New cab speaker break in

team13chad

Active member
So I got a couple 2x12 cabs with veteran 30s and et90s mixed.

I haven't bought new cabs or speakers in a really long time and I was floored at how bright and boxy they sound.

This is normal right?

My Mesa 2x12 sounds much less shrill and open.

I'm guessing the high end starts to smooth out after a while?
 
Yeah, they will smooth out after breaking in. One way to do this, is to crank them up really loud and rock out! So that is your homework for the day. :rock:
 
I dropped a couple of new vet 30's in one of my 212s about 1.5 months ago. They are now starting to really warm up and get some tight low end.

I've gigged them about 8 times since putting them in, so that's about 24 hours of gig volume use. They may have started smoothing out sooner, but I just started to notice a difference last weekend.
 
You need to understand that the MESA 2x12 if equipped with VIN30s are not standard run of the mill Celestion VIN30s. Celestion makes special Vintage 30s exclusively for MESA that run at a different frequency making them less shrill, boxy and smoother and softer sounding. I learned this a while back dealing with the same concern as you are voicing right now. MESA does sell the custom MESA issues Celestion Vintage 30s which are made in England and not China on their website in both the 8 and 16 Ohm varieties.

Yes breaking them in will help but they will never sound close to the MESA Vintage 30s. Been there done that.
 
rm5153":28dhxojz said:
You need to understand that the MESA 2x12 if equipped with VIN30s are not standard run of the mill Celestion VIN30s. Celestion makes special Vintage 30s exclusively for MESA that run at a different frequency making them less shrill, boxy and smoother and softer sounding. I learned this a while back dealing with the same concern as you are voicing right now. MESA does sell the custom MESA issues Celestion Vintage 30s which are made in England and not China on their website in both the 8 and 16 Ohm varieties.

Yes breaking them in will help but they will never sound close to the MESA Vintage 30s. Been there done that.

while I know they are not exactly alike, the Vet 30's are designed different from V30s as well. From WGS's site:
The Veteran 30™ speaker has smoothed out the upper-mid "spike" notorious in the Vintage 30™ speaker.

I can attest to this. Almost sounds like they were mimicking the Mesa V30s. But they do have a break in period.
 
team13chad":1n66xhcx said:
So I got a couple 2x12 cabs with veteran 30s and et90s mixed.

I haven't bought new cabs or speakers in a really long time and I was floored at how bright and boxy they sound.

This is normal right?

My Mesa 2x12 sounds much less shrill and open.

I'm guessing the high end starts to smooth out after a while?
I typically take stubbornly "new" sounding cabs and place them face down on this old shag carpet I have, plug the jack into my DAW out and play a whack of shitty music and tonal patterns at medium/high volumes for about 20hrs. Works every time.
 
I have a playlist (appropriately called Speaker Breakin) of soft tunes (Antimatter, Apocalyptica, Of Wand And The Moon, etc...) or guitar only tunes and will play on a loop at a semi-low volume and just let that go overnight. I would do it a few nights in a row and while I'm at work. That works pretty well.

I'm sure it works fine to blast a loud volume for a while, but I'm never comfortable doing that with new speakers.
 
Ventura":1wffstex said:
team13chad":1wffstex said:
So I got a couple 2x12 cabs with veteran 30s and et90s mixed.

I haven't bought new cabs or speakers in a really long time and I was floored at how bright and boxy they sound.

This is normal right?

My Mesa 2x12 sounds much less shrill and open.

I'm guessing the high end starts to smooth out after a while?
I typically take stubbornly "new" sounding cabs and place them face down on this old shag carpet I have, plug the jack into my DAW out and play a whack of shitty music and tonal patterns at medium/high volumes for about 20hrs. Works every time.

Pictures of the Shag carpet or it's a Kmart throw rug
:LOL: :LOL:
 
Ventura":8zlwn7u9 said:
team13chad":8zlwn7u9 said:
So I got a couple 2x12 cabs with veteran 30s and et90s mixed.

I haven't bought new cabs or speakers in a really long time and I was floored at how bright and boxy they sound.

This is normal right?

My Mesa 2x12 sounds much less shrill and open.

I'm guessing the high end starts to smooth out after a while?
I typically take stubbornly "new" sounding cabs and place them face down on this old shag carpet I have, plug the jack into my DAW out and play a whack of shitty music and tonal patterns at medium/high volumes for about 20hrs. Works every time.

That is how we always did it,first with cassettes then as time moved on... cds. But we always gave it a rest after 2-3 hours. We were advised to rest often to avoid the voice coils getting too hot. Mind you,we were young and following the advice of the guy at the shop that fixed our gear. We didn't know Jack shit. In reality,I still don't know anything.
 
Ventura":2rn4clw5 said:
team13chad":2rn4clw5 said:
So I got a couple 2x12 cabs with veteran 30s and et90s mixed.

I haven't bought new cabs or speakers in a really long time and I was floored at how bright and boxy they sound.

This is normal right?

My Mesa 2x12 sounds much less shrill and open.

I'm guessing the high end starts to smooth out after a while?
I typically take stubbornly "new" sounding cabs and place them face down on this old shag carpet I have, plug the jack into my DAW out and play a whack of shitty music and tonal patterns at medium/high volumes for about 20hrs. Works every time.

That is what do. Lay it face down and let it run all day at mid volumes.

I made a synth track of different voices chords and frequencies from about 65hz up to 20khz that I run through it. Works really well for me.
 
One issue is mixing a large dust cap speaker (ET) with a small dust cap speaker (V30). The large dust cap rolls off treble, the small dust cap does not. Mixing them makes it tough to properly EQ your tone for the upper mids and treble. I strongly advise against doing these types of mixes.

The break in part is another thing. Speakers don't sound their best till they've got 40-50 hours of playing on them to loosen up the spider, doping, cone, etc.
 
Scumback Speakers":1etvelrd said:
One issue is mixing a large dust cap speaker (ET) with a small dust cap speaker (V30). The large dust cap rolls off treble, the small dust cap does not. Mixing them makes it tough to properly EQ your tone for the upper mids and treble. I strongly advise against doing these types of mixes.

The break in part is another thing. Speakers don't sound their best till they've got 40-50 hours of playing on them to loosen up the spider, doping, cone, etc.

Must listen to “That F$$cking Scumback Guy”.

He knows speakers!

:rock: :rock:

Going to have to contact you at some point for some speakers!
 
PBGas":r77p9bcx said:
Must listen to “That F$$cking Scumback Guy”.

He knows speakers!

:rock: :rock:

Going to have to contact you at some point for some speakers!

Jeez, I'm telling you with what USPS is charging for shipping, it's almost cheaper to fly and get them here. Just kidding, but they always raise prices in January, typically 10-12%. It's robbery. If you can drive to the border and pick them up at some mailbox place, you'll save 2/3 of what it costs to ship one to Canada now...which is around $65 USD these days. Pairs are just over $100 USD.

It's a fucking racket.
 
Scumback Speakers":2p3dakyp said:
PBGas":2p3dakyp said:
Must listen to “That F$$cking Scumback Guy”.

He knows speakers!

:rock: :rock:

Going to have to contact you at some point for some speakers!

Jeez, I'm telling you with what USPS is charging for shipping, it's almost cheaper to fly and get them here. Just kidding, but they always raise prices in January, typically 10-12%. It's robbery. If you can drive to the border and pick them up at some mailbox place, you'll save 2/3 of what it costs to ship one to Canada now...which is around $65 USD these days. Pairs are just over $100 USD.

It's a fucking racket.

That is crazy! Could you do UPS or FedEx?
 
swamptrashstompboxes" That is crazy! Could you do UPS or FedEx?[/quote said:
USPS is the cheapest. Fedex and UPS are even more expensive than USPS. That's why I suggested traveling to the border and find a mailbox place or Fedex Office to ship to. After 15 years in this business, I've learned a few things from my Canadian clients.
 
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