the 1967 Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival. Barbara later recalled that this sound system ‘hit the headlines in the local paper and frightened all the residents’.

The system was later upgraded further to 2500W for The Who at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, using up to 16 WEM slave columns at each side of the stage. It was announced at the time as the loudest sound system in the world, and the set carried warning signs for people to keep at least 15ft away!

Just a year later, it was the Isle of Wight Festival sound system that was the first to feature WEM’s unique parabolic dishes for outdoor venues, using 10in Celestion speakers firing towards the dish, which in turn reflected back the mid-frequency (MF) and HF signals, sending them over a remarkably long distance.

A single WEM PA stack.
A single WEM PA stack.

HiFi Comes of Age

Even with its rich pedigree in loudspeaker development for pre-war ‘home entertainment systems’—the gramophones and radiograms on which the company had made its name— Celestion was aware that it had yet to introduce a product that could truly keep pace with the modern, 1960s idea of HiFi. With eyes firmly on that prize, the loudspeaker designers at Thames Ditton worked on creating the first of many notable Celestion HiFi loudspeaker designs.

The initial result was the Ditton 10, launched in 1964 and named for its birthplace and the modest power input it was capable of accepting (it was rated at 10W RMS). If not quite revolutionary, this speaker was certainly instrumental in defining what HiFi could be: no longer just a hobby for affluent devotees, but simply great-sounding music reproduction, now affordable for the masses.

As the range expanded in the coming years, Celestion had carved itself a significant slice of the HiFi market. With this rapid success came more growing pains, and by the close of the decade Celestion had finally, unquestionably, outgrown its factory in Thames Ditton and it was time to leave. Now established as a marque in its own right, however, the name Ditton was set to live on.

And so, a new manufacturing site was found some 100 miles north east of London at Foxhall Road in Ipswich and in 1969, a newly created entity was known as Celestion Industries, plc., was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The Ditton 10 bookshelf speaker.
The Ditton 10 bookshelf speaker.

CONTINUE READING
1971 – 1991
Power to the People

EARLY BEGINNINGS, WAR AND ROLA

Born in the Age of Radio

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began radio broadcasting on 14 November 1922, on a wavelength of 369 metres with the call sign 2LO. Soon, a growing number of listeners were tuning in on vacuum tube radio receivers with a separate loudspeaker cabinet , often highly decorative and taking pride of place in the lounge or front room: a piece of furniture as much to be displayed as listened to.

Around the same time, former gramophone maker Cyril French, alongside his three brothers, set up a small manufacturing business in the picturesque village of Hampton Wick to the south-west of London. As the boom in radio quickly gathered pace, 1924 saw French working feverishly on improving a design conceived by Eric Vincent Mackintosh for one of the earliest cone loudspeakers.

So it was that 1924 became the year that gave birth to Celestion — initially as the name of a product produced by the French family firm.

Drawing from Eric Mackintosh’s original patent application.

The Very Soul of Music

At the end of 1928, flying under the enduring slogan ‘The Very Soul of Music’, the Celestion Radio Co. was folded into the newly incorporated Celestion Ltd. The original Celestion radiophone had already been followed by a range of extension speakers, with the A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 quickly coming into production. Boasting ‘British Manufacture Throughout’ and guaranteed for 12 months, the advertising literature of the time highlighted many technical aspects of the speakers that contributed to making them ‘The World’s Super Radiophone’.

An excellent example of the mahogany C14.

Along Comes Rola

Through much of the 1930s, British Rola, an offshoot of the Rola Company of Cleveland, Ohio, had been operating almost in lockstep with Celestion. With Celestion now based at its plant in Kingston-upon-Thames, British Rola had been making similar products in north west London.

By 1933 half the households in Britain owned a radio, and Rola and Celestion competed for the home and export markets, their products influenced by the same changes in the wireless receiver market. As the receiver became more sophisticated and smaller, the loudspeaker began to be more often housed within the receiver cabinet itself, rendering the separate speaker unit unnecessary. Products were often developed to a client manufacturer’s specification—and this was the fertile market being chased by both companies.

The Rola G12

Rola Celestion

On 31 July 1946, in a bold move for rapid growth just as post-war austerity was beginning to bite, speaker manufacturer British Rola acquired Celestion, eliminating a significant competitor and increasing exports in one fell swoop. In the summer of 1948, Celestion vacated the Kingston-upon-Thames factory, and production machinery and personnel moved to Thames Ditton. The two company names became braided together as Rola Celestion Ltd, and Celestion was adopted and registered as the trademark for the company’s product.

However, the new company hit problems before it really had a chance to get started when the creditors came calling. The aftermath of the post-war fuel crisis and the slow fit-out of Ferry Works, as well as lower-than-expected loudspeaker sales, meant that there was not enough cash in the coffers and the receivers were called in.

Based in the Wembley area of North London, Truvox, was well known for its public address speakers and systems that included horns and loudspeakers for cinemas as well as acoustic devices such as re-entrant horns that the company had developed for wartime use.

In November 1949 Rola Celestion’s survival was finally guaranteed when the deal was completed and the company was bought out of receivership. Truvox’s public address loudspeaker systems would soon be folded into the diverse and growing product range of Rola and Celestion, and for the next two decades it was under the Truvox umbrella that Celestion would flourish.

The Rola Celestion factory in Thames Ditton.
The Rola Celestion factory in Thames Ditton.

CONTINUE READING
1950 – 1970
Transformation and Evolution

Celestion Debuts the Shades of Greenback Digital Impulse Response Collection

Ipswich, UK (October 4, 2023) —Celestion, the world’s premier designer and manufacturer of guitar loudspeakers, well-known as the “Voice of Rock & Roll” behind many of the world’s most memorable guitar performances, is pleased to introduce the digitally downloadable Celestion Greenback Impulse Response Collection, bringing together a collection of seven of the most popular Celestion 12-inch Greenback-style speaker tones favoured by rock legends, available for download at CelestionPlus.

This collection brings together the G12M and G12H as well the speakers that have since been inspired by these tonal icons. Fans of classic rock and all things Greenback will be in sonic heaven. Featuring the G12M, G12H Anniversary, Heritage Series G12M, Heritage Series G12H (55), G12-35XC, G12-50GL Lynchback and G12 EVH in all cabinet configurations: 1×12 (both open and closed back), 2×12 (both open and closed back) and 4×12 (closed back).

The Shades of Greenback Collection features the speakers which helped to create the tones of legends, including:

The G12M Greenback – The Legend

The G12M Greenback is the modern incarnation of the speaker that helped define rock tone; played by legends like Clapton, Page and Beck. Expect a broad mid-range attack and a restrained top-end with added grit and aggression.

The G12H Anniversary – The Heavy Rocker

Recreate the classic sounds of the 1960’s and 1970’s hard rock era with the G12 Anniversary. With no quarter given, the anniversary delivers serious swagger with its aggressive low-end, articulate treble and searing midrange.

The Heritage Series G12M – Timeless Tone

As materials and manufacturing techniques changed over time, so tones did too. The Heritage Series was the result of Celestion’s quest to build our iconic speakers as close to their 1960s specification as possible. The Heritage G12M delivers a little more openness and room to breathe than the Modern G12M.

Heritage Series G12H (55) – The Bass Cone

This G12H Heritage Series speaker features a 55Hz (low resonance) cone. Originally intended for bass guitar, it was quickly adopted by guitar players too, who loved its more pronounced low-end thump. Legend has it that Hendrix played this Greenback in his live rig.

The G12-35XC – The Sonic Legacy

A key part of the Greenback legend is the Pulsonic® cone. Sadly, they are no more, but for our 90th birthday we tried to replicate the sound of an early 70s Pulsonic Greenback, just to see if we could. The result is the G12-35XC speaker.

The G12-50GL Lynchback – Mr. Nasty

A few years ago, George Lynch came to us and requested we build him his perfect speaker. The G12-50GL is it. Beautiful, saturated vintage rhythm tones together with a modern lead sound that befits a legendary Shredmaster.

The G12 EVH – The Ultimate Brown Sound

Last but certainly not least is the EVH signature speaker. Eddie Van Halen tried several Greenback variations and he chose this one. As Ed himself put it, “Since day one, the 20-watt Greenback has been a big part of my sound.”

Each of these in the Shades of Greenback IR collection include five cabinet configurations: 1×12 (both open and closed back), 2×12 (both open and closed back) and 4×12 (closed back).

The new Shades of Greenback Impulse Responses are available individually or as a complete set, representing a significant savings over purchasing the individual IRs. And if you already own any of the speaker responses included in the collection, you’ll also receive an additional discount to complete your Greenback collection!

The new Shades of Greenback Collection joins the massive collection of Celestion Impulse Responses available for demo and download at CelestionPlus.

About Celestion Digital
The introduction of authentic Celestion Impulse Responses represented the company’s forward step in making their celebrated speaker tones available as digital downloads. Celestion IRs capture the essential behavior of a speaker in a particular cabinet in the specific space in which it was recorded, including the frequency and phase response of single drivers as well as the interaction of multiple speakers. They offer significant benefits in both recording and live production, enabling the desired tone to be precisely and consistently reproduced regardless of the recording or live sound environment. Explore, audition and download the extensive collection of Celestion guitar and bass Impulse Responses at celestionplus.com. The introduction of Celestion SpeakerMix Pro sees the company delivering a truly forward-thinking studio software solution that enables users to get every ounce of tone from Impulse Response technology. The companion Dynamic Speaker Responses launched alongside the plug-in exemplify the next generation in speaker response emulation, representing a true advancement in the technology of digital speaker tone.
Celestion Plus.

About Celestion and Celestion Guitar Speakers
An important element to essential British guitar tone since the birth of Rock & Roll, Celestion Guitar Speakers are famous for their lively and vocal midrange character with plenty of sparkle and chime. With worldwide headquarters in Ipswich, England, Celestion design, develop and manufacture premium guitar and bass loudspeakers, and high-quality professional audio drivers for sound reinforcement. These world-renowned speakers are used onstage and in clubs, theatres and other venues the world over. Contact Celestion at: info@celestion.com and visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/celestion.
www.celestion.com

Celestion Adds the Lynchback to its Collection of Digital Dynamic Speaker Responses (DSRs)

Ipswich, UK (June 06, 2023) —Celestion, the celebrated manufacturer of guitar and bass loudspeakers and professional audio drivers for sound reinforcement applications, is proud to announce the addition of the G12-50GL Lynchback collection to its offerings of  Dynamic Speaker Response (DSRs,) the next-generation digital speaker responses that capture the sound and feel of the speaker’s dynamic, non-linear responses to deliver the  greatest tonal detail. The new Lynchbacks join the extensive collection of Celestion DSRs designed especially for use with SpeakerMix Pro, the self-contained studio-grade DAW plug-in offering ground-breaking levels of detail and stunning guitar and bass speaker tones. The complete Celestion digital collections of IRs and DSRs, as well as the SpeakerMix Pro plug-in, are available for download at CelestionPlus.com.

Created to meet the exacting standards of iconic metal guitarist George Lynch, the G12-50GL Lynchback speaker delivers the legendary and much-celebrated vintage tone of a G12M Greenback with the additional capability of producing a harder, more aggressive sound on demand. Not just for high-octane shred-metal, the Celestion Lynchback delivers responsiveness, clarity, and superb dynamics.

The new Celestion Lynchback Dynamic Speaker Response collection, available exclusively for use with the company’s ground-breaking SpeakerMix Pro plugin, enables users to achieve stunningly realistic guitar tones in their DAWs with ease. Dynamic Speaker Responses (DSRs) running in SpeakerMix Pro react to the dynamics of the signal hitting the speaker to create the most authentic micro-dynamic sound of the real speakers for the next generation in digital tone, with all the life and three-dimensional feel of the real thing.

The Lynchback DSRs have been recorded by the company’s expert sound engineers using the same meticulous techniques as all of Celestion’s best-selling IRs & DSRs. Captured with three pro-quality studio microphones – the classic Shure SM57, a Royer R-121 ribbon mic and a Sennheiser MD421. Each of these mics were recorded in six different positions – named within the speaker response files as Balanced, Bright, fat, Thin, Dark and Dark 2 – as well as a rear mic position for the open back cabs. The addition of a Neumann TLM107 room mic provides the user with a huge number of different mic mixes and a range of unique tonal options.

The files for the Celestion Lynchback DSRs series are available individually or as a complete set. Explore the full range of sounds for this classic speaker, at a considerable saving over buying the individual files. The Lynchback DSR set includes five cabinet configurations: 1×12 (both open and closed back), 2×12 (both open and closed back) and 4×12 (closed back).

As a host program for the new Lynchback and the entire line of Celestion DSRs, SpeakerMix Pro presents the genuine next-generation virtual speaker solution. More than just a top-level IR loader and convolution engine for hosting impulse responses– it offers pristine sound, mixes up to six channels of different responses into a stereo or mono track and even fixes IR sample rate/project mismatches.

With SpeakerMix Pro, users can:

  • Discover Celestion’s proprietary Dynamic Speaker Responses (DSRs), the next generation in Impulse Response technology that captures the sound and feel of the speaker’s dynamic, non-linear response for even more detail and realism.
  • Integrate their personal library of Celestion and third-party Impulse Responses to make the most of the tones they already own. SpeakerMix Pro uses its unique DSR algorithm to make existing IRs more dynamic sounding, enhancing their tone with even greater feel.
  • Incorporate Celestion’s superb room responses (or add your own) into your mix for an authentic ‘live’ sound. Add room delay for further ‘depth’ and ‘size.’
  • Deploy the unique Z-curve function to closely model the dynamic electrical coupling between amp and speaker.
  • Fine-tune the mic position, enabling the user to adjust the position of the microphone across the speaker until they’ve found the tone that’s just-right (DSR-specific functionality).

The free 14-day demo of the SpeakerMix Pro plugin is available for download and automatically installs with 10 free DSR speaker cabinets curated to give users a broad tone experience across the Celestion range of guitar and bass speakers. Users can upgrade to the full version of SpeakerMix Pro at any time during or after the trial period. Simply purchase the full version of SpeakerMix Pro and select 10 free DSR cabs (choose the preferred DSRs from the available range on Celestionplus.com during upgrade).

About Celestion Digital
The introduction of authentic Celestion Impulse Responses represented the company’s forward step in making their celebrated speaker tones available as digital downloads. Celestion IRs capture the essential behavior of a speaker in a particular cabinet in the specific space in which it was recorded, including the frequency and phase response of single drivers as well as the interaction of multiple speakers. They offer significant benefits in both recording and live production, enabling the desired tone to be precisely and consistently reproduced regardless of the recording or live sound environment. Explore, audition, and download the extensive collection of Celestion guitar and bass Impulse Responses at celestionplus.com. The introduction of Celestion SpeakerMix Pro sees the company delivering a truly forward-thinking studio software solution that enables users to get every ounce of tone from Impulse Response technology. The companion Dynamic Speaker Responses launched alongside the plug-in exemplify the next generation in speaker response emulation, representing a true advancement in the technology of digital speaker tone.
Celestion Plus.

About Celestion and Celestion Guitar Speakers
An important element to essential British guitar tone since the birth of Rock & Roll, Celestion Guitar Speakers are famous for their lively and vocal midrange character with plenty of sparkle and chime. With worldwide headquarters in Ipswich, England, Celestion design, develop and manufacture premium guitar and bass loudspeakers, and high-quality professional audio drivers for sound reinforcement. These world-renowned speakers are used onstage and in clubs, theatres, and other venues the world over. Contact Celestion at: info@celestion.com and visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/celestion.
www.celestion.com

Celestion Introduces the Neo Creamback Digital Dynamic Speaker Responses (DSRs)

Ipswich, UK (May 15, 2023) —Celestion, the celebrated manufacturer of guitar and bass loudspeakers and professional audio drivers for sound reinforcement applications, is pleased  to announce that the Neo Creamback collection is available digitally as a  Dynamic Speaker Response (DSR,) the next-generation digital speaker responses that capture the sound and feel of the speaker’s dynamic, non-linear responses for even greater tonal detail. The new Neo Creambacks join the extensive collection of Celestion DSRs designed especially for use with SpeakerMix Pro, the self-contained studio-grade DAW plug-in offering ground-breaking levels of detail and stunning guitar and bass speaker tones. The complete Celestion digital collections of IRs and DSRs, as well as the SpeakerMix Pro plug-in, are available for download at CelestionPlus.com.

The Neo Creamback is every ounce a Classic Celestion, delivering all the magical tone from a traditional Creamback at around half the weight. When it comes to Speaker Responses of course, the speaker’s weight doesn’t matter in the slightest. This specially designed magnet assembly results in a speaker that easily delivers a Creamback-style tone and adds a little extra magic all its own.

Now available as a Dynamic Speaker Response (DSR) this highly accurate digital representation is voiced to be “in between” the celebrated G12M -65 and G12H-75 Creambacks. There is still the low-end punch, warm vocal midrange, and sweet refined highs the Creamback is famous for: push it hard and enjoy the ‘race-car growl’ that sets pulses racing! And the Neo Creamback adds to this the shimmering presence that a player would get from an Alnico guitar speaker as well as some additional note separation thanks to the powerful forces of the neo magnet.

Now the Celestion Neo Creamback has been faithfully captured in digital form as Dynamic Speaker Responses. Recorded by the company’s expert sound engineers using the same meticulous techniques as all of Celestion’s best-selling IRs & DSRs, the Neo Creamback DSR was captured with three pro-quality studio microphones – the classic Shure SM57, a Royer R-121 ribbon mic and a Sennheiser MD421. Each of these mics were recorded in six different positions – named within the speaker response files as Balanced, Bright, fat, Thin, Dark and Dark 2 – as well as a rear mic position for the open back cabs. The addition of a Neumann TLM107 room mic provides the user with a huge number of different mic mixes and a range of unique tonal options.

The files for the Celestion Neo Creamback DSRs series are available individually or as a complete set. Explore the full range of sounds for this classic speaker, at a considerable saving over buying the individual files. The Celestion Neo Creamback DSR set includes five cabinet configurations: 1×12 (both open and closed back), 2×12 (both open and closed back) and 4×12 (closed back).

As a host program for the new Neo Creamback and the entire line of Celestion DSRs, SpeakerMix Pro presents the genuine next-generation virtual speaker solution. More than just a top-level IR loader and convolution engine for hosting impulse responses– it offers pristine sound, mixes up to six channels of different responses into a stereo or mono track and even fixes IR sample rate/project mismatches.

With SpeakerMix Pro, users can:

  • Discover Celestion’s proprietary Dynamic Speaker Responses (DSRs), the next generation in Impulse Response technology that captures the sound and feel of the speaker’s dynamic, non-linear response for even more detail and realism.
  • Integrate their personal library of Celestion and third-party Impulse Responses to make the most of the tones they already own. SpeakerMix Pro uses its unique DSR algorithm to make existing IRs more dynamic sounding, enhancing their tone with even greater feel.
  • Incorporate Celestion’s superb room responses (or add your own) into your mix for an authentic ‘live’ sound. Add room delay for further ‘depth’ and ‘size.’
  • Deploy the unique Z-curve function to closely model the dynamic electrical coupling between amp and speaker.
  • Fine-tune the mic position, enabling the user to adjust the position of the microphone across the speaker until they’ve found the tone that’s just-right (DSR-specific functionality).

The free 14-day demo of the SpeakerMix Pro plugin is available for download and automatically installs with 10 free DSR speaker cabinets curated to give users a broad tone experience across the Celestion range of guitar and bass speakers. Users can upgrade to the full version of SpeakerMix Pro at any time during or after the trial period. Simply purchase the full version of SpeakerMix Pro and select 10 free DSR cabs (choose the preferred DSRs from the available range on Celestionplus.com during upgrade).

About Celestion Digital
The introduction of authentic Celestion Impulse Responses represented the company’s forward step in making their celebrated speaker tones available as digital downloads. Celestion IRs capture the essential behavior of a speaker in a particular cabinet in the specific space in which it was recorded, including the frequency and phase response of single drivers as well as the interaction of multiple speakers. They offer significant benefits in both recording and live production, enabling the desired tone to be precisely and consistently reproduced regardless of the recording or live sound environment. Explore, audition, and download the extensive collection of Celestion guitar and bass Impulse Responses at celestionplus.com. The introduction of Celestion SpeakerMix Pro sees the company delivering a truly forward-thinking studio software solution that enables users to get every ounce of tone from Impulse Response technology. The companion Dynamic Speaker Responses launched alongside the plug-in exemplify the next generation in speaker response emulation, representing a true advancement in the technology of digital speaker tone.
Celestion Plus.

About Celestion and Celestion Guitar Speakers
An important element to essential British guitar tone since the birth of Rock & Roll, Celestion Guitar Speakers are famous for their lively and vocal midrange character with plenty of sparkle and chime. With worldwide headquarters in Ipswich, England, Celestion design, develop and manufacture premium guitar and bass loudspeakers, and high-quality professional audio drivers for sound reinforcement. These world-renowned speakers are used onstage and in clubs, theatres and other venues the world over. Contact Celestion at: info@celestion.com and visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/celestion.
www.celestion.com

Guitarist/ Singer Songwriter Nick Perri Carefully Crafts Chart-Busting Concept Rock with Celestion

Philadelphia, PA (May 03, 2023) — Imagine dreaming the rock ’n’ roll dream since childhood, then living it by the time you were 17 years old. Not as a solo singer who won a TV competition, and not as a member of a prefab boy (or girl) band, but as a bona fide rock outfit. It happens to almost no one, but it happened to Nick Perri. His first band Silvertide played professionally whilst its members were still in school and then on the major festival circuit immediately thereafter, and he has worked as a guitar sideman for many of his musical heroes. Now an accomplished singer-songwriter, his latest studio work Terra Firma drops in June. All along his incredible journey, Celestion guitar loudspeakers including the G12T-75, Ruby, and Greenback have been his trusty companions, and he shared his story with Celestion in an exclusive interview.

“My first record deal was at 17,” says Perri as he introduces himself. “It was that band I started in high school called Silvertide. We started out like most bands playing coffee houses and open mics. We were kids and for lack of a better word, we were playing a more classic style of rock and roll, like ’60s and ’70s, so I suppose that gained us some attention. We started playing more nights a week, we got a manager, and then it was off to the races. We got to open for Aerosmith. There was a bidding war, we got signed by Clive Davis, and toured the world — Europe, Japan. I was using Celestion speakers the whole time.”

After Silvertide disbanded, Perri enjoyed a whirlwind career as a sideman, including with Jane’s addiction frontman Perry Farrell’s project Satellite Party. “They called me two days before they were on The Tonight Show,” he recalls. “I was 22 years old and had to learn 20 songs in two days!”

Perri’s preferred creative outlet, though, is writing and recording his own music. His studio album Sun Via debuted in the top ten on iTunes in 2020 “with very little help from anybody,” he says. Of the upcoming Terra Firma, he enthuses, “I’ve never worked on any one thing this long and this hard.”

Whatever he works on, Celestion speakers have been his trusted partner. He recalls his first experience with them: “When we signed our first record deal, I had a mentor who helped me put my money where I should. I bought a vintage Marshall — a 1971 Super Lead. They had a corresponding tall cab that was a 4 x 12. It had original Greenback speakers inside. It was an unbelievable sound.”

His equipment today is just as Celestion-driven. “I have a larger stage rig that I don’t record with,” explains Perri. “That’s a Marshall JTM45 and I also have a Park amplifier. They’re both running through a 1990s cab loaded with G12T-75 speakers. I’m a fan of those speakers because I can play really loud, and use a fuzz pedal on occasion, and the speakers don’t fall apart. Things don’t fall inward, know what I mean? They hold their fidelity and sound tight. Whereas a 20-watt speaker would fall apart if driven like this.’

In the recording studio and for smaller gigs, Perri describes his “number one amp in the world. It’s a Marshall 1974x, which is a combo amp. But the thing that makes all the difference is that I put a Celestion Alnico Ruby in it, which is my favorite guitar speaker in the universe right now. It’s a 35-watt speaker that’s the bigger brother of the Blue. The sound of this speaker was a total game-changer for me. So much so that I stopped using pedals mostly. The sound of my Flying V [guitar] through that amp is the best thing I’ve ever heard. I’m able to dime the amp and the Ruby has a softer, more pleasing high end than, say, most of the ceramic-magnet speakers I’ve heard. You’re going to hear it all over Terra Firma.”

Perri wraps up the interview with high praise that would be the envy of any marketing department. “I’ve always been a fan of Celestion speakers,” he beams. “I can’t remember one instance over the last 20 years I haven’t used them for anything I’ve done. Celestion is a huge part of my musical DNA.”

Read the full-length interview with Nick Perri in on Celestion’s website, and learn more about Celestion’s guitar loudspeakers here.

About Celestion and Celestion Guitar Speakers

An important element to essential British guitar tone since the birth of Rock & Roll, Celestion Guitar Speakers are famous for their lively and vocal midrange character with plenty of sparkle and chime. With worldwide headquarters in Ipswich, England, Celestion design, develop and manufacture premium guitar and bass loudspeakers, and high-quality professional audio drivers for sound reinforcement. These world-renowned speakers are used onstage and in clubs, theatres, and other venues the world over. Since 2017, Celestion Digital has offered the tones of the company’s legendary guitar and bass speakers as downloadable impulse responses that work with most modern guitar effects processors and amp-top load boxes. Contact Celestion at: info@celestion.com and visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/celestion.

www.celestion.com