Celestion Vintage 30's... had them in a pair of closed back birch cabinets.. broke them in.. used for a few weeks.. so.. I did give them a thorough workout... This is a GREAT speaker for scooped out metal... where you are looking for sizzling highs and huge bottom.. not much character to get any sort of meaty leadwork (at least not in any 6L6 based rig) Never tried these with EL34's... which was probably a mistake on my part... It may have imparted a bit more "organic" flavor. Using it with a Carvin T100 (6L6), Voodoo Lab Preamp, GT8 preamp or Digitech GSP2101 preamp... had the same characteristics with each. I know these are the stock speakers in the Vai Legacy cabinets from Carvin.. and he DOES get a very balanced tone...(after he runs his signal through about 15k worth of processors... hmmm. This music is expensive biz!) So, I would suggest trying both types of tube power amp sources if you go with these speakers. They may be a bit "screechy" with the 6L6 setup. Perhaps it is because these are TOO tight..(which is great for modern metal rhythm work..not so great if you want a round, detailed tone for single lead notes)
Value..I think these speakers are a bit of a ripoff. $109.00 for a made in China speaker. I'm not impressed. Eminence seems to have much more balanced, well made speakers... at literally half the price and made in the USA. With 10 times the available choices that Celestion has! ( I don't want to sound like an ad for Eminence.. but I just don't understand Celestions prices. They are NOT great speakers.)
Would I make the same choice... um, no. Absolutely not. I might try them in an EL34 based setup...but for that matter, I would just use the speakers I like much more (Cannabis Rex, P-50's, or even Celestion Greenbacks) and yes, I DO play metal... if I wanted this scooped out sound...I would just try the Governor from Eminence.. which is supposed to be the equivalent. Or even the Texas Heat's. Again... I think this is an overhyped speaker that has become kind of the standard tone for Nu Metal... but does not seem to cut it with any of my gear.

Gibby Gibby Gibby. Made in the USA. Goldtop. 22 frets, Tune-o-matic bridge, "aged" (greenish) inlays, 2 volume, 2 tone controls...60's slim taper neck (SWEET). 500T bridge and 496R pickups...
This is the classic Les Paul look. Perhaps one would prefer mother of pearl inlays...maybe Grover tuners instead of the old Kluson style... but this is still a Les Paul...through and through.

I made the following modifications to my guitar... PRS Dragon ll pickups..with push-pull coil taps and a Gotoh aluminum bridge...and Graph tech string saver saddles to replace the G,B,E strings....But..I DO remember what it sounded like stock...so...I will base this upon the original incarnation of this guitar. This is a legend. Has to get at least a 9 for "Icon" status..

Great neck. Built for speed. Maybe not as fast as an oiled maple neck Ibanez or Music Man..but ready to rip. Compared to some of the sculpted heel set or bolt on necks (great modern innovations, for sure) and neck thru body guiars, the access to the highest frets may be a struggle.. especially if you have small hands.. The heel is definitely a dovetail joint with a bulky heel...You still have access, but it certainly does not compete with the modern engineering we guitarists enjoy today. this is a guitar yo play for the vibe. Ergonomics? Who cares. It is a Les Paul. Classic rock sounds. Anything from Les Paul.. Jimmy Page.. Gary Moore.. Zakk Wylde. Especially with the hot ceramics the classics carry.

Suits my style. This guitar... can really play anything except for quacky funk. Fat jazz, blues,rock,heavy rock.. metal. All of it.
I use this with a Boss GT8...Voodoo Labs Preamp... Digitech GSP 2101..VHT Pitbull 50/12 2-12 combo.. the list goes on. Right now I mostly run it thru the Voodoo Labs Preamp with a Carvin T100, and 2 1-12" cabs with Eminence Cannabis Rex speakers.. sounds sweet.
When I had this with the original pickups, I was running it into V30 cabs and thru my Digitech preamp... this was a bit shrill... but the original pickups through Greenbacks or some other smooth toned speaker would be great. Sounded super thru the P50's in my VHT combo. Nice and fat. The Bridge pickup(500T) is very very high gain. Easily overdriven.. but not too opaque clean... kind of an oddity really...the neck pickup (496R) is fat, fat fat. Really a wonderful high gain rhythm pickup. Yngwie runs with lots of gain are no problem here. Just bring ability. You will be rewarded with fat,clear tone. Favorite sounds? Hmmm.. it had lots of great tones. Blues are yummy... heavy rock.. super for heavy rhythms.. with smoother speakers, very good for lead lines. I have had a constant struggle walking the line in the search for "my" tone...always looking for a mixture of Eric Johnson and Randy Rhoads.. lol.. Good luck, right?

- made in USA
- 24 frets, 2 dimarzio custom humbuckers (a modded steve's special with more mids and a air norton with more output and clarity) and a piezo
- floating trem (with locked schaller MD)
- 2 volumes (1 for the passive pickups and one for the piezo), 1 tone, 1 switch for the passive humbucker position and one for passive/piezo selection (passives alone - passives+piezo - piezo alone)

- This guitar is so easy and confortable to play...

- you can play nearly all styles of music with this axe: with just 2 humbuckers and one piezo you have 7 différent sounds:
- bridge pickup
- inner coils splitting (very strat like sound)
- neck pickup
- piezo
- piezo + bridge pickup
- piezo + inner coils splitting
- piezo + neck pickup

The piezo alone sounds great, even on an electric amp, and it kills with an electro accoustic amp. There are two output jacks (magnetic+piezo - piezo) to make the use of thoses two types of amps possible in live conditions. If i remenber well, if no cable is connected to the piezo output, the signal of piezo and magnetic pickups are mixed together (magnetic+piezo output), otherwise the piezo and magnetic signals are separated

- loaded with two V30: sounds big and great, good finition
- my only complaint: with this cab the sound goes straight forward, not much side diffusion. Two weber beam blockers fixed the problem

- simple to use, beautiful and built like a tank

- 100 watts head (4 EL34 - 5 12AX7) - 6 channels - midi controlled
- hard to list all of the connections and possibilities here, have a look on ENGL website

- So much functions that you feel a little lost at first, really need lot of time to set it correctly but after that it's great to control simultanéously the head and your multi fx with the midi system.
- The manual is very clear

- you can do everything with that monster, each of the channels cover a great range of styles:
1/ Tube driver: leave the sound of your instrument unaffected and amplified directly by the power amp
2/ TDHQ: the same channel as above but with EQ settings for shaping, a volume and a sensitivity potentiometer (to set from clean to crunch)
3/ Clean channel: from extreme clean to overdrive
4/ Crunch channel: From slight crunch to heavy warm distorsion
5/ Lead 1 channel: a very tight and focused channel, great for hard rock or métal rhythm work (reminds me of the gun's n' roses rythm sound) - also great for soloing with neck pickup
6/ Lead 2 channel: less défined, bassier and more drive than the prévious channel. Was designed for solo work but i use it for heavy distorted rhythm.

There's so much gain in the lead 1 and 2 channels that i never set the gain setting past 12 o'clock in hi gain mode

Once the channel is set you can choose between dozens of tone shaping options, some are really usefull, others are less depending on what type of sound you want to have

- as for the others EMG pickups, the SA improve clarity, définition and sustain while providing warmth (alnico magnet)
- a great single coil for cleans and low distorsions.

- Had three of them since 2000
- as for the other EMG pickups, this one brings définition, high output, and improved sustain. You can do almost everything with the 85 (much more than with the 81): bass are really huge and the alnico magnet provide warmth
- i had tried lots of pickups (passive and active) and this humbucker has been my favorite for years