NCD: Bluetone diagonal 2x12

[laxu]

Found a cheap older Bluetone 2x12 cab (black) that is almost the same size as my Bluetone 4x10 (white).

• Diagonal 2x12. More internal volume, bigger tone!
• Celestion Vintage 30s.
• Slanted baffle so the speakers are pointed a bit more towards the ears.
• Slight opening in the back so it's not a full closed back.
• I think the cab might be made of pine. It's not as light as the 4x10 (made of paulownia which is super light), but not too far off either.

Since the V30s are the defacto pairing with Mesas, I got curious to give that a spin. I think it sounds nice, but I still prefer the 4x10 w/ 10" Greenbacks.
V30 + GB together is of course a great combination.

It gets even bigger if used in stereo, the Fryette PS-100 on top is not used for attenuation but as another poweramp fed by the Mark V slave out into one of the cabs. Then you can kinda mix one of the cabs into the sound, or alter it with Fryette's Presence/Depth.

 

[CorrosiveMatter]

Beaut!

BTW you can buy feet for the Power Station for the insane large Mesa handles. I got some on Amazon that were 1" tall to clear them.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Verrrrrrrry nice! How's the Mark through the 4x10?

 

[laxu]

Verrrrrrrry nice! How's the Mark through the 4x10?

Great! The V30s have that upper mid and more strident highs that are a bit harder to control than the smoother Greenbacks.

The 4x10 also pairs nicely with the MC90 in the combo - if the combo is on the floor/on casters. With the way it's on top of the cab, it can be harsh. I think I should try putting the two big cabs direct to the MKV and running the combo speaker off the Fryette to see if I can make any good use of it.

Otherwise might have to start thinking of "operation combo -> head conversion."

 

[JiveTurkey]

Great! The V30s have that upper mid and more strident highs that are a bit harder to control than the smoother Greenbacks.

The 4x10 also pairs nicely with the MC90 in the combo - if the combo is on the floor/on casters. With the way it's on top of the cab, it can be harsh. I think I should try putting the two big cabs direct to the MKV and running the combo speaker off the Fryette to see if I can make any good use of it.

Otherwise might have to start thinking of "operation combo -> head conversion."

I love that we went from "all I need is this HoTurd" to "oh; this old wall of cabs, amps and pedals?"

 

[laxu]

I love that we went from "all I need is this HoTurd" to "oh; this old wall of cabs, amps and pedals?"

Nah, a lot of that I already had.

I've had the BluGuitar Amp 1 Mercury, Bluetone 4x10, Fryette PS-100 and most of the Strymons for years.
This year only the Mark V, BluGuitar Amp 1 Iridium and Bluetone 2x12 are new.

The Hotone was my interim replacement for a hardware modeler. I was pleasantly surprised by it, but the HX Stadium will likely replace it. Or I might just go "wtf do I need a modeler anyway, I've got these nice pedal + amp rigs".

The above rig is in my parents basement. I'm in town 1-2 times a month for work so it's a good excuse to visit them and crank some amps!
At home I use the two BluGuitar Amp 1s -> BluGuitar 1x12 cabs + more Strymons.

Hopefully in a few years I can buy a small house and bring all this crap in there to crank more regularly. Or god forbid have the will to start some band project.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Nah, a lot of that I already had.

I've had the BluGuitar Amp 1 Mercury, Bluetone 4x10, Fryette PS-100 and most of the Strymons for years.
This year only the Mark V, BluGuitar Amp 1 Iridium and Bluetone 2x12 are new.

The Hotone was my interim replacement for a hardware modeler. I was pleasantly surprised by it, but the HX Stadium will likely replace it. Or I might just go "wtf do I need a modeler anyway, I've got these nice pedal + amp rigs".

The above rig is in my parents basement. I'm in town 1-2 times a month for work so it's a good excuse to visit them and crank some amps!
At home I use the two BluGuitar Amp 1s -> BluGuitar 1x12 cabs + more Strymons.

Hopefully in a few years I can buy a small house and bring all this crap in there to crank more regularly. Or god forbid have the will to start some band project.

I'm going with my original comment

 

[laxu]

I'm going with my original comment

A year from now I'll be "You know what, that Adam Jones was on to something with his multi-amp rig!"

 

[laxu]

I had to try the cabs I have in all possible permutations.

Since the BluGuitar amps can be just unplugged from the speaker out with no harm done, that made it easier to compare. The only caveat is that it supports only one jack at a time so for combinations you have to have a cab with a serial/parallel out (like my BluGuitar cabs) or something like a Palmer Speaker Merger (which I don't own).

So I used the BluGuitar line-out -> Fryette PS-100 -> one of the cabs for dual cab combinations, allowing me to blend in as much as I want of the other cab.

I still don't like the Amp 1 Iridium Modern channel. It sounds weird, like it's both scooped and nasal at the same time.
But Clean, Vintage and Classic are great so I just used those. Mostly the Classic.

Two cabs:

• Bluetone 2x12 + Mark V combo full stack. No good, the MC90 is harsh like this and tends to dominate the sound.
• Bluetone 2x12 + Mark V combo on floor side by side. The MC90 still dominates interestingly, but sounds good. Perhaps a bit redundant as blending in the 2x12 didn't really add that much.
• Bluetone 2x12 + Bluetone 4x10 full stack. The 4x10 is actually a bit wider than the 2x12, but less tall. This is ok, but 4x10 mainly adds extra highs, just not in a harsh way like the MC90.
• Bluetone 2x12 + Bluetone 4x10 side by side. Great! The two cabs blend together for a nice sound.

One cab:

• Bluetone 2x12. Good match for the Amp 1 Iridium. I feel I want to turn up the Mids more.
• Bluetone 4x10. Works great with anything. I turn the Treble up a notch but otherwise can leave the EQ in the middle. It's smoother and thicker in the mids than the 2x12.
• Mark V combo's MC90. Sounds smaller of course, but nice. I turned the Bass up a little to compensate for the smaller combo, and Treble down a bit. It's a nice sounding speaker - as long as it's no higher than on casters, and you rein in the treble.

My biggest takeaway from all this cab wranging is that I don't like full stacks. The top cab mainly contributes highs I never needed so you have to EQ the amp in a different way and then it still doesn't amount to much more than "louder".

I think I will end up with the two bigger cabs side by side, will have to see what to do with the Mark V. It's nice and easy to adjust when on top of the 2x12 but feels a bit of a waste to not use its speaker.

If I had more space I'd run some crazy 3 cab system spaced apart, but I think I'll try BluGuitar -> 2x12 and Mark V -> MC90 + 4x10. I'm thinking of trying the Mark V on the floor but put it in front of the 2x12 where there is no speaker in the 2x12.

The 2x12 is definitely solid wood rather than plywood. V30s are made in China models, but sound nice and well worn in. I think the cab is something like 7-10 years old.

 

[Mikael Dez]

I had to try the cabs I have in all possible permutations.

Since the BluGuitar amps can be just unplugged from the speaker out with no harm done, that made it easier to compare. The only caveat is that it supports only one jack at a time so for combinations you have to have a cab with a serial/parallel out (like my BluGuitar cabs) or something like a Palmer Speaker Merger (which I don't own).

So I used the BluGuitar line-out -> Fryette PS-100 -> one of the cabs for dual cab combinations, allowing me to blend in as much as I want of the other cab.

I still don't like the Amp 1 Iridium Modern channel. It sounds weird, like it's both scooped and nasal at the same time.
But Clean, Vintage and Classic are great so I just used those. Mostly the Classic.

Two cabs:

• Bluetone 2x12 + Mark V combo full stack. No good, the MC90 is harsh like this and tends to dominate the sound.
• Bluetone 2x12 + Mark V combo on floor side by side. The MC90 still dominates interestingly, but sounds good. Perhaps a bit redundant as blending in the 2x12 didn't really add that much.
• Bluetone 2x12 + Bluetone 4x10 full stack. The 4x10 is actually a bit wider than the 2x12, but less tall. This is ok, but 4x10 mainly adds extra highs, just not in a harsh way like the MC90.
• Bluetone 2x12 + Bluetone 4x10 side by side. Great! The two cabs blend together for a nice sound.

One cab:

• Bluetone 2x12. Good match for the Amp 1 Iridium. I feel I want to turn up the Mids more.
• Bluetone 4x10. Works great with anything. I turn the Treble up a notch but otherwise can leave the EQ in the middle. It's smoother and thicker in the mids than the 2x12.
• Mark V combo's MC90. Sounds smaller of course, but nice. I turned the Bass up a little to compensate for the smaller combo, and Treble down a bit. It's a nice sounding speaker - as long as it's no higher than on casters, and you rein in the treble.

My biggest takeaway from all this cab wranging is that I don't like full stacks. The top cab mainly contributes highs I never needed so you have to EQ the amp in a different way and then it still doesn't amount to much more than "louder".

I think I will end up with the two bigger cabs side by side, will have to see what to do with the Mark V. It's nice and easy to adjust when on top of the 2x12 but feels a bit of a waste to not use its speaker.

If I had more space I'd run some crazy 3 cab system spaced apart, but I think I'll try BluGuitar -> 2x12 and Mark V -> MC90 + 4x10. I'm thinking of trying the Mark V on the floor but put it in front of the 2x12 where there is no speaker in the 2x12.

The 2x12 is definitely solid wood rather than plywood. V30s are made in China models, but sound nice and well worn in. I think the cab is something like 7-10 years old.

It would be interesting to have the same cab dimensions and speakers side by side, one made of solid birch wood and one made of birch plywood, and see how it differs. The solid wood would likely “absorb” more I’d think, given it doesn’t have wood glue in between layers of wood. The plywood can would be more durable for sure, and that makes sense to make them out of plywood, but sonically? Idk

 

[laxu]

It would be interesting to have the same cab dimensions and speakers side by side, one made of solid birch wood and one made of birch plywood, and see how it differs. The solid wood would likely “absorb” more I’d think, given it doesn’t have wood glue in between layers of wood. The plywood can would be more durable for sure, and that makes sense to make them out of plywood, but sonically? Idk

I think the primary driver for birch ply is that it's quite rigid and available.

Pine and especially paulownia can be much lighter.