Difference between identical cabs - SAMPLES

[Golden1984]

Hello

I lately bought new Mesa 2x12 Recto Compact cabinet. I like it`s sound when playing live without micing. I love it`s look, weight and all, but speakers seem to be problem. When recorded, it lacks presence in mix. I compared it to identical cab borrowed from my friend. His cab is maybe 2-3 years old. I used the same amp and guitar in the same room, mic, interface the same day. The same settings. I used template to be sure that sm57 position is the same. When playing live, there is no so big difference between the two cabs, but when recorded, there is a huge difference. Older one sounds great. I was thinking about speaker break-in effect, but the older cab sounded fuller even when he recorded it when it was new, I heard recordings. I play realy loud, output lvl:4 , lead master:3,5, full pwr, penthode on my Mesa MKIV, at least 4 times per week for a few hours since I bought my cab in the begining of january, so according to Celestion`s description, the speakers should alredy be broken-in.

http://www.tonefinder.com/index.php?section=id&value=16029
The older cab is first.

What do you think?
Any advice how to make it bite?

 

[firmani99]

Wow!! That is crazy how different they sound! Have you checked in the cab to make sure no one swapped a speaker in the old cab? Otherwise the only thing that I can think of is that the new one has to be broken in even more.

 

[Golden1984]

Have you checked in the cab to make sure no one swapped a speaker in the old cab?

Yes. Both cabs have inside V30s, made in UK...

 

[Elpelotero]

Usually I call BS on things like this, but that is a SUBSTANTIAL difference! Wow! It's worth emailing Mesa or posting on a forum such as gearslutz (full of professional audio engineers)

 

[cyber104]

That is shocking - I thought I was gonna hear a subtle difference - but that difference is HUGE.

I'd send that clip to Mesa along with the Serial Number of each cabinet.

 

[Golden1984]

That is shocking - I thought I was gonna hear a subtle difference - but that difference is HUGE.

I'd send that clip to Mesa along with the Serial Number of each cabinet.

I sent this sample with question to Mesa even before I posted this thread, but I`m still waiting for the answer...

 

[Elpelotero]

send a private message to them on this board. the user name is AuthorizedBoogie

 

[fr0sty]

The sound of new speakers change over time as they break in. Rock that cab hard for a few weeks and see if the sound changes.

 

[LesPaul70]

The sound of new speakers change over time as they break in. Rock that cab hard for a few weeks and see if the sound changes.

That would be anybody's first guess...however, the OP wrote:

I was thinking about speaker break-in effect, but the older cab sounded fuller even when he recorded it when it was new, I heard recordings. I play realy loud, output lvl:4 , lead master:3,5, full pwr, penthode on my Mesa MKIV, at least 4 times per week for a few hours since I bought my cab in the begining of january, so according to Celestion`s description, the speakers should alredy be broken-in.

Maybe he just got a dud? Not all speakers/cabs are created equal.

 

[loylo69]

The sound of new speakers change over time as they break in. Rock that cab hard for a few weeks and see if the sound changes.

That would be anybody's first guess...however, the OP wrote:

I was thinking about speaker break-in effect, but the older cab sounded fuller even when he recorded it when it was new, I heard recordings. I play realy loud, output lvl:4 , lead master:3,5, full pwr, penthode on my Mesa MKIV, at least 4 times per week for a few hours since I bought my cab in the begining of january, so according to Celestion`s description, the speakers should alredy be broken-in.

Exactly what I thought too.
A session of 2 hours, four times a week, during approximatively 6 weeks would equal to 48 hours. Seems like enough time for breaking in a speaker.

To find out for sure if it's a bad pick, you can try to break it in further by sending a low frequency to it during 24 hours straight.
Supposing you are in the States, if you have a 120V to 12V or 15V transformer (220V to 12/15V in Europe...), you can plug it to your speaker to send a nice 60Hz (or 50Hz) sine wave.
It corresponds to methods 4 and 5 of this link: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Breaking_in_Your_Speakers
At least, method 1 is OK too.

 

[fr0sty]

If you buddy is up to it, you could swap speakers in each cab and see how they sound. That will tell you if it's the cab or the speakers.

 

[Golden1984]

Guys from Mesa answered me. They heard my samples. They told me to dontact distributor in my country to solve this problem. I didn`t do it, they called me very fast They proposed to go again to music store where I bought cab and try another one ientical cab from different delivery. The store is nearby, so it is no problem for me. So now I`m waiting to hear from them, when the cab will be on place. To be continued.

 

[Elpelotero]

I guess they want to see if that store received an entirely bad batch?

 

[deeman]

Interesting, i know sometimes even moving a mic a few milimeters can cause a different tone on a recording, but i would guess you tried a bunch of mic placements and couldn't find a suitable sound. I figured i'd add this post for others that may also think they have this problem recording.

 

[NOWAYBACK]

Hi Golden,

Celestion makes three flavours of V30s, and all sound very different from each other: the standard ones (made in China), the Marshall voiced ones (made in the UK) and the Mesa ones (made in UK). I have cabs with speakers of the three types and I can correlate the difference on your recording with my experience comparing them. On a personal note, I like you V30s better than your friend´s - to me they sound fuller on the bass side while keeping a distinct top end, typical Mesa V30s. Your friend´s V30s appear to be more of the standard type to my ears - of course it depends on mic placement and a number or other facts so I cannot be 100% sure.
You can eq your amp to compensate if you are after your friend´s cab sound: a little cut in the bass and some mid range increase should take you there.

Best,
Marcelo

 

[Golden1984]

Guys from local distributor of Mesa called me again and told to go to music store where I bought the cabinet and compare it with another one. I didn`t have to take my MKIV, because they have MKV 25 and it is more than enough for testing. When we compared two cabs side by side, great difference came out. Guys from shop were shocked. My cab sounded dull and were focused on honky midrange while the another one sounded full and wide. They asked me to leave the cab for day or two to let them check it inside, etc. Next day I recieved a call from them and they told me to come and take my cabinet back. When we plugged it in, it sounded great. It sounds even wider than old cab of my friend. I don`t know what they did, but it worked. I made some recordings, but after first rehearsal I played with my band on high volume, the cabinet seems to break-in, because it sounds better and better, so I suspect they swapped speakers, but I`m not sure.


:!: SOLVED BY MESA :!:

 

[Golden1984]

Here are recordings of my new box:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtIWObG5fwn0_6oM44LnEgQ

SM57 & some cheap SM58 equivalent used.
Custom made SG with Dirty Fingers on board.

 

[JCDenton6]

That sounds great!

 

[Golden1984]

That sounds great!

Thank you! I love it`s tone too

 

[fr0sty]

Sounds killer.