JackBootedThug
MURDERATOR
I have never tried greenbacks dude...crazy I know...
All this I’m hearing about early 2000’s Mesa Cabs
- Thread starter frontline205
- Start date
itsgoodnow
Well-known member
I have a 2002 mesa straight cab, a 2002 slant cab in the straight cab enclosure, a metal grill mesa cab, a CAA straight cab and a mode four. I love the mode four hahaha. I would love to have a straight cab version of that
Code001
Well-known member
I personally don't think it's worth hunting out those particular years. Mark Lewis made some of the most amazing music with some of the "bad" years Mesa V30s. Trivium, Black Dahlia Murder, Job for a Cowboy, Whitechapel, Unearth. List goes on and on. Every individual speaker sounds unique and will record uniquely in a room because each mic sounds unique and each room will be unique. Like the variance between two SM57s can be eye opening when you start to really compare them. I think you should definitely grab that cab if you want a Mesa cab.
Racerxrated
Well-known member
Those are cool speakers. Similar or exact to the K85s, depending on who the source is. K85s are severely underrated.
Correct. Mark nor Jason have ever done one record with these supposed “amazing early 2000s” V30s. It’s all nonsense. Mark will though for sure mic up dozens of the same speaker from different years etc to find the tone he wants for a record he’s doing, but it’s not based on “years” nor does he go after certain years of speakers etc.
stephen sawall
Well-known member
I think the year stuff is nonsense also.
stephen sawall
Well-known member
They do the same thing with guitars, tubes, cars and women. Older isn't always better.
GJgo
Well-known member
While what guys are saying is true about even speakers from the same batch sound different, in my experience from owning 20+ Mesa Recto cabs from the late 90s through 2021 there are trends- and so for me personally it was worth hunting down 00-03 speakers because for what I'm looking for they are the sweet spot. While I've not had any early 90s cabs, the mid/late 90s ones I've had were good- but dark. Conversely every one of the 06-19 cabs I've had were fizzy and harsh which bothers my ears when turned up. The 00-03 cabs have been the perfect balance for me of killer tone, detail, and can be cranked without making my ears hurt. The things that @the other John Browne and @Nolly have put out there I've seen with my own testing.
That being said all 4 of the cabs I've kept do still sounds slightly different. My 2 01 cabs are not too far apart in serial and they are sonically very similar, and my favorite. They also both get actual tone compliments on stage where no one has ever made similar compliments with any of my other cabs. My 00 cab is a little darker and smoother but tons of detail. The 02 cab sounds the best on the mic- I have reamp tracked every individual speaker in all the cabs to come to my own personal conclusions.
That said I did have a OS slant from 03 that was utter dogshit- so I agree- it's not a hard rule. Just a trend. I'm also not saying "this is better to me so it must be better for everyone so respect my authoritay!" I'm saying once you figure out which sound you prefer, you can use this as a guide to more likely get the cab that suits your style the first time.
Anyway YMMV, and here's a thread with a couple vids of tests I did. Maybe it can help you to figure out which of the "generations" you tend to prefer.
That being said all 4 of the cabs I've kept do still sounds slightly different. My 2 01 cabs are not too far apart in serial and they are sonically very similar, and my favorite. They also both get actual tone compliments on stage where no one has ever made similar compliments with any of my other cabs. My 00 cab is a little darker and smoother but tons of detail. The 02 cab sounds the best on the mic- I have reamp tracked every individual speaker in all the cabs to come to my own personal conclusions.
That said I did have a OS slant from 03 that was utter dogshit- so I agree- it's not a hard rule. Just a trend. I'm also not saying "this is better to me so it must be better for everyone so respect my authoritay!" I'm saying once you figure out which sound you prefer, you can use this as a guide to more likely get the cab that suits your style the first time.
Anyway YMMV, and here's a thread with a couple vids of tests I did. Maybe it can help you to figure out which of the "generations" you tend to prefer.
I'm actually thinking of buying an mf280 cab now. Can you describe why you don't like it? I've never played one but read they are pretty kickass.
GJgo
Well-known member
Here's another sample to see which generation you might personally prefer. This is one of my band's songs mixed & mastered where the only difference was swapping out between the 01 Trad cab & the 06 Trad cab for rhythms.
The one thing I will add is in hindsight, the 06 OS cab I had I do believe had the best lead tone of all of them (on both tracks here).
Release- with the 2001 Mesa V30s
Release- with the 2006 Mesa V30s
The one thing I will add is in hindsight, the 06 OS cab I had I do believe had the best lead tone of all of them (on both tracks here).
Release- with the 2001 Mesa V30s
Release- with the 2006 Mesa V30s
RT is back baby.
The extraordinary gentlemen and scholars of tone are keeping that torch high for the lighting of the world!
Mesa V30’s sound better, period.
I had two ‘93 UK T3904 16 ohm V30’s from Bruce Zinky’s stash and my ‘05 Mesa T4416’s kill them.
Steve Fryette told me personally (and told the internet prior) that Celestion changed them and that’s why he bailed and developed the P50E with Eminence in the VERY early ‘90’s.
I found an ‘03 Mesa slant OS and it is a grail cab. Had an ‘06 T4335 that sounded as good too.
I do believe most 4x12 enjoyers would benefit from trying S/P wiring for cabs they love AND hate. Get those tone sucking jacks and switch plates out of your circuit and profit! Put a SPST switch on the back to go P/S and call it “Rock/Metal.”
The extraordinary gentlemen and scholars of tone are keeping that torch high for the lighting of the world!
Mesa V30’s sound better, period.
I had two ‘93 UK T3904 16 ohm V30’s from Bruce Zinky’s stash and my ‘05 Mesa T4416’s kill them.
Steve Fryette told me personally (and told the internet prior) that Celestion changed them and that’s why he bailed and developed the P50E with Eminence in the VERY early ‘90’s.
I found an ‘03 Mesa slant OS and it is a grail cab. Had an ‘06 T4335 that sounded as good too.
I do believe most 4x12 enjoyers would benefit from trying S/P wiring for cabs they love AND hate. Get those tone sucking jacks and switch plates out of your circuit and profit! Put a SPST switch on the back to go P/S and call it “Rock/Metal.”
‘06 was special, too, in my experience.
GJgo
Well-known member
Funny you should mention that. I just picked up a 2015 Marshall Jubilee 412 with the Vintage speakers in it. To my ear they are EQd quite a bit different from a Mesa V30. Last band practice I A/Bd it with the Mesa cab, and then just ran both, and that was a pretty solid combo. The Marshall cab cut & the Mesa cab whumped.
With my Mark IIs and Rectos it's top end harsh hell in the room, but on the mic it does seem to be working strangely well.
With my Mark V it's actually making that amp kill where it's always been too dark on the top end for me with the Mesa cabs. Funny to think it's a speaker problem, not an amp problem..
Hope to get some captures soon.
JackBootedThug
MURDERATOR
It’s dark and dead sounding. But I am constantly playing at lower volume and that might have something to do with it.
Most of the trouble with Mesa amps sounding fizzy/harsh is: 1.: cheap glass (Russian/Chinese) and 2.: low idle bias creating crossover distortion, I believe. Combine that with an "off" Mesa cab (with the Soundcraft switching jack and parallel/series wiring) and you have a recipe for icepick.
GJgo
Well-known member
I believe your perspective is basically the opposite of mine, and that's OK. Glad you've found what makes sense to you.
Eh, I wouldn't say "opposite," maybe see different factors in balance contributing to the "suck," but I suspect we are more in accord than not overall.