Budget 4x12"'s with V30's

[Trevoire520]

Hey all, I'm currently having a look around for what 4x12" cabs are decent without having to spend the cash on a Mesa. I've scoured the internet trying to see whats out there and am wondering if anyone has had any experience with these cabs on the cheaper end of the market?

Harley Benton Vintage £290
Laney TT412 £350
Line 6 Spider Valve £400
Marshall 1960AV £480
Framus Dragon £500
Marshall MF280 £520
Orange PPC 412 £530
H & K VC412 £550
Blackstar Artisan £580

As a comparison for those outside of Europe a Mesa Standard is £850 and an Engl Pro is £900!

From what I've gathered so far the Laney TT is quite bright (used one at a gig once) the Marshalls are a bit fizzy and not made of plywood like the other cabs. Orange seem to be a love/hate thing as they're pretty dark. The Blackstar is a Mesa Standard copy, though I read that they don't sound as good. Apparently the Line 6 is very similar to a Bogner. I've also heard that the Framus is identical to the Harley Benton except for cosmetics and the extra £200 on the price tag!

Anyone got any experience with these cabs they can share?

 

[LydonB]

You could check out Avatar cabs as well.

 

[Metaltastic]

I'm gonna vote Spider Valve as the best bang for the buck, GubbKuk on here has one that he's made some sweet clips of, and having owned a few Line 6 products I can say they've always been built really freakin' well! For clarification, Marshall 1960 cabs are all plywood except for the back panel (MDF), though I'm pretty sure the MF cabs are entirely plywood, BUT have a different type of V30 that supposedly doesn't sound as good (can't confirm this though, but just thought you'd wanna know). And I really have not liked any of the clips of heard of Orange cabs; they're all really dark for some reason (spec-wise the cabs seem to be pretty similar to most others)

 

[DevilJaw]

i got a spider valve cab, its a really awesome cab, i only got it because i wanted a mesa but couldn't find one at the time, but now that i have a mesa i want to sell my cab.

 

[Trevoire520]

You could check out Avatar cabs as well.

Have checked out Avatar cabs, the ply on the Traditional cabs seems very thin, and the Contemporary looks to be an Orange copy but it actually cost more than the Orange!

Deviljaw, what is it you prefer in the Mesa compared to the SV?

Marshall 1960 cabs are all plywood except for the back panel (MDF), though I'm pretty sure the MF cabs are entirely plywood, BUT have a different type of V30 that supposedly doesn't sound as good (can't confirm this though, but just thought you'd wanna know).And I really have not liked any of the clips of heard of Orange cabs; they're all really dark for some reason (spec-wise the cabs seem to be pretty similar to most others)

Cheers for clearing that up, now that you mention it I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that Marshalls and Mesa's have slightly different V30's in them compared to the stock ones. Something to do with the size of the dustcap being different and the Mesa's being voiced darker than the Marshalls?

It is a bit odd that the Orange cabs are so much darker than pretty much anything else out there, the only reason I can think of is the wooden rails on the bottom instead of castors causing them to resonate with the floor? But even that doesn't seem enough to constitute the major difference between the other cabs with near identical specs.

i got a spider valve cab, its a really awesome cab, i only got it because i wanted a mesa but couldn't find one at the time, but now that i have a mesa i want to sell my cab.

What is it you prefer about the Mesa compared to the SV? I'm guessing its the slight scoop in the mids and the lack of fizz? If so it would seem to be a tick in the box for the Blackstars as the dimensions are quite similar to a Mesa Standard.
Blackstar 837 x 755 x 356
Mesa 835 x 765 x 362


Nice to hear plenty of support for the Line 6 cab, as its one of the chepaer ones on the list! lol.

 

[pifos_2]

RANDALL XL 670£

I have one it does sounds great.

Andy appreciate to use them live for the built in speaker simulation.

 

[Trevoire520]

Checked out GubbKuk's clips of his Spider Valve cab, sounds awesome!

 

[Jaymz]

This was all done with a Framus Dragon: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/451140/Stymphalian_24.mp3

 

[Trevoire520]

Damn thats a great tone! Very clear and seems to chug very well too!

Been hunting Ebay today, found a empty 1970's Marshall cab in Glasgow, if it goes cheap I might get that and then get some V30's to put in it.

Also there's a Peavey Ultra (older Triple XXX) head going for £250 if anyones interested.

 

[deanbailey]

Forgot the Ibanez Thermion cab

 

[Meisterjäger]

I'm fucking pissed that Blackstar cab prices have been raised by £80...

Never the less, they're the closest thing you'll get to a Mesa, IDENTICLE size, very similar materials, and genuine Celestion V30s

 

[Trevoire520]

Forgot the Ibanez Thermion cab

Had a look and all in it seems pretty good, only weird thing is the fact that its split internally into left/right chambers??? Can't say I've ever seen that on any other cab.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, that split business on the Thermion cabs seems just strange enough to warrant avoiding 'em, seeing as how they don't offer anything over the Spider Valve cabs. And yeah, the Blackstar really seems like a great bet, since my experience with my Mesa Stiletto cab (their "standard-sized" cab like all the others you mentioned) has been less than positive (too "stuffy" sounding, with them wooly midz), so oversized cabs seem to be the way to go (but then again, I've heard good clips of the Spider Valve and Dragon cabs)

 

[Force666]

Egnator cabs are 599$ in the States. 100$ cheaper than the spider valve. The drawback is they are tan on the sides and black on the top/bottom.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, hot damn are those things ugly, but they seem really well constructed, and I didn't realize they were THAT cheap!

 

[mondocane]

...Been hunting Ebay today, found a empty 1970's Marshall cab in Glasgow, if it goes cheap I might get that and then get some V30's to put in it.

sorry for the OT, but I have 2 empty Marshall 1960 cabs too, any suggestions where to get 8 good 12" without spending too much? live use only, baritone hi-gain stuff.

A.

 

[Metaltastic]

If it's only for live use, Eminence apparently makes some great sounding stuff, and there models are usually much cheaper than Celestion! And then there's Warehouse and all these other brands I know nothing about

 

[J.DavisNJ]

If it's only for live use, Eminence apparently makes some great sounding stuff, and there models are usually much cheaper than Celestion! And then there's Warehouse and all these other brands I know nothing about

I think they are cheaper for us because they are USA made. Not sure what their price point is in Europe though.

I've heard pretty good things about all of them. A lot of guys have been swearing by the Warehouse speakers as well. I'm usually not one to buy into hype but I wouldn't mind at least trying them.

-Joe

 

[mondocane]

If it's only for live use, Eminence apparently makes some great sounding stuff, and there models are usually much cheaper than Celestion! And then there's Warehouse and all these other brands I know nothing about

yeah Metaltastic, I was thinking about Eminence too, decent prices and affordable shipping rates to Europe too. wondering which model anyway.

J, real Celestion's [Chinese? no thanks] are quite expensive down here.
never heard about those Warehouse's, some links / more info? are they USA made speakers?

thanks in the meantime.

p.s. this one looks good: http://warehousespeakers.com/proddetail.php?prod=BritishLead_12

 

[Metaltastic]

Fuck if I know dude, I'm sorry to say - they have so many goddamn models, and the tone descriptions on their website are all but useless IMO! I've heard good things about the Manowars though, FWIW...

That Warehouse info makes skeptical since they say it sounds "better" than the CL80 (cuz one tone can totally be objectively than another ), but Sloan made some impulses of his cab with the Warehouse Vintage 30 equivalent that I really like, so I'd bet it's a pretty solid speaker!