EVM 12L experience

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izzwardo

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So currently I have a nice Mark V25 paired with a thiele 1x12 cabinet that I purchased empty not realizing it was empty lol. I ended up buying a used Mesa EMV 12L out of a Mark IV combo that ended up being a dead speaker that occasionally worked. Well i boxed that speaker up and ordered a brand new Celestion C90 from the Mesa Hollywood store and when I went to put the speaker in the 1x12 cabinet I put my screw gun right through the brand new cone! I was so infuriated at myself I took the speaker and threw it right in the garbage and went inside and ordered a brand new EVM 12L Classic speaker from sweet water. Well I got it today and installed it successfully but a couple things kind of irritated me about my $290 speaker. 1.) the sticker on the back was crooked 2) it didn't come with the foam adhesive that goes between the frame and the wood and 3) NO CANDY from Sweet water! Oh well so anyways I thought I'd share my experience with you all. I absolutely love the sound of the speaker and hopefully I will get the old Mesa EVM re coned soon
 
I have poked many a speaker in my day.... Usually thought the webbing which did not effect overall sound or tone but life expectancy may be questionable.

I took great joy in stabbing an MC90 that lost its dust cap (came with a combo shell I bought to convert Mark V head to combo). Actually this was not the first MC90 that got stabbed as the original from the Mark IV combo had the same fate. The last MC90 that was deliberately stabbed I still had in the combo and wanted to hear if the tone would improve. No but sounded interesting the more I cut from the cone. I did finally order a new one and it is working just fine as there are no holes and the dust cap is still attached. I often wanted to stab the V30 speakers in my old recto cab and perhaps leave the screw driver in place in hopes of a better tone. It was the amp and not the speaker that was my issue.

EVM12L Black Label were the cure for the Mark V ice. Closest I could get to the EMV12L Mesa Black Shadow as the webbing material is the same. Classic has a softer web and slightly looser character. I had one of those when I had the Mark III combo. That Black Shadow sounded really good in comparison.

When you need the volume, the EVM12L will not let you down. Actually they sound much better at higher levels. Actually they are not all that bad at lower volume levels either. Even the 412 I had stuffed with the EV worked great with the 10W power setting on the Mark V. My experience with the V30 is that they get brighter with more volume and seem to loose a bit on the bottom, EV on the other hand you can dump as much low end you can handle into them and they still remain composed. It is always good to have a variety if you can opt for that. I still have not installed the Celestion G12H75 CB into the smaller traditional sized 412 I have sitting around not being used. I will get to that soon enough. They did sound great in the OS Rec.412 but prefer the EV.
 
I should read what I post before I post it.


EV did not cure the ice, it made it louder. What did put a cap on the ice was the Celestion Crème 90W Alnico speaker I tried in the Mark V combo. 412 cabs seemed to resonate more so at the top end and if you amp runs on the brittle side you will know it. Not sure what was worse the 412 with V30 or the 412 with EV. However, the awesomeness of the EV is you can really drive them hard as it almost seems there is no bounds to their limits. At gig level, the V30 tends to loose compared to the EV in the same type of enclosure.

What I am very impressed with is the Vertical and Horizontal 212 cabs. I really love the sound I am getting from them with the V30 speakers with all of my 100W heads at full power no doubt. May not be as loud as a 412 cab but they sound huge relative to their size.

For a while I tried as I might to divorce myself from EV as I have more V30 loaded cabinets. However, with the Mark amps (V and JP) and the Roadster, the EV just delivers the goods. I have one 412 loaded with the EV (this one is 17 years old and originally came with the V30, the other remains factory sealed with original V30 (more recent purchase). Running both cabinets though one amp is awesome and has a 3D effect due to the variance of response time of the V30 and EV as well as more complete due to the different frequency response of each speaker. I would not mix the two speakers in one cab as that just did not have the same effect and one speaker will dominate tone (v30).
 
I've got a pair of old Mesa closed back cabs with EVM12L's in them which sound great (previously paired with a 295+studio). When I went to buy my Mark V:25 the guy was also selling a nice Zilla cab with a Celestion Creme Alnico 90w in it. I sat and played it back to back with one of my Mesa cabs for about an hour to see if I wanted to spend the extra $$$. I love my EVM cab sound but I really fell for the Creme Alnico - it just seemed brighter, warmer and more dynamic all round.

Of course my totally subjective test is fairly misguided nonsense as the Zilla is a semi-open back, the Mesa closed and I've only ever compared the sounds at humble home practice levels with my kind of music. I strongly suspect the Creme Alnico might be really good at low volumes but things even out as the dB's rise. My other theory is that the word 'Alnico' triggers something in my brain that makes me feel all warm and cozy and think everything sounds better - I've got a Celestion Blue Alnico in another Fender clone amp that is similarly joyous.
 
It is just another type of magnet, nothing special about them really. For its size it is strong relative to the ceramic versions. Not as strong as say neodymium magnet but for a puck of half the size of the alnico it is just as expensive. Voice coil wire and former along with paper and its doping make the world of a difference. The Celestion Cream 90W Alnico does have a similar character to the EV, but at lower volume it sounds great. EV on the other hand wakes up more so when you push it. I know I killed it when I channed the JP-2C though it, speakers usually do not give off a burning smell until you cook the voice coil. Usually the end result is tonal change. Did this to the WGS Blackbird HP100 with my Mark IV combo. Never thought a bell housing could get that hot.
 
The mighty EVM12L laughs at your puny 50 or 100 watt amps. It won't even reveal it's true tone until you push---hard! You'd never realize how great EVs are if your amp spent it's life in a bedroom studio at low volumes...

There is a good reason than even now, used ones are far from cheap....
 
There is one other speaker that will almost outperform the EV.... I had one in my Mark IV combo when I sold it as it was the only speaker that would not break up with a high master volume setting. I never realized how much compression you can get from the Mark IV until you set the master output past 6. I had an EV in the combo before but could not get past 5 on the master without issues. The "holy crap I $h!t my pants" speaker was a Fane Studio 12L. I was fortunate to find a dealer in US and bought one just to give it a shot. When I wanted to get more of them to stuff into my 412 cab they stopped selling the Fane products. What a pisser. It was not exactly an EV clone as it did tailor the tone just a bit, but I think the frequency response was flatter than the EV. Awesome speaker actually. Still hands down for any Mark amp the EVM12L speaker is hard to beat. I prefer the Black Label version as it is the closest construction to the Mesa EVM Black Shadow. The Classic EV is a bit too soft on the bottom end (Had one of those two and found the Black Label to be better). Perhaps a blend of the two in a cabinet would work fine. As for the Fane, you did not hear it much when you were sitting close to the amp, sure it was loud but it really projected amazingly well, probably due to the shape of the speaker cone as it was quite different than your typical guitar speaker. It was also taller than the EV and had a square flange frame which made it a front mount vs rear mount in a combo as the amp chassis would not fit back into its position if it was rear mounted on the baffle.

I have pictures that I cannot post any longer as the photobucket kicked itself again. This time for good I guess. Need to find another photo host for posting images. Heck I cannot even log onto it anymore. I did a search for it and found one of my images I had posted on another forum. I had the Fane Studio 12L mounted next to the EVM12L Black label in my old OS Recto 412 cab. In this situation, the EV one. for a combo application it worked with the Mark IV a bit better than the EV for some odd reason. Mark III was awesome with the Black shadow EV. And so far with my cab reloaded with the EVBL it is perfect for the Roadster, JP-2C, Mark V such that it would be hard to remove them again. I did try to get away from the EV but not possible. I would highly recommend the EV for amps that are in the 100W range especially for a single combo like the Mark V. Not so necessary for a 50W amp or lower but will still do a good job. If Mesa were to ever create a JP-2C combo, they would have to use the EV speaker as the peak output of that amp is 150WRMS even though it is stated as 100W. The MC90 would not last very long in a single 1x12 combo JP-2C. You would need a minimum of 200W RMS handling.


https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=eZUG59NM&id=E97D274A32312426DAE0965F2B3E35ABA0CBB10C&thid=OIP.eZUG59NMO7KEHa5PIEFP5wEsDh&q=fane+studio+12l+guitar+speaker&simid=608016059046953246&selectedIndex=30&ajaxhist=0
 
Had to resurrect this one.... A good replacement for the EVM12L would be the Organic Timbre Rhapsody G12F. I now have both but only one of the OTR speakers mounted in my Mark V combo. This speaker has been out since 2015 but I never heard of it before a few weeks ago. The change in the design is minor and it does have a different response curve than the EV. Bottom end is about the same but the midrange content is accentuated just enough to set them apart. There may be a bit more roll off on the top end of the OTR but you will not miss it. Right now I am looking at getting three more of them. Two will be installed in a OS Recto 412 cab that I have fitted the EVM12L black label. And the third I will install in a 1x12 cab for use with the JP-2C. From what I read the open back cab has the better response so I will go with that. I have not had a matching cab for the Mark V combo so it is about time I get one. I was considering the Thiele cab but have read the open back cab with an EV in it was better with the JP-2C. I was impressed when I ran the JP-2C though the OTR mounted in the Mark V combo. I still have an oversized 1x12 cab with an EV in it so that can stay as is. Paring the two types of speakers together did not seem to counteract each other so I would assume they would blend well in a 412 cab. Would probably need to mount them in an X pattern to distribute the tone. Time to order some more speakers and make it happen.
 
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