What's the best cab for the EVM12L?

The Boogie Board

Help Support The Boogie Board:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GJgo

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
445
Reaction score
46
Location
Western Colorado
Hey guys, what do you think was the best cab Mesa produced with an EVM12L in it? I just had my first taste of this speaker, and I really liked what I heard. It's very hi fi whereas my Celestions all seem to color the sound in one way or another.

I know the Thiele was designed around this speaker, and I know they put it in a lot of those older 4x12s with the half back where they used 2 12Ls and 2 something else. I don't know what the different versions were though, wanting to come up to speed to I can shop for one of the flavors.
 
What are you trying to achieve cab-wise?

For example:
a 1x12 for convenience
4x12 for overall sound dispersion or ???

EV12L's sound great in many different configurations. It all depends on what your goal is/ what you are trying to achieve.
There's lots of different threads on the subject.

-Some only like them in a Thiele
-Some like them in an open back.
-Some find them too bright in an open back

Fwiw an open back could be a 1x12 or the upper open back (the top) of a 2x12 or 4x12

- 2x12's and 4x12's came with many different speaker configs including all the speakers being EV-12L's
 
I tend to prefer (closed back) 4x12s to smaller cabs because I like a huge sound at any volume. Smaller cabs seem more beamy / focused. The weight doesn't really bother me.

I have read with the 12L that a 4x12 is a large amount of overkill since they are 200w speakers, and that a Thiele matches it well and is plenty loud, but they are very beamy.
 
I have really limited space and have only heard the EVM-12L in a combo or Thiele. I much prefer the Thiele. My guess is any closed back cab would sound better than open or half-back though. That's just my tastes, I prefer a cab with a little thump to it and generally roll back the highs.

I've heard about EV loaded 4x12s, but can only imagine the weight. An EV loaded compact cab is still around 40lbs... 160+ sounds like a real back breaker.
 
GJgo said:
I have read with the 12L that a 4x12 is a large amount of overkill since they are 200w speakers, and that a Thiele matches it well and is plenty loud, but they are very beamy.
That's odd, because single 12s normally disperse sound a lot better than 4x12s—especially standard guitar square ones.
(for instance: http://www.egnateramps.com/TechTalk/Volume2.html )

Anyhow, what I've found with EVM-12Ls is that they sound great when paired with other speaker(s) but not so much on their own...they're loud, thick, and clear but don't really cut through a mix without drastic EQ. So far I really like them:
  • mixed with V30s in a sealed 4x12
    in a TL806 ported 1x12, underneath an MC-90 in an open-backed Mark 3 combo

The sealed 4x12 is tighter in the low end, but the ported/open back pairing is proportionately louder for its size (maybe comparable to the sealed 4x12?) and has a more open and natural-sounding midrange with less beaming. For playing loud and distorted they're both good in their own way; for playing clean the 1x12/combo is a way better option. Although I could see a sealed 4x12 being okay for cleans, just not with V30s. Maybe 2x EVM-12L and 2x G12M-85?
 
GJgo said:
I tend to prefer (closed back) 4x12s to smaller cabs because I like a huge sound at any volume. Smaller cabs seem more beamy / focused. The weight doesn't really bother me.

I have read with the 12L that a 4x12 is a large amount of overkill since they are 200w speakers, and that a Thiele matches it well and is plenty loud, but they are very beamy.

My favorite setup is a Thiele loaded with an EV12L combined with an open back 1x12 loaded with an Eminence MS-12.
I don't find the EV all that beamy in the Thiele but then again I rarely (if ever these days) use that cab alone.

I have 4x12's and 2x12's with similar configurations (EV's in the closed back bottom and MS-12's in the upper open back) and like these cabs as well.
I have tried many different speaker configurations in all these cabs (1x12's Thiele's, 2x12's, 4x12's).
The C90 in the open back part of a 2x12 or 4x12 as well as the lone speaker in a 1x12 works for many when combined with a closed back cab loaded (Thiele etc) with the EV-12L. I personally have mixed feelings about the C90. Sometimes they sound ok to me other times they sound too ice-picky.

In any case I keep going back to the EV/MS-12 combination for use with my amp (C+) and guitar (has PAF type humbuckers).
 
Thanks guys, good advice. I have one 12" 12L that I liberated from a Mark combo that I turned into a head. I also have a 1x12 Recto cab w/ a V30. I'm thinking maybe find a Thiele cab for the 12L & try it on its own or paired with the little recto cab.

There's a guy on the Bay that makes a nice looking original spec Thiele cab, but for the cost I could get a used Boogie Thiele with whatever speaker & put the 12L in it. Hmm..
 
I make Thiele cabs too (head cabs 1x12's as well etc)

For a bunch of pics of previous cabs I've made you can go to
photobucket:
http://s272.beta.photobucket.com/user/gtscabs/library/


You could also look in these threads for some examples of my work
(If you do a search there may be many many more): Fwiw I'm not
sure how many of these threads still exist but maybe try a few.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=30708

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=21540

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19970

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=25390

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=26431

page 2 of this thread (last post on that page)

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=26303&start=15

and opinion or two of my work here:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=26652

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?p=205487

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?p=204686
 
Thanks GTS, are you using the EV Thiele dimensions or the Mesa dimensions? What wood type & joint style?
 
GJgo said:
Thanks GTS, are you using the EV Thiele dimensions or the Mesa dimensions? What wood type & joint style?

Mesa dimensions
Fwiw the Mesa dimensions are a slight variation on the Theile plan dimensions but maintain the required internal volume of a Thiele cab per the Theiel plan specs.
Wood is plywood usually Baltic Birch covered with tolex
Joint style? Seems an odd question but rabbet and dado joints are used.
If hardwood they'd be half-blind dovetails but I'm not making hardwood cabs these days.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top