Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

[lex666]

Hey guys,

i'm seriously gassin' for a Mesa Roadster head.

I already have a Marshall TSLC212 2x12 cab that I'm using with my TSL602 combo. The TSLC212 cab has (1) 12" Celestion Heritage and (1) 12" Celestion Vintage speaker in it.

Will I still be able to get the Mesa sound I'm looking for using my current cab? I can barely afford the Mesa head, and wanted to save some money and space and use my existing Marshall cab...

If my current cab won't sound right, what if I just swapped the speakers out to Vintage 30's? Would it work then? Would I loose my Marshall sound? Would it improve it?

Thanks,

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

It'll sound better if you swap over to V30's, but it probably won't sound too bad with your current speaker setup.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

No way dude, if your head and cabinet are different brand names you run a serious risk of rocking too hard.

On the realz, see how it sounds before you stress about a swap. If it ain't broke why fix it...

-X

 

[sosomething]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

The second you plug into that Mesa, you can kiss any resemblance to a "Marshall" sound goodbye. Of course, the TSL is about the furthest you can get from the much-lauded Marshall sound while still having the word "Marshall" on your amp anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it.

That said, go for it. I've seen lots of guys get great sounds out of Mesa heads running through Marshall cabs - I actually prefer the sound of the Rectifiers into Marshalls more than into their own Recto cabs. I'm not very familiar with the speakers in yours, but I'd try it before I swapped em. If/when you do swap, you should consider the V30/Greenback combo - those speakers together compliment the Mesa's darker voicing really well, IMO.

 

[MVI]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

I have several cabs, and a few different tops. My Rivera M60 w/ EL-34's does a fair Marshall imitation. It works well with all my cabs, and does justice to a Heritage ( G12H, and "greenback" ) loaded Marshall stack. My Mesa F30 does actually sound best with my Mesa 3/4 back 1X12 cab, with a V30. It is different, but just fine with the Marshall stack. The Heritage stack is much more conservative that the V30 speaker, and the Mesa is *very* aggressive. Having said that, " This is your Mesa on Marshall ". Any questions ?

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

The only real caveat is that Mesa amps run only at 4 ohms or 8 ohms. You may need to re-wire your Marshall cab (or change the speakers) to get the optimum load for the the Mesa amp.

Bill

 

[sosomething]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

Good info. AFAIK 8ohms --> 16ohms isn't a dangerous mismatch. Some people say they prefer the sound of running their rigs this way.

 

[Brewtone]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

Not sure about the TSL Cabs but the larger 4X12 cabs that can be ran in stereo have a 16 ohm and a 4 ohm input and a switch to split the cab into 2 8ohm inputs. so either 8-->16 or 4-->4 should be fine

 

[Mephis]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

Good info. AFAIK 8ohms --> 16ohms isn't a dangerous mismatch. Some people say they prefer the sound of running their rigs this way.

I wouldn't say it's perfectly safe either though.

You're always taking a risk with a mismatch.

But yes, going in that direction is safer than, lets say 4ohm --> 16ohm.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Mesa head with Marshall cabs?

I wouldn't say it's perfectly safe either though.

You're always taking a risk with a mismatch.

But yes, going in that direction is safer than, lets say 4ohm --> 16ohm.

Honestly, going from 8ohm --> 16ohm is perfectly safe. You're drawing less power from the amplifier than it is capable of providing, and it's going to be totally comfortable with that.

An example of an unsafe mismatch would be going in the other direction: 8ohm --> 4ohm, which would blo yo **** up.