What speaker cab for F 50?

What are the member's speaker cab recommendations for my new F 50 head?

Mesa is the obvious choice. I've used and love Avatar cabs in the past (currently have a 1x12 'cube' but it's only 30W).

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Wow - this question is almost impossible to answer. It really depends on your taste, or what tones you are looking to get. I have paired a number of cabs with my F50, including a homemade 4x12 with 2 V30s and 2 G12T-75s, a 1x12 recto, a 1x12 3/4 cab, and its own internal C90 (it's a combo). They all sound very different. There are others as well, like the Thiele, 1/2 back, plus stuff from other manufacturers.

You ought to bring your head to a store and try a bunch of cabs. Or, do what I did - buy them off craigslist, and then sell or trade them to try others.

If you like the sound of the cab you have, but are concerned about the power, then this may help:
1. Music rarely, if ever, reaches peak power of the amp for any length of time. If you put a 20Hz sine wave into your F50, you can get 50W continuous power out. With a guitar signal, you will probably get 10W at the most, so your speaker can almost certainly handle it. With heavy compression, you can push the actual output power higher, so if you play metal at full volume, you should worry about the power rating.
2. The cabinet has no power rating. The speaker is what limits the power rating - you can try another, like a V30 (60W) or C90 (90W). Or add a second identical cab, so each will take half the amp power.

Thanks Elvis.

I should have been more specific.

I like the heavier sounds, hard rock, metal, up through metallica type tone. Not so much into drop tuning, more modern sounds.

I'm a big fan of the Avatar 2x12 cab that had one V30 and one G12H ... but when I tried out my buddies F50 combo I really liked the black shadow that was in it.

I just don't know what celestion is equivalent to this black shadow or if it can be purchased from a cabinet maker such as Avatar.

I know I want a 2x12 open or semi-open cab.

Good idea on taking the head to a store and trying out a bunch. Craigslist is a good idea too.

Thanks for the response.

Many people say that the Celestion CL80 is supposed to be the equivalent of the Black Shadow but I replaced the Black Shadow with a CL80 in an F-50 Combo that I used to have and it made a HUGE improvement for me. It tightened up the bottom, boosted the mids, got rid of the spikey highs and gave me more of a Classic Marshall tone which is what I was looking for.

I currently have an F-50 head that I'm running thru a Marshall 8412 cab. It's a 4x12 cab but smaller than a normal size Marshall cab. I needed something smaller to fit in my smaller car.
Sound GREAT. Lots of bottom end thump and very portable. Fits in the trunk of my 99 Nissan Altima. Looks great also since the F-50 head is a smaller head compared to some other heads. Great looking/sounding, portable half stack that will take your head off if necessary.

I'm going for more of a classic rock tone so YMMV.

If you liked the C90 you should go for it. I still think it's really part of the Boogie tone, the 'Boogie bark'.

I've had a CL80 in an extension cab (I've got a 1x12 combo F50) for a while and though it has the bark to it does sound different than the C90 but unlike Hobo, I didn't find it an improvement on the long term. The tone was a bit too raspy. My cab is quite resonant so it could be part of the equation too.
I now have an Eminence Tonker in the extension cab and I like it a lot but would not use it alone, it compliments the C90 nicely in my cab. My favorite until now.

I've tried Eminence Texas Heat and RW&B in the same config but both were too dark or flat sounding.
RW&B is great though for my Fender Blues Junior. TH is sold, no use for it.

Swamp Thang sounds very good too, quite close to the Tonker.

But looking at your music styles I wonder if the V30 (I don't like it myself) or V30/G12H combo is not the way to go for you.
I've had such a combo too in a Carvin 2x12 cab and used it with a Nomad 45. A very nice and powerfull rock voice (G12H), but no Boogie bark.

Cheers
Fabien

Hobo said:

Many people say that the Celestion CL80 is supposed to be the equivalent of the Black Shadow but I replaced the Black Shadow with a CL80 in an F-50 Combo that I used to have and it made a HUGE improvement for me. It tightened up the bottom, boosted the mids, got rid of the spikey highs and gave me more of a Classic Marshall tone which is what I was looking for.

I currently have an F-50 head that I'm running thru a Marshall 8412 cab. It's a 4x12 cab but smaller than a normal size Marshall cab. I needed something smaller to fit in my smaller car.
Sound GREAT. Lots of bottom end thump and very portable. Fits in the trunk of my 99 Nissan Altima. Looks great also since the F-50 head is a smaller head compared to some other heads. Great looking/sounding, portable half stack that will take your head off if necessary.

I'm going for more of a classic rock tone so YMMV.

Click to expand...

Took a pic of my rig this morning for another forum so I thought I'd post it here also.

ive made my own its a half open back it just needs a grill and covering with a celestion gold and sound amazing
but i play blues and classic rock

One thing i've noticed about the stock Black Shadow speaker are the highs are seriously rolled off! Kills alot of "buzzsaw" factor from the high gain sound.

When i plug my F50 into my 2x12 cab with B52 AT1216 speakers, the highs are so much more bright and present - not necessarily a good thing on the lead channel - personal preference really.

Mixing the combo black shadow speaker and the brighter B52 cabinet has worked nicely for me so far

I love avatar cabs too. Just buy an empty cab and buy the black shadow through Mesa. They sell them. You can also find them on ebay and craigslist. I'm not ready to part with mine yet. You may find someone on the site willing to sell you one.