POWER AMP/CAB INFO

catscanman82

catscanman82

Inspired
I am looking into a power amp/cab for my AX8. I need some direction on what size cab (1x12 or 2 x12) and what type of power amp. It will be for playing at home and with some friends once in a while. Was looking at the Quilter 101 Mini Guitar Amplifier Head which I notice a lot of people use here. What cab make/speaker make would people here recommend. Thanks for your input in advance.
 
Personally I prefer 2x12's. Right now I've got a Vader 2x12, Avatar 2x12 and Avatar 4x12. All three of them have some form of an Eminence Legend V12 in them. The Vader has the stock speakers that were custom to Vader, but are basically tweaked V12's, and similarly, the Avatar's have stock speakers that are custom to Avatar but are basically tweaked V12's. All three cabs sound pretty fantastic. I've used the 4x12 at home but I very much prefer the 2x12 for that sort of volume level.

At reasonable volume levels, any of the 3 cabs can stand next to my buddy's MkIV through 1960a. The Avatar 2x12 would have the hardest time keeping up on its own, but we don't crank things too terribly loud so it would be fine--that said, I haven't tried it. The Vader 2x12 does great on its own but I do miss the extra thump when I'm only running through one 2x12...it just doesn't hit you in the chest quite the same way.

I'm not sure about the Quilter, I've never used it. I have a Magnum .44, Engl E840/50, and Matrix GT1000FX. The little Magnum poweramp is surprisingly loud and sounds surprisingly good. My biggest gripe with it is the power supply and the lack of on/off switch, but those are relatively minor gripes. If you want cheap and portable, its a good way to go, but it will definitely be under powered compared to other options out there. The Engl sounds incredible, but it is a tube amp so you lose out on power amp modeling and accuracy & such. As far as tube amps go, it does seem relatively clean though. I actually preferred the tone with PA modeling on, but I could also tell it was over-hyped and didn't sound "right" just sounded a bit better to me. Now I'm running the Matrix and its pretty awesome. Tonight will be the first time I get to use it next to the MkIV rig and see how it stacks up power wise, so I can update this and let you know.


So, all that aside, some basic info you should share:

1. Whats your budget?
2. Whats your musical style?
3. What kind of friends are you gonna play with? I.E. other guitarist, bass player, drums, tuba, keys, etc?
4. Whats your location? Some cab choices definitely change based on region & availability.

Off the top, I would recommend a mesa/orange/engl/avatar/peavey/H&K/etc 2x12 with a Matrix GT1000FX poweramp. Buying used, you could put this together for around 800-1200$. 650 for the PA and 200-500 for the cab.
https://avatarspeakers.com/shop/guitar-cabinets/contemporary/g212-budget-contemporary/ This is a great deal on a brand new Avatar 2x12 with v30's which a lot of people love.
 
My recommendation.. get a powered FRFR cab. Especially with the AX8, it is such a simple yet powerful combo. Guitar>AX8>powered cab>done.
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
My recommendation.. get a powered FRFR cab. Especially with the AX8, it is such a simple yet powerful combo. Guitar>AX8>powered cab>done.
Click to expand...

This. With the 102,275,524 IR's out there I just can't understand the appeal of running this technology into guitar speakers with a single voicing.
 
RKF said:
This. With the 102,275,524 IR's out there I just can't understand the appeal of running this technology into guitar speakers with a single voicing.
Click to expand...
Some of us just prefer it that way. I get plenty of variation in tone using different amp models into my stack, I don't really need to mess with IR's to get the tone I want. When it's just me and another dude who is running an old school mkiv rig basically playing 100% in a garage, it's just not worth blending frfr with traditional in the same room. On top of that, my setup was/is already built for pa/cab. Going frfr would mean giving up gear that is precious to me and I'm not ready to make that jump yet, especially for the extremely limited benefit I would get from the change.

I'm starting to feel like 80-90% of the FRFR die hard proponents aren't playing in low key metal bands with other members who aren't on the digital train. Seems like when the details come out the guys pushing frfr are in cover bands and need a ton of different tones with gig to gig portability, or are in a band with all the members getting on the same page.

Couple dudes playing death metal and only rehearsing--i.e. no gigs or FOH to deal with-- never seem to recommend the stuff. Just my observation. I still want to try it some day, but every time I think about it and start thinking out what I want to do I realize it makes absolutely no sense for me to switch to frfr.

Guess I'm just automatically going with the assumption that the OP is in the same sort of situation.
 
Last edited:
ChainOfThought said:
Some of us just prefer it that way. I get plenty of variation in tone using different amp models into my stack, I don't really need to mess with IR's to get the tone I want. When it's just me and another dude who is running an old school mkiv rig basically playing 100% in a garage, it's just not worth blending frfr with traditional in the same room. On top of that, my setup was/is already built for pa/cab. Going frfr would mean giving up gear that is precious to me and I'm not ready to make that jump yet, especially for the extremely limited benefit I would get from the change.

I'm starting to feel like 80-90% of the FRFR die hard proponents aren't playing in low key metal bands with other members who aren't on the digital train. Seems like when the details come out the guys pushing frfr are in cover bands and need a ton of different tones with gig to gig portability, or are in a band with all the members getting on the same page.

Couple dudes playing death metal and only rehearsing--i.e. no gigs or FOH to deal with-- never seem to recommend the stuff. Just my observation. I still want to try it some day, but every time I think about it and start thinking out what I want to do I realize it makes absolutely no sense for me to switch to frfr.

Guess I'm just automatically going with the assumption that the OP is in the same sort of situation.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't really generalize with assumptions. I use my AX8 with an Engl tube poweramp into guitar cabs/speakers, no FRFR. I'm in a Coverband and have been for quite some time. We play lots of heavier alt-rock and mellow girl -vox stuff and whatever. I prefer the guitar cabinets over my powered monitors I've tried so far. . I have NOT tried any of the usual FRFR suspects on here, but do use QSC K10's for my band's monitors and 100% prefer my guitar cabs/amp with the AX8. . SO , bad generalization above about guys being stuck with 1 cabinet sound, and bad about the cover bands when it comes to me. I surely am not stuck with 1 sound, as I program loads of different patches for myself. I find about 80% of the guys using FRFR's just play at home, and 10% in Tribute bands, and 10% in blues/rock/classic rock bands.. . Just kidding of course

Eric
 
RKF said:
This. With the 102,275,524 IR's out there I just can't understand the appeal of running this technology into guitar speakers with a single voicing.
Click to expand...

Well here's the deal. .Some of us are very experienced gearhead guitarists using guitar cabs, the same as some are very experienced guitarist gearheads using FRFR's. There is NO right and wrong if you know how to program the AX8. It can do pretty much ANYTHING tonewise. Being that I've gigged for 39 years and still do, there's not 1 gig so far where I said to myself, man I wish I had 14 cabinets to switch between. . Turning 1 off and another on for every song! I've used tube amps and pedalboards. I've always dialed in my tones using amp /speaker/pedalboard/guitar-pickups,etc interaction as well as my picking hand technique. It's no different with the AX8. I surely don't want a different cabinet each time I program a patch , as I find plenty of preamp/power amp voiciing parameters that work for me. There's no right/wrong here . It's based on our needs and capabilities,etc. . Some day maybe I'll change my approach but for now it kicks ass (for me) :)

Eric
 
I know you're asking for cab recommendations, I'm just being a dick. But that being said I play in a somewhat garage band playing metal and for a while I was frfr and the other guy was amp head and 4x12 Marshall cab. We all decided my frfr setup sounded better and as soon as I convinced the other guy to get a frfr setup our overall sound got WAY better. Mainly because the pointy ice pick of the real cab was gone. Now the sound is much more even throughout the studio. I use my frfr as a backline just like a real cab and then I send a signal to the pa just as if it was mic'd. So really it just takes the place of amp and cab and nothing else changed other than better overall sound. If you get a good one like the ASM that has plenty of can knock it sounds exactly like my old 4x12 with a better spread. Anyway that's my 2 cents but I'm an frfr fan boy
 
My live setup for the AX8 consists of a Carvin DCM1000 that goes through my Mesa Recto 4X12 with great results! I recently grabbed an ISP Stealth just for fun to see how that plays in the live scenario, so I’ll make a future post on that.
 
I've used the Carvin DCM1000, EHX Magnum and Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170 with no problems. The only issue with the EHX is that it runs out of headroom pretty quickly but it's plenty loud for home use. I tried a Quilter but never could get it to sound as transparent as the others no matter how I set it up. Could have been user error I suppose.

I personally like an open back 1x12. Easy to move around and sounds bigger than closed back 1x12s.
 
To the OP you didn't mention the type of music you are playing, Asking questions like this you are going to get a ton of different answers.

So I will blast a few of my amp and cab favs out... Port city 212 is huge but so is the 112 if you want to go small, Mesa Recto vertical 212 with V30's kills and is great for in your face sound!

Power amps, budget dictates here tube or SS? Tubes, I have to lean toward VHT/Fryette 2/50/2 with a pair of Port city 112's would make for a monsterly sounding compact rig but extremely pricey! Or I second the new Seymour Duncan power stage 170 with a 212 or 700 with a pair of 112s... :tongueclosed: Theres Matrix for a really good SS power amp, Carvin is pretty popular

On the cheap side you could grab a Behringer INuke 1000 and pair that with an Avatar 212 or a pair of 112's
There are so many to chose from so a budget would help us to help you!
 
My poweramp quest ended with the seymour powerstage 700. Sounds massive, clear, not congested, and noiseless (heat sink). Still looking for the perfect 2x12 as well.
 
I love my Mesa 2:50 into my Fryette PE50 412. FRFR is great if you need to duplicate a lot of different amps and cabs, but I hate it for my live tone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom