All this I’m hearing about early 2000’s Mesa Cabs

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frontline205

Active member
So you guys will probably know here. There’s been a lot of internet hype that might’ve been around but I’m only just noticing it saying that the early say 2000-2004 Mesa v30’s are the “holy grail” V30 speaker. I also hear that that’s true for that particular 2000’s metal core tone and is the tone that most people say is becoming generic.
I know my friend has a 2002 Mesa 4x12 traditional all original I could buy, but is it worth it to get that those particular years? I always myself liked the Marshall 1960BV from the late 80’s
 
Try the cab out to see if you like it is the best way. Speakers are a lottery, some from that era are incredible others suck. Just like some from the modern age are great and some suck. If you have the option to try it give it a go! I had two Mesa cabs from 02/01. One sucked, one is the best I’ve heard.
 
i really dont know how much stock i put into any of the years thing. mic all 4 speakers from any year and they all sound a little different, and then what sounds "better" with one amp and guitar might not sounds as good with another. gotta play and see
 
Bram576 said:
Try the cab out to see if you like it is the best way. Speakers are a lottery, some from that era are incredible others suck. Just like some from the modern age are great and some suck. If you have the option to try it give it a go! I had two Mesa cabs from 02/01. One sucked, one is the best I’ve heard.
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This!

Back in ‘06, I bought my first Mesa OS cab from a former bandmate that was made in 2002. He had 2 of them and sold me one. His sounded WAY better and different than mine. More punchy lows and a very mellow top end. I was disappointed in mine but I made it work and loved it after a while. I have a 2014 model now and it sounds better than the one I had. All speakers aren’t created equal as others here have said.
 
my avatar with v30's is killer. I assume they are his hellatones. My Marshall mode 4 sucks ass. So dark sounding. Might be better cranked. I usually play at lower volumes in stereo with both cabs. I did reorganize the "boom boom" room and separated the cabs from each other as much as possible and it did make a big difference. Sounds much better now. The v30's Marshall used in those cabs were specced for the mode 4 head so they are not standard v30's. Not really related to your first post but not all v30's are created equal.
 
JackBootedThug said:
my avatar with v30's is killer. I assume they are his hellatones. My Marshall mode 4 sucks ass. So dark sounding. Might be better cranked. I usually play at lower volumes in stereo with both cabs. I did reorganize the "boom boom" room and separated the cabs from each other as much as possible and it did make a big difference. Sounds much better now. The v30's Marshall used in those cabs were specced for the mode 4 head so they are not standard v30's. Not really related to your first post but not all v30's are created equal.
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Alex Skolnick looooooves the Mode 4 cabs, maybe he'll buy it from you.
 
JackBootedThug said:
my avatar with v30's is killer. I assume they are his hellatones. My Marshall mode 4 sucks ass. So dark sounding. Might be better cranked. I usually play at lower volumes in stereo with both cabs. I did reorganize the "boom boom" room and separated the cabs from each other as much as possible and it did make a big difference. Sounds much better now. The v30's Marshall used in those cabs were specced for the mode 4 head so they are not standard v30's. Not really related to your first post but not all v30's are created equal.
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I have an unloaded M4 straight. It came with 2 Randall Jaguars and 2 alnico Fender brand 12s; not sure who the mfr is. But, it was supposedly a cab that Dime used at a gig in Fla at some point. That's what I was told anyway. It was cheap enough; 399 and I figured it would be similar to a Mesa OS in the thump dept. I'd planned on re loading it with different speakers. It's dead as fuck. These M4 cabs are similar to the Marshall TV cabs in how they are made; wood const etc. Those are great sounding cabs. It is thick sounding but just not resonant. Maybe there's moisture in the wood? I did have a slant M4 cab years ago that sounded pretty great.
 
Racerxrated said:
I have an unloaded M4 straight. It came with 2 Randall Jaguars and 2 alnico Fender brand 12s; not sure who the mfr is. But, it was supposedly a cab that Dime used at a gig in Fla at some point. That's what I was told anyway. It was cheap enough; 399 and I figured it would be similar to a Mesa OS in the thump dept. I'd planned on re loading it with different speakers. It's dead as fuck. These M4 cabs are similar to the Marshall TV cabs in how they are made; wood const etc. Those are great sounding cabs. It is thick sounding but just not resonant. Maybe there's moisture in the wood? I did have a slant M4 cab years ago that sounded pretty great.
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Wanna sell the Jaguars ?
 
frontline205 said:
So you guys will probably know here. There’s been a lot of internet hype that might’ve been around but I’m only just noticing it saying that the early say 2000-2004 Mesa v30’s are the “holy grail” V30 speaker. I also hear that that’s true for that particular 2000’s metal core tone and is the tone that most people say is becoming generic.
I know my friend has a 2002 Mesa 4x12 traditional all original I could buy, but is it worth it to get that those particular years? I always myself liked the Marshall 1960BV from the late 80’s
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I have 2 cabs with the 80s Marshall Vintages...one from 87, one from 89. Very different from any version V30; these go with any amp I throw at them. Marshall, Mesa...doesn't matter. Great speakers.
 
Racerxrated said:
I have an unloaded M4 straight. It came with 2 Randall Jaguars and 2 alnico Fender brand 12s; not sure who the mfr is. But, it was supposedly a cab that Dime used at a gig in Fla at some point. That's what I was told anyway. It was cheap enough; 399 and I figured it would be similar to a Mesa OS in the thump dept. I'd planned on re loading it with different speakers. It's dead as fuck. These M4 cabs are similar to the Marshall TV cabs in how they are made; wood const etc. Those are great sounding cabs. It is thick sounding but just not resonant. Maybe there's moisture in the wood? I did have a slant M4 cab years ago that sounded pretty great.
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that straight one came with k100's from Marshall....I was hoping this one had them but alas it did not. I'm probably not being fair because of that avatar cab I have. I had no idea how good those cabs were till I got this one. If I knew this years ago all I would have would be these avatars.
 
JackBootedThug said:
my avatar with v30's is killer. I assume they are his hellatones. My Marshall mode 4 sucks ass. So dark sounding. Might be better cranked. I usually play at lower volumes in stereo with both cabs. I did reorganize the "boom boom" room and separated the cabs from each other as much as possible and it did make a big difference. Sounds much better now. The v30's Marshall used in those cabs were specced for the mode 4 head so they are not standard v30's. Not really related to your first post but not all v30's are created equal.
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The Marshall Vintage30MF is my favorite Vintage 30. It's like a blend of V30s and Original G12M20, but with Balls. ;D
 
frontline205 said:
So you guys will probably know here. There’s been a lot of internet hype that might’ve been around but I’m only just noticing it saying that the early say 2000-2004 Mesa v30’s are the “holy grail” V30 speaker. I also hear that that’s true for that particular 2000’s metal core tone and is the tone that most people say is becoming generic.
I know my friend has a 2002 Mesa 4x12 traditional all original I could buy, but is it worth it to get that those particular years? I always myself liked the Marshall 1960BV from the late 80’s
Click to expand...
I had an early angled Rectifier 412 with leather Tolex. The matching cab for the first Revisions. I did not keep it. Brittle, fizzy and boomy at the same time. It got worse the louder i played it 🤷‍♀️
 
JackBootedThug said:
my avatar with v30's is killer. I assume they are his hellatones. My Marshall mode 4 sucks ass. So dark sounding. Might be better cranked. I usually play at lower volumes in stereo with both cabs. I did reorganize the "boom boom" room and separated the cabs from each other as much as possible and it did make a big difference. Sounds much better now. The v30's Marshall used in those cabs were specced for the mode 4 head so they are not standard v30's. Not really related to your first post but not all v30's are created equal.
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I had some of those speakers in a (non-Mode 4) 2x12 and I loved them. Shouldn’t have sold that cab!
 
Simon Dorn said:
I had an early angled Rectifier 412 with leather Tolex. The matching cab for the first Revisions. I did not keep it. Brittle, fizzy and boomy at the same time. It got worse the louder i played it 🤷‍♀️
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That's how I feel about my early 2000's Mesa 4x12 that everyone seems so excited about. I still have it out of nostalgia for all of the shows I've played with it, but it always sounded brittle and brash no matter what amps (dozens over the years) I plugged into it.
 
Nitrobattery said:
That's how I feel about my early 2000's Mesa 4x12 that everyone seems so excited about. I still have it out of nostalgia for all of the shows I've played with it, but it always sounded brittle and brash no matter what amps (dozens over the years) I plugged into it.
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I had a slant OS can that I HATED. Got a traditional straight after that and it killed.
 
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JackBootedThug said:
that straight one came with k100's from Marshall....I was hoping this one had them but alas it did not. I'm probably not being fair because of that avatar cab I have. I had no idea how good those cabs were till I got this one. If I knew this years ago all I would have would be these avatars.
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Avatars are something else I had a 4x12 with greenbacks and it contributed to the best lead guitar tone I ever had
 
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