Jump to content
Heritage Owners Club

a cabinet question


Scooter

Recommended Posts

Height, depth, width, joins, glues, covering, baffle, what else ... all contribute to the sound coming out the front. So yeah, two seemingly equal quality cabs made by different companies with the same speakers can sound different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave at Avatar is a good guy.  His 2x12 cabs mimic other popular models - Fender, Orange and Bogner.  He sells Celestions at real good prices.  He sells his own Hellatone (Celestion) speakers that have been broken in.  He also has fleabay auctions where you can find discounted sets.

 

I'm still in the experimental phase of speakers and don't have any cabs with the same pair or quad loaded.  The friendliest set I've found are the Ceramic and alnico Tone Tubby speakers.  I'm still trying to hit that hot spot with Celestions (Blue + Greenback or Gold +V30/G12H30) but haven't found it - yet.  The final piece I will add to my puzzle are the Jensen Blackbirds; I haven't got there, again, yet.

 

I don't know if I'll try them but I just stumbled across WarehouseSpeakers.com.  They appear to be discounted knockoffs of Celestions.  Although Heritage shattered my stant position, I'm a believer of the "you get what you pay for" club.

 

yoslate spoke of a music store with a wall of speakers.  Next time I get to the outer banks, I'll head there first! 

 

The factors I search for are the abundance or lack of Hi, Mids and lows to taste and then assess how friendly they present your playing.  It's all good!

Have you tried any of the Scumback speakers?  These get rave reviews by guys trying to grok the vintage Celestion magic.

 

What cabinet do you have the Tone Tubbys in?  Do you play LOUD and/or with a bright amp?  The reason I ask is that I tried a Tone Tubby a few years back in my Carmen Ghia 1x12 and found it very dark sounding - like a blanket was over the amp.  And this was supposedly the brightest hemp cone.  Also at this years NAMM I listened to a guy demoing one of the newer Mad Professor pedals through a Tone Tubby loaded cabinet.  He had the tone full up, and the amp set bright and yet I still though his tone was on the dark side. Still enough top artists are raving on the Tone Tubbies it makes me wonder if they come alive at high volume, or perhaps that don't become shrill as other speakers might.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Height, depth, width, joins, glues, covering, baffle, what else ... all contribute to the sound coming out the front. So yeah, two seemingly equal quality cabs made by different companies with the same speakers can sound different.

Thanks, Tulk1. That was the cherry on the cake for me.  Good stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried any of the Scumback speakers?  These get rave reviews by guys trying to grok the vintage Celestion magic.

 

What cabinet do you have the Tone Tubbys in?  Do you play LOUD and/or with a bright amp?  The reason I ask is that I tried a Tone Tubby a few years back in my Carmen Ghia 1x12 and found it very dark sounding - like a blanket was over the amp.  And this was supposedly the brightest hemp cone.  Also at this years NAMM I listened to a guy demoing one of the newer Mad Professor pedals through a Tone Tubby loaded cabinet.  He had the tone full up, and the amp set bright and yet I still though his tone was on the dark side. Still enough top artists are raving on the Tone Tubbies it makes me wonder if they come alive at high volume, or perhaps that don't become shrill as other speakers might.

 

No, I haven't tried Scumbacks.  I've heard good things about them, just never went there (time, money ...)  I started with EMIs and moved to Celestion pretty quickly.  I've taken side roads with A Brown Soun and a Jensen AlNiCo.  I don't particularly care for either the AlNiCo nor ceramic Tone Tubbys individually.  By mixing them, something meshes and the sound is better than the individual parts.  They call the combination an H-Bomb; I read about it on another forum (it was years ago and I'd Never cheat on the HOC.  I was young and impetuous and I hope you'll all forgive me ;D).  I have a crate 2x12 with the speaker combo and a Soldano 2x12 with the same combo.  The Crate cab is powered by a no-name 6L6 with a 6SN7 (?) preamp, the Soldano cab gets a Bogner Shiva (6L6/12AX7 + reverb).  They both sound good.  Volume levels are mostly noisy room level (think cocktail party where you have to speak up), I rattle the window panes when Mrs. Steiner is out.  >:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Height, depth, width, joins, glues, covering, baffle, what else ... all contribute to the sound coming out the front. So yeah, two seemingly equal quality cabs made by different companies with the same speakers can sound different.

 

Tulk,  Scooter is shooting for his first cab on a budget.  I'd venture to guess that he'll hear a greater difference from changing string type (for example, stainless to nickle) or swapping out V1 preamp tube type than he will between a $300 and $1000 2x12 cab.  Keep it simple; then, in 2 years, when he's healed financially and ready to move, then throw the finite nuances at him :BangHead:

 

You're right.  All those factors add up to different sound.  Think about your first cab shopping experience, did you consider all that?  Do you wish you had, given your experience then?  Mine was simple, it's black and says Marshall; cool!  I got a lot of miles out of that cab.  Now I understand it was made of MDF, had crappy speakers and wasn't worth what I paid.  Bottom line?  No regrets.

 

Steer him towards marine plywood with good construction and Celestions in whatever shape and color he likes and when it's time to move on he'll have a cab that will be worth most of what he paid = high ROI.  I wish I'd thought like that in the day but, hey, it said Marshall!   :laugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No no no! Gotta throw all the finer nuances now while I still remember them. Lord knows what I'l remember tomorrow.  :P

 

Thing is, when I went shopping for my first cab I didn't have the instant resources that we so enjoy now. I basically went out, found a cab (yes, it said Marshall, too) and went for it. I've also had a cab made for me, etc. But gotta agree that so many players overlook the tube swap as a way to improve tone. I know I did. Sold a perfectly good Marshall (there's that name again) because it sounded like poo. When all it really needed, probably, was new tubes and some biasing. I put a lot of hours on that amp.

 

So, anyway. There are a lot of choices from cheap to expensive cabs. And we certainly want to enable Scooter in finding something. Scooter, just don't jump at the first thing you find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, Tulk1 and Steiner, I like all this nuanced info.  Steiner, I know what you're saying.  I am truly interested, though, in the info Tulk (and everybody for that matter) is shootin' at me.  I have time to consider all this info and learn more before I make my purchase.  I never gave much thought before about the technical aspects of amps, obviously.  I just played with an amp I could afford and liked.  Not that I want to go geek on amps (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I am fascinated for the first time about them.  'L probably look online to see if I can find a good primer on amps or maybe a good book on amps for neophytes.  For me it's fun hearing all of you talk shop on this stuff. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scooter!  Sorry, that expression get used often around here...

 

A good primer and source for various amps can be had free here, start on page 76:

http://line6.com/data/l/0a06000f1665c4447e...-%20English.pdf

 

It's well written and quick.  Plus, PLUS - it has porn.  Just how I like it  :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scooter!  Sorry, that expression get used often around here...

 

A good primer and source for various amps can be had free here, start on page 76:

http://line6.com/data/l/0a06000f1665c4447e...-%20English.pdf

 

It's well written and quick.  Plus, PLUS - it has porn.  Just how I like it  :rolleyes:

Oh, and uh...let me just aim this thing here...thUUUng!  +1

pigeons.jpg

pigeons.jpg_thumb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...