Thoughts on the EVM12L?

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

I had an original 12L in mesa mk iii combo. It was un-usable. Acted more like a PA speaker than a guitar speaker.
The MK III sounded fantastic thru my old Marshall Blackback cab but not the EV.
THEY WILL MAKE YOU 100% DEAF.

You were doing it wrong. Lol at saying one of the more iconic amp + speaker matches was "un-usable" considering just how many amazing guitar tones were made with that set up from smooth jazz all the way to heavy shit like the early Testament records which absolutely crush, and sounded amazing live.

 

[mentoneman]

Been thinking about trying the WGS Blackhawk HP. Sounds like it's worth a shot. I've got a couple of alnico SROs that sound great, predecessors of the EVM12L, so if it's anywhere close to that, it should be good.

the big deal with the WGS stuff is breaking them in and where they land once there.
some of the subtleties you enjoy from a 30+ year old EV aren’t immediately there in a brand new speaker, and most aren’t patient enough to wait for the normal break in period on a 200 watt driver!
that’s when the boogie GEQ becomes your best friend while you wait. but there are those diehard celestion or EV devotees that don’t like WGS because they are……wait for it….
…different.

 

[Alpha Stryke]

You were doing it wrong. Lol at saying one of the more iconic amp + speaker matches was "un-usable" considering just how many amazing guitar tones were made with that set up from smooth jazz all the way to heavy shit like the early Testament records which absolutely crush, and sounded amazing live.

Nope not at all. You do you Bro.
A 200 watt speaker for an 80 watt amp is Fucking ree-dick-a-lus
You "pontificating" what some band did according to your interpretation has nothing to do with me or my experience.

 

[ChurchHill]

the big deal with the WGS stuff is breaking them in and where they land once there.
some of the subtleties you enjoy from a 30+ year old EV aren’t immediately there in a brand new speaker, and most aren’t patient enough to wait for the normal break in period on a 200 watt driver!
that’s when the boogie GEQ becomes your best friend while you wait. but there are those diehard celestion or EV devotees that don’t like WGS because they are……wait for it….
…different.

Oh yeah, definitely! Good to know about WGS, too. I've never owned one. Have you ever tried the Jensen Blackbird 100? Not sure what their intent was, but it reminded me of the old SROs, too, but different, softer, but still balanced.

 

[VonBonfire]

A 200 watt speaker for an 80 watt amp is Fucking ree-dick-a-lus

WRONG.

 

[PhilC]

Far from my favorite speaker for any more gain than a Larry Carlton cover. Anything more than that and it’s way too much upper mids for me. I have a 2x12 with early 80’s 12L’s. I rarely use it and if I do it’s for cleans almost exclusively. Sounds like a lot of you guys who are fans mix them with Celestions of some type. Maybe I should try that because on their own, even with an amp that should like them like my original iic+, it’s super nasal sounding when you A/B with Celestions. I have everything on a cab switcher. Maybe if I couldn’t instantly A/B I wouldn’t hear it as so honky.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Nope not at all. You do you Bro.
A 200 watt speaker for an 80 watt amp is Fucking ree-dick-a-lus
You "pontificating" what some band did according to your interpretation has nothing to do with me or my experience.

Nothing is for everybody, but I'm also speaking from owning a pair of well broken in EVM12L's since the early '90s and having run them with an Ampeg VT22, Fender Paul Rivera designed London Reverb, Mesa Tremoverb, Peavey 6505, Matamp GT150, and Hiwatt and Reeves Custom 100's. While nothing is for everybody saying they were un-usable is pretty hyperbolic. Shit, I ran for a while an 800 watt cab loaded with the two EVM12L and two cast frame Fanes. I ran my 100 watt Dual Rectifier T-Verb into that cab, and it absolutely crushed for all things metal.

 

[Alpha Stryke]

Nothing is for everybody, but I'm also speaking from owning a pair of well broken in EVM12L's since the early '90s and having run them with an Ampeg VT22, Fender Paul Rivera designed London Reverb, Mesa Tremoverb, Peavey 6505, Matamp GT150, and Hiwatt and Reeves Custom 100's. While nothing is for everybody saying they were un-usable is pretty hyperbolic. Shit, I ran for a while an 800 watt cab loaded with the two EVM12L and two cast frame Fanes. I ran my 100 watt Dual Rectifier T-Verb into that cab, and it absolutely crushed for all things metal.

8.8 Billion people in the world all with [their own] experiences. IDK why you have a problem w/ 12L's not working for {me} but it is indeed [your] problem & not mine.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

8.8 Billion people in the world all with [their own] experiences. IDK why you have a problem w/ 12L's not working for {me} but it is indeed [your] problem & not mine.

No need for martyrdom man. I think you took this a little too personally. You made three hyperbolic statements...

A 200 watt speaker is ridiculous for an 80 watt amp.

That the speaker is unusable.

And they will 100% make you deaf.

If you had simply said they don't work for you I would never have even replied. Instead I laughed at the blanket statement, and spoke to just how widely used they are.

Fwiw I realize you have had issues with some people here ragging on you, and would just remind you I am not one of them.

 

[Inflames]

130lb and still my fav
View attachment 446583

Fuck yeah!! Mine is 160lb lol. Sounds great though

 

[rstites]

I have these mixed with the Mesa CL90's in a couple of those old vertical Mesa 2x12s, They sound great in there with my Boogies, and I've run the SLO in them once and it sounded good. They're quite a bit different than Celestions I use in most other places, but still great. They're also one of the speakers I like in an open-backed combo amp and a closed-back cab, which is unusual.

As others have noted, they are heavy. I've never moved a 4x12 full of them, but I can imagine......and I'm too old for that now, lol!

 

[DanTravis62]

No need for martyrdom man. I think you took this a little too personally. You made three hyperbolic statements...

A 200 watt speaker is ridiculous for an 80 watt amp.

That the speaker is unusable.

And they will 100% make you deaf.

If you had simply said they don't work for you I would never have even replied. Instead I laughed at the blanket statement, and spoke to just how widely used they are.

Fwiw I realize you have had issues with some people here ragging on you, and would just remind you I am not one of them.

 

[ChurchHill]

I have these mixed with the Mesa CL90's in a couple of those old vertical Mesa 2x12s, They sound great in there with my Boogies, and I've run the SLO in them once and it sounded good. They're quite a bit different than Celestions I use in most other places, but still great. They're also one of the speakers I like in an open-backed combo amp and a closed-back cab, which is unusual.

As others have noted, they are heavy. I've never moved a 4x12 full of them, but I can imagine......and I'm too old for that now, lol!

My experience, too, that they sound good in both open and closed back cabs. There are not a lot of speakers I can say that about, maybe three.

• EVM12L, EVM12S, SRO
• JBL K120, D120 (probably E120, too, but haven't tried those in a closed cab yet)
• Altec 417-8H

They're all very different speakers and each have their own sound, but they have some things in common, too. They're not guitar-specific speakers, more hi-fi or PA, all heavy duty, and as @VonBonfire may agree with, all sound amazing in a Twin. I've got a 417 and an SRO in a Blackface Twin and it is so three-dimensional, it's almost like having a slight chorus or detune.

And yeah, they don't work for everyone or everything, but when they do, it's a thing of beauty.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Far from my favorite speaker for any more gain than a Larry Carlton cover. Anything more than that and it’s way too much upper mids for me. I have a 2x12 with early 80’s 12L’s. I rarely use it and if I do it’s for cleans almost exclusively. Sounds like a lot of you guys who are fans mix them with Celestions of some type. Maybe I should try that because on their own, even with an amp that should like them like my original iic+, it’s super nasal sounding when you A/B with Celestions. I have everything on a cab switcher. Maybe if I couldn’t instantly A/B I wouldn’t hear it as so honky.

I'm on the other side of the coin, I love-love-love them for high gain, and metal cleans, but don't really like them so much with low to mid gain. I can deal with them for those tones, but have other speakers I would rather use for them.

 

[PhilC]

I'm on the other side of the coin, I love-love-love them for high gain, and metal cleans, but don't really like them so much with low to mid gain. I can deal with them for those tones, but have other speakers I would rather use for them.

That's what makes it fun. I was in a band with a guy with a triaxis/2:90 combo who got amazing tones clean through high gain with his EV loaded Mesa 2x12. I have no doubt it's me. But my guitars and my amps and I'll take my scum back or celestion loaded 4x12's 10/10 times for gain with me playing.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

That's what makes it fun. I was in a band with a guy with a triaxis/2:90 combo who got amazing tones clean through high gain with his EV loaded Mesa 2x12. I have no doubt it's me. But my guitars and my amps and I'll take my scum back or celestion loaded 4x12's 10/10 times for gain with me playing.

I will say that if their upper mids bug you, then do not mix them with V30s. Lot's of upper mid range grind with that combo. They do pair really well with both Celestion G12H100s and Fane AXA12's as well, which will emphasize that upper midrange a little less, and fill out some lower mids while at it.

 

[VonBonfire]

They're all very different speakers and each have their own sound, but they have some things in common, too. They're not guitar-specific speakers, more hi-fi or PA, all heavy duty, and as @VonBonfire may agree with, all sound amazing in a Twin.

I've never had a set of EVM's in a Twin but I have some Force 12's in one of mine now. 150 watt power handling and neutral sounding, and still pretty reasonably priced. I paid $110-120ea used for clean ones in good shape. They replicate what you feed it so it sounds like a Twin without a buncha color. I'd rather have a K-120 but for the money the Force 12's are excellent if you are on a budget and 4-5lbs lighter than a EVM.

Member @7704A has a set of Force 12's in a Marshall combo and is planning on doing some testing with Force 12's, EVM12L and EVM12s...

And btw...Alpha Stryke's comment about 200 watt speakers in an 80 watt amps being ridiculous is nonsense. You put the volume to a Twin using 100 watt speakers for enough hours at gigs and eventually the coil can't take it anymore and gives out. It happened to my last K-120. An extra 50-100 watts power handling means an ability to handle decades of abuse.....that's why I put 350 watt Eminence Paul Franklin's in my other Twin, lol, but DAMN that's a backbreaker now....and breaking them in has been a S-L-O-W process that still isn't complete. But they ain't never gonna blow. Plus we gotta pedal steel here, LOL.

 

[mentoneman]

Oh yeah, definitely! Good to know about WGS, too. I've never owned one. Have you ever tried the Jensen Blackbird 100? Not sure what their intent was, but it reminded me of the old SROs, too, but different, softer, but still balanced.

never tried the blackbird but would love to.
had the P12N 50 watt italy reissue and the tone tubbies red hempcone derivative. they had that brilliance and sparkle similar to the altec 417 which for me only shines on blackface clean tones. for dirty crunch tones i fight to shave that stuff off. enter the mark series auto GEQ.

i think i will go to the grave claiming that the sweetest clean tone speaker i’ll ever play will be the original jensen P12N which i believe was 20 watts and which i played until it blue flamed in my friend’s 22 watts sf deluxe that he had blackfaced.
my gosh what a tone.

 

[VonBonfire]

never tried the blackbird but would love to.

Same. If I couldn't find any more K-120's that's probably what I'd give a shot next. @Fusionbear was speaking of his love for them yesterday. I just need a third Twin so I have an excuse to buy a set....and a place to put them.

 

[ChurchHill]

i think i will go to the grave claiming that the sweetest clean tone speaker i’ll ever play will be the original jensen P12N

There ain't nothin' like those old Jensens, but that's a whole other thread.