Speaker Mix

[Robertf]

Hello:

This is my first post on this great forum. I just recently grabbed a 2006 1987x 50 watt head off fleabay. It should arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to play my Les Paul Custom through it. For the time being, I'm going to hook the amp up to everyone's favorite cab, the MG-412. I know, its cheap-ass, but its small and easy to carry and get in and out of the car, which is a primary consideration at my advanced age!

Right now, I've got two Celestion G-12M Greenbacks in the cab, which sound great and are a big improvement. What do you all think of mixing the Greenback's with say, two of the G-12H Anniversary speakers? Any advantage to that or would you keep it all Greenbacks?

I'm into the bright 73-75 Zep tones and AC/DC tones as well.

Thanks,

Rob

 

[coldsteal2]

G12H Heritage are better but Anniversary are OK
if you cant afford them although there are some
scratch and dent G1H heritages on sale at
MF for $167 (usually sell for $220) but the Anniversaries
sound great to
I have G12M Heritiage and G12H Heritiage greenbacks and its awesome
combo

Buy Celestion G12H Heritage Guitar Speaker online at Musician's Friend

 

[stryker59]

welcome to the forum!

 

[Robertf]

Guys:

Thanks for the welcome and the link!

 

[Adwex]

The G12M's could use a little low end boost that the H's will provide. Like coldsteal, I highly recommend the combination.

The Heritage G12H's are expensive though, and you'll have to solder the connections, but it's a great speaker. The H's are loud, they'll overpower the M's.

I'm very interested in your review of the 1987x, tell us about it after the test drive.

 

[coldsteal2]

Those scratch n dent prices for those G12H Herritiages
at Musicians Freind is an incredible price, at $167
which is a nice price for the Best marshall speaker you
can buy, if i had the money i would buy two more myself.


Dont be scared away by the name Scratch and Dent all it means
is that someone ordered them and sent them back but nothing
was wrong with them, they have to sell them at a reduced price
i got my Les Paul like that, and it was perfect

 

[Robertf]

Well I got the 1987x 50 watt head home this morning. This is my first Marshall set up in about 30 years, so its quite exciting.

I bridged both channels and plugged my R9 Les Paul into the normal channel, which aside from being a bit darker, is not unlike the the normal channel on my 65 Bassman head. In contrast to the Bassman however, the Marshall crunch comes on almost immediately with the volume at around 2-3, and it took no time to find a spot in front of the amp where harmonic feedback could be easily coaxed. At this point the volume is loud and pushing against my eardrums a bit, but its still tolerable...

Then I brought up the volume on the bright channel and things got real interesting. And loud. This is the channel where Led Zep and AC-DC tones seem to reside. Playing with the presence, bass and treble knobs, I was able to dial in an acceptable '73 era tone for riffs from "The Ocean" and "Bring it On Home". Cranking up the treble more (I know, I know--why would I want to do that...) dialed in that crisp pick attack that is so prominent on tracks form The Song Remains The Same soundtrack.

The amp is incredibly respnsive to your playing. Caress the strings lightly and it cleans up nicely. Dig in with the pick and the crunch is back like a sledgehammer.

I have a large collection of Zep Bootlegs and I have always been partial to the almost electric razor sound of the opening riffs to Heartbreaker that Page got at the Berkley, Ca concert ("Going to California") in 1971. That sound lives in this amp with no pedals in front of it. Really fantastic. But in the close confines of my music room, this tone is like an ice-pick to the eyeball, so the volume had to come down and fun time was over. For today.

I think with a bit of distance between the player and the amp, such volume and tones are perfectly do-able. I also think I'm going to like this amp.

It will get is first real run-through at practice on Sunday, so we will know more then.

As for the speaker mix in my MG-412 cab, I'm going to try swing a couple of the Heritage G-12's that some folks have reccommended. If those prove to be to dear, I'll likely go with two of the G12H anniversary's.

Thanks to all those who responded.

Rob

 

[Adwex]

Rob, welcome to Marshall world, great review. I've heard/read a few people talking about the brightness of the 1987x, and I understand that there is an easy mod you can do known as "removing the bright cap". There's a capacitor that can be snipped out of the circuit resulting in a warmer tone. Don't know the details, but it seems an easy and common mod.

 

[Robertf]

Adwex:

Thanks for the info about the bright cap. I've heard that before. However, in playing with this amp, I becoming convinced that the extreme brightness is an essential component of the sound I'm after, so I'll leave the cap in for a while.

Rob