NAD (LANEY)

[agentOrAnGe]

Just picked up this Laney TT50h for a great price and sounds awesome. There is only one problem, I do not own a cab yet. Up until now all I have owned is combo amps and never bought a separate cabinet before. I live in the US and am looking for a 2x12 cabinet. I can only afford to spend $400 or less on a cab.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Dave Sloven]

This is a tough one.  2x12s aren't necessarily half the price of a 4x12 as you get into the lower ranges.  You might find it easier to find an unwanted 4x12 in your price range.

Here in Adelaide we have a local amp and cabinet manufacturer (Woogie) that is sort of a one-man operation and there are a lot of his old cabinets around the place at good prices and they aren't bad in terms of construction, even though sometimes the older ones might have speakers that aren't the latest thing.  If you have someone like that in your state you might have some 'custom made' cabs floating around that are actually good.  The best thing to do is ask people on the music scene in your area for ideas on what's around and what's good/okay. The Woogie stuff has a strong reputation here in the punk scene but outside of Adelaide it's not known much at all except for the fact that The Mark of Cain used them.  Thus they don't really hold their resale value well as they are something of an unknown brand outside of the local scene but in fact the quality is very good.  Check and see if there is someone like that in your area.  A friend of mine sold a 1980s Woogie 100W valve head and 2x12  back to Frank (who is the owner-builder of Woogie) recently for $400.  I wish he told me as I was tempted to buy it (I was trying to get him to do a swap for my second guitar rather than sell).

In terms of cab recommendations, the upright Mesa 2x12 seems to have a great rep and sounds good to me, but I think you are looking at $700 for one of those.  Orange the same deal.

Oh, and sorry for picking a user name so close to yours!  I had no idea.

[Toe-Knee]

I've heard that Avatar cabs sound great and are priced very well.

[Lew]

I'm sure you could get a used Orange 2x12 for that in Oz. Good cabs, they are like £200 used here though and I imagine they are made in Asia/China like the rest of Orange stuff? Not that there's anything wrong with that (I use one) but it's far from a good deal for you imo.

Edited - didn't realize there was such a price difference between the open and closed back cabs? Closed backs are like £550 new and open back is like £350? $950AUS for a new closed back Orange 2x12? Yikes, you poor sods. Definitely get something made in Oz!

[dave_mc]

Nice score, I really liked the TT I tried. :)

I've heard that Avatar cabs sound great and are priced very well.

+1

Never tried them, but they'd probably be worth considering. I hear similarly good things about whitebox (and maybe lopoline? though i have a vague feeling i've also heard iffy things about lopoline, but that might be me misremembering :lol: ). Haven't tried any of those, so that' s not a personal recommendation.

I think the TT cabs came with vintage 30s stock, so you probably wouldn't go far wrong with a v30-loaded cabinet. That being said, manufacturers tend to fit v30s because they know they're considered an "industry standard" speaker and they're the one premium speaker that most guitarists have heard of, so that's not to say you might not prefer a different speaker... :lol:

What type(s) of music do you play?

[agentOrAnGe]

Thank you for all the suggestions! I am looking to get an avatar cab. I looked at the whitebox cabs and they look great as well.

I play mostly metal along the lines of Opeth, but i also like the sound of Gojira. I also play good bit of country/bluegrass.

I tend not to like the sound of V30s, it always seems a bit too spikey for me. any speaker suggestions would be helpful as well!

[Lew]

See my edited post :-)

I like V30's alot. They do seem to take a while before that spike turns into a nice musical mid-range, but they do.

[Dave Sloven]

The Iommi gear that Laney has put out out recently uses Celestion G12H (75W) speakers. You might like those more, I think they are in quite a few different cabinets

[JJretroTONEGOD]

Thank you for all the suggestions! I am looking to get an avatar cab. I looked at the whitebox cabs and they look great as well.

I play mostly metal along the lines of Opeth, but i also like the sound of Gojira. I also play good bit of country/bluegrass.

I tend not to like the sound of V30s, it always seems a bit too spikey for me. any speaker suggestions would be helpful as well!

after years of using the V30 I recently got the G12H 55 and I have to admit it's the best speaker I've ever heard, I'm also not a fan of the V30 and its peakyness (is that a word?) in the upper mids and to me it never had enough bass. Once you convert there will be no going back! it just sits in the right frequency range and is much more midrange focused. Hendrix, Page, Clapton and Santana have all used it on classic recordings as well.

[hunter]

I went from V30s to Greenbacks. I have an old cab with originals, hard to beat. But I second also the suggestion of G12H 55Hz in a 4x12, they are dark in a good way. Buddy has an early 70s 4x12 Bass (55Hz) Cab and it's awesome.

[dave_mc]

yeah the 55hz g12h30s sound pretty good with my gh head (though I'd say they're much less midrange-focussed than a v30 :? ). Not as fussed on the anniversary g12h30, but maybe it just takes longer to break in.

not sure i'd go with one for mostly metal, though.

even if you think the v30 is too midspiked, combining it with something else can sometimes get you the best of both worlds. that might not be a good plan if you utterly loathe the v30, lol, but might be worth considering if you just think it's a bit nasal.

[agentOrAnGe]

Great news! swung by the local guitar center and tried several cabs. Surprisingly the best sounding on was a used peavey valveking 412, so I bought it because it only cost $120. Out of curiosity, when I got it home I opened up the back and guess what i saw. The cab was loaded with 4 EVM 12l speakers. I was wondering why it felt so heavy...

I guess the guys at Guitar Center never opened the back and assumed it was stock, but the previous owner had switched the speakers. Extremely happy with the steal I got and it sounds fantastic!

Thanks for all the suggestions, will still heed the advice because I am still looking for a 212 for easier travel.

[Telerocker]

Congrats, lucky you!

[dave_mc]

holy cr@p, nice score.

is the valveking 4x12 ply? i think i've heard rumours that it might be, but no personal experience myself.

even if it's not, it's worth it for the speakers :D You got to wonder at someone putting four EVs in a valveking cab (though i suppose he/she maybe got them cheap used or something like that).