Speakers for Mark IV

[Beyond Black]

Ok, I’ve got three cabs here. One with Greenbacks, one with V30’s(from a Bogner cab) and one with Scumbacks (M75LD-H75LD X patten). I want different things out of each speaker, and I’m playing two cabs together at a time.
The GB’s and the V30’s are cool. Nice grit and mids from the GB’s, and great low end from the V30, but I find the V30’s mids and highs overbearing. Kind of harsh and grating. Scratchy. I hear that Mesa’s V30’s are better, but the ohms would be a mismatch.
The GB’s and Scumbacks mix sounds great, the SB’s are LD so they’ve got good lows, but the Greenbacks are much louder and dominate the SB’s. Nice mix though.
The Scumbacks and V30’s together aren’t bad. Great lows, but again, the V30’s have overbearing mids and highs, and they’re much louder than the SB’s.
I had a Marshall here with G12-65’s, and I love those speakers. Sounded great paired with everything too, but I returned it to my homie.
Of course I’ve tried eq’ing to compensate or take out this and that, but I’d like some speaker opinions regardless. I’m going for fuckin heavy, lead channel tones. What do you guys like?

 

[Snave]

My favorite cab with my old Mark IVA was a Peavey 4x12 with Celestion G12K85s. It sounded less harsh than V30s and had more chunk to it.

 

[Beyond Black]

My favorite cab with my old Mark IVA was a Peavey 4x12 with Celestion G12K85s. It sounded less harsh than V30s and had more chunk to it.

The V30’s are in a slant Marshall 4x12. Well I just put beam blockers over the top two speakers only, and it’s fuckin game changer. Holy shit. They tamed all of the harsh, overbearing mid and high frequencies, and left behind a full, balanced sound. You’re still getting plenty of mids and highs from the bottom speakers, but none of the harshness. I tried Beam Blockers on all four speakers and it was too much, it neutered them. I’m pairing this cab with the Greenback cab and it’s glorious. I’m not at all a fan of V30’s, and I’m loving this cab by itself. Anybody who has a slant with V30’s should try these on the top two.

 

[skullfxr]

My favorite cab with my old Mark IVA was a Peavey 4x12 with Celestion G12K85s. It sounded less harsh than V30s and had more chunk to it.

I totally agree. I have two of these cabs.

 

[garey77]

I have a Bruno 412 cab w/g12h30’s that sounds great, but I would dig trying WGS Veteran 30’s. Much prefer that speaker to V30’s.

 

[stephen sawall]

My favorite cab with my old Mark IVA was a Peavey 4x12 with Celestion G12K85s. It sounded less harsh than V30s and had more chunk to it.

I totally agree. I have two of these cabs.

I used these cabs with the Mark IV for many years. Easy some of the best cabs I have heard.

Currently I use 2 - 4x12.
H30 top /Vintage 30 bottom
Greenback top / Vintage 30 bottom

 

[skullfxr]

My favorite cab with my old Mark IVA was a Peavey 4x12 with Celestion G12K85s. It sounded less harsh than V30s and had more chunk to it.

I totally agree. I have two of these cabs.

I used these cabs with the Mark IV for many years. Easy some of the best cabs I have heard.

Currently I use 2 - 4x12.
H30 top /Vintage 30 bottom
Greenback top / Vintage 30 bottom

Those are good combinations too. I definitely agree to keep the V30's on the bottom. Lol.

I have seven 4x12's at the moment and three 2x12's and two 1x12's. They do not get moved around. All are loaded with good speakers (webers or British Celestions). They all have a head on top and stay in place lol. They work for me. No super expensive cabs, but that's OK, they work. I am a big plug in and play kind of guy and have all setup and dialed in.

I plan on picking up a captor x this year and will record with that.

 

[Beyond Black]

My favorite cab with my old Mark IVA was a Peavey 4x12 with Celestion G12K85s. It sounded less harsh than V30s and had more chunk to it.

I totally agree. I have two of these cabs.

I used these cabs with the Mark IV for many years. Easy some of the best cabs I have heard.

Currently I use 2 - 4x12.
H30 top /Vintage 30 bottom
Greenback top / Vintage 30 bottom

I’ve been loving the Greenbacks with the V30 slant cab, especially with the Beam Blockers on the top two. I’ve got two G12-H30’s on the way I’m gonna pair up with two of the Scumbacks to bring some highs and more volume.

 

[braintheory]

I don’t have a mark iv (have played them many times before though), but have a iic+ and Mark III++ coliseum’s and for a modern heavy tone like you’re describing my 2 favorite speakers combos so far have been V30’s crossed with Jensen Electric Lightning’s in my Kerry Wright 412 and V30’s crossed with Fane F90’s in my Bogner Ubercab and Diezel 412 FL

I don’t usually like V30’s by themself, but with those combos I feel I get the aggressive mids and upper mids of the V30’s with more body and beefiness from those others crossing it and they balance fine volume wise. The Fane F90’s are good if you want tight, robust, headroom and the Electric Lightning’s have a throaty low mid growl, nice warmth and feel great to play from the get go

Currently my Kerry Wright has all 1st version Celestion G12-T75’s and they’re also great for what you’re describing, but a bit scooped for my taste on their own. Great speaker for sure, but just needs something to cross with for more mid and upper mid presence, but I’ve got a bunch of stuff to try and cross with it. The recent T75’s I don’t like as much and is more spikey and harsh sounding

 

[glassjaw7]

For me it’s the Mesa Traditional 412 + Mark IV all the way. I typically don’t love those Mesa V30 speakers but in that cab they sound great and match the IV perfectly.

 

[aside]

Yeah I like G12H30's over V30's for most things, Mesa's included.

G12-65 can work too if you dial in your amp on the brighter, more cutting side.

 

[sadistik42]

Anything but V30s!!! Marks are already honky amps, no need to make it worse

 

[JimAnsell]

call me cheap, but i actually really like g12-75's with the mark IV. they're a scooped speaker IMO, and they tend to tame the boogie eq-less mids. 65's of course are up there for sure. those are probably my favorite speakers overall. They sound great with anything.

 

[garey77]

Dunno, I’d rather have a non-scooped sounding speaker for the Mark iv (what with all that onboard eq happening)

 

[stephen sawall]

The G12-75 and K-100 are not really scooped. They are kind of flat. Most guitar speakers are midrange heavy.

 

[petejt]

You'll possibly find old posts of me whinging about the annoying nature of Vintage 30s speakers, but honestly now I am regretting selling a Mesa/Boogie 4x12 that was loaded with them. That thing sounded amazing with my MarkIV. So edgy and sizzling when using the graphic EQ, awesome top-end crunch and had the chug in the bass and lower mids. When I can afford it I will buy one again.

Oh by the way, I use the Lead channel with the EQ for a heavy rhythm crunch sound, then turn the EQ off for a lead sound. Or maybe use something in the effects loop for a different texture for lead sounds.

 

[petejt]

For me it’s the Mesa Traditional 412 + Mark IV all the way. I typically don’t love those Mesa V30 speakers but in that cab they sound great and match the IV perfectly.

Yeah that was the cab I had and in hindsight, regrettably sold.

 

[Beyond Black]

I don’t have a mark iv (have played them many times before though), but have a iic+ and Mark III++ coliseum’s and for a modern heavy tone like you’re describing my 2 favorite speakers combos so far have been V30’s crossed with Jensen Electric Lightning’s in my Kerry Wright 412 and V30’s crossed with Fane F90’s in my Bogner Ubercab and Diezel 412 FL

I don’t usually like V30’s by themself, but with those combos I feel I get the aggressive mids and upper mids of the V30’s with more body and beefiness from those others crossing it and they balance fine volume wise. The Fane F90’s are good if you want tight, robust, headroom and the Electric Lightning’s have a throaty low mid growl, nice warmth and feel great to play from the get go

Currently my Kerry Wright has all 1st version Celestion G12-T75’s and they’re also great for what you’re describing, but a bit scooped for my taste on their own. Great speaker for sure, but just needs something to cross with for more mid and upper mid presence, but I’ve got a bunch of stuff to try and cross with it. The recent T75’s I don’t like as much and is more spikey and harsh sounding

I agree, I much prefer V30’s mixed with another type of speaker. By themselves they can be rather obnoxious, but pairing them up is a game changer. I had an Uberkab, and a Mills with V30’s and T75’s and it’s an awesome mix. They also pair great with Greenbacks. I’ve got a slant Marshall with 4 V30’s, and putting Beam Blockers over the top two made a huge difference. You can stand directly in front of the cab and it sounds great, not harsh and scratchy like before. Experimenting with speakers is really fun. Probably the biggest difference you can make in your tone.

 

[Beyond Black]

For me it’s the Mesa Traditional 412 + Mark IV all the way. I typically don’t love those Mesa V30 speakers but in that cab they sound great and match the IV perfectly.

I really want to hear my Mark through one of those. Like, bad.

 

[Beyond Black]

Yeah I like G12H30's over V30's for most things, Mesa's included.

G12-65 can work too if you dial in your amp on the brighter, more cutting side.

A pair of G12H30’s was just delivered! I’m gonna put them in a Marshall with a pair of Scumbacks today. And I love G12-65’s. They’re one of my favorites.