Mesa Half Back Cab vs Stiletto/Traditional

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itsgoodnow

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Hey All,

I am in the process of trying some new cabs out and swapping speakers. I have (among them), 3 half back Mesa half back/metal grill 4x12s. I was going to build a removable backing for the top to have the option to open or close them.

I have not owned a Stiletto/Traditional but was wondering how similar the metal grill cabs would sound to the stiletto/traditional when fully closed if they had the same speakers in them. Thanks all.
 
I've had the all. the older metal grill is punchier, a little more "old school metal" sounding. where as any of the newer ones (trad and oversize) are girthier in the lows, and maybe a bit rolled off on the highs. more modern sounding. the oversized is way more girthy on the low end, and even more rolled off on the highs, and is for the dudes who play downtuned stuff or chug-a-lug metal.
 
Thanks, man. Do you think the metal grill fully enclosed would sound similar to the traditional? I'm just curious since I know from a dimensions standpoint they are similar but obviously cabs can vary dramatically based on construction.
 
The metal cab is a bit smaller than the traditional (less wide, less tall) but slightly deeper. plus it has all that internal bracing for the compartments. it results in a pretty tight and punchy cab. that doesn't mean it can't bring the low end, but its nothing like the traditional or oversized.
you just gotta try em if you can...btw... i'll be paying soon on those speakers :)
 
That makes sense. Thanks, for that. I had an OS Standard and loved it. I have an MF280 which reminds me of it, but have had the itch to pick up an OS and a Stiletto because...well it's rig-talk we are all crazy. But I always had an affinity for the small metal ones because I like the punch. A lot of my projects involve tracking and a lot of that low end space gets dialed out in a mix anyway because I have so much low end going on in other sections. So I figured I would double down on having to do less EQ on the mix haha.

I got them held for you. No rush man.
 
i personally prefer to keep my low end "there", but not enough to be competing with the bass. so i prefer the metal grill, and if not that, i use a marshall 1960 with darker speakers. I like punchy cabs vs the thundery low end 4x12s like mills, orange, or oversized mesa, etc. my other guitarist likes low end city, and its probably because we jam without a bass player a lot. the low end that you hear in the black album for example is pretty reasonable when you have a bass player. thats what i go for, but nothing like that modern chug/djent stuff. I feel like its easier to dial in low end (with a mark series anyway) than to dial it out, so thats the route i go.
 
Smaller cubic foot volume per speaker is likely the reason that the half-back cabs are more punchy sounding. Less room for the sound to resonate amongst the cabinet itself.
 
Pretty different animals as mentioned. The metal grill MB's are also front loaded which has a more immediate punchy attack. Also, the enclosed portion is full of the batting. Enclosing the top would probably add more focus and probably a little perceived low end.
 
On my metal grill 412, I used to run the top closed forever, but always felt the cleans suffered. With it full open, the mark iv R2 just didn’t sound as good with the top opened. In the last year I made a couple of panels for the upper sections and now have a 5 inch or so opening in the middle. So far for me it has been the best of both worlds. I have mc90s in the top and evs in the bottom.

No experience with the stiletto cab. Honestly the Mesa metal grill cab has blown me away, I can run any amp I have through it and it sounds good.
 
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