Four By Ten

László

Too Many Notes
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Apr 26, 2012
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Michigan
Arriving tomorrow is an open back 4x10 Mesa cab, part of their recently-introduced Boogie cab series.

4 made-in-England G10 Creambacks. Sounds like it should be sweet for those vintage style tones, right?

Might be a nice alternative for my Lone Star, though I ordered it for the Fillmore. Perhaps it'll sound good with the DG30. I'll find out when I get everything wired up to the amp and cab switcher.

That is...if I manage to live through the day. And that's a big IF because...

I might have neglected to inform the judge/parole board/warden of husband jail, figuring there was plenty of time to find the right moment (of course there never is), so there's a fairly good chance I'll be put into the cooler unless by some miracle it arrives when she's not here... :eek:

Anyway, I sure hope it sounds good. I like the vintage vibe of an open back 4x10. But I haven't heard one with Creambacks.

I hope I live to appreciate it! ;)
 
I love 4x10s. I rocked a Marshall 1965 cab for years. It had old Celestion 35 watt speakers. The sound was very smooth. I preferred it to 12" cabs until I started using the EVM12L speakers.

Enjoy!!
I love the EVM12Ls. Yet I've never owned a cab with them. I should rectify that at some point.
 
I love the EVM12Ls. Yet I've never owned a cab with them. I should rectify that at some point.

Yes you should, lol. With my Rivera amps I had such a "clean" distortion. It was ALL the speaker - 200 watts of pure, clear tone. Sustain for days with no annoying fizz or cone distortion. Just pure amp tone.

I has 1x12, 2x12 and 4x12 cabs with EVM12Ls from the same batch. Gotta from a local hi-fi store that thought some audiophile dudes might dig them. Their loss, my gain!!!
 
Oh yeah, Les! Love the 4x10 layout. Two of my amps are 4x10 combos, and they both sound great in band settings. I think you’ll like it!
 
I never really got into 10's, but had a few amps with them.

I know a lot of folks like some Mesa amps with 4x10, including Blue Angels, Maverick, Nomad and a couple others. I'm sure it will sound great with at least a couple of your amps. Looking forward to your thoughts after you've had it a while.
 
An open back 4/10 cabinet sounds awesome. I have learned over the years that I really like the sound of 10" speakers. I also really like the sound of the cream back speakers. I have Ragin Cajun speakers in my Marsh amp. Those have such a nice sound to them. I had looked at cream back and green back 10" speakers a few times thinking about trying those in my combo. I kept coming back to the fact that I really liked what was in there so why mess with it? It was a curiosity.

I was looking at getting a 2x10 cabinet for a while as well. I revisit that thought from time to time. I haven't talked myself into yet.
 
Oh yeah!!!

I'm a big fan of the Cream line of speakers - they're my favorite offering in the Celestion catalog. Actually, the only ones I haven't tried are the 10's, and the Neo magnet version - I'd be much more inclined to mess with the 10's though, just haven't had a chance. The M65, Alnico, and now the H75's in my HDRX 2x12 are all fantastic. They just have the tonal balance that I'm after - less of the deep low end that ends up getting eq'd out of a recording anyway, and a little more treble, so the control doesn't have to be turned up as much on the amp. Although not so far to the extreme as Greenbacks, so they can be used in smaller or open back cabs without sounding shrill.

Looking forward to your report on the 10's - very possible a pair could wind up in my Vibrolux. I currently have the stock Ten 30's in there. They sound pretty good, but they're not a premium speaker like the Creamback's.

I'll give you the backseat driver alert... I've been hoping for a while that you'd get a chance to try something from the Cream line. Just because you have a couple cabs with V30's, and they're a nice contrast.
 
Oh yeah, Les! Love the 4x10 layout. Two of my amps are 4x10 combos, and they both sound great in band settings. I think you’ll like it!
Which ones? Always interested in how other people use the gear!
I know a lot of folks like some Mesa amps with 4x10, including Blue Angels, Maverick, Nomad and a couple others. I'm sure it will sound great with at least a couple of your amps. Looking forward to your thoughts after you've had it a while.
I haven't had a cab with 10s for 20 years. The one I had was a 2x10 Mesa I got with my Blue Angel, with their Alnico speakers (the frames were blue, with square magnet covers in back, and unlabeled; I never found out who made them). Funny you should mention the B/A and 10s combination!

The cab sounded very good.
An open back 4/10 cabinet sounds awesome. I have learned over the years that I really like the sound of 10" speakers. I also really like the sound of the cream back speakers. I have Ragin Cajun speakers in my Marsh amp. Those have such a nice sound to them. I had looked at cream back and green back 10" speakers a few times thinking about trying those in my combo. I kept coming back to the fact that I really liked what was in there so why mess with it? It was a curiosity.

I was looking at getting a 2x10 cabinet for a while as well. I revisit that thought from time to time. I haven't talked myself into yet.
 
Which ones? Always interested in how other people use the gear!
One is the Super Reverb, the old 1964 one I’ve had forever. Great sound on its own or with pedals in front. No MV, no loop, and a 2 ohm output, so it’s definitely its own thing. Years ago I bought a Weber Z-Matcher, so now I can run it into my other 8 or 16 ohm cabs, and it sounds great but also shows how much a SR relies on its cab to sound like the old, loud, mean amp we all know.

The other one is a Mesa Nomad 55, and it’s best described as a Super Super Reverb. Similar in configuration with 2x6L6GC power (you can also use EL34s with the flip of a switch) into 4x10 Jensen Alnico speakers, 55 watts (I always thought the Fender SR sounded more like 50+ watts than the rated 40), but with three independent channels each with a Gain and Master, then an overall Master and footswitchable boost. As Randy Smith did, take a Super Reverb, then add every function possible within that framework. Sometimes overdoing ruins a good concept, but in the case of the Nomads, it was one of his best “do it all” designs. I gigged Nomad 55s (the 12“ version combos and head/cab versions) for years before the Road King II came along and it’s a solid, roadworthy band-format gigging amp. We did everything from old Motown to Stone Temple Pilots and it covered them all.

Back on the 4x10” subject, my prediction is that you’ll find something similar to your humbucker/P90 comparison, ie as many similarities as differences. There’s a lot of middle ground with 12” open back cabs, but still always it’s own flavor. I haven’t played anything but the alnico speakers in one personally, so I’m waiting to see what a trained ear thinks of the GBs.
 
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