Diego
New member
I tried a Laney IRT 2x12 closed back cabinet, which some of you might remember I tried a few months ago and didn't like.
That time I tried it for about 20 minutes at lowish volumes and I just wasn't convinced.
This time I got a proper room where I could properly knock myself out testing, and I got my own cabinet to compare as well for a total of 3 ear-fatiguing hours.
Mine's a DIY open back 1x12 loaded with an Eminence Wizard.
To give you an idea, I really like heavy tones, but I'm definitely not from the 7-8-9 string, Triple Rectifier/AxeFX and EMGs crew.
I like more classic sounds made heavy. Something similar to what bands like Mastodon, King's X, Down and AIC use.
Saturated, but with proper mids, high-end separation and clarity. Definitely more on the "British" side which is why I went with a Wizard in the first place. So how did it go?
My crappy rig:
Egnater Tweaker 15 with EHX 6CA7 power tubes/Tungsol 12AX7 preamps.
Ibanez SZ320 as seen in my signature, only with a UOA5 Screamin' Demon bridge (more mids, love it this way)
Boss GE7 and EHX Memory Toy in the loop, Keeley Blues Driver in the front (my favorite OD pedal for this amp)
---
First I dialed my rig just the way I'd play it. I was surprised by the amount of bass that I was getting from my 1x12... turns out I had the amp cornered in a closed room with a really high ceiling. Bass heaven but even I found it unnecessary. It was bouncing like mad so I cut some low-end and got me the crunch I usually go for.
Plenty of mids well tightened with a EQ in the loop (3db cut around 800hz, 3 db boost around 1.6k. RAWK) and a Keeley Blues Driver in front of my modest one-channel amp to make it really angry.
Then I plugged the 2x12 with the same settings, knowing I'd have to re-set everything.
Threw an E power chord... **** THAT'S BRIGHT. Dialed some treble back and when I rolled it back enough that it was pleasant, I'd lost quite a lot of bite and presence. I couldn't roll the treble to a point where I could tame the fizz and keeping the clarity I like.
I did all sort of testing with a GE7 in the loop and managed to make it acceptable, but I still felt short-changed. Then I noticed my Blues Driver was boosting all the wrong frequencies that were annoying me. Took it off and got better results, but I wasn't truly impressed and I just felt the highs were very cold and hi-fi, and the mids had a tendency to sound thin and anemic. I hate thin, anemic mids...
And while I was at it, tried some extra palm muting because closed back 2x12s are just ****ing metal, man. But today, they weren't.
Where's my bass, dude?
I noticed that with the same settings in my 1x12, I wasn't getting any thump at all. It was more like a thumb pushing my chest, not a kick. Dialed my bass back in and realized I got nothing back, even if I went crazy on it. 10 db boost at 100 hz? WTF?
Walked across the room to check if it was projecting somewhere funny. It wasn't.
And to avoid making this story too long, I didn't gel with the way the mids sat in the mix. Knobs and EQ bars went up and down with no success, and as soon as I plugged my 1x12 I recovered my basic template for what I think a good heavy sound is. My mids and bass were back!
So... any conclusions or you'll keep ranting with no structure?
Not being the most experimented guitarist when it comes to speakers, I do have the slight sensation that the HH speakers loaded with the IRT cab are set for a very cold, attacking sound with not much bounce or sag. I imagine it must be excellent with really low tunings and a really heavy sound coming from a loud head with endless headroom and extended bass response. If I had to play Animals as Leaders or Periphery for a budget, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
But with my rig and for my tastes, that Laney 2x12 is a pig. Sounded tiny and harsh all the time with zero warmth. And my 1x12 not only was bassier and fatter, but way louder too. Yay Eminence. My next victim is going to be a Jet City 2x12 that's a lot more expensive than the Laney. Really wanna see what that one's about...
Oh, and here's the most filtered picture I've ever seen of myself, trying the cabs. You're welcome.
That time I tried it for about 20 minutes at lowish volumes and I just wasn't convinced.
This time I got a proper room where I could properly knock myself out testing, and I got my own cabinet to compare as well for a total of 3 ear-fatiguing hours.
Mine's a DIY open back 1x12 loaded with an Eminence Wizard.
To give you an idea, I really like heavy tones, but I'm definitely not from the 7-8-9 string, Triple Rectifier/AxeFX and EMGs crew.
I like more classic sounds made heavy. Something similar to what bands like Mastodon, King's X, Down and AIC use.
Saturated, but with proper mids, high-end separation and clarity. Definitely more on the "British" side which is why I went with a Wizard in the first place. So how did it go?
My crappy rig:
Egnater Tweaker 15 with EHX 6CA7 power tubes/Tungsol 12AX7 preamps.
Ibanez SZ320 as seen in my signature, only with a UOA5 Screamin' Demon bridge (more mids, love it this way)
Boss GE7 and EHX Memory Toy in the loop, Keeley Blues Driver in the front (my favorite OD pedal for this amp)
---
First I dialed my rig just the way I'd play it. I was surprised by the amount of bass that I was getting from my 1x12... turns out I had the amp cornered in a closed room with a really high ceiling. Bass heaven but even I found it unnecessary. It was bouncing like mad so I cut some low-end and got me the crunch I usually go for.
Plenty of mids well tightened with a EQ in the loop (3db cut around 800hz, 3 db boost around 1.6k. RAWK) and a Keeley Blues Driver in front of my modest one-channel amp to make it really angry.
Then I plugged the 2x12 with the same settings, knowing I'd have to re-set everything.
Threw an E power chord... **** THAT'S BRIGHT. Dialed some treble back and when I rolled it back enough that it was pleasant, I'd lost quite a lot of bite and presence. I couldn't roll the treble to a point where I could tame the fizz and keeping the clarity I like.
I did all sort of testing with a GE7 in the loop and managed to make it acceptable, but I still felt short-changed. Then I noticed my Blues Driver was boosting all the wrong frequencies that were annoying me. Took it off and got better results, but I wasn't truly impressed and I just felt the highs were very cold and hi-fi, and the mids had a tendency to sound thin and anemic. I hate thin, anemic mids...
And while I was at it, tried some extra palm muting because closed back 2x12s are just ****ing metal, man. But today, they weren't.
Where's my bass, dude?
I noticed that with the same settings in my 1x12, I wasn't getting any thump at all. It was more like a thumb pushing my chest, not a kick. Dialed my bass back in and realized I got nothing back, even if I went crazy on it. 10 db boost at 100 hz? WTF?
Walked across the room to check if it was projecting somewhere funny. It wasn't.
And to avoid making this story too long, I didn't gel with the way the mids sat in the mix. Knobs and EQ bars went up and down with no success, and as soon as I plugged my 1x12 I recovered my basic template for what I think a good heavy sound is. My mids and bass were back!
So... any conclusions or you'll keep ranting with no structure?
Not being the most experimented guitarist when it comes to speakers, I do have the slight sensation that the HH speakers loaded with the IRT cab are set for a very cold, attacking sound with not much bounce or sag. I imagine it must be excellent with really low tunings and a really heavy sound coming from a loud head with endless headroom and extended bass response. If I had to play Animals as Leaders or Periphery for a budget, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
But with my rig and for my tastes, that Laney 2x12 is a pig. Sounded tiny and harsh all the time with zero warmth. And my 1x12 not only was bassier and fatter, but way louder too. Yay Eminence. My next victim is going to be a Jet City 2x12 that's a lot more expensive than the Laney. Really wanna see what that one's about...
Oh, and here's the most filtered picture I've ever seen of myself, trying the cabs. You're welcome.
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