Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

[Young Angus]

Why?

[Grandor]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

speakers perhaps?

[B2D]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

Word is that the speakers have everything to do with it. What the difference is I'm not sure. Could be they were better made with better materials and the older speakers are all broken in and such but i really dunno.

[Young Angus]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

So its not that the actual cab itself is made better?

[TwofacePimp]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

It has been said that the old "basketweave" grill filters out a little high end, when the modern grill does not. This seems to be desirable to most people.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

It probably has very little to do with the actual cabinet, since Marshall cabs are probably made better today than they were back in the day.
It may be the actual metals available to them in the driver contruction, tho??

Anyone know fer sure??

NOTE:
According to THE HISTORY OF MARSHALL:

"Since Marshall couldn't afford to tool up their own (speaker) cover, they used very attractive labels instead. The early labels used on the Alnico-magnet speakers are also an immediate guiede to the date of manufacture ...

"Marshall used the Alnico G12s at least until 1965 ... but it seems that they changed over to the ceramic G12s as soon as they became both widely available and proven, which was possibly March 1965 ...

"Since then, the G12 ceramic form has developed over the years to become perhaps the most popular guitar speaker ever ... it [is] very difficult to be specific about which models are the ones to look out for or to know which are "the ones that Hendrix used"! "

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

Here's what THE HISTORY OF MARSHALL has to say about the cabinets:

"By 1968 the speaker cloth had changed to the basket-weave style, and the super tall "B" cabinet had been dropped in favour of the rather more practical square design ...

"Assuming that [the] Celestion date code is correct, I have found the heavier duty G12H30s from as early as 1967, though they seem to have been most commonly used from 1969 onwards."

So, it seems to me that the basket weave cabinets were the begining of the new cabinet design, and that the cabinets that would have any real tonal advantage would be the B series cabs from the mid 1960's, using the original Alnico magnets ...

By the time the basket weave cabs were being made, they were already using the ceramic magnets on the Celestions ...

Does that make any sense, Young Angus??

[aleclee]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

It probably has very little to do with the actual cabinet, since Marshall cabs are probably made better today than they were back in the day.

My understanding was that today's low end Marshall cabs are made of particle board rather than plywood. I'm no Marshall expert, though.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

My understanding was that today's low end Marshall cabs are made of particle board rather than plywood. I'm no Marshall expert, though.

I'm not talking about the POS line of cabs, of course.

[InstituteOfNoise]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

I have one from 1970. It is my #1 recording 4x12 cab. No more live dates with it. The speakers and grill cloth are big factors, as stated above. It is the real deal!!! Years ago I had Paul Rivera mod the wiring for me to make it stereo if I choose, otherwise run it as a std mono 4x12.

[Young Angus]

Re: Are the old marshall basketweave 4x12 cabs really better than new ones?

Here's what THE HISTORY OF MARSHALL has to say about the cabinets:

"By 1968 the speaker cloth had changed to the basket-weave style, and the super tall "B" cabinet had been dropped in favour of the rather more practical square design ...

"Assuming that [the] Celestion date code is correct, I have found the heavier duty G12H30s from as early as 1967, though they seem to have been most commonly used from 1969 onwards."

So, it seems to me that the basket weave cabinets were the begining of the new cabinet design, and that the cabinets that would have any real tonal advantage would be the B series cabs from the mid 1960's, using the original Alnico magnets ...

By the time the basket weave cabs were being made, they were already using the ceramic magnets on the Celestions ...

Does that make any sense, Young Angus??

Yep sure does Twilight...cheers