Are 4x12 cabs really that good?

[FuzzyAce]

I know this will be a really unpopular opinion around here, but I’ll take a open back 1x12 over a 4x12 any day

I do prefer open back cabs, especially when using a single speaker.

 

[JerEvil]

What the hell am I reading here??? lol! 412 is KING!

I’m almost 50 with 2 back surgeries and I have no problem getting my cab in and out of the trunk of my car for gigs.

Stairs? Dolly and some good straps. No bother. I bought 3x 412’s in the last 2 months. They sound so significantly different that I couldn’t imagine not having them.

 

[Life Eats Life]

They’re glorious, but equally “This is awesome” as they are “This is fucking heavy and a pain in the ass”

My ideal stage rig will always include two 4x12’s side by side. I was spoiled all through high school, basements and parties, getting to crank the shit out of two 4x12’s and having a buddy whose goal was to be our roadie for life that’d carry them for me. Then when I got into real bands and started playing real gigs and had to carry my own shit, I dropped that 2nd 4x12 really fucking quick.

Dude I remember playing “Skipper’s” in Tampa, Fl, barrellng a Mesa 4X12 Trad out the back, I didn’t have my all terrain Dolly set-up,
so I muscle-manned it.
It rained earlier that day, so there were puddles in the dirt road, -I cased it. got SERVED real good
at 3am.
Learned.
I’ll still bring one!!

 

[metropolis_4]

I'll save others the time.


Absolute must for a smaller room imo. Probably not the case for those using extended range guitars and/or drop tunings though.

Probably not, but I don’t use extended range guitars or drop tunings and I like the tone of an open back 1x12 better, so that’s what I’d take every time.

That’s just me, others have different tastes/needs

 

[krankenstein]

I'd love to have one (4x12). Currently using 2x12 and thinking to add either another 2x12 or getting 4x12. Pair of 4x12 one open one closed back (both with mixed speakers / x pattern) would be my dream. And only for playing at home. Yup.

 

[sleewell]

4x12s are life. The only thing better than a 4x12 is two of them.

 

[laxu]

I do prefer open back cabs, especially when using a single speaker.

For me it's a very "cab by cab" case.

My BluGuitar Nanocab works best as closed back because it needs all the low end help it can get. It needs to be on the floor really.

The TubeTown 1x12 with Alnico Gold that I sold last year was a cab I wanted to use open back, but it actually worked better as closed back because that focused the lows better, reducing some rumble issues in that cab. I should have kept the well worn Alnico Gold and just sold the cab itself, it wasn't a perfect fit for the speaker.

 

[holoholo]

They're ok

 

[James Freeman]

4x12s are life. The only thing better than a 4x12 is two of them.

My inspiration for starting this thread, the great Randall Aiken.

 

[TubeStack]

Time for some pics:

 

[TubeStack]

 

[spawnofthesith]

Yes they are

2x12s are the general sweet spot for me though.

Y’all are definitely overstating how difficult they are to move. Keep ‘em out of your he basement and it’s no biggie

 

[TSJMajesty]

For what... Your back? No
Riding down the street? Yes
Putting an ear-to-ear grin on your face when you're using 2 in stereo, cranked on your back porch towards the woods, through a Mesa 2:90, so loud that you hear the reverberations coming back at you from the trees?

YES

 

[TSJMajesty]

 

[woody]

Time for some pics:

View attachment 15878

The Electradyne is such a fun amp!

 

[woody]

I know this will be a really unpopular opinion around here, but I’ll take a open back 1x12 over a 4x12 any day

What kinda amps do you use with that?
I really dig oversized open back 1x12s and they do put out a lot more low end than most people would anticipate.
4x12s are really different than that, though. In conjunction with a proper Marshall they have this kick in the chest midrange thump that an open 1x12 just won't do.

 

[GTR37]

If recording I like 212 personally , I find them tighter and less boomy in a mix

 

[FuzzyAce]

For me it's a very "cab by cab" case.

My BluGuitar Nanocab works best as closed back because it needs all the low end help it can get. It needs to be on the floor really.

The TubeTown 1x12 with Alnico Gold that I sold last year was a cab I wanted to use open back, but it actually worked better as closed back because that focused the lows better, reducing some rumble issues in that cab. I should have kept the well worn Alnico Gold and just sold the cab itself, it wasn't a perfect fit for the speaker.

I guess if you're going for a bigger sound out of a 1x12 then a closed back or ported can be the ticket, I just personally never liked them as much. Open back sounds more... open, surprisingly -- not boxy or congested generally speaking.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I like open back for clean to midgain, but I’ve never really played an open back that the tone doesn’t become sand falling through your hands at high gain leveled

 

[ispunk]

Fuk yeah. If you're going to use a real 2203 or a model of it then you need to be running through a 4x12.