412 or 212 Cab

[martinluo]

Hi everyone I am wondering whether to get a 412 or 212 cab for my 120w head? Basically I use it to practice at home(although I don't want to start a gun fight with my neighbors because of the volume). However I do perform live occasionally. Any idea?

 

[Tones]

2x12's are plenty. 120 watt head is pretty massive even for a medium sized venue. Look into a <60 watt combo amp for home playing. Assuming you use a tube head, you won't even get a decent tone out of bedroom volume levels. If you can get a combo amp, I'd opt for that. If that's not an option, and you have to use your 120watt head, then definitely go for the 2x12. The 2x12 would be great for live performances as well.

Welcome to the forum

 

[rebornself27]

What are you using for a 120 watt head? So we can help you step into the right direction as far as tone

 

[martinluo]

Hey thank you guys. It's a Laney Ironheart 120 my dad gave me.

 

[rebornself27]

212 should be ok unless you have a loud bass player in your band then 412 .And just grab a small practice amp for home pretty much what Tones mentioned earlier

 

[tedtan]

Either will provide enough volume. The main thing to consider is how loud you'll turn your amp up and how many watts your cab is rated for. A 120 watt head will put out 120 watts before the power section distorts (which is usually somewhere around half-way up* on guitar amps), not 120 watts max output. So as you turn it up past halfway, that 120 watt amp will put out more than 120 watts, probably over 200 watts at full volume.

If you're not turning it up past half way, a 120 watt cab will be fine. If you decide to crank it, though, you'll want a cab rated at 240+ watts so you don't blow the speakers.


* Note that half way up on a 120 watt amp is pretty loud, so you most likely won't turn up that much unless you play a lot of stadium or outdoor gigs.

 

[SmashinWithTone]

I'd say play it safe and get a 2x12 to start. It will be plenty loud and if you need to get a half stack in the future you buy another 2x12 and there you go. Moving around 2 2x12 cabs will also be a hell of a lot easier than moving one 4x12 anyways.

 

[MikeSweeney]

I got a 120 wat 5150 and 212 and I play with it at 1 you just need to have the presents up a little higher to get more tube sach. But when i want to blow the windows and no one is home cuz F***K the people next door I pump it to 11

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

2x12 for sure! It'll put out pretty much all of the volume of a 4x12, but with a bit more speaker breakup yesway since there are less of them.

For live, you'll be fine if you just put your 2x12 on top of something to get it to the height of a 4x12 or turn it on its side.

I haven't played live since switching from an Orange 4x12 to my Mesa 2x12, but for practices I put it on top of my head/rack case and it's fine as far as projection and stuff

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

2x12 works great for me. Can handle live with ease

 

[Wrecklyss]

2x12s in general tend to have a larger sound stage due to there usually being more volume (in cubic inches/litres) per driver than a 4x12. They are plenty loud, but in my experience have a fuller sound than 4x12s with a smaller cab to driver ratio.