Looked inside my 1960A for 1st time...

[D-Rock]

Finally opened up my recently acquired JCM 900 Marshall 412 to both check the speaker dates and replace the plastic handles with metal ones.

I knew it was an older version of these modern Marshall cabs because of the JCM 900 badge being that amp series ran from approx 1990 to 2001 with the cabs being made up to 2006.

Well surprise surprise...the G12T75s have older mid generation labels and are dated LY07 = Nov 7th 1990! Likely making the cab a 1991 model.

No wonder the cab sounds so good... no fizzy highs, huge lows and a sprinkle actual midrange...

After 35 years the old plastic handles were still going but trashed otherwise. The metal ones are a nice upgrade for this cab.

 

[BeZo]

Rewire it while you are at it. Put some thicker wire and a good jack in it.

 

[7704A]

Mmm, I think I saw a cab with those same speakers locally.

 

[mnemonic]

I got a t75 years back with that same label, for a 1x12 cab. I haven’t tried the older one with the vent in the middle that people like, but this one is pretty good, nice and grindy sounding, not scooped, not fizzy either. I remember the modern production being not great in my opinion, back in college a friend had a 1960 with t75’s from I think 2008, it was hard to get a good sound out of it. He swapped two for v30’s and it was better after that.

I haven’t used that cab in a while, maybe I should pull the speaker and stick it in a 2x12 with a v30 or something.

 

[D-Rock]

Interestingly, when I attached the new metal handles the cab lost some of its focus. The original handles had a tighter seal than these metal ones, so I attached some weather stripping to the inside edges of the metal handles and reattached them. Bingo. The cab regained its focus and is now even tighter then before. A nice quick & snappy response with focused & tight lows.

 

[D-Rock]

Rewire it while you are at it. Put some thicker wire and a good jack in it.

I plan to but want to get a metal replacement jackplate first.

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

Most people don't like G12T75'S because they haven't heard a broken in one. It takes years for anyone that doesn't get them loud. Once broken in even current production models sound good but they are always a speaker that sounds best pushed.

 

[D-Rock]

I'm really amazed at how much increased forward projection I'm getting after sealing the new metal handles.
Usually when I play it with, and next to one of my V30 cabs, the V30 cab is slightly more prominent sounding.
Now the Marshall cab is right up there with the V30 one, I can almost hear both equally.

 

[Shask]

Interestingly, when I attached the new metal handles the cab lost some of its focus. The original handles had a tighter seal than these metal ones, so I attached some weather stripping to the inside edges of the metal handles and reattached them. Bingo. The cab regained its focus and is now even tighter then before. A nice quick & snappy response with focused & tight lows.

I have been doing this to my last few cabs. I just did it this weekend actually. I recently got 2 used 1960B cabs, and I sealed the handles, jack plate, and back cover. I find this helps cabs sound more focused and punchy.

 

[Shask]

Most people don't like G12T75'S because they haven't heard a broken in one. It takes years for anyone that doesn't get them loud. Once broken in even current production models sound good but they are always a speaker that sounds best pushed.

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently got 2 used 1960B cabs. One is from 2002, and the other is from 2025. I can definitely notice that the older one has less of the fizz and static on the top end compared to the newer one.

I love the sound of them. They sound like 90s metal, which is pretty much my jam.