The Celestion Alnico Blue worked so well that it was installed in Vox AC15 and AC30 amplifiers (a favourite of The Beatles) which powered the British Beat invasion of the early 1960s.
At the 2024 NAMM Show, Celestion, the premier manufacturer of guitar and bass loudspeakers and pro audio drivers for sound reinforcement applications, kicks off the celebration of their 100th anniversary with the introduction of an artisanal, 12-inch speaker, the Celestion100. Paying tribute to Les Ward — Celestion’s chief engineer until 1979 — the Celestion 100 channels the legacy and tone of the Celestion’s G12 speakers from the late 1950s and early 1960s including the Alnico Blue, the first speaker ever purpose-built for the electric guitar.
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The Alnico Blue worked so well that it was installed in Vox AC15 and AC30 amplifiers (a favourite of The Beatles) which powered the British Beat invasion of the early 1960s. Its close sibling, the silver-framed T652 was adopted by Marshall, the amplifier brand most universally associated with heavy metal and British rock, soon afterwards becoming the original Celestion driver for legendary Marshall amps such as the 1962, aka the “Bluesbreaker.”
The G12 has long been the gift that keeps on giving; Celestion’s current product family includes many variations with frequency responses and power handling capacities tailored to different musical applications and genres. The new Celestion 100 sits at the head of this table, inspired by the unique tones of those early alnico speakers, not just the T530 and T652, and some of the earlier models too, including the much rarer B024 and CT3757. To achieve this, Celestion has formulated an all-new cone, benchmarking it against perfectly preserved vintage cones as development progressed. Edge treatment is thin and light, carefully measured to enhance the cone’s resiliency during excursion, while bringing out the best of the cone’s performance.
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