A while ago, I made my 1000th post, almost frothing at the mouth at my
NEW CAB :)
Basically, it started life as an Engl Standard 4x12" slanted, then I swapped the V60 speakers out for a pair of Celestion Classic Lead 80s & a pair of Celestion G12K-100s. I always meant to write a more detailed review once I'd had a chance to properly play in the speakers & get over the feeling of total euphoria.
Well, I've managed the former, but not the latter - I'm still absolutely bowled over by this cab - & essentially my initial impression has proved right:
This cab
is much better suited to the Savage than the Mesa 2x12" (with Vintage 30s). The Rectifier had a dark, "sludgy", loose kinda feel to it which suited the Vintage 30s in the Mesa cab. But since I got the Savage I'd struggled to tame a really "hard" top end with that cab. Both the Classic Lead 80s & K100s are much smoother than V30s.
I've read several posts/reviews etc that described the CL80 as essentially a "warmer" V30 & that description has a lot of merit - it
does have a more rounded top end. It also has really creamy sweet mids that make leads
SING. Fast lead runs or stacatto riffs really jump out with all the clarity you could want. But unlike the V30 it needs to be pushed reasonably hard to get the bass to open up - it's as if it doesn't really start to push out the low frequencies until the volume is up a bit. They really "come alive" in the low end once the Savage's Master Vol is >3½ (that may not sound like much, but believe me, that's VERY LOUD :twisted:) - in other words, at bedroom levels the CL80 has less low end than V30s.
However, the K100s have a HUGE low end. Absolutely tons of bass, but nice & tight/defined with plenty of midrange chunk. To my ears, they seems to respond uniformly at ANY volume - they certainly take everything the Savage can throw at them. Celestion's marketing blurb make them sound like just metal speakers, but I'm so impressed with the clean sound from these. When breaking them in I was playing clean so loud that the house shook yet they still sounded clear & full.
The mix of the two speakers is working really well for me. They seem to compliment each other & give me a very rich, full sound - heavy riffs almost sound like two guitarists playing :lol:
When I chose these speakers I was thinking mainly of my high gain sound, but all 4 channels of my Savage sound much, much better with these. The thing I love most of all about this cab is that I can play at absolutely stupid volumes without
feeling like it's too loud. When I ran the Savage through my Mesa cab, my ears would ring after half an hour or so of just "loud bedroom" levels (not good). But this cab seems much smoother & sweeter - it lacks that "hardness" in the high end of the Vintage 30s but has all the clarity & definition (& more). I am very happy :D
