Celestion G12M-70

The G12M-70 replaced the G12-65 in 1983, and were soon renamed Modern Lead 70 and then replaced by G12T-75. Carvin, Marshall and Kitty Hawk among other manufacturers used them a lot in combos and cabs : 4 x 12's, JCM800...

BUT it is a very surprising and under-estimated speaker. It can match perfectly vintage or clone Fender and Marshall combos. For example Joe Bonamassa uses them in his tweed High Power Twin Amps. Other guitar luminaries such as Gary Moore or Yngwie Malmsteen are known to have used them.
I find it really helpful with an amp that is bright, brittle and overly trebley. Quite balanced speaker, yet still scooped in the mids. The lows are really full but still beautifuly focused. Wonderful punchy clean sound for blackface amps - to me, it produces the typical ceramic medium magnet effect in the lineage of the Greenbacks, of whom it is a direct-line descendant.

Listen to the sample I recorded of a 1986 G12M-70 in a brownface Princeton 6G2 clone ↓

Of course it sounds great in a closed cab as it was supposed to be used in the beginning I guess. I only have used it in an open-back cab situation, with great results.

An interesting article to read about this on killerguitarrigs.com → "Budget beauty with a bad rap"
https://killerguitarrigs.com/celestion-g12m-70/

Mechanical Specifications

Nominal Diameter (ins) 12
Magnet Diameter (mm/ins) 140 / 5.5
Magnet Weight (oz) 35
Voice Coil Diameter (mm/ins) 38 / 1.5
Coil Winding Lengths (mm/ins) 10 / 0.39
Magnet Gap Depth (mm/ins) 8 / 0.31
Unit Overall Depth (mm/ins) 130 / 5.11
Unit Weight (kg/lbs) 3.4 / 7.5


Electroacoustic Specifications

Frequency Range (Hz) 88 – 5K
Sensitivity (dB, 1W @ 1m) 98
Power Handling (Watt) 70
Nominal Impedance (Ohm) 8
Resonance, fs (Hz) 88
Magnet Gap Flux Density, B (T) 1.35