Info wanted: Ampeg SS-412ER cabinet

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mrmega

mrmega

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Hi! What can you guys tell me about this cabinet please? It's an Ampeg SS-412ER.

When and where was it made? What speakers are in it? What is it made of? Were these considered high end at the time? Did any recording/touring artists use them? What else can you tell me?

I looked on the internet and found very little information.

I need space in my music room, I have some cabinets coming that I've wanted for a while. There isn't enough space so two have got to go. To help me decide what to keep and what to get rid of, I used four different heads and compared this Ampeg cabinet to a Marshall JCM 900 slant cab and the Ampeg clobbered the Marshall. It wasn't even close.

The Ampeg was just smoother sounding, had more body, more low end and a tighter low end.
The JCM900 cad sounded a little shrill when A/B'd to the Ampeg cab. I would never describe a JCM900 as a shrill cab though because they sound really good. I just couldn't believe how much better the Ampeg sounded.

So I'm keeping the Ampeg and selling my JCM900 slant.

I used a clean sound, a crunch sound and a high gain or metal sound with these heads:
1. Marshall Mode Four
2. Marshall Vintage Modern
3. Hughes and Kettner Triamp (MK1)
4. Ampeg VT-120

The other Ampeg SS-412ER cabs I saw online were rated at 300 watts, as you can tell from the attached pictures, mine is rated at 280 watts and the backplate is different than the ones that are rated for 300 watts.

Do any of you guys have this cab too?

Thank you for any information you can provide!
 

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Some of those came with Vintage 30s and some came with Eminence speakers made for Ampeg. I think I remember some of those having solid birch with a press board back. It wouldn't hurt to pop the back open and look.

My buddy has one he loved and now has Mojo Tone H30 copies in it from years ago. He talked me into getting one and it was not the same. Perhaps it is the speakers that are the difference. What speakers are in yours and what speakers are in the cab in question?
 
Also, I remember long ago getting a quad of V30s from the studio where we recorded our first album. The guy there was trying to open a music store at the time. He said they came out of an Ampeg cab. They had black baskets. I wonder if your speakers are the black basket Vintage 30s.
 
BeZo said:
Some of those came with Vintage 30s and some came with Eminence speakers made for Ampeg. I think I remember some of those having solid birch with a press board back. It wouldn't hurt to pop the back open and look.

My buddy has one he loved and now has Mojo Tone H30 copies in it from years ago. He talked me into getting one and it was not the same. Perhaps it is the speakers that are the difference. What speakers are in yours and what speakers are in the cab in question?
Click to expand...
Would this cab have been mated with a V4 of V2 ampeg head or where these released later?
 
blackba said:
Would this cab have been mated with a V4 of V2 ampeg head or where these released later?
Click to expand...
Under Magnavox, yes. When SLM took over things get fuzzy on the transition. They switched a lot of things up. I'm not sure what what went to what. I just know that some were solid and some weren't. Some SLM era cabs were the same as the Magnavox version early on. Then they changed things up and cut cost with press board here and there. I've seen identical Ampeg 4x12 cabs that have wildly different materials and speakers.

Most of what I know about Ampeg came from bass forums. The 8x10 history when SLM took over was weird. There are SVT 810E cabs identical to the Magnavox with wood construction and the single input, there are single input ones with press board, and there are the modern versions going forward with no clear line in the sand to tell them apart. You kinda just gotta lift the skirt and peek at the gonads, so to speak.
 
Found this over on sevenstring.org

Never heard one in person; they're supposed to be pretty much Marshall 1960 clones, made of quality plywood. What I know of the different models of SLM-era Ampegs:

SS-412ES/ER - These are the matching cabs for the SS series. Old Ampeg ads say they have Celestion G12M-70's, but all the ones I've seen for sale on the net (and the one time I saw one in person) have G12T-75's
SS-412AS/AR - Same as above, but with with OEM Eminence 12882, maybe a G12T-75 clone? S/R refer to slant/straight, respectively.
SS-212EC - Extension cab for the SS-140C combo, same width, Celestion G12K-85's
V-412TV/BV - Vintage 30's, matching cabs for the VL amps
V-412TC/BC - Same as above, but with G12T-75's
V-212TV - slant 212 with Vintage 30's
The Crate Blue Voodoo cabs are supposedly of the same construction as the above mentioned Ampeg cabs, available with Vintage 30's (BV412SV/RV) and OEM Eminence 121293's (same as the speakers in the Vintage Club combos)

Non-plywood SLM Ampeg guitar cabs:

V-412TL/BL - OSB construction, Celestion G12L-35's
V-412/V-412TA - not to be confused with the 70's cabs, these have the two jack plate, are made of OSB, and have the gawdawful FST speakers from so many Crate products
 
Your difference in wattage could be the difference between g12m-70s and g12t-75s. The Ts being the 300 watt cab and the Ms being the 280...
 
Thank you for the info guys. I have a friend coming over in a week or two and he is going to help me move the heads and cabs off the top of this and see if we can get the back off without damaging the cab, There isn't enough room behind it to work so we have to move it away from the wall.
 
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