G212 Celestion V30 : Harley Benton G212 Vintage - Personal Experience

This guitar cabinet promises much, by being loaded with Celestion V30 speakers and costing less than the price of buying just the speakers on their own. It's the more expensive option in the Harley Benton range and compares very favorably with the cost of rival 2 x 12 cabinets on the market (the bigger brands are hugely more expensive).

The first thing I noticed when I unpacked this item was the fact that it is really quite well made - not an overly cheap vinyl covering or obvious cost-cutting in the construction. It all appears to hang together very well.

I have played this cabinet with both a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and a Carvin MTS 3200 and the results were good on both counts. I never felt particularly blown-away with the performance, but these things are very subjective and I'm sure that with more tweaking, I could get closer to the sound I was hoping for. Unfortunately for me, I am comparing the results to a Behringer 4 x 12 cabinet I'd used for a couple of years before buying the Harley Benton. It's important to remember that a 4 x 12v is just going to shift more air and shake the walls better than a 2 x 12 and for me, this is the only drawback. On the plus-side, this cabinet is really easy to transport and isn't too heavy to carry around on your own.

I have no hesitation recommending this cabinet to anyone - it really does deliver the goods and sounds good if you're playing through a decent amp. Clean tones work particularly well at all volumes, as do bluesey licks and chords. Where I find it slightly lacking is where I want to reproduce very saturated metal tones ans chunky, palm-muted rhythm chops. It's here where it seems to lack the depth and punch of a good 4 x 12, or a 2 x 12 from a 'better' brand.

If you can live with the more lightweight sound that this cabinet delivers or you don't want to use it for metal, you're onto a real winner. If you want something which will shake the foundations of your local clubs and peel the plaster off of the walls of your bedroom, you may be wise to look elsewhere.