I know nothing about cabs

[John_C]

How much does cab design/build quality really matter? Most 4x12s look very similar (excepting angle vs straight).......

I've been considering replacing the speakers in my ashdown 4x12, but i wonder whether actually i'd be much better of saving for a higher end cab

Looking at some dimensions i see that my ashdown cab is pretty big compared to most (870x870x460). I do like my guitar tone to be focused in the mids as opposed to the extreme highs and lows so now i'm thinking perhaps i should get something smaller

any advice?

 

[John_C]

No-one biting?

 

[Metaltastic]

Anything with V30s is pretty much a recording standard; Framus/Harley Benton if your cheap, Marshall 1960AV/BV or Randall XL if you're medium, and Mesa if you shit money (at least outside of the US hehehe)

 

[Metaltastic]

And the above mentioned are all pretty much the same in construction, whereas the Engl 4x12 has front-mounted speakers, and while I'm not sure exactly what's different about Orange cabs, I know they sound substantially darker than others from all the clips I've heard of 'em, so I'm not really a fan.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Go for the Mesa with vintage 30s. The difference between the Mesa & Marshall ain't subtle.

 

[GuitarHack]

What about the difference between Slant and Straight under the Mic? Cabs piss me off.

 

[Metaltastic]

What I'm curious about is whether the bottom speakers on a slant sound different than any of the speakers on a straight (I doubt on a straight they're too different from one another as far as the effect of the position is concerned). I know I MUCH prefer the bottom speakers to the top on my Stiletto slant, and when James (TheShred) posted a shootout between the speakers on his slant Framus Dragon cab, I much preferred the fullness of the bottom speakers there as well. However, I LOVE having the slanted baffle for live playing, so for me, mic'ing the bottom speakers works fine

 

[HandsOfDespair]

What about this cab? https://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=412VT-30

 

[GuitarHack]

I had a Trad Straight and now have a Standard Slant. I get more annoying high-end out of the Standard, Top or Bottom speakers. The way I look at it is that the Top speakers are on their own piece of baffle half the size of the straight and the Bottom speakers are on their own piece of baffle half the size of the straight. This cannot produce the same sound as one larger piece of baffle with 4 speakers on it. Does this make sense? Is this producing more high-end? Anytime I mic near the join of the dustcap and cone the high-end is far from nice. This is pissing me off. I would love to hear a Mesa Slant V's Straight clip with the mic on the same spot on both cab's around the cap/cone join.

 

[Metaltastic]

I had a Trad Straight and now have a Standard Slant. I get more annoying high-end out of the Standard, Top or Bottom speakers. The way I look at it is that the Top speakers are on their own piece of baffle half the size of the straight and the Bottom speakers are on their own piece of baffle half the size of the straight. This cannot produce the same sound as one larger piece of baffle with 4 speakers on it. Does this make sense? Is this producing more high-end? Anytime I mic near the join of the dustcap and cone the high-end is far from nice. This is pissing me off. I would love to hear a Mesa Slant V's Straight clip with the mic on the same spot on both cab's around the cap/cone join.

Hmm, that bit about separate baffle boards never occurred to me, but makes sense; I always thought it had to do with the decreased internal volume and/or the different reflections and phase cancellations because of the slanted angle of the top two speakers. Probably a combination of all those factors to varying degrees - sorry your OS is giving you grief! But I have to admit, I've heard A LOT of good tones come out of that exact model cab...

And Opeth, yeah, Carvin cabs are supposed to be ok, but the front-mounted speakers I'm not that big a fan of (IME they tend to sound kind of dense in the mids); I guess you would consider it a poor-man's Engl Pro 4x12, cuz their construction is similar. For a European, I think the Randall XL series are the best bang-for-the-buck.

 

[GuitarHack]

Hmm, that bit about separate baffle boards never occurred to me, but makes sense; I always thought it had to do with the decreased internal volume and/or the different reflections and phase cancellations because of the slanted angle of the top two speakers. Probably a combination of all those factors to varying degrees - sorry your OS is giving you grief! But I have to admit, I've heard A LOT of good tones come out of that exact model cab........
.

Agreed. Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming the Cab entirely, it's more likely that I am the problem . It just has me curious as to how much of it is the Cab. Many others here have the OS and alot of them have the Straight, Lasse, Oz, Brett (seen a picture in the past anyway, don't know if he still has it, maybe he was just using it). I even bought a new 57 last week in case my other 57 was giving me too much high-end.

Anybody have a Mesa Straight and Slant and can mic the same position to shut me the hell up?

 

[HandsOfDespair]

Hmm, that bit about separate baffle boards never occurred to me, but makes sense; I always thought it had to do with the decreased internal volume and/or the different reflections and phase cancellations because of the slanted angle of the top two speakers. Probably a combination of all those factors to varying degrees - sorry your OS is giving you grief! But I have to admit, I've heard A LOT of good tones come out of that exact model cab...

And Opeth, yeah, Carvin cabs are supposed to be ok, but the front-mounted speakers I'm not that big a fan of (IME they tend to sound kind of dense in the mids); I guess you would consider it a poor-man's Engl Pro 4x12, cuz their construction is similar. For a European, I think the Randall XL series are the best bang-for-the-buck.

Thanks for the advice!

And by the way, I'm canadian

 

[Metaltastic]

Ah, whoops, my bad, I always assume everyone here is European In that case, get yourself a used Mesa for dirt cheap and be done with it!

 

[Metaltastic]

Agreed. Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming the Cab entirely, it's more likely that I am the problem . It just has me curious as to how much of it is the Cab. Many others here have the OS and alot of them have the Straight, Lasse, Oz, Brett (seen a picture in the past anyway, don't know if he still has it, maybe he was just using it). I even bought a new 57 last week in case my other 57 was giving me too much high-end.

Still, the straights are pretty new (the "bottom" Recto cabs used to be just slants with a top overhang, strangely enough) so I think most have the slant (including Andy ) I've liked what I've heard from you dude, so I don't think you're at fault, though maybe you're being too critical of yourself, and also perhaps too aggressive with the presence knobs on your amps?

 

[John_C]

Anything with V30s is pretty much a recording standard; Framus/Harley Benton if your cheap, Marshall 1960AV/BV or Randall XL if you're medium, and Mesa if you shit money (at least outside of the US hehehe)

Wellfrom the UK mesa really is a case of shitting money

i've been looking at avatar cabs, has anyone here successfully got one over to europe? I know they sell them in holland but at a ridiculously high price compared with in the states

 

[LSD-Studio]

I had a Trad Straight and now have a Standard Slant. I get more annoying high-end out of the Standard, Top or Bottom speakers. The way I look at it is that the Top speakers are on their own piece of baffle half the size of the straight and the Bottom speakers are on their own piece of baffle half the size of the straight. This cannot produce the same sound as one larger piece of baffle with 4 speakers on it. Does this make sense? Is this producing more high-end? Anytime I mic near the join of the dustcap and cone the high-end is far from nice. This is pissing me off. I would love to hear a Mesa Slant V's Straight clip with the mic on the same spot on both cab's around the cap/cone join.

I've got the OS straight, and it is quite abit fizzier than the slanted engl (which has a deep but narrow notch at 2900Hz). don't think it's because of the baffle though, I just thing that the engl-design(be it smartness or accidental) eliminates exactly that annoying frequency, that makes the engl sound less fuzzy, but overall darker as well

 

[hsinn3r]

Wellfrom the UK mesa really is a case of shitting money

i've been looking at avatar cabs, has anyone here successfully got one over to europe? I know they sell them in holland but at a ridiculously high price compared with in the states

Nah, I looked into avatars, too, I don't think you can find an easy/cheap way to get them abroad. Look into Framus cabs, too

 

[John_C]

"Framus/Harley Benton if your cheap"

I've heard of them both but never come across them, what do people think of them............they seem a little too cheap to be good to me

 

[Metaltastic]

From what I've heard, they're decently built, and they do have the 4 V30s, which is pretty much the most important part - apparently the cheapness is evident in things like the tolex and how it's glued to the wood, as well as the wood itself and overall construction. I've heard good results from 'em though! (and have also heard the Framus and Harley Benton cabs are identical, though I'll need a savvy European to confirm that). Randall XL man, I'm telling you.

 

[Joematthews]

My harley benton 2x12 shits all over my non vintage 30 laney 4x12. They can't be beat for the price IMHO.

Joe