hydro
Prayin' to Cheeses
I needed a 1x12 cab for a Marshall Artist 3203 I had kicking around, and ordered an Avatar Vintage cab. This marshall has some of that high-end harshness thing going, and I was looking for a speaker to offset it; plus I had been wanting to try a Texas Heat so I got it with one installed. Well, I a/b'd it with a Celestion C90 Black Shadow (in another 1x12) and was really disappointed; wet-suitcase kind of sound, very dark and muddy. Cleans were better but still not as good as the C90. I had similar results with my Mesa 5:50+.
I ended up swapping out the Texas Heat for a Swamp Thang. I think the cab sounds much better that way, for my application. The Texas Heat sounded great in the demos I heard but I think they take off too much dynamics and high end, and make this particular cab sound much darker and quieter. Probably would be exactly what some players would want, but I needed more chime and more crunch. It sounded pretty good in combination with the other 1x12; so I could see someone using them in a multi-speaker cab to bring out some richness and low end warmth. Or using these as a replacement for a vintage combo or cab that had really broken-in old school speakers. It also seemed less efficient/loud than the Swamp Thang or the C90, maybe the smaller magnet? dunno... The Swamp Thang is a *really* nice speaker. Compared favorably with the C90 Black Shadow; actually a little tighter on the low end and a bit less fizzy than the C90; but maybe not quite as big sounding overall especially in the mids.
Anyway, just wanted to pass on the info. My takeaways from this were 1) speakers *really do* make a big difference in your sound 2) You have to hear them in person; clips are only so useful
Now that I have personally experienced how much difference a speaker swap can make, I am debating whether I should replace my V30 based 4x12 with a Swamp Thang based 4x12, or maybe ask Mesa to make me one with C90s in it instead of V30s. I know many people love V30s but they are just not my cup of tea. Breaking them in and dinking with EQ has helped some but still.... bleah.
I ended up swapping out the Texas Heat for a Swamp Thang. I think the cab sounds much better that way, for my application. The Texas Heat sounded great in the demos I heard but I think they take off too much dynamics and high end, and make this particular cab sound much darker and quieter. Probably would be exactly what some players would want, but I needed more chime and more crunch. It sounded pretty good in combination with the other 1x12; so I could see someone using them in a multi-speaker cab to bring out some richness and low end warmth. Or using these as a replacement for a vintage combo or cab that had really broken-in old school speakers. It also seemed less efficient/loud than the Swamp Thang or the C90, maybe the smaller magnet? dunno... The Swamp Thang is a *really* nice speaker. Compared favorably with the C90 Black Shadow; actually a little tighter on the low end and a bit less fizzy than the C90; but maybe not quite as big sounding overall especially in the mids.
Anyway, just wanted to pass on the info. My takeaways from this were 1) speakers *really do* make a big difference in your sound 2) You have to hear them in person; clips are only so useful
Now that I have personally experienced how much difference a speaker swap can make, I am debating whether I should replace my V30 based 4x12 with a Swamp Thang based 4x12, or maybe ask Mesa to make me one with C90s in it instead of V30s. I know many people love V30s but they are just not my cup of tea. Breaking them in and dinking with EQ has helped some but still.... bleah.
