Marshall Quadruple Stack?

[ThatMarshallGuy]

It just occurred to me that all Marshall tube heads come with 4 loudspeaker inputs however I've never seen anyone use all 4 at the same time. Only 2 for a full stack. Is it possible to use all 4 at the same time on say a 100w tube head for example and run 4 4x12 cabs at the same time? What would this even sound like and has it been done before?? That would be pushing some serious air. I just got the idea now. Let me know your thoughts!

 

[ampmadscientist]

It just occurred to me that all Marshall tube heads come with 4 loudspeaker inputs however I've never seen anyone use all 4 at the same time. Only 2 for a full stack. Is it possible to use all 4 at the same time on say a 100w tube head for example and run 4 4x12 cabs at the same time? What would this even sound like and has it been done before?? That would be pushing some serious air. I just got the idea now. Let me know your thoughts!

Yes you can hook 4 X 16 ohm cabs to the 4 ohm output.
But what we see today is mostly empty cabinets for show.
The loud amp is obsolete because of the improvements in sound systems.

In the 60s, the sound systems could only handle vocals. The biggest PA amp was 100 watts.
Today we have 40,000 watt systems, and the stage volume is low.
The guitar rig is amplified in the PA system and monitors.

 

[ThatMarshallGuy]

Would 4 cabs rather than 2 be substantially louder though?

 

[Dogs of Doom]

It's always better to re-amp if you're going to run any more than 2 cab's onstage...

While in the oldschool days, people used to crank their amps way up, things changed (for the better) in the '80s. The volume wars ended. The problem w/ having stage volume wars, is the vocalist runs out of headroom & it's at the expense of his/her instrument/voice. Wonder why Ozzy sounds so bad live all the time? Because by the time he could finally, actually hear himself in the monitor, he'd already blown his voice & hearing out in the previous decades...

The advantage of having a wall of sound, isn't to just crank things willy-nilly, it's to have an even spread of sound throughout the stage. If the back wall is equal w/ guitar/bass, but not overpowering the drums, then all you need is to get keyboards & vocals up to par & mix to taste. The better you sound as a band onstage, the better you'll sound out in the audience through the FOH.

For guitar, it's easier to get the actual cabinet that will be mic'd set to the point of loudness that the amp is pushed, but not overly compressing. Also, the louder that 1 cab is, the less gain in & feedback/noise issues. But, you don't necessarily want every cab running at that level also (if you're going to have them all live).

For outdoor shows, like AC/DC at Coachella, I can see where having a wall of regulated sound would be a definite advantage, over relying on monitor mixes on the fly...

 

[mickeydg5]

No.
Four 4x12 cabinets will generate a lower overall dB than two 4x12 cabinets.

Two 4x12 cabinets will be louder due to less distribution of power per speaker.

Four 4x12 cabinets will afford more spread when separated.

"Which benefits your application best?" is the major question.

 

[ThatMarshallGuy]

Why do you say it's better to 're-amp if you're using more than two cabs? I mean does something happen to the sound/tone when using anymore with 1 amp?

 

[Frankie]

Why do you say it's better to 're-amp if you're using more than two cabs? I mean does something happen to the sound/tone when using anymore with 1 amp?

I think just because it sounds bad A. You ever plugged into two 100 watt heads each on two 4x12's? It's almost a religious experience.

 

[mickeydg5]

It just occurred to me that all Marshall tube heads come with 4 loudspeaker inputs however I've never seen anyone use all 4 at the same time. Only 2 for a full stack. Is it possible to use all 4 at the same time on say a 100w tube head for example and run 4 4x12 cabs at the same time? What would this even sound like and has it been done before?? That would be pushing some serious air. I just got the idea now. Let me know your thoughts!

I think you meant power amplifier output jacks.
No, all Marshall tube heads do not come with 4 loudspeaker output jacks, especially to be used at the same time.

 

[Frankie]

I think you meant power amplifier output jacks.
No, all Marshall tube heads do not come with 4 loudspeaker output jacks, especially to be used at the same time.

I think he's stuck in history. The old Plexi 100's have 4 loudspeaker outputs.

 

[mickeydg5]

Yes to that; all four output jacks in parallel.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

Why do you say it's better to 're-amp if you're using more than two cabs? I mean does something happen to the sound/tone when using anymore with 1 amp?

From mixing close to 1,000 bands live, the whole have 2 stacks & crank them up is the wrong approach. You want to concentrate on the cab that is going to get the microphone. You want to have an even loudness w/ the drums & bass, w/o any monitors/FOH, etc. If you are overbearing, then you need drums louder in the monitors. Then the vocalist has less to work w/...

I've worked shows where the guitarist was so loud & refused to turn down, that, the vocalist kept saying the whole show "more vocals in the monitor". The problem is, he was so loud in the monitors, when he took 1 step away from the drum riser, he'd feedback. You could hear the guitar just fine though. The vocalist lost his voice after about 2-3 songs & couldn't be heard too well after that. Probably killed his voice for the next 2 weeks...

Work on getting the optimal tone from the amp/cab & mic it, then, anything else should just add as filler onstage. You don't need to double, or quadruple that...

 

[dreyn77]

the marshall quadruple stack doesn't exist in isolation.

so at some point the numbers add up to too great a number and the game is over.

 

[mickeydg5]

I have said it before, I find too many concerts and venues too loud.

I like loud. BUT I LIKE LOUD AND CLEAR.

If you can bairly distinguish song to song then it is way too fuucking loud for the circumstances.

 

[ThatMarshallGuy]

Okay that makes sense. That's a lot of info about mixing and stage volume that I didn't know or quite understand before. Thanks guys. So my next question would be is a half stack not enough or just perfect for large venues then? Being that it would be miced up going. through the PA?

 

[ThatMarshallGuy]

I have said it before, I find too many concerts and venues too loud.

I like loud. BUT I LIKE LOUD AND CLEAR.

If you can bairly distinguish song to song then it is way too fuucking loud for the circumstances.

I completely agree 100%. I saw Van Halen last night and while they played great and everyone was on point band. mix was TOTAL ****. Terribly muddy and muffled. Very hard to find which point the song was in and could barely hear David Lee Roth's vocals. It didn't even seem that loud though......So maybe it was the sound guys' fault?

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Micd up almost anything is fine if it has the tone and keeps up to drums. A half stack will do larger venues, unless you're in an arena. Last time I saw Satch he had 3 half stacks - I believe one for this tone one for that and possibly a spare. About a 2500 seat venue.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

From mixing close to 1,000 bands live, the whole have 2 stacks & crank them up is the wrong approach. You want to concentrate on the cab that is going to get the microphone. You want to have an even loudness w/ the drums & bass, w/o any monitors/FOH, etc. If you are overbearing, then you need drums louder in the monitors. Then the vocalist has less to work w/...

Work on getting the optimal tone from the amp/cab & mic it, then, anything else should just add as filler onstage. You don't need to double, or quadruple that...

Thank you for that!! I'm the guy that has to do sound at our shows that have no house PA. Sums it up perfectly!!

 

[Trapland]

It just occurred to me that all Marshall tube heads come with 4 loudspeaker inputs however I've never seen anyone use all 4 at the same time. Only 2 for a full stack. Is it possible to use all 4 at the same time on say a 100w tube head for example and run 4 4x12 cabs at the same time? What would this even sound like and has it been done before?? That would be pushing some serious air. I just got the idea now. Let me know your thoughts!

First NOT all Mrshall heads come with 4 speaker outs. In fact very few did, especially after about 1980.

Second, has this ever been done before? Really? As if you just invented it? Lol! There is a Reason early 100 watt heads had 4 speaker outs. A 100 watt head is capable of putting out significantly more than 100 watts. In the earliest days, some marshall cabs had as little as 20 watt speakers. Even 2 cabs filled with 20 watters may blow the speakers with a big old 140+ watt head, so the idea was if you absolutely MUST run your amp flat out, use 4 cabs for added safety.

One other reason why 4 may have been better than 2 was the added sound dispersion to cover large stages. Remember running guitar through monitors was not really done in the 60s. Heck, if we had the modern PA capabilities of today back in the 60s to run everything through, the Marshall stck probably wouldn't exist today.

 

[Masliko]

From mixing close to 1,000 bands live, the whole have 2 stacks & crank them up is the wrong approach. You want to concentrate on the cab that is going to get the microphone. You want to have an even loudness w/ the drums & bass, w/o any monitors/FOH, etc. If you are overbearing, then you need drums louder in the monitors. Then the vocalist has less to work w/...

I've worked shows where the guitarist was so loud & refused to turn down, that, the vocalist kept saying the whole show "more vocals in the monitor". The problem is, he was so loud in the monitors, when he took 1 step away from the drum riser, he'd feedback. You could hear the guitar just fine though. The vocalist lost his voice after about 2-3 songs & couldn't be heard too well after that. Probably killed his voice for the next 2 weeks...

Work on getting the optimal tone from the amp/cab & mic it, then, anything else should just add as filler onstage. You don't need to double, or quadruple that...

delete

 

[NewReligion]

I take 2-4 heads. Usually hook up 2, 1 for back up but I prefer 2 cabs with 2 heads each. Depending on the room I will choose the head as they all are quite similar in tone but response and RF etc... may vary.