“That speaker was originally designed for use with the Marshall Studio 15 combo (model 4001) and the goal was to try and re-create the ‘vibe’ of a 15-Watt Celestion Alnico speaker but with a higher power handling capability (60 to 70-Watts) and a much lower cost”, confirms Grindrod.
Furthermore, the gentleman in charge of Wharfedale’s speaker manufacturer is well-versed in the design of guitar speakers having spent a lot of time working for Celestion and Fane in the ‘60s and‘70s.Īdd the name Steve Grindrod into the “let’s build a custom speaker” VOX/Wharfedale equation, and it gets even more interesting as Grindrod was instrumental in the development of quite a few Celestion speakers, including one of today’s most popular modern-day 12” guitar speakers – originally named the Marshall/Celestion “Vintage” but now mass-marketed under the much more familiar but rather confusing and misleading name of “Vintage 30.” Why do I say “confusing and misleading?” Well, it’s confusing because it is not a 30-Watt speaker (but due to its name is often referred to as one – it’s actually 60 or 70 watt, depending on how conservative the rating chart you read is!) and it’s also misleading because to some folk, logic dictates that the “30” implies it was voiced to sound like a vintage 30-watt speaker which is not the case. Now, as a general rule of thumb, ‘custom-voiced’ means a speaker made by ‘no-name’ manufacturer to the exact specifications – not that there’s anything wrong with ‘no-name’ OEMs, there are some very good sounding ‘custom-voiced’ speakers out there but, that said, there are also some clunkers – mind you, the same could be said for ‘name’ brands too! In the case of the GSH12-30 though, the speaker manufacturer is hardly a ‘no-name’ – it’s Wharfedale, the well-respected hi-fi brand and England’s oldest speaker maker. Immaculate condition.ĪC30CC2: a 2x12” combo that houses a pair of VOX custom-voiced GSH12-30 speakers.
The stock speaker from my Vox AC15CC1, lightly used and then replaced.