Your Favorite Amp's Tone Signature?

Hey Les - Any further comments on the Mesa 4x10? That caught my eye as a smaller, lighter, gentler on the 'ole back alternative to a 2x12 or 4x12. It's open, correct? The Marshall 4x10 is closed. I'm torn. I like my closed 1x12, but I also liked my open 1x12. If I were to stumble on a good example of them, not sure which way to go. I sure liked the cream back 45 watt 10 in my MkV25 combo though.

Edit - Plus, the Mesa is well, ah Mesa.
A 4X10 VS A 4X12 Isn't Going To Be Much Different Weight Wise IMO.
 
I was super surprised. The Mesa open 4x10 is 39.2#, the recto 4x12 is 106#, at least per the Mesa site. A 4x12 is a man’s cabinet!
True On The Man's Cab Comment. I Guess I Was Thinking All Things Being Equal. Yes A Smaller Open Back Vs A Larger Closed Back Will Be Significant. Man Up And Get The Good Sounding Cab. ;)
 
Hey Les - Any further comments on the Mesa 4x10? That caught my eye as a smaller, lighter, gentler on the 'ole back alternative to a 2x12 or 4x12. It's open, correct?
The back of the cab is truly open, not half-open with a big bottom panel, so the cab is light enough that I can move it around myself without issues. It's also lighter than the pine 2x12 DG30 cab.

But I'm guessing you want to know about the tone...

Normally I'm a 2x12 person, whether in a speaker cab or a combo. I got the 4x10 to have a warmer/sweeter, more vintage tone to go with the Fillmore.

The frequency balance is different from a 2x12, with more of a mid-focus, but so much depends on the amp and speakers - as well as the guitar - that it's hard for me to put my thoughts into words.

Some 4x10s sound a little nasal/constricted/boxy to me. This Boogie cab's very open sounding, with a nice amount of sparkle on top.

With the Fillmore running clean, and a split or single coil neck pickup, the sound is my idea of a perfect clean tone. Doesn't get any better - for me.

Crunch tones sound great. The cab sounds quite good with the other amps as well, most especially the Lone Star (as you might expect, since it's also a Mesa).

The DG30 is a very mid-focused amp that I think matches up best with its own pine 2x12. Surprisingly, the HXDA sounds pretty darn good through the 4x10, especially if I set it up for clean-ish tones.

The Marshall 4x10 is closed. I'm torn. I like my closed 1x12, but I also liked my open 1x12. If I were to stumble on a good example of them, not sure which way to go. I sure liked the cream back 45 watt 10 in my MkV25 combo though.

Edit - Plus, the Mesa is well, ah Mesa.

Here's where my musical peculiarities come in; I'm probably too one-dimensional to express a useful opinion re: a 4x10 closed back cab for other players.

For me, a closed back 4x10 works best with more gain than I use. It's not something I'd buy, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't!
 
The Chug Is Very Important And A Key Foundation Stone To Life Itself IMO. One Must Chug!
I don’t trust a man that can’t chug.
“… and the truth shall set you free!” This is the truth I’ve been looking for all these years and I finally found it HERE, at the PRS forum. #memberforlife
 
The normal channel of a Vox and strat with P90 pickups, with a compressor, for clean tones.
Adding HX pedals for drive. I am in heaven.

I suppose I should get a PRS strat next as I prefer the shape to SCs...never played one yet
 
I Think Les Should Play The Brutulz And Report Back On His Findings. ;)

I don’t trust a man that can’t chug.

The Chug Is Very Important And A Key Foundation Stone To Life Itself IMO. One Must Chug!

“… and the truth shall set you free!” This is the truth I’ve been looking for all these years and I finally found it HERE, at the PRS forum. #memberforlife

It’s what I live for. The quest for the PERFECT chug.
Just when I think I have it, I move the line.
And that’s where the absolute joy lives.👍🤘
 
This thread awakened a part of me I haven’t paid much attention to in a while - just pulling an amp out and playing through it because I like it! I’ve been trying to move some projects along lately, so I’ve been a lot more focused on finding the right tool for the job. While I’m at it, I should mention, PRS has a killer amp range for covering many bases right now!

Anyways, I pulled out the Custom 50 and 2x12 loaded with Cream/Ruby alnicos. Although I really like all of my PRS amps, the Custom 50 is the one I enjoy playing the most. A fat, warm, but defined and not boomy clean channel, without scooped mids. I’ve not tried a Hiwatt, but I suspect they might have some in common. The lead channel, now that I have the DGT15, they have some similarity - the raggedy and wild midrange and low end sag of a Tweed amp, top end that doesn’t bite too hard. I think the Custom 50 compresses a little more than the DGT, and has the big bottle 6L6 authority vs. the purr of el84’s. And, of course, the speakers play a part with that alnico grind and sizzle.

It actually got me back to working on my IR’s of that cab, blending some of the mic’d signal of the back of the cab to retain the fatness of the real thing. It’s a whole process I won’t bore anyone with, doing so with 2 different speakers and then blending front and back on both. But it’s worth it… what a sound!!!
 
Bear with me while I take a quick tour d'horizon...

I'm trying to distill what I like best in an amp so I can get down to one or two amps.

By the way, I'm failing miserably at this 'get down to one or two amps' task.

Apparently, I have several things I like. There's even stuff I don't own that I like.

This is a thankless job I've appointed myself to do, I can tell you that! 😂
 
Better you than me. I like too many things to have one or two amps and be completely happy. If modeling sounded as good, then MAYBE I’d be ok with just one amp.
It may be that I'm where I need to be at the moment.

I'd like to make more room in my studio to have musicians in for my orchestral instruments project. It's not a huge space and the amps take up a lot of floor space.
I Could Have Told You That...🤣

It Is A Useless Endeavor And A Waste Of Time To Even Try So Quit While You Are Ahead And Buy More Amps.
Thing is, when I first got into Two-Rock amps back in 2003, I wound up selling all of my other amps - probably had 6 or 7 at the time - and spent a decade with only one amp at a time in the studio.

One perfect amp!

It was like I had a holy grail and needed nothing else.

The mistake I made was selling my Onyx Signature to get their new Custom Reverb Artist Signature. Turned out that it wasn't right for my playing style. The Onyx had a little more Marshall flavor on its lead channel.

But they stopped making the Onyx. There was no going back.

Don't get me wrong, I love the HXDA and DG30. The Mesas are also excellent amps.

I do realize I could move them to my storage room to do the orchestral project, but honestly, if I have amps, I have an emotional need for them to be all set up - because they're there! 🤣
 
It may be that I'm where I need to be at the moment.
I don't claim to know everything about you, but that's what I thought as soon as you started this line of thinking, and completely understand. As my wife and I discuss retirement plans, one thing she's mentioned is sell the current home, and travel for one year while the new home is being built. If we do that, I I'll be scaling down as we get close. The travel part is happening in one form or another, but if we really sell and then start a build, we'd have no "home" for 6-9 months, and be living in a motor home and touring the US and Canada. I know we'd have to put a lot of stuff in storage but I can't see keeping all 7 guitar cabs and all the other stuff in my music room.
 
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