What's a good match for a Mesa Black Shadow C-90 in a 2x12 cab?

[Animal]

I've got an open back 1x12 cabinet loaded with a Mesa C-90. As some of you probably know, the C-90 is similar to the Celestion Classic Lead 80 with a few tweaks. Sometime in the future, when I have freakin' money, I'm going to upgrade to a closed back 2x12 cabinet made by a local boutique builder who's getting rave reviews for his work by Melbourne musicians. Since I already have the C-90, I could save money by loading this into the cab.

I'm wondering what would pair up well with the Black Shadow. To my ears it sounds quite clear in the mids but doesn't exaclty have "mojo". I play mostly hard rock/metal and I like the whole "marshall on steriods" kind of vintage but high-gain chugga-chugga thing. How would a Vintage 30, G12H30, or G12T-75 pair up?

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: What's a good match for a Mesa Black Shadow C-90 in a 2x12 cab?

Well, the obvious choice is a second C-90.

The next choice, and I think the best would be a Mesa-style Half-back cab with the C-90 in an open back and an Electro-Voice EVM in a closed back, Theile ported and aligned cabinet. I have a vertical Mesa 212 in this style, and it is one of the best cabs I have ever used. This has the power handling of most 412s, in a much more portable package--with the dispersion of an open-back cab and the projection of a closed back. It is truly the best of both worlds, IMHO. I also have a Mesa 412 like this with two of each speaker.

The other speaker that might work with this is a Vintage 30; but some experimenting might point you to some other choices, too. I'd think you'd want a speaker with a similar sensitivity rating.

Good luck.

Bill

 

[Animal]

Re: What's a good match for a Mesa Black Shadow C-90 in a 2x12 cab?

Well, the obvious choice is a second C-90.

arghh ha ha, you have to make it so simple and boring he he!

While it is logical that the best match for a C-90 would be a C-90, I'm after a speaker that I guess would be "colouring" my tone with more of a british vibe. The C-90 is good in a sense that it pretty much projects/handles exactly what you throw at it but at the same times makes the tone coming out my Laney AOR 50-II head sound kind of sterile. I guess the C-90 is best suited for Mesa applications doing the whole american thing.

Idealisticaly, I'm looking to see if I can get the best both of the sounds, with the clearness of the C-90 mixed with something that that has more character/edge. Not sure if it would really work but I figure it's worth a shot if I already have one of the speakers, and then if it doesn't I can just trade/sell the C-90 for something else.

I've read reports that say mixing C-90's with Vintage 30 yeilds good results. The whole Vintage 30 with G12T-75's being good for heavier music route has been tickling my fancy ever since I started reading about different speakers combos, however I'm quite skeptical about the G12T-75. I've played a through a Marshall 30th anniversary LM head into a relatively new Marshall 1960 cab (which I *think* was stock hence loaded with G12T-75's) and the sound didn't seem all that great. Maybe it was the head having 5881's tubes instead of EL34's, but even with it cranked and the mids dimed, the mids seemed to lack that classic marshall mid-range roar. Don't know whether to blame that on the speakers or not.

I extensively tried out an Ashdown Fallen Angel 60 combo with 2 Vintage 30's once at a guitar shop and it seemd to posses that Marshall grunt more so than the actual Marshall 30th half-stack. It didn't have the bass "chugga-chugga" though, probably due the open back design.

So yeh, I'm leaning towards a V30 now. The G12H30 still pikes my interest though I fear that it could be too muddy or fat with the kind of music I'm playing.

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: What's a good match for a Mesa Black Shadow C-90 in a 2x12 cab?

I used to mix C90's and V30's in a 4x12.


I much prefer all V30's.

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: What's a good match for a Mesa Black Shadow C-90 in a 2x12 cab?

I have run my Mesa C90 and Mesa 2x12 v30 cab together and they sound GREAT! Wish I felt like lugging both around.

 

[Animal]

Re: What's a good match for a Mesa Black Shadow C-90 in a 2x12 cab?

I have run my Mesa C90 and Mesa 2x12 v30 cab together and they sound GREAT! Wish I felt like lugging both around.

How would you describe the contrast between the two different cabs?