The Celestion G12-35XC guitar speaker, launched as a Limited Edition model in 2014 to mark our 90th anniversary, is starting to become increasingly difficult to come by. But now we’ve made its vintage tones easily available to everyone in digital form, with the release of our newest Impulse Response download, expanding our range to a round dozen of classic 12-inch speakers. So let’s take a closer look at what the Celestion G12-35XC IR has to offer.
Celestion G12-35XC Tone
When we designed the G12-35XC we wanted it to be a true celebration of all the best qualities of a Celestion speaker, combining state of the art technical innovations while delivering everything a guitar player would want or expect in terms of playability and tone.
We wanted to create a great all-rounder, with a vintage feel but at a relatively modest power rating (35W). We wanted clean playing to sound light and airy with plenty of musicality – but we also wanted heavier playing to be rewarded with some satisfying crunch in the mids and plenty of rawness and punch at the low end. And of course, as well as all this, we wanted recognisable Celestion tone, with a hefty nod to the pulsonic cones of the 60s.
And it seems we achieved just that. Here’s what Pete Thorn had to say about the physical G12-35XC when he reviewed it shortly after its launch in 2014 (a link to the full video is at the end of this article):
“It’s got that awesome raunchy yet smooth and woody overdrive that pulsonic cone type speakers are famous for. The speaker sounds fantastic clean as well. It’s got a nice airy open top with lots of sparkle, and so it just sounds great overdriven and clean.”
To find out more about the tone of the Celestion 35XC, take a look at the physical speaker product page, or check out some of the Listening Resources listed below.
Celestion G12-35XC Impulse Response
As with all our speaker impulse response downloads, the tone of the G12-35XC has been faithfully captured in a world class recording studio, by award winning sound engineers and our own experts, to bring you a sound that’s virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.
The G12-35XC speaker IR library is available in all the usual cabinet configurations (1×12 open and closed back, 2×12 open and closed back, and 4×12 closed back) with the customary microphone options (Royer R-121, Sennheiser MD421, Shure SM57 plus Neumann TLM 107 room mics) in a range of placements and mixes.
This is a speaker and an IR which gives a smooth, even tone across the frequency range, making it a great choice for technique practice in all genres when you need vintage Celestion tone with wonderful clarity. So, if you’re looking for an IR that’s uniquely versatile this is definitely one to add to your impulse response collection.
Download the new Celestion G12-35XC impulse response here or check out our Listening Resources section below.
Listening Resources for the G12-35XC:
Celestion G1235XC Guitar Loudspeaker, demo by Pete Thorn
by Pete Thorn
A nice selection of “clean”, “crunchy” and “dirty” clips played through a 2×12 closed back cabinet.
Celestion Speaker Shootout: A-Type, V-Type, Limited G12-35XC on Dirty/Gain Channel by Scott Sill
by sillennium
An interesting comparison with two other Celestion speakers, focusing on high gain playing.
Celestion G12-35XC Demo
by Edwin Maier
Some very fine playing shows off the definition and clarity of the G12-35XC.