Changing speaker in Mark V Combo

Anyone have any luck with picking a different speaker over the stock combo speaker. What did you install? Was it a for the better change and whay styles of music do you play?

I am considering changing the stock speaker. I play mostly Rock and Blues style songs, sometimes I dabble in jazz songs. Thanks in advance for any solid tips.

V30. Not quite as bright as the C90. Love it.

ms12, evm12l, altec/gpa 4178h. ms12 is in there now. EV kicked *** as expected, but made extreme mode unuseable. also required longer mounting studs, and to reposition the reverb tank to the back panel. my evs are in a 4x12 now. 4178h sounded great as expected but doesn't fit for the music I play (it's in another amp now). ms12 sounds like a cross between the EV and the C90.

thinking about getting another C90 to try out again...I think I would hate a v30 in there but others seem to like them. I have never liked v30s in an open back cabinet. only in 4x12s. i also am looking forward to trying out a couple of the new mesa speakers but I have done zero in the way of buying one.

phyrexia said:

i also am looking forward to trying out a couple of the new mesa speakers but I have done zero in the way of buying one.

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Oh! Sounds interesting, I have to check that out.

I love my Eminence Delta Lite II Neodymium speaker. I use it in a cab with my Mark V head, but I'm sure it would sound killer in a combo.

Warning... Shameless Plug Folows...

We did a A/B video comparison of the Mark V with the C90 vs Vintage 30 in case you're interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lJYmOKC4h0

What I'm really curious about is the Warehouse Guitar Speakers. I heard an A/B comparison at the NAMM show between their Veteran 30, and the Celestion Vintage 30. The Warehouse was impressive to say the least. That may be something to check into as well, and they seem to be reasonably priced, made in the US etc.

(I have no affiliation with Warehouse Guitar Speakers btw)

HaggertysMusic said:

Warning... Shameless Plug Folows...

We did a A/B video comparison of the Mark V with the C90 vs Vintage 30 in case you're interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lJYmOKC4h0

What I'm really curious about is the Warehouse Guitar Speakers. I heard an A/B comparison at the NAMM show between their Veteran 30, and the Celestion Vintage 30. The Warehouse was impressive to say the least. That may be something to check into as well, and they seem to be reasonably priced, made in the US etc.

(I have no affiliation with Warehouse Guitar Speakers btw)

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Hey Don,

Glad you brought up WGS - I started using them a few years ago, not long after they came out. I have since replaced all of my Celestions with WGS. They sound as good or better than their Celestion counterparts, at about 1/2 the price. Great product.

*(I'm also not affiliated with them)*

Which ones are you using? Veteran 30's? I'm curious how a veteran 30 paired with the ET65 will sound in a 2x12 format.

It was at the Suhr booth in 2010 I heard the demo. The Warehouse guy was trying to get Suhr to use their speakers. They had two identical Suhr 2x12's, one with Vintage 30's, the other with Veteran 30's. I think everyone in the room liked the WGS better. I remember it had the same voice, just fuller. But it was over a year ago... I need to hear them again.

phyrexia said:

EV kicked *** as expected, but made extreme mode unuseable.

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Please explain... too bright/harsh?

HaggertysMusic said:

Which ones are you using? Veteran 30's? I'm curious how a veteran 30 paired with the ET65 will sound in a 2x12 format.

It was at the Suhr booth in 2010 I heard the demo. The Warehouse guy was trying to get Suhr to use their speakers. They had two identical Suhr 2x12's, one with Vintage 30's, the other with Veteran 30's. I think everyone in the room liked the WGS better. I remember it had the same voice, just fuller. But it was over a year ago... I need to hear them again.

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Mostly Veteran 30s and Green Berets. I've got them in an X pattern in an Eggie 4x12, and the GBs really round out the bottom end nicely for the Vet 30s. Gives them some warmth, without taking over the great Vet 30 tone.

Any time my gig calls for a 4x12 (which I wish was more often!), I use this one. Nothing can touch it for the bigness/fullness of tone.

HaggertysMusic said:

Which ones are you using? Veteran 30's? I'm curious how a veteran 30 paired with the ET65 will sound in a 2x12 format.

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I have this combo in Celestion form (Rola G12-65 and V30) in a 4x12 halfback cab, and like it a lot more than I thought I would with my Mk IV. Not very strong in the low-end, but very full in the mids, as you'd expect. Sounds great with my SGs, but not as nice with my singlecoil guitars, however. The Fenders sound a tad harsh with this combo, lacking authority in the low-end. My former DC-10 sounded great with this config, however, due to the amount of bottom that can be dialed in.

I'm about to swap the V30s for some EVM-12Ls. I bet I see an increase in low-end response.

lockbody said:

HaggertysMusic said:

Which ones are you using? Veteran 30's? I'm curious how a veteran 30 paired with the ET65 will sound in a 2x12 format.

Click to expand...

I have this combo in Celestion form (Rola G12-65 and V30) in a 4x12 halfback cab, and like it a lot more than I thought I would with my Mk IV. Not very strong in the low-end, but very full in the mids, as you'd expect. Sounds great with my SGs, but not as nice with my singlecoil guitars, however. The Fenders sound a tad harsh with this combo, lacking authority in the low-end. My former DC-10 sounded great with this config, however, due to the amount of bottom that can be dialed in.

I'm about to swap the V30s for some EVM-12Ls. I bet I see an increase in low-end response.

Click to expand...

I had the ET65/Vet 30 combo at first in my 4x12, and I found the same lack of bottom end. I swapped out the 65s for Green Berets, and the low end got firmed up nicely. It's the perfect combo in a 4x12, imo.

Try the V30 . I love it , not a big fan of C90s personally .

Hi,

EV all the way. Had to get 8/32 1&3/4" screws and drill 2 small holes in the back cover and move the reverb to the back.
But, EV is the way to go with the combo's in my opinion.

Cheers,
G

The EV is harsh and mid-less. By the time you get it loud enough to get the mids to punch some, the highs and lows will take your head off. Does sound good in a Thiele cab, as it forces the mids forward, or across the bottom of a 4x12 with Delta Pro's across the top. Brutal. Can't stand V30's other than recording with a closed back cab. The MC-90 works, but lacks punch in an open back cab and gets harsh on the high end, and gets sloppy in the mids. I suggest a Weber CV124F, full range, better cleans, lots o' punch with the open back, the perfect Mesa speaker.

It may make a difference which EV you have tried. Classic or Black Label. I had converted my head into a combo and the shell came complete with the MC90. Needless to say I did not use the MC90 with the Mark V chassis, I decided to go with the EVM12L black label which has a tighter bass response than the classic (materials for the spider and cone support are similar to the Mesa Black Shadow EVM12L). I also had a EV classic when I had a Mark III combo and preferred the Mesa version over the EV classic. I have recently re-installed the MC90 that came with the shell. It was okay but for some reason I prefer the EV over the MC90 with this amp. The MC90 did find a good home in my Carvin V3MC mini amp combo but was removed to install back into the Mark V.

Trick to keep the reverb tank where it is: remove the grill and front mount the speaker. (also gives you more clearance to reach tubes, I did this first with a Mark IV since the preamp tubes were closer to the baffle than they would be for the Mark V). In order to front mount the speaker, the baffle needs to be sanded with a sanding drum to open up the hole just enough to slide the speaker in place. I have used the speaker as a drill template for all of the mounting holes. (of course I did not drill the holes with the speaker in place, just used it to mark where to drill). In order to get the grill to fit, I used a small router to remove some of the wood that would interfere with the speaker. It was quite easy to accomplish.

back of Mark V combo, also sitting on a deep 1x12 extension cab.

It all depends on what your preference is.

What is tempting, the WGS12L clone of the original EV. The tone chart does have a mid hump in the response. Still it is a $200 investment and the EV is $279 (BL), $265 (classic). However, since it is different, I am tempted to try out the WGS version.

After 3 years of ownership of the Mark V, I actually enjoy the amp though the V30 412 cabs. It was not as harsh as it was when I first plugged in. As for the combo, I still prefer the EV especially with both speakers (use the 4 ohm jacks). Some may not like the EV tone since it lacks the mid boost. Also the top end is just as bright as it would be though the V30. The black label EV has a crisp bottom that is tight not exactly boomy that you would get from the Classic Version which is a bit looser on the bottom end. The EV black label is the closest I can get to the EVM12L black shadow that Mesa used in the Mark III. Of course, this is my opinion. If I went to an ALNICO type speaker, I would try the Jensen BlackBird 100W. I have the WGS BlackHawk HP100 and it sounded good with the Mark V when I had it mounted in my Mark IV combo. (speaker cable was long enough to connect to the Mark V head before I converted to combo). I still have the WGS speaker but did not care much for the tone after it was broken in, in some respects I believe the Mark IV combo did some damage to it as I have burned up a few speakers with that amp including the original MC90.

I have been mulling over a 100W version of a Scumback, but which model to get? I may have figured out why the MC90 sounded terrible (speaker that came with the combo shell), the dust cap is coming off on one side. I may attempt to glue it back on and give it another go.

I have attempted to re-glue the dust cab back into place on the MC90. Hopefully that will cure the buzz that I got with it prior to noticing the dust cap separating from the cone.

Just yesterday I was playing though one of the V30 loaded 412 and actually liked it. The Mark V was the reason I began disliking the V30. Now it sounds really good. I would like to give the MC90 another try. I do like the character of the EV but compared to the V30 loaded cab, the mids seem to be washed out. But if I bring up the volume the EV sounds really good with more mids and upper frequencies. I probably will keep the EV in use with the Mark V as it will keep up with the RA100 and Roadster each driving 412 cabs. I have also tried the combo EV with one Recto 412 cab which does sound good in its own way. Once I swap the EV out of the Mark V combo, it will find its way back in so why change it? I guess I am looking for some change or something to do out of boredom.

Speaker are really interesting stuff with Mesa gears!

my experiences , on opened combo my taste goes to MC90, EVL tone is awfull if you like vintage tones , especially at bedroom and club level, but pushed to big volume it is interesting ! prefert it into closed back cab as the V30 is exactly tone oposed, too high middy and trebble on opened cab, and singing into closed cab 2x12 4x12 !

my best bet would be getting a cab with a pre rola G12 in it, or testing with a D120F alnico to brings more complexity to my tone!