Yes, agree with all of that. But... I'm still sometimes surprised when Paul or even Grissolm chooses V30s. Paul's studio is on the second floor and his cab in the basement, mic'd. I'm worst case scenario for the V30 spike, in that I'm not only in the room with it, I'm close and IN FRONT of it. The worst place for the V30 spike is 8-10 feet in front of it. 20-30 feet back, it's not nearly as objectionable, IMO.
If you're sitting in front of the V30, even 20 feet away can sound pretty darn spiky, live in the room (from my mix position, anyway). So I can see why you'd say that.
Grissom said that he wanted anything BUT a V-30, but after hearing all of his options (I think he said they tried just about everything on the market at the time), he thought the V-30 sounded best --
the caveat being that was with his signature amp and cab.
And that's something to consider - every amp and cab has its own thing going on.
Only recently I had a 212 Fillmore cab loaded with Jensen Blackbird Alnicos. It sounded
fantastic with the Fillmore, but sounded like absolute crap with everything else I had, including the DG30. The DG also sounds better to me with V-30s than with the Black Shadow C-90s in my Lone Star, and I prefer them to the 4x10 with Creambacks as well - with the DG30.
Because I have the KHE amp & cab switcher, and like to get multiple uses from all the cabs and amps, I wound up selling the Fillmore cab with the Blackbirds, and going with the 4x10 Mesa cab with Creambacks. That choice was simply about getting a variety of tones, but it sounds quite good with all 4 amps.
The positive with the V-30:
In my experience it's a very easy speaker to mic up for recording - plenty of cut when you want it, easy to EQ when you don't. I've never gotten a recording that didn't work for me with the V-30 -- provided the right mics are used.
I tend to aim a dynamic mic about midway between the dust cap and the edge at an angle, and I set the mic up about 20-25" away from the cab. I think I capture more of the actual sound of the amp that way, and I know from past conversations that you agree.
I like to use a separate condenser as a room mic as well, and blend to taste. For that, most anything will work that's decent.
Mics I find work well with the V-30 and the DG cab are the Sennheiser E960, nominally a vocal mic with a narrow cardioid pattern, the Sennheiser MD-421, with its scooped midrange, and the Royer R-121, which is a great match as it's darker and tends to smooth out the peak.
421s on guitar cabs are often underrated. They're great mics with amps and cabs.
The SM57 is less good with a V-30; too much midrange. So it's not my first choice with that speaker. Sounds great with other speakers. Same with Audix' i5.
I also plan to try the JZ Vintage 47 condenser with it. On paper, it should be a good match with its sweet top end, but hearing is believing. I will generally use a condenser even further back than I use a dynamic for recording, because they overload more easily and sound pretty nasty distorted.
