2x12 Cab, Mesa Boogie?

[ZeusAMM_]

Hi!

I'm new to the forum and I'm trying to jumpstart the guitar playing after a 10 years pause.
One of the things I'm lookimg at is buying a cab, as I'm not planning on gigging, a 4x12 is too big, I think a 2x12 (vertical) will do for me.

I've mainly seen that a Mesa Boogie is the go-to brand when you play metal/hi-gain, but here in EU they are fairly expensive, so I was mainly looking at Orange PPC or ENGL Pro (~650€).
BUT! Locally I found someone selling a beautiful 2x12 Mesa cab for around 750€ in extremely good shape. The only issue I have with it is that it has Creamback 65 speakers, and from what I've read, they don't go well with my style.
My question is: should I buy the Mesa and change 1 (or both) speakers or should I buy a brand new Orange/ENGL that will have better speakers speakers?

At this moment I'm leaning towards buying the Mesa with the reasoning that speakers can be changed and improved, but a better/worse built cabinet and materials can't.

 

[USMarine75]

Good speakers are around $150 US per speaker. So is it worth it to spend that much on a cab when you also have to add $300 more for speakers?

 

[USMarine75]

Mesa, Orange, Engl, Diezel, Avatar all make good 212.

Make sure you buy a contemporary cab not OS unless you are putting speakers that move a lot of air (eg Celestion G12K100) and you plan on cranking the volume.

 

[Choop]

Orange cabs are really great -- I assume Engl cabs are as well, at least on the same level of build quality as Mesa. Personally I'd spring for a new Orange or Engl cab. Either would still come with good quality Vintage 30 speakers. In the event you want to swap one, I feel like it'd be easier to trade/sell a V30 since they are essentially an industry standard.

 

[ZeusAMM_]

Hmmm... thanks for the answers! So then you think it isn't worth paying the extra money for the Mesa, that collides a bit with what many others say...
If I'd get any of the others, I don't think I'd get the Orange, I'm having difficulties liking the looks, so, If I get the ENGL for around 630€ I'd have 120€ for other stuff I want to buy...
Food for thought!

 

[thebeesknees22]

I tested about every cab under the sun back in 2017 when I was shopping around. Both 4x12's and 2x12's. I settled on the Orange PPC 2x12. It was just the punchiest, fullest, meanest sounded cab I tried out of everything. It's expensive, but it sounds fantastic.

 

[Sumsar]

I tested about every cab under the sun back in 2017 when I was shopping around. Both 4x12's and 2x12's. I settled on the Orange PPC 2x12. It was just the punchiest, fullest, meanest sounded cab I tried out of everything. It's expensive, but it sounds fantastic.

So what makes the difference in the cab build if we don't think about speakers, but only the cab. Is it just oversized vs normal size vs open back etc?
Say for instance I have an oversized EVH 2x12, would it sound significantly than a Mesa 2x12, orange and so forth?

 

[thebeesknees22]

You know, that's a very good question! First and foremost the speaker itself is the biggest factor for sure.
Here's Kristian Kohle using the same type speakers in different cabs


If you find some speakers you really like then swapping out the cabs will be different, but not hugely different. I think when it comes to these differences we just have to keep in mind that sound waves get absorbed/reflected different by different materials and space that they have to breathe. So these differences will result in slightly different tones. (just like everything in a room effects sound)

Overall you could probably just find or make a cheap cab and throw whatever in it and it'll be in the ballpark. If i ever decide I want to have a DV77 cab (since I use the dv77 IR's all the time), I'd probably either try my hand at making one myself if I had the tools/space to do it, or I'd try to find some used cab and put them in it instead of buying a new one.

at the end of the day it's all about the speaker.

 

[sleewell]

i think mesa and orange make some of the best cabs that arent small boutique type builders. i like my old peavey vtm cab but when i got my orange i really noticed a difference.

 

[ZeusAMM_]

You know, that's a very good question! First and foremost the speaker itself is the biggest factor for sure.
Here's Kristian Kohle using the same type speakers in different cabs


If you find some speakers you really like then swapping out the cabs will be different, but not hugely different. I think when it comes to these differences we just have to keep in mind that sound waves get absorbed/reflected different by different materials and space that they have to breathe. So these differences will result in slightly different tones. (just like everything in a room effects sound)

Overall you could probably just find or make a cheap cab and throw whatever in it and it'll be in the ballpark. If i ever decide I want to have a DV77 cab (since I use the dv77 IR's all the time), I'd probably either try my hand at making one myself if I had the tools/space to do it, or I'd try to find some used cab and put them in it instead of buying a new one.

at the end of the day it's all about the speaker.

Interesting!!
Anyone has any input about the ENGL Pro?
I see a lot of Orange users but barely any ENGL... it doesn't need to mean they are bad, maybe the wrong forum?

 

[Emperoff]

Honestly to me there is no point of buying a Mesa cab in Europe unless you really want that exact cab. You can buy plenty of quality cabinets from EU manufacturers at like half the price.

 

[thebeesknees22]

oh actually ENGL is one of the ones I couldn't find anywhere when I was in Vancouver. It looks really solid and it's a v30 so just a guess, but it's probably pretty comparable.

 

[ZeusAMM_]

Honestly to me there is no point of buying a Mesa cab in Europe unless you really want that exact cab. You can buy plenty of quality cabinets from EU manufacturers at like half the price.

In my case it is almost the same price, but wrong speakers...

 

[Choop]

Have you checked out Zilla cabs at all? They are out of Britain so I'm not sure what shipping would be like to you, but they are killer.

 

[laxu]

Most of the cabs on the market don't do anything unique and the differences come from slight differences in dimensions and construction. V30 cabs are dime a dozen and I see zero reason to buy a Mesa in Europe except on the used market. You can get for example a Zilla cab loaded with your preferred speakers for far less.

 

[thebeesknees22]

what @laxu said ^^

just find a cab with the speakers you want. Speakers are most important. Any cab will do just fine when loaded with the speakers you want.

 

[ZeusAMM_]

Have you checked out Zilla cabs at all? They are out of Britain so I'm not sure what shipping would be like to you, but they are killer.

I checked them, but with the custom taxes we pay in Sweden for stuff coming from outside EU they are out of the price range.


So, I've made up my mind and I'm going to get the ENGL Pro in Red Ltd. Ed.

 

[Emperoff]

I checked them, but with the custom taxes we pay in Sweden for stuff coming from outside EU they are out of the price range.


So, I've made up my mind and I'm going to get the ENGL Pro in Red Ltd. Ed.

Solid choice

 

[c7spheres]

Consider building a cab. Save a ton of money and get exasctly what you want. If that's not an option Orange, Mesa, ENGL are all great cabs as mentioned before.

 

[Choop]

Which amp are you looking to pair with btw? Just curious!