barrymclark Posted May 26, 2012 Posted May 26, 2012 Alright, the Dr. Z arrived yesterday. After a couple of hours of financial nail biting, I get to keep it! YAY! Anyways, I will start by saying this is easily the finest quality guitar cab I have ever owned with regards to build. I have owned very high end bass gear (Demeter, Bag End, etc) but never high end guitar gear. The cab is exactly as described by the guy I got it from: mint. I got the cab for $450 and the Dr. Z Brake Lite for $100 (also mint). Two 12\" stock speakers are installed. They are a Celestion V30 and a Celestion G12H30. It is important to point out that this cab is specifically designed for those speakers using the Theile Porting method. I have never been a huge fan of Celestion untll now. At a skimpy 60 lbs, this thing is BEEFY. It is designed to be used in the vertical position but can also be laid flat for a pretty drastic change in tone. Since this cab is designed to give a VERY full range of tone from a guitar, with a hollowbody, it was a bit woofy for me. I laid it on its side and BINGO! Nice, nice, nice. I will go further to say this cab is LOUD. HOLY CRAP IS IT LOUD! Another fun aspect about this, and it isn\'t shocking, is the speaker break up. Since I hadn\'t used lower wattage speakers before now, I hadn\'t really known speaker break up before. I plugged my Cube 80x in and had it on my normal JC Clean setting and turned it up about halfway. I REALLY leaned into a beauty of a double stop and it REALLY had a beautiful break up. Once my computer stops being a turd, I will upload some pics!
GuitArtMan Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 I always thought it was designed to be used horizontal, but also had feet on it's side so it could be used vertical as well. Either way it's a killer sounding cabinet, and I will echo it's LOUDNESS! That Thiele port really moves some air. I've owned more than a few 2x12s through the years including: Jenkins Highway 61 - Great midrangey sounding cabinet that put the guitar where it belonged in the mix. Mesa Horizontal Recto 2x12 - Kinda boomy sounding as I remember it - HUGE bottom end. Mesa Vertical Recto 2x12 - Great rock cabinet - big bottom end but not as boomy as the horizontal cab. THD 2x12 - another great all around 2x12. A bit lighter and easier to handle than the Z-best. Marshall 1966a - this is Marshall 2x12 slant cabinet that looks like a mini 4x12. It's a great sounding cab that is easy to manage as it's 24" square. Doesn't suffer from the boominess some of the larger 2x12s have. Mather built Marshall 1966a replica - Better build quality than the Marshall - great sounding cab for rock and roll! I had this build as the used prices on the Marshall 1966a have gotten out of hand. Z-best - Probably the best all around 2x12 I've tried. Sounds great clean, crunch or scream, loud. great full range sound, LOUD. The only niggle I have is size and weight - I'm getting old! Anyway, enjoy the cabinet.
barrymclark Posted May 27, 2012 Author Posted May 27, 2012 I always thought it was designed to be used horizontal' date=' but also had feet on it\'s side so it could be used vertical as well. Either way it\'s a killer sounding cabinet, and I will echo it\'s LOUDNESS! That Thiele port really moves some air. I\'ve owned more than a few 2x12s through the years including:Jenkins Highway 61 - Great midrangey sounding cabinet that put the guitar where it belonged in the mix. Mesa Horizontal Recto 2x12 - Kinda boomy sounding as I remember it - HUGE bottom end. Mesa Vertical Recto 2x12 - Great rock cabinet - big bottom end but not as boomy as the horizontal cab. THD 2x12 - another great all around 2x12. A bit lighter and easier to handle than the Z-best. Marshall 1966a - this is Marshall 2x12 slant cabinet that looks like a mini 4x12. It\'s a great sounding cab that is easy to manage as it\'s 24\" square. Doesn\'t suffer from the boominess some of the larger 2x12s have. Mather built Marshall 1966a replica - Better build quality than the Marshall - great sounding cab for rock and roll! I had this build as the used prices on the Marshall 1966a have gotten out of hand. Z-best - Probably the best all around 2x12 I\'ve tried. Sounds great clean, crunch or scream, loud. great full range sound, LOUD. The only niggle I have is size and weight - I\'m getting old! Anyway, enjoy the cabinet.[/quote'] That weight is BEASTLY. ...and it is LOUD. It isn\'t so big for me, just heavy...and LOUD. That port does indeed move some air. The bassist I jam with, Todd, felt the air moving his shirt until I got my volume worked out. ....LOUD.
barrymclark Posted May 27, 2012 Author Posted May 27, 2012 This cabinet is ridiculous! Love it, love it! You oughta hear What a Wonderful World surfed and R&B\'ed up (OLD school R&B like early 50\'s) with a nice punk pace. Then Sleep Walk with one of the measures wound out. Great, great stuff!
GuitArtMan Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 That weight is BEASTLY. ...and it is LOUD. It isn\'t so big for me, just heavy...and LOUD. That port does indeed move some air. The bassist I jam with, Todd, felt the air moving his shirt until I got my volume worked out. ....LOUD. It definitely moves some air! The V30/G12H30 combo in that cabinet really sounds great. I think it might have been the inspiration for other builders to mix speakers in their 2x12s.
DetroitBlues Posted May 29, 2012 Posted May 29, 2012 while I love the volume and tone of larger cabinets, I have yet to find a need for one on stage or at rehersal.
barrymclark Posted May 29, 2012 Author Posted May 29, 2012 while I love the volume and tone of larger cabinets, I have yet to find a need for one on stage or at rehersal. Cause you are standing on the wrong side of it! haha. Your shirt will MOVE! It's a childish enjoyment, yes. but... SO. haha.
DetroitBlues Posted May 29, 2012 Posted May 29, 2012 Cause you are standing on the wrong side of it! haha. Your shirt will MOVE! It's a childish enjoyment, yes. but... SO. haha. Very true, that is a lot of fun...
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