Harley Benton G112 Celestion V30

Update 24/05/20, original review below:
Due to the current situation of Covid-19, I am in one country and most of my gear is n another with not much chance of getting it anytime soon. As I needed a cab I took my own advice that buying this product is a no brainer, so now I have two of them in different countries...

So scaling down from a JCM900 and 4x12 cab, because who needs that in this day and age (joke), I was looking around for a cheap, reliable setup that doesn't require a truck to move it. Doing the usual research on the ubiquitous Internet video channel, I came across various reviews of Harley Benton cabs with Celestion speakers at ridiculous prices.

As the speaker itself costs only 10€ less than this unit I figured I had nothing to lose and ordered it.

After a few weeks playing with the G112 vintage I can say that buying it is a no brainer in my situation - something for rehearsal, small gigs, home playing.

I've been using it so far with an Orange Micro Dark and getting some great tones with it. These days I mainly play baritones and have been playing Danelectro and Gretsch baris through it and the speaker handles those looow sounds well. Have also been using it with a Tele, an Epiphone Sheraton and even a Taylor acoustic and the Celestion handles all those different tones perfectly ;-)

The unit build quality seems good and I would not be worried about gigging with it at all. Maybe it's not the best looking thing around, but I got it for the tone not the aesthetics. It's a pity there is no way to run two of these cabs together, but seriously this is great product at a gift of a price. Highly recommended.

I've received this cab two days ago and used it in the rehearsal of my band yesterday. My amp is a 5e7 copy, 30 - 35 W with 5881 power tubes. Using this very amp, I did not like using an old Fender M80 with its stock speaker as a cab, it sounded "boxy"... weird emphasis on annoying compressed uppermids with lack of bass and clear highs. Replacing M80's stock Fender Special Design (Eminence) Speaker PN 025923 with a new Jensen C12N improved the tone a bit, but still no cigar.

This cab, on the other hand, together with its speaker Celestion V30 sounded very good even though the speaker needs a bit more time to be broken in. It did not sound boxy at all, pretty good for clean stuff and roaring for saturated... Its bass is solid and its uppermids are not that annoying. They are there, don't get me wrong, but they do not sound that bad in this cab.

Kudos to Thomann staff, very nice packaging... the unit is not that heavy. I was pleasantly surprised! Of course, it is not of Mesa quality, i.e. the tolex is "sticky" (not of the highest quality) and the handle could have been better. But then again, the price is at par with a new Celestion v30, so the cab is kinda free... So the quality issue is not something to lose sleep over...

I am happy overall.

Best,

DrB

The speaker in this cabinet took a while to break in, but it sounds amazing now. I'm surprised a 1x12 could have this level of depth to the sound, its handled baritone guitar signals with absolute ease. I've played a number of different amp heads (both valve, solid state, and hybrid) through it, and almost all of them sound amazing.

The only negative, in my opinion, is that the tolex isn't great. The pattern looks cheap, and the material itself is quite thin and not resistant to demage. But given that this whole unit doesnt cost much more than the speaker alone, this can be very easily overlooked.

pros...
Sounds like ' A Cadillac , cruising thru 'The Mississippi Delta' in the 1950's . :)
cons... Absolutely " None ".. :)

To my ears ; A Very nice, darkly toned , sounding speaker .... I Play 'Blues harp' through it , "Live' ... & It gives me "All" the darkness & "All " the grit , I ever needed in a 'Speaker ' .. :) I Luv the sound !
Thank you Thomann & Harley Benton ..