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Today I get to talk about something very special. This is not a product release announcement (yet), but just talking shop about some gear in the OwnHammer stable. As such, I can be a little bit more direct with my language and imagery as there is nothing being sold in this post, just a blurb about legendary parts of music history. In the beginning of August, 2017, I mentioned online and on Facebook in a couple spots that I have had the privilege to come into ownership of a rare vintage 1971 Marshall 1960B "basketweave" cabinet, loaded with 25 watt Celestion greenbacks. In and of itself, this is THE cab of Rock and Roll royalty, used by countless music icons that have picked up and glorified the instrument of electric guitar. Coveted by collectors and die hard musicians alike, THIS is the cab to have for most. However, it gets even more rare and special than that, here.

Among many other major label productions to come out of the LA studio circuit, this is the EXACT cabinet that was chosen out of an entire trailer full of LA studio and rental gear to get the spot for the main rhythm guitar parts in the most expensive rock album production in music history, Chinese Democracy by Guns n Roses, with a production cost that reached over $13M. What one feels about the artistic direction of the album aside, the fact remains that there was no expense spared on this record, and this cab is proof of that as it is just out of this world in the tone, fidelity, and feel department. It doesn't matter what guitar you pick up, or amp you play through, or style of music that comes out the other side, it just sounds like electric guitar should through this cabinet.

Typically when I work on an IR library project of a single cab and speaker, creating the files themselves will take me about 2-4 days to shoot and finalize. Loads of other things come into play releasing it, as well as managing and growing the business in general, but that's the rub for the development cycle part. This cabinet was far too special for that, and has taken me almost 8 months and cost an additional $30k in studio gear to add to the plethora of kitchen sinks thrown at this once in one thousand lifetimes piece of gear. I cannot wait to share this with the world, which I will do very soon, and I would recommend for everyone to keep an eye on the OwnHammer website (and communication mediums) in the near future to be able to virtually play through a piece of real Rock and Roll history!

OH-412-MRBW-Collage-1500.jpg


- Kevin
 
I still remember the first time I heard a guitarist playing with some of the original Greenbacks in a cabinet. Immediately recognizable sound. I didn't know what was in the cabinet when I first heard it, but it felt familiar and sounded really woody and open. Almost springy. Great speakers. Sounds great here too!

This has been the rock cab long before GNR, although I understand this particular cab was GNR. All the way back to some of Jimi's career, these cabs have been rocking a long time and have been heard on stage with countless members of the rock royalty!
 
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Cool cabinet for sure but I think I’d say it was used by Axl and some other guys who aren’t Slash, opposed to GnR... even though Axl still can call it GnR, and those other guys are great musicians too...
 
Oof! Get ready for a gut punch, y’all. These things have huevos!

Instinct drove me to try the MED B at first with my favorite Hook-based preset. I’d been using an OH Mar-CB cab blend there. They both sound great, but different. Neil Schon flitted into my too-slow fingers. Tried it with a Komet amp, and Reverend Billy Gibbons came calling after dialing in the right BMT settings and gain.

Gotta run to a gig, but the GNR cab definitely has some mojo going of its own. Great value and versatility for classic rock at the price. I’m psyched about the new way of mixing cabs in the AFX3, but I seriously doubt I’ll be weaning myself off Ownhammer cabs. I’ve come to rely on them and trust them to be a solid and predictable core for my tone, while still sounding like individual cabs and speakers.

Kevin, you’ve got the touch, amigo!
 
Oof! Get ready for a gut punch, y’all. These things have huevos!

Instinct drove me to try the MED B at first with my favorite Hook-based preset. I’d been using an OH Mar-CB cab blend there. They both sound great, but different. Neil Schon flitted into my too-slow fingers. Tried it with a Komet amp, and Reverend Billy Gibbons came calling after dialing in the right BMT settings and gain.

Gotta run to a gig, but the GNR cab definitely has some mojo going of its own. Great value and versatility for classic rock at the price. I’m psyched about the new way of mixing cabs in the AFX3, but I seriously doubt I’ll be weaning myself off Ownhammer cabs. I’ve come to rely on them and trust them to be a solid and predictable core for my tone, while still sounding like individual cabs and speakers.

Kevin, you’ve got the touch, amigo!

Yes indeed, they sound awesome. I'll do some recording clips soon. ;)
 
Just curious, how close do you guys think some of the remakes sound compared to the original greenbacks. Heritage series I think they are called?
 
I still remember the first time I heard a guitarist playing with some of the original Greenbacks in a cabinet. Immediately recognizable sound. I didn't know what was in the cabinet when I first heard it, but it felt familiar and sounded really woody and open. Almost springy. Great speakers. Sounds great here too!

This has been the rock cab long before GNR, although I understand this particular cab was GNR. All the way back to some of Jimi's career, these cabs have been rocking a long time and have been heard on stage with countless members of the rock royalty!

I feel the same! There's something to the way it's thick and syrupy and woody and pleasant but forward at the same time. Definitely unmistakable yet intimately familiar sounding when you blast through it!

I'm trying to throw money at you but it keeps bouncing off the monitor!

I'll definitely be purchasing this cab pack when it's available!

Haha! Many thanks, will be out very very soon, and be SUPER packed with goodies!

Oof! Get ready for a gut punch, y’all. These things have huevos!

Instinct drove me to try the MED B at first with my favorite Hook-based preset. I’d been using an OH Mar-CB cab blend there. They both sound great, but different. Neil Schon flitted into my too-slow fingers. Tried it with a Komet amp, and Reverend Billy Gibbons came calling after dialing in the right BMT settings and gain.

Gotta run to a gig, but the GNR cab definitely has some mojo going of its own. Great value and versatility for classic rock at the price. I’m psyched about the new way of mixing cabs in the AFX3, but I seriously doubt I’ll be weaning myself off Ownhammer cabs. I’ve come to rely on them and trust them to be a solid and predictable core for my tone, while still sounding like individual cabs and speakers.

Kevin, you’ve got the touch, amigo!

Guts and balls galore, couldn't agree more! Also on the variation between this and other pre-Rola's that have been shot in other cabs. This group had their own thing going on, kind of fun (or frustrating, if one were going for symmetry) how these old speakers all have a voice of their own many times. Glad to hear you're digging this one, too, and thanks for the kind words! :)

I’m hoping you produce a “Players Pack”.

I'll likely keep the details on the overall inclusions to be something to be discovered at release time, but I'll just say that this one will contain just about everything, from complex and verbose to minimized and optimized, depending on the folder you look in. ;)

Yes indeed, they sound awesome. I'll do some recording clips soon. ;)

Thanks Tony! Can't wait to hear it and your wonderful flavor of playing!!

Just curious, how close do you guys think some of the remakes sound compared to the original greenbacks. Heritage series I think they are called?

While this was directed at the larger group, my two cents is: not really the same, at least in my experience with them. They emphasize very different parts of the frequency spectrum on a completely consistent basis. The old ones sound wide where the new ones sound pinched, to put them into more layman's descriptors. The whole "they are made the same as the old ones on the same machines and would sound just like how the old ones sounded when they were new" stuff that I have seen is just the usual sales hustle. To each their own in what floats their boat from the subjective taste perspective though. Just as well, grill cloth and cabinet dimensions and materials have changed since then, which can compensate for the offset in the drivers to a degree, or at least add in more variables to make comparing them even harder for folks that don't have both to compare directly. I could write a book on this topic, but given the position from which I am speaking, it wouldn't be incredibly appropriate, and I've probably already said too much. :)
 
Just purchased. I can’t wait to try these this weekend.
Bought it too. Incredible value for money, the file list is huge ! See you in a year or so :D

Thanks guys, hope you dig it, and that you find all kinds of new ways to set up all kinds of tones! :)

Aaahhaha, are you sure there are enough mics on this one? :D :D

Lol; what's funny is there were about a half dozen more I wanted to add to the project, but decided I'd wait til I broke even and maybe a little further if possible as it would have set me back another ten to fifteen large. Maybe one day! ;)

- Kevin
 
Actually just yesterday I wished for Ownhammer quality Beyerdynamic m201 captures, it's my favorite guitar mic at the moment and I just spent a weekend shooting IR's with my 1960BX. ..so you just made my work useless! :D Thanks, buying immediately!

People of the world, all Axe users and guitarists: buy Ownhammer IR's, doing an useful IR yourself takes a lot of expensive gear and still isn't as good!
 
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