Thinking of moving to a 2x12

[Jaymz]

I live in a detatched house *for now at least* and the amount of bass I get from my 1960DM is starting to annoy me, rattles the whole house near enough...so I have to dip the volume down a little more than usual when reamping. I was checking out all different threads about 2x12s over this forum and others in regard to tonal differences with the 4x12 and since I never play live and I seem to have more bass than enough in this house (along with the roadster/5153 having mountains of bass) I thought it might be a wiser choice to go with a Recto 2x12.

As far as size goes, the 2x12 is actually slightly wider than the 4x12 and exactly the same depth with just 11.5" height difference.

I guess it would also be easier to move into the room I reamp in and so forth...

Anybody think this may be a wise move or a big mistake?

 

[AboutBlank]

The only thing I can say is that I'm soo extreme glad to finally own a Mesa OS.
Sold a Orange PPC 2x12 for that cab and have tested a Engl 2x12 a while ago(and a 4x12).

Couldn't be happier, I would rather reamp less(I mean reamp at day and not at night) then change my cab.

 

[Jaymz]

The only thing I can say is that I'm soo extreme glad to finally own a Mesa OS.
Sold a Orange PPC 2x12 for that cab and have tested a Engl 2x12 a while ago(and a 4x12).

Couldn't be happier, I would rather reamp less(I mean reamp at day and not at night) then change my cab.

Under a mic the difference was that huge?

Thing is you've moved from a regular size 2x12 to a OS 4x12, whereas I would do the opposite.

 

[AboutBlank]

The difference was pretty huge.

But the Orange has a very diffrent flavour, anyway, so it's a little unfair to say the Mesa is "better"...
Haven't tested a Recto 2x12, but we all know Olas sounds, so you get def. some killer tones out of it.

But I won't sell the 4x12 OS, love this cab.

Just my prefence.

 

[Jaymz]

Oh totally, heard some awesome sounds out of 2x12's, Ola uses the Roadster 2x12 which is smaller than the recto model though

 

[AboutBlank]

Yeah, was reminding his earlier days

 

[Trevoire520]

If bass going through the house is the problem you could maybe just get something to isolate the amp from the floor? (Auralex Gramma comes to mind)

 

[Jaymz]

If bass going through the house is the problem you could maybe just get something to isolate the amp from the floor? (Auralex Gramma comes to mind)

Good idea, mind do they make a good amount of difference? £75 is a fair whack!

 

[John_C]

If you can justify the time, build a wooden frame and suspend the cab from it with webbing, you'll get almost 100% decoupling from the floor. I built one for my sub and it works great, although ofc you'd have to build much bigger to accommodate a 4x12 than a 1x12 sub.

 

[Jaymz]

If you can justify the time, build a wooden frame and suspend the cab from it with webbing, you'll get almost 100% decoupling from the floor. I built one for my sub and it works great, although ofc you'd have to build much bigger to accommodate a 4x12 than a 1x12 sub.

Yeah space is also an issue, the room I reamp in is a spare bedroom...so you can imagine the size with a single bed and wardrobe already in it

 

[Sloan]

If you can justify the time, build a wooden frame and suspend the cab from it with webbing, you'll get almost 100% decoupling from the floor. I built one for my sub and it works great, although ofc you'd have to build much bigger to accommodate a 4x12 than a 1x12 sub.

NEED PICS.

 

[Josh Burgess]

I don't think it's a bad idea at all. I'd really like to test out a recto 2x12 sometime. I don't think I'd sell my 4x12, but having a 2x12 around would be convenient. I don't think it will sound all that different.... and obviously the smaller size would make it much easier to move around...

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

If you can justify the time, build a wooden frame and suspend the cab from it with webbing, you'll get almost 100% decoupling from the floor. I built one for my sub and it works great, although ofc you'd have to build much bigger to accommodate a 4x12 than a 1x12 sub.

I've always thought of this as the ULTIMATE DECOUPLING SOLUTION, never thought anyone had actually done it - +1 to the pics demand

 

[Jaymz]

Sound wise id assume it would still be very "mesa" sounding rather than my "marshall" esque, that obvious diffence really, which I wouldn't mind at all. The only negative people say about 2x12 vs 4x12 being the lack of huge bottom end, which im sure I could still get to what I like. As I say the recto 2x12 is shorter than my marshall but thats about it. Both times its a 57 1" away from a speaker...so yeah...

Could pop it on the edge of a bed and mic it up aswell?

Id still like to travel to a shop and have a test of them all, as long as the recto wouldn't be a "downgrade" from the 1960dm.

 

[John_C]

I've always thought of this as the ULTIMATE DECOUPLING SOLUTION, never thought anyone had actually done it - +1 to the pics demand

ok well it's not set up atm, but i'll put it together tomorrow and take some pics if i remember

Actually, i might actually get around to putting some webbing on it as well instead of using string like i have been for months haha

 

[Harry Hughes]

Ehh, if you don't have space, you may as well just reamp with the line in signal and then use impulses.
At least that you're getting the sound of a 4x12.
You compromise too much on the sound with 2x12s IMO. I have a 2x12 and while it's not bad, you better believe I'd way rather have a 4x12 and not have to deal with the tonal issues that are inherent in a 2x12 cab.

 

[Nebulous]

Have you tried something like milk/ beer crates to decouple the cab from the floor? Cheap solution might do what you need it to.

 

[Ermz]

Ehh, if you don't have space, you may as well just reamp with the line in signal and then use impulses.
At least that you're getting the sound of a 4x12.
You compromise too much on the sound with 2x12s IMO. I have a 2x12 and while it's not bad, you better believe I'd way rather have a 4x12 and not have to deal with the tonal issues that are inherent in a 2x12 cab.

Those were my thoughts exactly when I upgraded from the Harley Benton to the OS, but quickly found out that the OS was too loud and impractical for my living situation.

So.. impulses it is . I can only get away with doing leads like this most of the time... but honestly I've ninja-reamped rhythms through them on the odd occasion and nobody has batted an eyelash...

So I'd recommend keeping real-cab compromise minimal. You eventually hit a point where you'd just be better of running your amp directly into Ryan's impulses (I say that specifically because they are still the best on the market, by far).

 

[AD Chaos]

How about an Auralex Riser?

Any good at decoupling/reducing bass freqs transfer to the floor?

 

[JeffTD]

Thought about a Zilla Fatboy? I know a couple guys who have ditched 4x12's in favor of it!

http://www.zillacabs.com/