Four By Ten

Here's the report:

I used the Fillmore, all modes, tried it with each of my pedals, and played a CU24 30th Anniversary PS. I bought this cab for the Fillmore, primarily, so today I didn't try my other amps with it. I will.

I played for about 2 1/2 hours, thinking that's enough to get an overall first impression.

First, you'll notice in the pic the amp and cab are in a corner. That's not the best spot for it, yet it didn't matter.

Usually corner placement exaggerates the low frequencies and can make the tone muddy. That didn't happen, Maybe it's the proximity of the bass trap behind the HXDA and Lone Star. I was going to move one of my portable bass traps into the corner behind the amp, but I didn't need it.

So what's it sound like?

This cab is all about clarity, note separation, and a very wide polar pattern/spread in the room that doesn't ever get peaky or raspy. I've never heard a cab achieve as clear and open a tone. Compared to my 2x12 cabs it was like a big, wide, clean picture window into the true sounds the guitar and amp were making.

And does it ever project into the room in a wide arc!

I expected a degree of excess brightness from a 4 x 10. Nope. The cabinet is very well balanced, top to bottom. The Celestion Creams are really good in this 10" format. Never a hint of ice-pick. I was very happy with that.

And the fundamental notes are solid. The bass is tight, the lower mids are perfect. There's zero mud. The midrange is...I dunno, never heard anything more open in the mids. High frequencies are very balanced, a good thing.

When I record it, I'll probably pick a Neumann TLM 103 about a foot away, and blend it with a ribbon room mic to pick up the ambience. A lot of cabs, it's pointless to use a condenser. But I think this one has enough clarity that I wouldn't want to monkey around with a dynamic mic. I'd want to capture every bit of that clarity.

The cab projects a very wide sound field/polar pattern. I was honestly shocked by this.

You can walk from side to front and hear a consistent tone without noticeable peakiness. There's no ice pick standing centered on the cab. It's clear as a bell regardless where you sit or stand. It'd be a really good choice for live work, depending on the style you play.

Chugging? I dunno. You might want that fat bottom of a 12".

Classic rock, alt rock, Americana, country, blues or jazz? It's your huckleberry. I even tried some U2 type stuff with it, and my goodness, it sounded terrific.

As you might expect with the lower mass of 10" speakers vs 12", the response is very fast. Transients are clear, but yet they're rounded, not painfully sharp. So if you're a rhythm player, you're going to get the note separation on chords of your dreams, and your picking will be very dynamic. Chicken pickin'? You wouldn't have to fight the amp to have the response and clarity you need. It responds quickly to every note, no waiting for the speaker to recover.

Incidentally, I'm terrible at chicken pickin' so...take that bit with a grain of salt!

I expect it will sound even better when it starts to break in, and I'll report back.

But for now: Think clarity, speed of response, balanced tone, wide polar pattern, and a speaker cab that projects really well.

You might think, "Yeah, but a 4x10 is supposed to be all vintage sounding."

Well, maybe, but this one's capable of a lot more. If I didn't own this, I'd buy it. ;)
Love that you’re digging it! Me and my lowly 1x12 are jelly!
 
Pah! I had three speakers that I swapped around in their respective cabs just the other day, and thought nothing of it. Clue - the right power tools :)

What used to be a major chore is now only a minor inconvenience. Plus: the payoff made it all worthwhile, as my MkIV is currently running its own EV alongside two Celestion Black Shadows in their separate cabs (hung off my Aracom, from one of the Boogie's 4 ohm taps).

I tried the MkIIC+ with the same speaker setup, and it was really great as well.
Oh, I have power tools...but weird stuff happens when I use them.

I last used my excellent power screwdriver/drill hanging my acoustical treatment...natch, it slipped off the drywall screw (which suddenly stopped turning when it hit the stud - the wood must have been crazy-hard) and chewed up the wall in a nanosecond. Fortunately, the damage is hidden by the panel.

Not the first time I've damaged something using my power tools.

I did back out the screw and drill a pilot hole, and the rest went OK, but still...wouldn't want that to happen with a nice speaker cab.

It's not that I don't know how to do it, or lack the tools, I'm just the wrong guy to operate the machinery.
 
Good grief - now I'll have to build myself a 4x12 too. What do you think about figured pine?
Here's the sum total of what I know about guitar cabs; it might fill a thimble:

I know where to put them in the room for recording. I'm good at miking them up. I know how to plug a speaker cable into them. I'm able to put an amplifier on top, and even put little round felt or rubber pads under the feet so the cab doesn't get marred by the head. I know if a cab will work with my amps when I hear it. I know the open ones sound different from the ported ones and the closed back versions.

On the other hand, here's what I know about cab design: Zero, zip, zilch, 0.

I've had a PRS pine 1x12 and currently have a pine DG 2x12 cab. Both are very sweet sounding cabs. Maybe a little sweeter (warmer might be another good word) than a plywood cab.

But your guess is probably better than mine.

If you can build a cab at all, you're miles and miles ahead of me! ;)
 
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Hmmmmmm.......OK.............I might have enough 12-inch housings already.

In fact, a 4x10 might be a more useful project - I can make it to match (size-wise, at least) my main (large-ish) 1x12 and 1x15 cabs.
 
Hmmmmmm.......OK.............I might have enough 12-inch housings already.

In fact, a 4x10 might be a more useful project - I can make it to match (size-wise, at least) my main (large-ish) 1x12 and 1x15 cabs.
I wonder how the tone is affected by different size cabs. I think it would be, but again, I don't know much about designing guitar cabs, just using them. ;)
 
I live in daily fear of a random basement inspection by the Domestic Empress. There’s been some ninja-like stealth of late.
When I had an all-analog studio with racks of gear, a console, and a 96 point patch bay, my wife remarked to a friend who asked how she felt about having all that stuff in the house, "I wasn't consulted. He sneaked all that stuff into that studio one cable at a time!"

Another time she came in and asked, "Is that new?"

I said, "No, I've had it a long time."

I guess I wasn't good at a poker face, though.

She asked, "By 'long time' are we talking, like, more than an hour?"
 
Before I starting building instruments , I was building speaker cabs. My brother and I both enjoyed it. I still have a 2x10 ported I use as an Aux.
16 ohm 100w Celestions in parallel . I made it as a small venue bass cab , and it works well for the Cafe' with the Mesa Rosette acoustic amp .

While I prefer 12"s the 10's have their charm , and in the right cab can deliver great bass.
 
Before I starting building instruments , I was building speaker cabs. My brother and I both enjoyed it. I still have a 2x10 ported I use as an Aux.
16 ohm 100w Celestions in parallel . I made it as a small venue bass cab , and it works well for the Cafe' with the Mesa Rosette acoustic amp .

While I prefer 12"s the 10's have their charm , and in the right cab can deliver great bass.
It’s nice to have both. The other 3 cabs are 2x12, and I have a great amp and cab switcher from a Swiss company that works a treat, so can switch cabs with the flick of a toggle or via MIDI, noiselessly, no tone suck at all.

As soon as I’m cleared to do stairs when I get back home I’ll be doing more experimentation!
 
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