Marshall 1982A cab

CHrisP86

Quite a random question but does anyone know if Marshall ever made a 1982A cab without a back brace?

I've just got one and it doesn't have the back brace (looking inside it doesn't look like there was one and it was taken off) but most 1982A cabs I've seen online do have the back brace. 

Just wondered if there was a point where they didn't bother.

Thanks

ICBM

I’m fairly sure they always had them, but if there’s no evidence of it ever being fitted, then either it never had one or the baffle has been changed. There should be holes where the post ‘foot’ was screwed to the baffle.

CHrisP86

No holes but a bit of a mark on the center of the baffle where it might have been.

I have to say I'm not massively enjoying vintage Marshall cab ownership so far...  I don't think it's a fake because everything else seems as it should be though. 

Can anyone spot the sneaky issue with one of the speakers?

Jetfire

Is it the bottom left one?

CHrisP86

Yeah, at some point one of the G12H's was replaced with a G12S, which someone then put a G12H sticker on and painted black to match the rest...

photek

Mine is from 1980 and has a back brace.

ICBM

CHrisP86 said:

No holes but a bit of a mark on the center of the baffle where it might have been.

I have to say I'm not massively enjoying vintage Marshall cab ownership so far...  I don't think it's a fake because everything else seems as it should be though. 

Can anyone spot the sneaky issue with one of the speakers?

Well... apart from that, all the speakers have been out so there's no guarantee any of them are original. Marshall never fitted them with the terminals all at the top, they should face each other across the cab and the wiring should be neater than that.

It does actually look like there was never a post fitted, but the baffle does look original.

For what it's worth the G12S is a really nice and very underrated speaker, but it probably won't sound good in a 4x12" with three Hs.

CHrisP86

Yes, I did wonder about that as well as it seemed quite messy.  The back panel has obviously been take off a few times as all the screws are different sizes.

Presumably someone took all the speakers out to check them when they replaced the broken one.

Are there any other signs that these cabs might not be genuine?  All the corners/handles/skid tray etc look correct.

To be fair it still sounds pretty good, even with the odd speaker and missing the brace.

Bygone_Tones

Looks legit to me, but post more photos. Speakers have been put in the wrong way up, but T1281 is a Marshall model so are likely original, so long as it is a late 70's cab and not a JCM800 cab or something.

Nobody was making fake Marshall cabs from that period, they are not valuable enough. The only thing that can be wrong with them is that they have been retolexed and being sold as original, or maybe not a Marshall cab at all and has been given a Marshall make over. 

Or non original speakers, or faulty speakers. Faulty speakers are very common - lifting spider supports, coil rub, etc always check because they will just sound crap if they are not in good order. 

https://www.bygonetones.com/how-to-test-a-vintage-celestion-greenback-speaker.html

Especially with the prices people are asking for them thesedays, you want to make sure they are absolute gold if paying those kind of prices - some people are asking £600 per speaker on reverb now for greenbacks, ridiculous. and trust me most sellers are not testing their speakers before selling.

Personally I would pull that T1517 out and swap it for another G12H. Bad speaker mix, it is likely barely audible competing against 3 x G12H.

ICBM

Bygone_Tones said:

Personally I would pull that T1517 out and swap it for another G12H. Bad speaker mix, it is likely barely audible competing against 3 x G12H.

It's so insensitive compared to the Hs that it wouldn't surprise me if it's actually being driven as much as a 'passive radiator' by the air pressure in the cab as by its own voice coil... in which case it could sound very odd indeed.

bananaman

I noticed a 55hz reissue on ebay the other day for £65. Can't recall if it was 16ohm or not though.

CHrisP86

Thanks, all.  It's quite a nice afternoon so will try and get some more photo's of the cab.

I'll definitely replace the G12S.  The cone on it has a tape repair and what looks like another un-repaired tear.  I was thinking I would avoid the minefield of looking for a vintage correct replacement and just go with the re-issues.

I've only played at relatively low volumes so far which is maybe why I haven't noticed any issues with the G12S.

I want to pull the speakers out and try them each through a 1x12 at some point to get a better idea of how they sound individually.

@bygonetones Thank you for the link.  Very useful!

ICBM

CHrisP86 said:

I'll definitely replace the G12S.  The cone on it has a tape repair and what looks like another un-repaired tear.

Sadly that's a bin job. I think they're very nice speakers, but the world doesn't seem to agree very much and so it's not worth re-coning.

CHrisP86 said:

I was thinking I would avoid the minefield of looking for a vintage correct replacement and just go with the re-issues.

Yes, I would given that a 55Hz G12H-30 reissue is available. Buying old ones is pot luck, because as bygonetones says so many of them have issues which the seller may not know/care/admit to.

CHrisP86

I had another look in the cab over the weekend and found a small screw hole on the bottom side of the baffle brace, so the back brace must have been there at some point.

I want to replace the particle board back panel anyway so I think I'm going to strip the whole cab down and refurb it.

Need to get the speakers back out and give them a clean/inspection.

If anyone's interested, here is the 'repair' on the G12S next to what looks like another tear:

ICBM

That's actually not as bad as I was expecting from your description, those are repairable with a proper glued paper patch on the back - they should be fairly easy to get at since neither is right behind the frame leg. (Although I'm guessing the taped one must be close.) Don't bin it after all... assuming there isn't anything else wrong, like a lifting concertina.