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Author Topic: NCD - New cab(s) day!  (Read 4464 times)

Alfi27

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NCD - New cab(s) day!
« on: August 07, 2016, 03:38:59 PM »
Hola!

Got a set of UK made Vintage 30's of Ebay a month back or so, which were supposed to go in my Silver Jubilee cabinet. The only problem was, that the amp sounded horrible with the speakers... So I put them in my Zilla Modern 2x12" instead, where they sound very good! Brightens it up a little bit, such a massive cab could get a little bit dark with the Creamback 65Ms but I would never have exchanged them if I didn't have some V30s looking for a new home. This did of course lead to another issue, that the Creambacks needed a new home! This was initially a cab I almost randomly ordered hoping that Paul had the time to make it fast, because I didn't have the time to wait because I will be leaving in two weeks. The cab is a Small Vintage with rubber feet on the short side, so it is meant to be vertical. I decided to go with green tolex hoping it would look good with my Kemper on top. The cool thing is that the colours are almost identical, and it kind of looks like a vintage 70's toaster or lunchbox from NASA standing on top of a PA speaker from about the same time.

The other cab I got was a ported Thiele 1x12" cab, which was delayed due to some misunderstandings and I was supposed to get it quite some time back as a portable alternative to the Modern for band practice. The first thing I thought when I got it was "god it's heavy!", and it is not a flyweight at 17.4kg! Still not the heaviest 1x12" made (I believe ENGL makes some that clocks in at more than 20kg), but it is certainly the best sounding 1x12" I have ever heard! Loaded with a Creamback 75H speaker, there is some serious tone coming out of this relatively small cab. Playing palm mutes, it actually shakes the house more than the V30 loaded Modern, which is the biggest and heaviest of them all. I was a little bit disappointed by the weight and size of the cab, which is very big for a 1x12", and it is barely 2kg lighter than the Small Vintage, but according to Paul a smaller size would degrade the tone significantly without taking away that much weight. So after all it is worth it! If you want a kickass 1x12", you don't have to look further!

Even though both cabs sound great, I expected the Ported 1x12" to sound great, and I have had good experiences with ported 1x12"s before. I didn't quite know what to expect with the Small Vintage, and I had the impression that it would be a serious downgrade in tone. To my surprise, it certainly was not! It is quite a bit shallower than the Modern, and the backplate is quite close to the speakers. Still, the bass response is very good and it does not sound even a little bit thin. The Creamback 65Ms are a very good match for this cab I think, bringing some bass to the table that might have been a little lacking with say V30s. That said, I would love to try a Creamback 75H together with a 65M, but the speaker in the Ported cab has a different resistance (ohm).


BKs: Black Dog (b), Riff Raff (b), HSP90 Nantucket (b).

gwEm

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Re: NCD - New cab(s) day!
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2016, 07:15:08 AM »
I love my theile cabs. I have two Mesa Boogie ones. As soon as I tried them I knew - they sounded fad better than any cab I'd tried my head through previously.. and I'd tried some pretty good stuff too.
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you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

Alfi27

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Re: NCD - New cab(s) day!
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2016, 10:55:27 AM »
Cool! Are they 1 or 2x12"? I think a ported 2x12" cab would be very nice with V30s, but with Creambacks the bass is more than prominent enought with a regular cab (even the Small Vintage). With a single speaker the ported design works very well for adding body and power, and I don't think I would dare to participate in a blind test between the green and white cab!
BKs: Black Dog (b), Riff Raff (b), HSP90 Nantucket (b).

gwEm

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Re: NCD - New cab(s) day!
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2016, 11:28:37 AM »
They are 1x12, with Electro Voice speakers. I got two of them, planning to sell one. But I liked them so much I sold all my other cabs and kept them both.

They are heavy in both actual weight as well as tone though. Big magnets, thick wood, baffles.
Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

Plenum n Heather

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Re: NCD - New cab(s) day!
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2016, 02:32:33 PM »
That is quite a collection! Congrats!

Telerocker

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Re: NCD - New cab(s) day!
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2016, 10:46:55 AM »
That is quite a collection! Congrats!

+1. Great stuff you have.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

Alfi27

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Re: NCD - New cab(s) day!
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2016, 08:42:55 PM »
Thanks guys! I ordered a 16 ohm Creamback 75H today, so I can try the famous combinations including V30/H75 and M65/H75! Speaker swapping is almost as fun as pickup swapping, and cheaper!

I also purchased it because I am a little bit worried that my Creamback 65Ms might not cut it when I bring the green Small Vintage and my Kemper Powerhead to music school/university, in terms of volume. It is not a very fun situation be in, standing there with the Kemper maxed out and my 100db (sensitivity) speakers 500 miles away. It is maybe not the most realistic scenario, with 600 watts on tap, but strange things can happen at high volumes... I also do not have much time to experiment. Do you think the M65/H75 combo is better in terms of volume than 2xM65? The G12M/G12H mix is a popular combo, so this should be no different apart from the higher power handling.

The V30s rips for higher gain stuff, but it tends to sound a little anemic and spiky with AC/DC type tones. M65 on the other hand can get a little dark and lose some definition at higher gain settings, but it does high gain better than the V30 does low/mid gain imo. The H75 is very versatile, probably the best allround speaker (on its own at least, not sure how well it would cut in a band mix though). Does everything from AC/DC to Metallica very good, truly great speaker!

Maybe I should have started a dedicated topic for this, but I thought that it was so closely related that what the hell :laugh:
« Last Edit: August 10, 2016, 08:44:39 PM by Alfi27 »
BKs: Black Dog (b), Riff Raff (b), HSP90 Nantucket (b).