Marshall 1936 2x12 cab- speaker suggestions

[-analog-]

Recently I picked up a Marshall 1936 2x12 cab- the speakers are somewhat lacking in the sounding good dept. The woofers choke out at louder volumes with a 50 watt head and the general sound stage seems poor . its virtually new, bought it off a guy who was Feening for money at the music store, he only had it for 3 weeks before selling it , its 100% stock Celestion G12T75 speakers-

any suggestions? I'm going for a more open sounding speaker, quick response, decent bass response

heads I've been using with the cab are a Marshall JCM800 KT88 100watt head, Mesa heartbreaker 100watt

another thought was maybe converted it to an open back cab, maybe that will open it up a bit?

 

[JK47]

I had one and to be perfectly honest, it sucked ass. I used it with a 1959 SLP and not only was the tone thin, compressed, and way too trebly no matter what I did, it vibrated in the key of C. One of the worst gear purchases I've ever made. Let me see if I can find my thread...

EDIT: Here it is. https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/722336

The consensus was, no matter what speakers you use, that cabinet will probably continue to suck

 

[-analog-]

The compression is whats killing me- it makes my Mesa sound like it has 3 layers of compression on the drive stage in comparison to going into my other 2x12 open back which sounds open, uncompressed and GOOD.

thats why I was asking about maybe making it an open back or 1/3 open back..

I'm thinking maybe just dump it, eh- Not sure what to do, I can start buying up pairs of 2x12 speakers anywhere from $80 each to $200 each, or just get a better cab for $500-600 and be done with it..

I was thinking maybe a pair of Electro voice EVM12m's which I have a a nos source for..

 

[blackba]

Any idea what year your 1936 cab is? The earlier ones were plywood with a MDF back, the newer ones are all MDF. I generally see pretty good reports on the older ones and generally negative reports on the newer ones.

I have a 1936 copy that I built from plywood and it sounds great. I am running Celestion Classic Lead 80's in mine. The CL80's work well with both my Marshall 2553 and Mesa mark IV, so they might be a good choice for your amps....

 

[hudpucker]

Actually, there were some from the late 90's that were ALL MDF.

Mine sounded like poo. Dark, woofy and flat. Yuck.

 

[Primakurtz]

I had one, plywood sides with an MDF back. With the stock 75's, at high volume, it sounded very good. Not so great for low volumes.

I've heard of good results mixing in one V30 with one 75; didn't try it. It might be worth doing some experimenting before you dump it.

 

[-analog-]

its newer, jvm era. if its MDF that explains that, it will be in the emporium for small beans, some metalhead kid will love it...

 

[gulliver]

You can just take the back off if you want to experiment.

 

[-analog-]

I'm going to mess around with it in a little bit, maybe converting it to a 1/3 open back will help.

 

[JK47]

If its any consolation, I traded mine straight across for a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10...you might find someone who really, really wants a 2x12

its newer, jvm era. if its MDF that explains that, it will be in the emporium for small beans, some metalhead kid will love it...

 

[ScottR]

I had Eminence Texas Heats in one and it sounded Killer for Classic Rock tones. IT would do Metal too but thats not me any more

 

[-analog-]

I'll know tonight for sure, have about 15 cables to roll up for orders- then I'm going to fart around with the cab, I need to figure it out, I want to start playing again and all I have at the moment is little 5 watt amps that arent Pedal friendly and Half/full stacks..

Not in the mood to be humping 4x12 cabs around..

 

[Pietro]

Maybe you need to let the speakers break in. Or perhaps some amps work great through it and some don't... The one I play my Fender Super Sonic through sounds amazing. But my Dr. Z sounds really weak through it.

 

[QRSS]

....some metalhead kid will love it...

lol. yeah, i went through the same process. v30s sounded best but still stale. sold easily on CL.

 

[ggwwbb]

I've got one with Hellatone 30s in it. Doesn't sound too bad IMO.

 

[van5073]

The 1936 gets a lotta flack but, to me they sound better than the Splawn 212 I had. Stock with the 75s= pretty good, with V30s = better, with GBs=
even better. These results are using various JCMs.

 

[dougb415]

These are supposed to be good:

http://www.wgs4.com/content/gb