Harley Benton G212 Vertical Celestion V30

Summary:
My Harley Benton G212V with V30's arrived. I pulled it from the shipping box which was in good shape. I noticed some rattling around inside the cab which concerned me. The rear is glued and there is no way to remove the back without damaging the cabinet to look inside, I noticed. Removing the front grille I saw that the baffle board for the top speaker had been pushed in almost 3 inches (76mm) on the right side and was barely hanging on under the weight of the V30. I took pictures of the damage and contemplated returning the cab back but figured I would see if there was any possible way to fix it before it went back to Germany. I had waited 7 weeks anyway.

Removing the top and bottom V30's revealed several of the wood shims used to keep the baffle boards in place had cleanly broken away either because there was not enough glue, weren't stapled properly, cab was shipped too quickly (i.e. "still wet") or probably a combination along with shipping handling from China to US.

I used a rubber mallet, carpenter's glue and wood screws. I tapped the baffle back in place, glued the baffle and glued and screwed all of the shims to support the baffle boards better. I decided I would also add RTV to the baffle seams which had good sized gaps to seal the cab better and is the point of having a closed back sealed cab (reduce air movement for "faster" speaker return). I also figured since I had it open anyway I may as well change to 16 ohm cab wiring by adding 8 ohm V30 / G12H30 Anno speakers in series which I had. I really like this speaker combination. 3 hours later; total success!

Use:
- I use this with several of my tube heads and it sounds great now with the mismatch and better tightness. The size, speaker offset and vertical layout make it a great "monitor" type cab when compared with a horizontal.

Pros:
- Light weight and compact.
- Resonant all Plywood construction.
- Great sounding after speaker changes.
- Speaker Offset is a nice touch.
- Light to Medium duty cab,
- Price was amazing.

Cons:
- Initial Issues with baffle / shims / shipping handling and unplanned repairs that needed to be done.
- Thoman consider having the manufacturer seal around the baffles with quick dry RTV or adhesive which is a fast, low cost fix and should improve shipping survival of the baffle and definitely sound.
- Consider having manufacturer screw the baffle shims or better stapling them, again, making the cab more shipping survivable as well if not letting the glue dry before shipping.
- Consider changing the back to a "screw-in" rear rather than glued in rear. It does add a bit of cost but make speaker changes and fixes easier inside the cab if needed without having to remove the speakers and grille.

Overall:
- After the repair, glue, some screws to hold shims in place, adding a little sealant and a speaker change this is awesome sounding cab. Nice tight, sounds great with my tube heads. May buy another! I have the skills and tools to repair it if needed. :)

Needed a dual-purpose cabinet, both a permanent fixture in my live rig, so easy to carry and loud enough to create enough noise on stage with my modeling rig, but also temporarily something with the right speakers to match my high-gain head while I saved up for the matching 4x12. This one fit the bill perfectly. The Vintage 30 speakers do what Vintage 30 speakers do, and weighing in at only 24 kg it makes your life so much easier when gigging compared to 4x12s or combo amps.

The cabinet's light weight means it lacks a bit of bass and resonance compared to more massive and more expensive cabinets, but dialing in a little extra bass for a more light weight gig rig is a small price to pay.

If money's not an option and you're chasing after the perfect tone and not planning on moving the cabinet around much, go for a Mesa or ENGL. But if you are looking for something easy to carry to gigs, or money is tight, this one is for you, because for the money, this cabinet can not, and, dare I say, probably will never be beat.