GreatGreen
Power User
So the other day I went to a music store to try out a few Mesa cabinets with an Axe II/VHT 2:90:2 rig. The store had several 4x12 recto slant cabs, and a 2x12 recto cab. No straight cabs for me to try.
After a few hours playing with all of the cabs, I found the 2x12 sounded by far the best in the room, especially when I took off the rear casters and used it like a wedge.
Much to my surprise, I thought the 4x12 slant cabs by themselves (I tested a few just to make sure) sounded pretty bad, and when I setup two of them side-by-side, they sounded absolutely horrible. There was a very odd midrange weirdness going on, like there were pretty prominent phasing issues with the setup. I checked, and everything was hooked up correctly, by the way. I'm wondering if this was because the cabs were slanted.
I'm saying all this to ask another question though. Does the straight 4x12 Mesa cab have the fullness of the 2x12 Mesa cab I was hearing that the slant 4x12 was missing? In other words, was the 4X12 slant cab weirdness because of the slanted baffle board or because that's just what four vintage 30s sound like when you put them together? I'm not talking about when the cabs are miced up, by the way, this is purely an "in the room" sound question.
Basically, should I wait and try out a straight 4X12 Mesa cab before I make a decision to get the 2x12? Or is the sound of the straight 4x12 similar enough to the slant cab that it doesn't matter such that once you've heard one, you've heard them both?
After a few hours playing with all of the cabs, I found the 2x12 sounded by far the best in the room, especially when I took off the rear casters and used it like a wedge.
Much to my surprise, I thought the 4x12 slant cabs by themselves (I tested a few just to make sure) sounded pretty bad, and when I setup two of them side-by-side, they sounded absolutely horrible. There was a very odd midrange weirdness going on, like there were pretty prominent phasing issues with the setup. I checked, and everything was hooked up correctly, by the way. I'm wondering if this was because the cabs were slanted.
I'm saying all this to ask another question though. Does the straight 4x12 Mesa cab have the fullness of the 2x12 Mesa cab I was hearing that the slant 4x12 was missing? In other words, was the 4X12 slant cab weirdness because of the slanted baffle board or because that's just what four vintage 30s sound like when you put them together? I'm not talking about when the cabs are miced up, by the way, this is purely an "in the room" sound question.
Basically, should I wait and try out a straight 4X12 Mesa cab before I make a decision to get the 2x12? Or is the sound of the straight 4x12 similar enough to the slant cab that it doesn't matter such that once you've heard one, you've heard them both?
