Hey guys, got a good one here... hopefully this will help some of you considering future purchases to be a little more informed
Here's the deal: I've got a couple of projects coming up... and one of them is going to be pretty fucking intense. I was having an online chat with a certain someone (not dropping names) & mentioned I was thinking of trading in my Marshall 1960BV cabinet for a Mesa. I've been working with this thing for the last few years & have noticed things are maybe a tad "pasty" in the upper mids with it.
His reply was "If I were you, I'd get the Mesa" or something to that effect. Well considering the source, it struck me as a rather profound statement.
Here's the thing: The Mesa Standard cabinet is the oversized bastard & comes loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. Very solid construction... etc, etc. We all know it's a great cab.
When I originally purchased my Marshall cab back in '05... I had posted up on here if anyone had any recommendations for cabs loaded with v30s. Unfortunately, I didn't get any response. So, I went with the Marshall 1960BV. Bottom (straight) cabinet...V for Vintage. ......Thinking I was getting Vintage 30's in the cab. Let me make this very clear for everyone reading: THESE ARE NOT VINTAGE 30s! They're labeled "Marshall" and made by Celestion, and have the same wattage, but they sure don't sound the same.... as will be evidenced below.
The other thing I noticed is that the Marshall speakers are 4 ohms, whereas the Vintage 30s are 8 ohms. Interesting indeed.
So, here's what I grabbed yesterday:
Got a discount for the tear in the grill cloth (it was a floor model & my town is filled with heathen bastards)... no big deal for me, I'm never going on stage with it. I just need a workhorse cab.
Anyway, after a very long day of testing with this thing, I've got some clips for you. Listen for yourself & make up your own mind. These are all reamps, so it's the same performance every time. One further thing: I was really knocked out by just how little EQ the Mesa cab needs compared to the Marshall in order to get the tracks to sit in the mix. After testing all day, i kept coming to the same conclusion: 1&2dB's for the Mesa: That's all that's needed. The Marshall... well...... you need to be a little more agressive with EQ to get it to behave.
Anyway, on to the clips: The first set, is a two mic RAW mix... meaning no EQ or compression. Just the sound of the speakers. Yes, it's my typical 57 on/off axis mic technique, in case you were wondering. The on axis is louder, but that's all the mixing that's gone into it.
RAW MESA STANDARD CAB
RAW MARSHALL 1960BV
And, raw tracks only tell part of the story, so I've included a couple of "full mix" tracks as well.
MESA FULL MIX
MARSHALL FULL MIX
Anyway, feel free to comment. I'll post my own opinions on the differences a bit later.
Enjoy!
-0z-
Here's the deal: I've got a couple of projects coming up... and one of them is going to be pretty fucking intense. I was having an online chat with a certain someone (not dropping names) & mentioned I was thinking of trading in my Marshall 1960BV cabinet for a Mesa. I've been working with this thing for the last few years & have noticed things are maybe a tad "pasty" in the upper mids with it.
His reply was "If I were you, I'd get the Mesa" or something to that effect. Well considering the source, it struck me as a rather profound statement.
Here's the thing: The Mesa Standard cabinet is the oversized bastard & comes loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. Very solid construction... etc, etc. We all know it's a great cab.
When I originally purchased my Marshall cab back in '05... I had posted up on here if anyone had any recommendations for cabs loaded with v30s. Unfortunately, I didn't get any response. So, I went with the Marshall 1960BV. Bottom (straight) cabinet...V for Vintage. ......Thinking I was getting Vintage 30's in the cab. Let me make this very clear for everyone reading: THESE ARE NOT VINTAGE 30s! They're labeled "Marshall" and made by Celestion, and have the same wattage, but they sure don't sound the same.... as will be evidenced below.
The other thing I noticed is that the Marshall speakers are 4 ohms, whereas the Vintage 30s are 8 ohms. Interesting indeed.
So, here's what I grabbed yesterday:
Got a discount for the tear in the grill cloth (it was a floor model & my town is filled with heathen bastards)... no big deal for me, I'm never going on stage with it. I just need a workhorse cab.
Anyway, after a very long day of testing with this thing, I've got some clips for you. Listen for yourself & make up your own mind. These are all reamps, so it's the same performance every time. One further thing: I was really knocked out by just how little EQ the Mesa cab needs compared to the Marshall in order to get the tracks to sit in the mix. After testing all day, i kept coming to the same conclusion: 1&2dB's for the Mesa: That's all that's needed. The Marshall... well...... you need to be a little more agressive with EQ to get it to behave.
Anyway, on to the clips: The first set, is a two mic RAW mix... meaning no EQ or compression. Just the sound of the speakers. Yes, it's my typical 57 on/off axis mic technique, in case you were wondering. The on axis is louder, but that's all the mixing that's gone into it.
RAW MESA STANDARD CAB
RAW MARSHALL 1960BV
And, raw tracks only tell part of the story, so I've included a couple of "full mix" tracks as well.
MESA FULL MIX
MARSHALL FULL MIX
Anyway, feel free to comment. I'll post my own opinions on the differences a bit later.
Enjoy!
-0z-
