Best cab for mkiii

Going to be converting my mk iii red stripe combo to a head soon and I am unsure what cab to buy as I have never had the budget that i do currently.
My last cab was a gutted line 6 2x12 that i got for free from a church i used to play guitar for. I used to run a '68 fender bandmaster through it, then i had a marshall jcm2000 dsl50 for a bit but i sold the cab witb the jcm.
I play lots of different types of music, though i usually tend to play with overdrive and a few other various effects. Good cleans are a necessity but so is good distortion/fuzz/overdrive tones. Size/weight isn't really an issue for me if it sacrifices tone or build quality in any way.
A mesa cab seems the obvious choice, but ive heard good things about orange cabs, and others as well.
Any suggestions?

10 years ago a very good guitar player brought a Marshall 1960 LEAD A into my band and I checked it out with my Red and a it sounded GREAT. I think there were Vintage 30s inside.
He played with a Mark IV with a Bogner. I wanted to buy his Marshall but after the first gig he played this one and he ddidn`t want to sell any more. So I was angry about, but that`s fate......
I also read about a guy who used a Red with a 1960 Lead with Greenbacks for many, many years and he was said t to have the best sound in the world (?)

I picked up a mint Carvin 4x12 loaded with Vintage 30s for my Mark III (blue) and it sounds fantastic! The cleans are great and the lead channel really scorches. I've never used it in a band situation but I am absolutely certain that it would cut through the mix without any issue at all. Even in Class A mode (15W), it is ridiculously loud.

Carvin actually makes nice cabs. I think they are built and sound as good or better than Marshall, and can be had for a bargain price on the used market. Not a fan of the "fur" tolex they used on some of their cabs in the past though.

Tuna141 said:

Carvin actually makes nice cabs. I think they are built and sound as good or better than Marshall, and can be had for a bargain price on the used market. Not a fan of the "fur" tolex they used on some of their cabs in the past though.

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I completely agree on Carvin, they really do make quality gear at very reasonable prices. I can guarantee that my 4x12 would hold it's own against any Marshall, Mesa, etc. Even their amps and guitars are nice. Wouldn't mind having another X100B or even a V3.

Thanks for all the replies, seems celestion loaded cabs are being recommended by all. I was also considering buying an unloaded cab and buying two different speaker types to wire with two input jacks (like having 2, 1x12 cabsor 2, 2x12s depending on if i get a 2x12 or 4x12 for the actual cab.)
Maybe even build a 4x12 with a horizontal divider seperating a closed back bottom section from an open back top, and then put one of each speaker (greenback/vintage 30 most likely) in each section.
That may be a bit above my head though, so I will be looking into carvin cabs in the meantime as they've been suggested by nearly everybody.
Thanks again!

You will love the Carvin. Pretty much any cabinet loaded with real Celestions is going to be good. Certain older Crate cabinets were loaded with V30s too, and they can typically be had dirt cheap. I bought one years ago for $99. The tolex wasn't in the best condition but the speakers were fine. I ended up selling it for $150 about 4 years ago.

The old Halfback cabs with the metal grill, EV's in the bottom, C-90's in the top.

tommyhawk13 said:

The old Halfback cabs with the metal grill, EV's in the bottom, C-90's in the top.

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I tried finding older mesa cabs (non recto) and could hardly come up with any results. Didn't even realize they made a half back 4x12!
I'm thinking that my search was cut short because they're probably great cabs so why sell 'em!

lowercasee said:

You will love the Carvin. Pretty much any cabinet loaded with real Celestions is going to be good. Certain older Crate cabinets were loaded with V30s too, and they can typically be had dirt cheap. I bought one years ago for $99. The tolex wasn't in the best condition but the speakers were fine. I ended up selling it for $150 about 4 years ago.

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Those speakers alone are woth more! :shock: Maybe i can get that good of a deal on something with some v30s

A Marshall cab with G12T-75 closed back, sounds really good for old school metal with a Mark III. A Mesa cab with V30s is also good if you like your tone a little more mid heavy.

three6john said:

Those speakers alone are woth more! :shock: Maybe i can get that good of a deal on something with some v30s

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Indeed. When I got it, it didn't have the "Celestion Loaded" emblem on it so the shop never knew they were in there. I only even found out when I sold it as a buyer asked me to check. I would have sold it for more, but I needed quick money at the time and, unfortunately, selling it was the best way for me to get it.

The old cabs are out there, and pop up on craigslist from time to time. That's where I got both of mine, and for a very good price. I paid $300.00 for a bottom cab with the Ev's in the bottom. The tolex is ugly, but who cares?

Carvin cabs are excellent in terms of build quality. iMHO, they are better than Marshall's build quality. I would also add, an EVH 5150 III 2x12, with the G12H Anniversary speakers provides fantastic tone. The dimensions of the cab are quite similar to Mesa Rectifier horizontal (I have both).

three6john said:

tommyhawk13 said:

The old Halfback cabs with the metal grill, EV's in the bottom, C-90's in the top.

Click to expand...

I tried finding older mesa cabs (non recto) and could hardly come up with any results. Didn't even realize they made a half back 4x12!
I'm thinking that my search was cut short because they're probably great cabs so why sell 'em!

lowercasee said:

You will love the Carvin. Pretty much any cabinet loaded with real Celestions is going to be good. Certain older Crate cabinets were loaded with V30s too, and they can typically be had dirt cheap. I bought one years ago for $99. The tolex wasn't in the best condition but the speakers were fine. I ended up selling it for $150 about 4 years ago.

Click to expand...

Those speakers alone are woth more! :shock: Maybe i can get that good of a deal on something with some v30s

Click to expand...

Oh they are still out there, you just have to keep looking. :mrgreen:

I've had two of them for many years and they are my favorite cabs of all time. I used to play a Marshall 1960 with 75 watt Celestions next to the bottom Mark cab, and it simply blew the Marshall away for thump and midrange, and didn't lack anything on top, either. So I sold it and bought a top Mark cab as a stablemate. The top cab has the stock EVM12Ls on bottom/C90 Black Shadows on top, and the bottom cab has Celestion G12H-100s. I have another set of original speakers (not cheap! :shock: ) to replace those on the bottom cab at some point, but what I have already sounds fantastic, so I'm in no hurry. They are not quite as bright as those in top cab and it provides a nice contrast anyway. I always run them side by side for the stereo effect and because I don't want military grade firepower directly at my ear level!!