Half- vs Full-Stack

[cobrahead1030]

I’ve only ran two cabs at a handful of gigs over the years, thoroughly enjoyed it each time. I get a fuller sound, with lower stage volume. I prefer the two cabs side by side, but a full stack is great as well.

I’ve mainly played rowdy venues as a local/regional weekend warrior. I had a few groups that were on a more serious path, but most of my playing out has been for fun.


A half stack has been my standard, occasionally I’ll run a combo or small cab, when necessary. It’s always fun when I have the time & space to break out the big guns.

 

[Solarflares]

I’ve mainly played rowdy venues

Bouncy castle?

 

[Solarflares]

I never did this for fun.
I was born to play.
If I don’t make music I waste away.

But having said that - when I started playing out, it soon became apparent that wrestling a guitar was a good way to get girls attention, and it was easy to walk all over the sleazy, smooth-talking cool guys, and steal the girl from right under their nose, after they’d vainly spent all night grinding them down.
Having 2 full stacks gave you a solid backdrop, which would frame my tender young body nicely. All about presentation. I’m what’s going on, not the poster on the wall behind some weedy ‘starter’ half-stack.

I grew out of the shagging novelty fairly quickly. There’s only so much Penicillin you can take, before your knob drops off.
Added to which, once I bought an Intellifex and ran two stacks in stereo - I would turn on that 8-voice multitap detune, and literally come in my pants.

Next stage in my career came with 5Kw of front monitors, and 2Kw of side-fills on my right. I could no longer hear the stacks. Any thoughts of sex soon vanished as the sheer wave pressure, combined with hallucegenic drugs - sparked me into incontinence nightly, and after a gig, you’re generally just looking for a sink to empty your piss-filled boots into.

 

[rsm]

No thread about amp stacks is complete without a picture of this behemoth.

View attachment 454225

 

[rsm]

I only use 2 4x12 cabs with my 1959HW because each speaker is rated at 25W, and I play it loud because that's what it's designed to do. These are the speakers it's supposed to use. I have different settings for my Fender Strat, my Gibson LP with DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge and Super 2 in the neck; my Ibanez PS10 with Duncan '59 in the neck and Custom 5 in the bridge, or my Chibanez with a set of DiMarzio D Activator-X

For Marshalls, I like the power amp to be a big part of the sound. I have a straight 4x12 cab capable of handling 240W for my other Marshalls and Bogner Helios Eclipse.

I use a pair of Engl E212VHB Pro cabs with my Engl Artist Edition E651.

I use a pair of Mesa 2x12 compact cabs with my JP-2C or my Diezel VHX.

 

[Solarflares]

Generally I will dial full gain, and work with the guitar on 7 or 8 max.
I set any master until I feel the negative feedback restricts response, then back off slightly.
I’m British, so treble and presence are set very low. This restricts gain, so invariably the amp will need a little push from a clean mid-boost like a Koko.
This approach helps me quickly get to the amp’s sweet spot.

Simpler approach for the 1959. But presence can be higher here. I bring levels up until it cooks

 

[Beyond Black]

I’ll run a full stack split on ground but not on top of each other . Top cabs sound like shit . I’ve noticed cabs touching the ground give me the reisimbsve I need .

Yes, it’s extremely important to have ample levels of reisimbsve.

 

[Solarflares]

I weaned myself off Reisimbsve, and never looked back.