Celestion Sidewinder speaker -Anyone familliar ?

[chopstuck]

I'm looking at an old 75w Marshall SS amp with one of these in it. It's Celestion's take on a higher wattage speaker - a die cast basket and an edge wound aluminum voice coil, hence "sidewinder". I found very few reviews or mentions of this speaker.
The SS amp I'm looking at is pretty well broken but the 150 watt rated speaker looks good. It's not cheap. I will try running another amp through it to verify. Anyone have any experience with how these sound ? Looks promising.

[John_P_WI]

I have a pair that I built in a 2x12 back in the 80's to leave at the practice room so I did not have to carry my 4x12 around. Fairly flat and clean sounding, liked them better than the Celestion lead 80's in my 4x12 at the time. They did not have the ice pick high or beamyness that the 80's had.

Today they are on still on my amp bench for amp testing.

[chopstuck]

Were they much different in tone from other high wattage Celestions ?
Like the G12 85K or g12 100 .

I have a set of 4 of the 12G 85K - very nice but insensitive and darkish.
They need to be used in multiples because of their reduced efficiency.

Pic Here

http://www.amparchives.com/album/Marsha ... 025_3.html

[John_P_WI]

Sorry, I don't know the other higher wattage Celestions. I would not call the sidewinders dark by any means. They are clear and tight and do not color the tone IMHO, that is why I use them on my amp bench now.

[chopstuck]

Would you play out with them , or are they too clinical ?

Are they similar to anything else you have heard ?

Sorry but I'm grasping for comparisons.

[John_P_WI]

I Played out with them quite a bit in the 80's - bar gigs playing 70's R&R and in the 90's playing blues / Hendrix using a modified bassman head. Just a straight ahead speaker that reproduces the amp, they don't fart out etc.

They are punchy and dynamic, I would not call them sterile.

I am going to start several modified "Dumble" style builds in the near future chasing Bonamassa's tone, I actually think they may be a good match as I believe that the sidewinders were Celestions answer to EV.

John

[skeezbo]

I had two in a SF Twin back in the day. The highs were sweet, but the balance was very bright; I had to crank the lows. Maybe they weren't properly broken in. That amp was just too loud, anyway.
I currently have one in my tweedish clone (mostly 5F4) and like it very much. It does seem like Celestion's attempt at an EV style speaker, very clean and efficient, but it still has some of that English Mojo when cranked. It might be great in a Dumble; I'd sure try it!
Skeezbo

[Reeltarded]

4x12s sound good. I wouldn't like them in an open back.

They hold up like SROs but still sound like Celestions. They aren't quite as heavy in a quad either.

I agree with what John says. They aren't sterile, just strong.

[pdf64]

multiples because of their reduced efficiency

? Something wrong somewhere, they're super efficient, about 103dB/watt from memory. That was the benefit of side wound coils, more copper could be squeezed in.
I used one in the 80s but traded in with a couple of others for an SRO.
I tried it again a couple of years ago and was impressed.
Not as bright as G12H30s or Blues or as middy as a G12-80.
Think of a Greenback with a little bit more 'honk'.
Pete.