Upgrade the speaker in my combo, or buy a 412...

[GuitarGuyLP]

I have a PRS Archon 25 combo, I like it a lot, but I find that the open back G12-T75 is a bit lacking. I have been thinking about either upgrading the speaker to something that sounds bigger in a combo, or just buying a 412 to run it through. This is just for jamming at home, mostly at lower volumes unfortunately so a 412 is overkill, but I don't want to have the small sounding 112 open back sound.

Anyone have any suggestions for either a speaker that sounds massive in an open back 112, or should I just suck it up, and buy a 412. I found a local Traynor 412 with G12-T75s for a decent price, and those cabs are over built with 3/4" void free birch ply just like Orange cabs, and they are Made in Canada as well, no made in China junk here.

 

[fek]

I would go with the 4x12. Used to run Either a Rivera R30 or M60 combo sitting on top of a 4X12 for years.

 

[maddnotez]

I would just upgrade the speaker.

I have only had one combo (5150 2x12) but I tried every speaker combination possible (4x12), (combo + 412), (combo + 212), (all the above) and the combo by itself sounded the best by far.

 

[Anje]

You will have a hard time making your open back 1x12 sound anywhere close to a good 4x12 IMHO.
If the 4x12 sound & feel is what you have in mind and want I'd advise to get a 4x12; just keep that 1x12 for when you need a compact portable amp for those jams & gigs.

 

[UltraGary]

I vote upgrade the speaker, and then keep your eyes out for a good 1x12 or 2x12 cab while continuing to use your combo. Using a 1x12 combo as a head and needing a 4x12 cab with it would be the most inefficient mobile rig possible.

 

[RIFF]

I USUALLY dont like combos because of the cab situation... Small, open back.
Ive heard larger 1x12 open backs that sounded good, at least for non metal stuff.
IMO, metal needs closed back cabs for tightness.

 

[stephen sawall]

My advice would be buy a 4x12 and up grade the speaker. I would get the 4x12 first.

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

I like the idea of doing both. Anyone have suggestions for a speaker that sounds big in an open back 112?

 

[Red_Label]

I like the idea of doing both. Anyone have suggestions for a speaker that sounds big in an open back 112?

I've got a Creamback 65 loaded in my Mojave Ampworks openback 1x12 cab and it sounds pretty huge. That is parked right next to my Greenback/H30 loaded 4x12... and it doesn't suck to play at all. Yes, the 4x12 sounds bigger. But it doesn't make the 1x12 sound small by any means.

Regarding 2x12s, they don't light my fire. I've owned the V30-loaded Bogner OS2x12, Friedman V30-loaded 2x12, Laney blue 2x12 loaded with Celestion Heritage 30s, etc. None of them sounded as big as my various 4x12s, but took up the same footprint. So I'm either gonna roll with a 1x12 for portability/footprint, or I'm gonna roll with the big boy and get big boy tone. The 2x12s are certainly in between the 1x12 and 4x12 in terms of size of tone, but again... if I need something bigger than a 1x12, I'll go with a 4x12. The only thing that a 2x12 might excel at is being tighter than a 4x12.

 

[Anje]

I like how my old Marshall 4010 sound with the original G12-65; great on its own and also mixed with other 1x12 closed cabs.

 

[CornNutz]

Just get a 4x12, and unplug the internal speaker from the jack on the back. Done.

 

[UltraGary]

I can't help but wonder what stages these guys voting to "just get a 4x12" are playing on, how often they're playing on them, what size vehicle they're driving, who's moving their gear, or if they've ever plugged a small combo in for an informal session.

A great sounding 1x12 combo is a beautiful thing in so many situations. I have a MesaBoogie MkV:35 that keeps up with any drummer volume-wise and kicks the crap out of some of my friends' 1/2stacks. It's only with certain bass rigs I need an additional cab with it. Same goes for sessions. Not all engineers want your big 4x12 involved, plus many studios have killer 4x12s all over the place.

Still though....I understand the lust for running it through a 4x12 sometimes, but having that be the only option for your 1x12 combo to be heard well is ludicrous.

 

[skullfxr]

I would upgrade the speaker and get a 1x12" cab. Get a 10 foot speaker cable, space it apart and call it a day.

A EV 12L is a hell of a speaker.

 

[napalmdeath]

I would upgrade the speaker and get a 1x12" cab. Get a 10 foot speaker cable, space it apart and call it a day.

A EV 12L is a hell of a speaker.

This.... My thoughts exactly. Personally, I'd go for a Mesa Thiele, and put the combo on top. Or, do as mentioned above.

I love those Thieles, as well as the MC90's that come in them. Huge sounding cabs. I ran 2, for several years, with many amps. Best 1x12 ever made, IMO.

 

[UltraGary]

I would upgrade the speaker and get a 1x12" cab. Get a 10 foot speaker cable, space it apart and call it a day.

A EV 12L is a hell of a speaker.

This.... My thoughts exactly. Personally, I'd go for a Mesa Thiele, and put the combo on top. Or, do as mentioned above.

I love those Thieles, as well as the MC90's that come in them. Huge sounding cabs. I ran 2, for several years, with many amps. Best 1x12 ever made, IMO.

Excellent cabinet choice on an excellent extension cab plan! (and no 4x12 to lift, move or make space for)

 

[napalmdeath]

I would upgrade the speaker and get a 1x12" cab. Get a 10 foot speaker cable, space it apart and call it a day.

A EV 12L is a hell of a speaker.

This.... My thoughts exactly. Personally, I'd go for a Mesa Thiele, and put the combo on top. Or, do as mentioned above.

I love those Thieles, as well as the MC90's that come in them. Huge sounding cabs. I ran 2, for several years, with many amps. Best 1x12 ever made, IMO.

Excellent cabinet choice on an excellent extension cab plan! (and no 4x12 to lift, move or make space for)

Absolutely. I used 2 with an EVH, Laney GH50L, JVM, Mark V 25, Single Rectifier, a couple Randalls, a couple DSL's, and others. Never disappointed, and was way better than a single 2x12.

 

[skullfxr]

I would upgrade the speaker and get a 1x12" cab. Get a 10 foot speaker cable, space it apart and call it a day.

A EV 12L is a hell of a speaker.

This.... My thoughts exactly. Personally, I'd go for a Mesa Thiele, and put the combo on top. Or, do as mentioned above.

I love those Thieles, as well as the MC90's that come in them. Huge sounding cabs. I ran 2, for several years, with many amps. Best 1x12 ever made, IMO.

Thiele are awesome. Completely agree best 1x12 ever.

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

Just picked up a Traynor 412 with T75s, really well built cab, all Baltic Birch, and built like a Mesa cab!!! The difference in low end is crazy!!! Makes my 25 watt amp sound huge!!!

 

[Hamer95USA]

I love my Marshall JCM 900 4x12 cab with Celestion G12C speakers on top & Vintage 30 speakers on the bottom. Unfortunately, I only use it in my AC/DC tribute. I use a few combo amps for my cover band gigs. My favorite is the EV12L speaker in my Marshall 6101 combo amp. I also like the Jensen Neo 12-100 speaker in my Reverend Kingsnake 1x12 and Goblin 1x12 combo amps. It has a great balanced sound and sounds good with when I hit the amp with overdrive without the raspiness or biting treble that most speakers have. More British than American and it's 100 watts so I'm not worried about blowing it up either.

I have a Celestion G12M Greenback speaker in my Soldano Astroverb 16 1x12 combo amp that just sounds awesome with that amp. I'm glad I removed the OEM Eminence speaker in that amp. Sorry Mike Soldano!

If any of you own a Fender blackface clean type and find it trebly or harsh, I recommend the Eminence Cannabis Rex 12" speaker or the Lil' Buddy 10" speaker. It's a hemp cone speaker modeled after the Tone Tubby speakers made by A Broun Sound and smoothes out the sound of a trebly clean amp. I also like the Tone Tubby speakers for this application as well.

I've also own the Marshall 1912 1x12 cab with the Celestion G12B-150 150 watt speaker. It makes a great extension cab with my Marshall 6101 combo amp. I'm also using it with either my Krank Nineteen80 Jr. 20 watt amp head or Stiff 90-AD 50 watt head which gives me a punchy tone without carrying a 2x12 or 4x12 cab and the 150 watt capacity puts me at ease about the wattage that my amps put out without blowing the speaker up.

Guitar George

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I can't help but wonder what stages these guys voting to "just get a 4x12" are playing on, how often they're playing on them, what size vehicle they're driving, who's moving their gear, or if they've ever plugged a small combo in for an informal session.

A great sounding 1x12 combo is a beautiful thing in so many situations. I have a MesaBoogie MkV:35 that keeps up with any drummer volume-wise and kicks the crap out of some of my friends' 1/2stacks. It's only with certain bass rigs I need an additional cab with it. Same goes for sessions. Not all engineers want your big 4x12 involved, plus many studios have killer 4x12s all over the place.

Still though....I understand the lust for running it through a 4x12 sometimes, but having that be the only option for your 1x12 combo to be heard well is ludicrous.

I think it may be material dependent. I just checked out your video- which I really liked btw! Cool audio and video, great vibe. What vocal mic are you using? It sounds gnarly. Cool solo too.

But back to the point, I dig a 1x12 but if I tried that with some of my drop C & dropA riffage, it wouldn't work very well for rehearsal. It would be loud, but likely fart out on the low end and get congested. The riffs you play based on that video would likely work well with a 1x12.