Is the Marshall 1960TV the best rock cab there is?

GJgo

GJgo

Well-known member
So a decade ago I had a pair of Marshall 1960TV cabs from 2004 & 2006. They always sounded amazing, and with my Kamikaze & IIC++ DRG was one of the best mid gain tones I've ever had. ...But, I'm an idiot & I sold them. Fast forward, last fall I was able to snag a deal on a brand new pair as long as I could deal with eternal backorder, and last week they came in! 2024 production, new in box.

These are every bit as good if not better- even being brand new. I think the speakers are a bit less fizzy which seems to track with Celestions from the last couple years.

Anyway I'm going through my amps with them and having had & played tons of Marshall & Mesa 4x12s, I really can't imagine a better cab for rock tones. They have tons of push, singing cleans & leads, crunchy and smooth rhythms, and very dynamic sustain. As long as you keep your gain below metal levels they just kill. I do like them quite a bit more than the 1960AX / BX cabs as well, I think the extra internal cab volume really benefits the Greenback.

Can't wait to jam them in the band this weekend!

Anyone else have these cabs? What do you think about them?
 

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By far, the best looking cabinets marshall makes - i, personally, would probably prefer scumbacks for greenback/blackback tones, but mostly to be able to get them to handle higher gain/metal tones better. That isn't because the reissue greenbacks are bad at all! They are actually great, just preferable for lower gain sounds imo

I also agree that they need volume to really shine, but for the combo of looks and sound the TV cab is basically unbeatable
 
Last night I jammed the cabs, along with others, with another guitarist. We A/Bd all the combinations here. The great part is there were no losers, just shades of winning. :cool: Only conclusion we came to is that in the band it doesn't make sense for both of us to use the same cab. Any combination of the two was excellent though.

That said, the Multi Watt into the TV cab with my Chiron & LPC was a world class tone. The grind & upper mids were stellar! That combined with the Mark III+ into either the 800 cab or the Recto cab was panty dropping tone.

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I had one from the early '90s but thought it was a bit zingy compared to a 1960AC with the same speakers, but it was a neat cab. It was a bit scooped and more aggressive sounding I think.
 
I've never owned a 'TV' cab, but I have played through one on a couple of occasions - once at a rehearsal space we shared with another band, super cool guitarist said 'plug into this if you want!' Another time at one of those '6-bands-in-a-night' line-ups in LA and they had a TV on my side of the stage as backline. Both times, I could really hear and feel the added low end and low-mids. Maybe not much difference to the mic right up against the grill cloth, but in the room, my rig never sounded bigger. And they just look cool as hell, too.
 
I had an order for a 1960AX at Sweetwater then they had a sale, knock $700 off if I added a JCM800. Then the 1960TV cabs came in first so switched to that. I love this combination! I even like the low input into that cab. 🤫
 
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