What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

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dr0

New member
I did a search and we haven't had a good "Best 4x12" thread here in years. I'm thinking "Best" is impossibly subjective, so let's just go ahead and call it favorite.

What brand and model do you prefer and why? Slant or straight? Traditional or oversize?

Of course the best cab is dependent on the speakers, the head, and the type of sound you are going for, so don't skimp on those details either.

And which 4x12 cabs have been disappointing and not worked well?

Happy Friday! Have at it!!
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

Recto slant front V30's. Triple rec head, for heavy metal this thing sounds like some sort of giant p.o.'d dragon about to lay waste to everything in it's path. Tons of thump and low end, tight and responsive but not dry sounding.

Runner up is a Bogner uberkab with the two kinds of front mount speakers.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

My only 4x12 is a classic Orange. (The big square one. Orange didn't even make "slant cabs" at the time I bought it.) I played it exclusively for a few years, then got some other amps. The Fender Bassman '59 Reissue became the go-to, in part because it's so much easier to move. I 've recently started using the Orange at practice, and it seems a little bassy and boomy to me (even with bass controls set to zero). This suggests that part of liking something is being used to it.

I have read elsewhere, however, that the Orange is beloved by players in the "stoner-doom" genre. I'm not sure exactly which bands that should be reminding me of, but it is easy to believe that the Orange cab would work great for that genre.

It may be that I prefer the open-back sound now.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

Thundermtn said:
Recto slant front V30's. Triple rec head, for heavy metal this thing sounds like some sort of giant p.o.'d dragon about to lay waste to everything in it's path. Tons of thump and low end, tight and responsive but not dry sounding.

Runner up is a Bogner uberkab with the two kinds of front mount speakers.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Great explanation.

Red_dragon_by_caiomm.jpg
 
What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

A 4x12, for me nowadays is overkill.
I’m using either my Marshall 1936 or my Port City OS 2x12 (which is still a pretty big cab).
They both are loaded with the same speakers. 1 Celestion G12T-75 and 1 Splawn Small Block. The Port City has beam blockers in it. Both are wired to 8 ohms.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

The "survey" tool limits the possible number of answers to 10. One had to be "other", so that left 9. Who are the big cab makers?

From what I see Marshall is clearly #1 in terms of what you see out there. My favorite used music place usually has two or three Marshall cabs, and then some other stuff.

Honorable mentions:
  • Dr. Z
  • Soldano
  • Diezel
  • Randall
  • Carvin
  • Mojotone
  • Friedman
  • Scumback
  • Stoneage
  • Blackstar

Here's a collection one guy has (image borrowed from Gear Page forum):

cabs.jpg
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

Gtrjunior said:
A 4x12, for me nowadays is overkill.
I’m using either my Marshall 1936 or my Port City OS 2x12 (which is still a pretty big cab).
They both are loaded with the same speakers. 1 Celestion G12T-75 and 1 Splawn Small Block. The Port City has beam blockers in it. Both are wired to 8 ohms.
Click to expand...

Sure, a lot of people don't use them these days, and I'd even go so far as to say the 2x12 is the new 4x12. In fact, another one of my Friday Polls was this one The 2x12: How Do you like it served? Combo, Extension, Head+Cab, and the Head + 2x12 cab was the overwhelming favorite of Forum participants, beating the trendy mini-stack and even the veritable Twin combo (despite my stuffing the thread with famous combo users and their amps).

Anyway, feel free to vote for your favorite 4x12 cab even if it's not you favorite set-up for yourself these days.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

cabs-mesa2.jpg

Mesa's two sizes. The smaller "Traditional" vs. the larger "Rectifier Standard".
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

cabs-R1.jpg

This is the style I associate with Randall, a brand I know mostly from seeing them for sale at the local pawn-shop. They have a huge number of models, from very cheap to moderate priced, like Marshall.

The cheap ones seem to be beloved by 14 year-old boys for use in bedroom videos, based on my limited YouTube research on the brand.
 
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Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

Have an Orange 2X12 V30's closed back big box.

It's currently out of commission b/c the jack plate in the back is plastic and broke as a mofo, it was good sounding when it was working. It gave the recto cab a run for it's money on bass response and being thick sounding. I could get by at gigs with just it if I wanted to.

The only down sides to a 2x12 is that it's damn near as heavy as my 4x12, and it doesn't have wheels.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

Love me my Ampeg V4. They have a great punch and are a bit sweeter than a Marshall cab. Back in the day, Nuno had one mixed in with his Marshalls, the Ampeg was the one being miced.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

I’m sitting this one out. My Marshall is the only one I’ve played for more than five minutes.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

In the room, I really dig Orange cabs. They're a bit hard to capture under a mic, though.

Marshall 1960 cabs are cool because they're loud, bright, and agressive and they cut through easily. 1960V's are nice in particular. The MF280 and 1960TV are also great.

In the room and recorded, Mesa cabs deliver the goods. Especially the Recto cab, but the Stiletto cab is also nice.
 
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Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

Here's an interesting comparison of two cabs, both with Vintage 30 speakers. A Mesa Rectifier and an Orange PPC 412 are compared.
The key uses a looper and both are driven by a Mesa Triple Rec head. There is a pretty big difference in sound.

The cover picture does a good job of showing the size comparison between them, too.

Orange 4x12 ~VS Mesa 4x12 ((VINTAGE 30's)) Sound Test!

cab-orVme.jpg
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

dr0 said:
Here's an interesting comparison of two cabs, both with Vintage 30 speakers. A Mesa Rectifier and an Orange PPC 412 are compared.
The key uses a looper and both are driven by a Mesa Triple Rec head. There is a pretty big difference in sound.

The cover picture does a good job of showing the size comparison between them, too.

Orange 4x12 ~VS Mesa 4x12 ((VINTAGE 30's)) Sound Test!

View attachment 89792
Click to expand...
The difference between those is more than just the cab. The speakers are different too. Mesas come with their propietary tweaked version of the Vintage 30. Orange cabs used to come with British V30's (which were different from the Mesa V30's even though both were British), but now come with standard Chinese V30's, AFAIK.

Then there's the matter of 16 vs 8 ohms. Not only do 16 ohm versions of the same speaker sound different than 8 ohms, but the amp responds differently depending on what load it sees.

 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

I've never played a VHT / Fryette. They seem a little rare around here. For this fellow they made the perfect low-volume bedroom rig. amp-vht.jpg
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

Old Ampeg cabs from the '70's, because they sound great, look great, and are built like brick ****houses. A V-4 or V-2 through a matching 4x12 or two is one of the most awesome and scary good tones a guitarist can get IMO. Ampeg is a terrible omission from the poll.
 
Re: What's your favorite 4x12 cab, and why?

My favorite 4x12 is the one you carry to the gig and set up for me.

Most of the time these days I play through an Egnater Rebel 112X loaded with a 16-ohm Eminence Wizard. If that isn't loud enough, I have an Earcandy Buzzbomb 2x12 that's likewise loaded with Wizards and wired 16 ohms. I technically also have a '77/'78 Marshall 1982B cab loaded with blackback G12H30s, but it's going to be up for sale when I dig it out of storage.
 
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