412 cabinet advice

Adey

I'm thinking about getting a 412 cabinet for my office / music room. It'll mostly be used at low volumes as the opportunity to gig it before the 44th Octember seem pretty remote at best... but it might get gigged occasionally.

So, I'm after some advice - do they work at low volumes? It'll be connected to a Laney TT50 head or Laney IRT Studio, depending up how the mood takes me.

From a pure vanity perspective it will have to say "Marshall" on the front, and I'll be buying used as they seem to be sooooo cheap at the moment as no-one else wants them.

I generally play the Metal side of Rock - Iron Maiden, Foos, and if it wasn't that originally, it is after we have done our version of it.! (having looked at our set lists, a lot isn't really metal to start with, but we improve on that!)

Any recommendations, and anything to avoid? Any speaker recommendations too?

Oh, and max width about 730mm ideally to fit in the space I have for it.

Thoughts????

ICBM

Yes, they sound great at low volumes. They have a naturally big, space-filling sound even at a whisper.

I would get a bog-standard 1960A (unless you really like the look of B cabs and/or need to put something much larger on top of it) with G12T-75s - they're a naturally scooped speaker and quite loose so they don't need to be driven at all hard to sound good. Also by far the easiest and usually cheapest Marshall cab to find.

If you want to tighten it up and make it better for potentially gigging I would replace two of the speakers with V30s in an 'x' pattern - the combination is fantastic for hard rock and metal, and it works equally well at low volume as high.

Adey

Any thoughts on 2no. 2x12's for ease of transportation?

A bit shite, or still passable?

ICBM

Adey said:

Any thoughts on 2no. 2x12's for ease of transportation?

A bit shite, or still passable?

Passable, but for proper hard rock or metal you want a proper 4x12"... you just do.

ManWithoutSkin

Personally, out of all the Marshall cab's I've played through, I’ve preferred the old 800 4x12s to newer Marshall ones.  They don’t sound so muddy to me. Although, at one point I used to own two 800 cabs and the one certainly sound betted than the other.  

nick79

Yeah 4x12’s sound great at low volume, I’m tempted to get another for a full stack!

roberty

ICBM said:

Adey said:

Any thoughts on 2no. 2x12's for ease of transportation?

A bit shite, or still passable?

Passable, but for proper hard rock or metal you want a proper 4x12"... you just do.

I have recently come to this realisation

Adey

Yeah. Prob a mad suggestion from me. 2 212's would look a bit lame probably.

stonevibe

Yup, though I picked up my old 4x12 earlier today, to move it and remembered why I don't move it very often these days!

Adey

Casters...

stonevibe

Adey said:

Casters...

Stairs...

roberty

Adey said:

Yeah. Prob a mad suggestion from me. 2 212's would look a bit lame probably.

I think you need the internal volume of one 4x12 cabinet to get the same thump. Not the same if it's split into two

Bidley

Marshall MF400 is my favourite 4x12 ever for Metal/Rock. It's big though.

Adey

Picking up a 1960 412 tomorrow morning - £70...

roberty

Adey said:

Picking up a 1960 412 tomorrow morning - £70...

Bloody hell where did you find that?

roberty

stonevibe said:

Adey said:

Casters...

Stairs...

mbe

stonevibe said:

Adey said:

Casters...

Stairs...

Backache

TTBZ

Adey said:

Picking up a 1960 412 tomorrow morning - £70...

Bargain! Its hard to go back once you've experienced a 412 cranked up with a decent amp although for most purposes I'm sure a 2x12 is fine. A 412 with casters is easier to move than a 212 as well, unless you're getting it up stairs or in the car!