YellowJacket
Well-known member
So I have come to the conclusion that things are often best when they are used the way they were made in the first place.
Here is a story of a lot of frustration tone chasing. I'll apologize in advance for the blog like tone of this but ya, I just did something tonight and I'm banging my head against the wall now. Such a *duh* moment.
Stage one, learning guitar. I played keyboards in a band at age 18 but back then, in the late 90s, keyboards weren't cool. It was only fashionable to play with a digital piano a la moist, or none at all. SO. My bandmates basically 'forced' me to learn guitar, although it didn't take much arm twisting. Much to the annoyance of my father, I bought a Godin LG because it was an $800 guitar that came factory with Seymour Duncans. It really had a really thick sound with a nice 'bite' in the highs that I loved. It sounded 'fantastic' with my brother's Peavey Bandid 112, at least to my ears. Then one day, I heard a local band play with Mesa Dual Rectifiers and I LOVED the tone. They had such a massive crunch that was balanced perfectly EQ wise. Not overly scooped and buzzy like a Marshall. (I only knew of JCM900s and JCM2000s back then)
That band disbanded and I started something punk rock. I borrowed a Marshall JCM2000 for a recording but I hated the tone. With my guitar it always sounded muddy. So I took my instrument and went to the local guitar store where I was introduced to mesa amps. The salesman (A sweaty chode of a man at the time) dialed in an AWESOME tone with a Nomad 55 and a 4 x 12. I wanted that amp and I put a downpayment on the head as well as buying a mini marshall 4 x 12 which I gigged with along with the bandit. (true story, bandit sounds WAY better with celestions instead of Sheffields)
At the time, these guys were the only Mesa dealers in town so I was waiting MONTHS for the head to come in. I recall checking in at the guitar store before going to my guitar tech, who had just installed two Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro humbuckers in my Guitar. He happened to have a Dual Rec Rev F Blackface in on consignment as well as a Nomad 55 combo. The Alnico II Pro pups were much more polite and really didn't jive well with the Nomad, so I recalled back to that show with the Dual Rectifiers. I ended up getting back the deposit from the guitar store (salesman was pissed) and picking up the used Dual, which I still have to this day.
This marked the start of the Gear Obsession.
Cabs = Mini Marshall --> respeakered with G12T 75s I got from a Marshall 1960JCM800B cab. I fixed up the large cab and sold it. Still kind of mid focused and muddy sounding. Wired it to switch between 1 speaker, 2 speakers, and 4 speakers.
Tested: Marshall 1960ax cab for a month. Marshall 1960a cab for a month.
Test Drove: Marshall 1960 Vintage, Marshall 1960TV, Mesa Boogie Stiletto and Rectocabs.
Always torn between Greenbacks (too farty) and v30s (too constipated) but they both had this warm mid focused tone I preferred. I really consider Greenday, MxPx, Bad Religion, NOFX/ Creed, Nickelback, POD, etc to be the two foundations for my crunch tone preferences.
Mini Marshall ---> Sold to my brother. He has since sold it and now plays a Lonestar Special with a Celestion G12H Heritage and a Red Bear MK60 through a Thiele 2 x 12 with WGS Reaper 50watt speakers.
I didn't mind the mini marshall but I played through my buddy's rectocab and I loved how warm and huge the tone was.
I agonized between the Stiletto and the Rectocab, noting that the Stiletto worked best with the Vintage High Gain setting (better for punk rock with the mid focused tone) and the Rectocab worked best with the modern setting and was better for huge rock tones.
Acquired Side Armour Rectocab because I was getting into rock at this time. Great cab but always sounded 'closed' unless I turned the volume up. There were always buzzy frequencies that bugged me but I eventually pinned them down to being that stupid basement. Dumb thing!
Also tried EL-34s in my Dual. Went back to 6L6s.
At this time I was getting totally pissed with my tone so I started guitar shopping with NO money. I recall trying basically every guitar in the store (Different store from the Nomad saga. That guy was still pissed) but getting split between a PRS Singlecut and a Gibson LP. I recall wanting both of them but settling on the Gibson LP, much to the surprise of the Salesman. So I put it on layaway and didn't tell my parents, and made regular trips to visit L&MQ. I was finishing my final year of my first degree so I was only in 3 courses a semester. I didn't sleep that year. I worked 2 - 3 shifts a week flipping burgers, got ready for my music school auditions, and managed to pass a couple of HARD science courses. (Biochem and Molecular Engineering)
In December that year, the salesman had a surprise for me. He said his bosses were getting absolutely tired of that guitar being on layaway. They didn't want it there in the first place since they could 'order a guitar like that in a second'. He said he had shown to them that I had made payments on my layaway once a month so they had agreed to let me take the instrument on 0% financing for 12 months! So ya, it was either that or the guitar went back on the shelf so I bought the guitar.
I noted that the pickups were unbalanced but I used the bridge pickup for high gain and the neck one for cleans so that was fine for the time being. I noted that I'd replace them if I ever mellowed out a bit.
I put a PRS HFS pickup in my LG to try and approximate the sound of a Singlecut. BIG MISTAKE. It was possibly the worst pickup for that guitar. Awhile later, I put a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom in that guitar and that pickup has stayed there to this day.
Yellowjackets. At this time I developed a "you're playing to loud" complex. Practicing or playing at church, I always got yelled at to turn down. It was turn DOWN to the point where the volume was almost off. Like your tonestack doesn't work then. I talked to Gar Gilles (RIP =-( ) and he suggested I try Yellow Jackets for low power situations. I bought them on his advice, tried them, and HATED them. Virtually useless. But I had them so whatever.
One day, I happened to have them in my amp and I happened to have my amp with me at a guitar store so I tried my Dual + Yellow Jackets with a Marshall 1960ax. The salesman wanted to know what they did so I showed him. It was astounding. Unlike the Mesa 4 x 12, which sounded anemic and constipated, the Greenback 4 x 12 just bloomed. It sounded good no matter what the volume!
SO. I bought my buddy's Peavey 1 x 12 and swapped the Sheffield for a greenback, expecting favourable results. What I got was a very tinny buzzy tone, no matter what I did. Crunch sucked, but leads and cleans were awesome.
I then got caught up with Cello so I forgot about guitar and stopped spending money on it.
I went away for my masters and left my 4 x 12 at my parents place in Manitoba. I seriously NEVER played the amp or my guitar that year. I touched either of them twice. My Godin went with my brother out to Edmonton.
Over the summer, I stashed my gear in Vancouver, took my Les Paul to Winnipeg, and joined the Boogieboard here. I got plans for a thiele cab and put a greenback and a v30 in it, hoping to ditch that awful peavey. I also never played loud anymore so I left the 4 x 12 at my parents for a rainy day.
That summer I tried a Marshall JCM2000 with my Rectocab and Les Paul. The tone blew me away. I commented it was 'the' sound I always wanted.
That fall, Recto + homemade 2 x 12 was awesome. It just tore. Problem, there was this buzzing high end I couldn't dial out. I ran the Dual Recto exclusively with Yellow Jackets and tolerated the problem.
Last spring I tried an Electra Dyne and was all but convinced to dump the Dual and get it. I AB'd it against Duals, and a selection of Marshalls, noting that the Dyne was just smoother and had these awesome throaty mids. It was MY sound. The sound I could hear in my head but could never get. I noted that my rig with Thiele and Dual sounded somewhat similar to the Dyne.
This last summer, I read up substantially on pickups and heard about electronic swaps. I was seriously considering either Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro in neck with a Custom Custom in Bridge; Seth Lover in neck and bridge; hybrid pickups; or antiquity humbuckers. In a snap decision, I got Bare Knuckle Rebel Yells used. I replaced them and noticed a subtle difference in tone but it wasn't until I replaced the electronics that the guitar came alive. The difference was surprising.
I also got my brothers c90 and built an oversized 2 x 12 with a v30 to match. Freaking awesome sounding cab.
I traded my 4 x 12 Rectocab for a Fender P-Bass, bought an Ashdown 210 and I currently run that with a Markbass SA450 head. Bass gear is so low maintenance!! Moved to Toronto for school.
So, I got frustrated with tone again. I discovered that there is no difference in volume between 2 EL-34s and YellowJackets. YellowJackets = better clean while EL-34s = better crunch. I was SO pissed off but I dug my oversized 2 x 12 out of storage and noted that it was a great match for the Dual Recto. Great tone, just not 'my' sound these days.
Over the holidays I tried an Electra Dyne 2 x 12 combo with my brother. I fell in love all over again! Been scheming how to acquire on in a student budget ever since. (We currently run a deficit because school = expensive)
Since the large cab does modern tones well, I decided to swap the v30 for a G12m Heritage in the thiele. This was like two weeks ago. The cleans and lead tone improved but I honestly don't care for the crunch. Always a buzziness you can't dial out unless you crank the thing!
***********************************************************
So, this has been a loooooooooooooooooooong preamble.
I had not played my Dual fully loaded with tubes since several years back. Not unless I was using it to play bass with my Ashdown cab.
I had been using
1) Yellow Jackets. With two tube slots empty. Sound alright with Greenback'd Thiele but thin and buzzy or oversaturated with Gibson Les Paul. The Cleans and Lead tones are phenomenal, incidentally. I plug in my Godin with the Duncans and it just TEARS with this setup =-/ GRRRRR!
2) 2 EL-34s with Gibson + oversized cab. It is rather mid focused and doesn't really emphasize the midrange bark EL-34s are known for. Great cleans and decent lead, but crunch is only alright. Not terribly wide.
3) 3 EL-34s + Gibson + Greenback'd cab. Sounds crunchy but almost nasal in quality. Cleans and lead tone were both good. One would think the thiele was designed to work with a different speaker, such as a c90. I'd imagine a c90 would sound neutral in this cab.
I was just frustrated and had basically decided to part out my homemade cabs, sell my Dual, and get an Electra Dyne combo. Definitely would make me happy. I just had some reservations. I decided tonight to try option 4 and set up the amp stock. SOOO.
4) 2 6L6 STR 450 badge and 2 5881s. 2 rectifier tubes. Bold, tube rectifier. Red channel. Oversized 2 x 12. I'm certain Dave at Mills designed that cab specifically for a Dual Recto since they match so well.
Conclusion 1) Well, I remember why I loved the amp in the first place. Totally different beast. With all the dials set straight up except presence, the tone was monsterous. It just sounds bigger, thicker, deeper, darker, and phatter. Much less bright. Also, much less tight.
It is almost like you have to 'fight' with the amp because there is so much power. The beef is immense, from almost off all the way up to gigging levels. It sounds better cranked, but pretty dang good even almost off, as many have said.
On the downsize, the typical weaknesses also asserted themselves: Poor lead tones (although I have not tried the orange channel for this yet) and 'good' but rather dull cleans. The cleans lack vibrance and bounce, something they acquire in spades with the Yellow Jackets.
But, the high gain crunch rhythm. ****. I had a stupid grin on my face. Ya, you have to run the gain hot for 'no volume' practice levels but as you crank the amp, you can back it off. The lead really wasn't that bad. You crank the gain hotter and back off on the volume knob for crunch. It just sounded so thick and juicy and the interaction between the guitar an amp was so fun while playing. You could just feel the whole amp straining, trying to keep up. The obvious downside is that you lose the immediacy that comes with running at lower wattages. It just isn't quite so tight, but the oversized cab compensates fine thanks to the interior baffle.
At this point I REMEMBERED why I stuck with the Dual in the first place. It does what it does well. The amp is a monster truck and I spent far too much time and $$$s trying to make it into a racecar. When I just let it BE a monster truck, it does that exceptionally well. THINGS SOUND BEST WHEN YOU USE THEM THE WAY THEY WERE DESIGNED TO BE USED!!!
So I think I figured something else. The OTHER sound I want so badly is a Marshall crunch. The dual will not do that. The Electra Dyne does it, but in a way I find even more pleasing to my ears than with a Marshall. I also want a fender strat =-/
SOOOOO. I guess I'll stick with my Dual for the time being, with all the tubes in it. I'll just keep practicing and hopefully some funds will come my way and I can acquire a second head to do the OTHER tone I want. Those great cleans, classic rock tones, smoldering leads, etc.
Now . . . What to do with the thiele? Leave both greenies in or put the v30 back in the one side. I feel guilty for spending SO MUCH $$$$$$$$$s on gear this year. It is been far too much and I'm never happy. Hopefully the Dual sounds as good tomorrow as it did today.
Conclusion 2) Dave at Mills Acoustics designs awesome cabs.
Conclusion 3) Mixing Celestion v30s with c90s does a great job of at least mitigating low volume fizz. They also sound huge when running together.
Here is a story of a lot of frustration tone chasing. I'll apologize in advance for the blog like tone of this but ya, I just did something tonight and I'm banging my head against the wall now. Such a *duh* moment.
Stage one, learning guitar. I played keyboards in a band at age 18 but back then, in the late 90s, keyboards weren't cool. It was only fashionable to play with a digital piano a la moist, or none at all. SO. My bandmates basically 'forced' me to learn guitar, although it didn't take much arm twisting. Much to the annoyance of my father, I bought a Godin LG because it was an $800 guitar that came factory with Seymour Duncans. It really had a really thick sound with a nice 'bite' in the highs that I loved. It sounded 'fantastic' with my brother's Peavey Bandid 112, at least to my ears. Then one day, I heard a local band play with Mesa Dual Rectifiers and I LOVED the tone. They had such a massive crunch that was balanced perfectly EQ wise. Not overly scooped and buzzy like a Marshall. (I only knew of JCM900s and JCM2000s back then)
That band disbanded and I started something punk rock. I borrowed a Marshall JCM2000 for a recording but I hated the tone. With my guitar it always sounded muddy. So I took my instrument and went to the local guitar store where I was introduced to mesa amps. The salesman (A sweaty chode of a man at the time) dialed in an AWESOME tone with a Nomad 55 and a 4 x 12. I wanted that amp and I put a downpayment on the head as well as buying a mini marshall 4 x 12 which I gigged with along with the bandit. (true story, bandit sounds WAY better with celestions instead of Sheffields)
At the time, these guys were the only Mesa dealers in town so I was waiting MONTHS for the head to come in. I recall checking in at the guitar store before going to my guitar tech, who had just installed two Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro humbuckers in my Guitar. He happened to have a Dual Rec Rev F Blackface in on consignment as well as a Nomad 55 combo. The Alnico II Pro pups were much more polite and really didn't jive well with the Nomad, so I recalled back to that show with the Dual Rectifiers. I ended up getting back the deposit from the guitar store (salesman was pissed) and picking up the used Dual, which I still have to this day.
This marked the start of the Gear Obsession.
Cabs = Mini Marshall --> respeakered with G12T 75s I got from a Marshall 1960JCM800B cab. I fixed up the large cab and sold it. Still kind of mid focused and muddy sounding. Wired it to switch between 1 speaker, 2 speakers, and 4 speakers.
Tested: Marshall 1960ax cab for a month. Marshall 1960a cab for a month.
Test Drove: Marshall 1960 Vintage, Marshall 1960TV, Mesa Boogie Stiletto and Rectocabs.
Always torn between Greenbacks (too farty) and v30s (too constipated) but they both had this warm mid focused tone I preferred. I really consider Greenday, MxPx, Bad Religion, NOFX/ Creed, Nickelback, POD, etc to be the two foundations for my crunch tone preferences.
Mini Marshall ---> Sold to my brother. He has since sold it and now plays a Lonestar Special with a Celestion G12H Heritage and a Red Bear MK60 through a Thiele 2 x 12 with WGS Reaper 50watt speakers.
I didn't mind the mini marshall but I played through my buddy's rectocab and I loved how warm and huge the tone was.
I agonized between the Stiletto and the Rectocab, noting that the Stiletto worked best with the Vintage High Gain setting (better for punk rock with the mid focused tone) and the Rectocab worked best with the modern setting and was better for huge rock tones.
Acquired Side Armour Rectocab because I was getting into rock at this time. Great cab but always sounded 'closed' unless I turned the volume up. There were always buzzy frequencies that bugged me but I eventually pinned them down to being that stupid basement. Dumb thing!
Also tried EL-34s in my Dual. Went back to 6L6s.
At this time I was getting totally pissed with my tone so I started guitar shopping with NO money. I recall trying basically every guitar in the store (Different store from the Nomad saga. That guy was still pissed) but getting split between a PRS Singlecut and a Gibson LP. I recall wanting both of them but settling on the Gibson LP, much to the surprise of the Salesman. So I put it on layaway and didn't tell my parents, and made regular trips to visit L&MQ. I was finishing my final year of my first degree so I was only in 3 courses a semester. I didn't sleep that year. I worked 2 - 3 shifts a week flipping burgers, got ready for my music school auditions, and managed to pass a couple of HARD science courses. (Biochem and Molecular Engineering)
In December that year, the salesman had a surprise for me. He said his bosses were getting absolutely tired of that guitar being on layaway. They didn't want it there in the first place since they could 'order a guitar like that in a second'. He said he had shown to them that I had made payments on my layaway once a month so they had agreed to let me take the instrument on 0% financing for 12 months! So ya, it was either that or the guitar went back on the shelf so I bought the guitar.
I noted that the pickups were unbalanced but I used the bridge pickup for high gain and the neck one for cleans so that was fine for the time being. I noted that I'd replace them if I ever mellowed out a bit.
I put a PRS HFS pickup in my LG to try and approximate the sound of a Singlecut. BIG MISTAKE. It was possibly the worst pickup for that guitar. Awhile later, I put a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom in that guitar and that pickup has stayed there to this day.
Yellowjackets. At this time I developed a "you're playing to loud" complex. Practicing or playing at church, I always got yelled at to turn down. It was turn DOWN to the point where the volume was almost off. Like your tonestack doesn't work then. I talked to Gar Gilles (RIP =-( ) and he suggested I try Yellow Jackets for low power situations. I bought them on his advice, tried them, and HATED them. Virtually useless. But I had them so whatever.
One day, I happened to have them in my amp and I happened to have my amp with me at a guitar store so I tried my Dual + Yellow Jackets with a Marshall 1960ax. The salesman wanted to know what they did so I showed him. It was astounding. Unlike the Mesa 4 x 12, which sounded anemic and constipated, the Greenback 4 x 12 just bloomed. It sounded good no matter what the volume!
SO. I bought my buddy's Peavey 1 x 12 and swapped the Sheffield for a greenback, expecting favourable results. What I got was a very tinny buzzy tone, no matter what I did. Crunch sucked, but leads and cleans were awesome.
I then got caught up with Cello so I forgot about guitar and stopped spending money on it.
I went away for my masters and left my 4 x 12 at my parents place in Manitoba. I seriously NEVER played the amp or my guitar that year. I touched either of them twice. My Godin went with my brother out to Edmonton.
Over the summer, I stashed my gear in Vancouver, took my Les Paul to Winnipeg, and joined the Boogieboard here. I got plans for a thiele cab and put a greenback and a v30 in it, hoping to ditch that awful peavey. I also never played loud anymore so I left the 4 x 12 at my parents for a rainy day.
That summer I tried a Marshall JCM2000 with my Rectocab and Les Paul. The tone blew me away. I commented it was 'the' sound I always wanted.
That fall, Recto + homemade 2 x 12 was awesome. It just tore. Problem, there was this buzzing high end I couldn't dial out. I ran the Dual Recto exclusively with Yellow Jackets and tolerated the problem.
Last spring I tried an Electra Dyne and was all but convinced to dump the Dual and get it. I AB'd it against Duals, and a selection of Marshalls, noting that the Dyne was just smoother and had these awesome throaty mids. It was MY sound. The sound I could hear in my head but could never get. I noted that my rig with Thiele and Dual sounded somewhat similar to the Dyne.
This last summer, I read up substantially on pickups and heard about electronic swaps. I was seriously considering either Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro in neck with a Custom Custom in Bridge; Seth Lover in neck and bridge; hybrid pickups; or antiquity humbuckers. In a snap decision, I got Bare Knuckle Rebel Yells used. I replaced them and noticed a subtle difference in tone but it wasn't until I replaced the electronics that the guitar came alive. The difference was surprising.
I also got my brothers c90 and built an oversized 2 x 12 with a v30 to match. Freaking awesome sounding cab.
I traded my 4 x 12 Rectocab for a Fender P-Bass, bought an Ashdown 210 and I currently run that with a Markbass SA450 head. Bass gear is so low maintenance!! Moved to Toronto for school.
So, I got frustrated with tone again. I discovered that there is no difference in volume between 2 EL-34s and YellowJackets. YellowJackets = better clean while EL-34s = better crunch. I was SO pissed off but I dug my oversized 2 x 12 out of storage and noted that it was a great match for the Dual Recto. Great tone, just not 'my' sound these days.
Over the holidays I tried an Electra Dyne 2 x 12 combo with my brother. I fell in love all over again! Been scheming how to acquire on in a student budget ever since. (We currently run a deficit because school = expensive)
Since the large cab does modern tones well, I decided to swap the v30 for a G12m Heritage in the thiele. This was like two weeks ago. The cleans and lead tone improved but I honestly don't care for the crunch. Always a buzziness you can't dial out unless you crank the thing!
***********************************************************
So, this has been a loooooooooooooooooooong preamble.
I had not played my Dual fully loaded with tubes since several years back. Not unless I was using it to play bass with my Ashdown cab.
I had been using
1) Yellow Jackets. With two tube slots empty. Sound alright with Greenback'd Thiele but thin and buzzy or oversaturated with Gibson Les Paul. The Cleans and Lead tones are phenomenal, incidentally. I plug in my Godin with the Duncans and it just TEARS with this setup =-/ GRRRRR!
2) 2 EL-34s with Gibson + oversized cab. It is rather mid focused and doesn't really emphasize the midrange bark EL-34s are known for. Great cleans and decent lead, but crunch is only alright. Not terribly wide.
3) 3 EL-34s + Gibson + Greenback'd cab. Sounds crunchy but almost nasal in quality. Cleans and lead tone were both good. One would think the thiele was designed to work with a different speaker, such as a c90. I'd imagine a c90 would sound neutral in this cab.
I was just frustrated and had basically decided to part out my homemade cabs, sell my Dual, and get an Electra Dyne combo. Definitely would make me happy. I just had some reservations. I decided tonight to try option 4 and set up the amp stock. SOOO.
4) 2 6L6 STR 450 badge and 2 5881s. 2 rectifier tubes. Bold, tube rectifier. Red channel. Oversized 2 x 12. I'm certain Dave at Mills designed that cab specifically for a Dual Recto since they match so well.
Conclusion 1) Well, I remember why I loved the amp in the first place. Totally different beast. With all the dials set straight up except presence, the tone was monsterous. It just sounds bigger, thicker, deeper, darker, and phatter. Much less bright. Also, much less tight.
It is almost like you have to 'fight' with the amp because there is so much power. The beef is immense, from almost off all the way up to gigging levels. It sounds better cranked, but pretty dang good even almost off, as many have said.
On the downsize, the typical weaknesses also asserted themselves: Poor lead tones (although I have not tried the orange channel for this yet) and 'good' but rather dull cleans. The cleans lack vibrance and bounce, something they acquire in spades with the Yellow Jackets.
But, the high gain crunch rhythm. ****. I had a stupid grin on my face. Ya, you have to run the gain hot for 'no volume' practice levels but as you crank the amp, you can back it off. The lead really wasn't that bad. You crank the gain hotter and back off on the volume knob for crunch. It just sounded so thick and juicy and the interaction between the guitar an amp was so fun while playing. You could just feel the whole amp straining, trying to keep up. The obvious downside is that you lose the immediacy that comes with running at lower wattages. It just isn't quite so tight, but the oversized cab compensates fine thanks to the interior baffle.
At this point I REMEMBERED why I stuck with the Dual in the first place. It does what it does well. The amp is a monster truck and I spent far too much time and $$$s trying to make it into a racecar. When I just let it BE a monster truck, it does that exceptionally well. THINGS SOUND BEST WHEN YOU USE THEM THE WAY THEY WERE DESIGNED TO BE USED!!!
So I think I figured something else. The OTHER sound I want so badly is a Marshall crunch. The dual will not do that. The Electra Dyne does it, but in a way I find even more pleasing to my ears than with a Marshall. I also want a fender strat =-/
SOOOOO. I guess I'll stick with my Dual for the time being, with all the tubes in it. I'll just keep practicing and hopefully some funds will come my way and I can acquire a second head to do the OTHER tone I want. Those great cleans, classic rock tones, smoldering leads, etc.
Now . . . What to do with the thiele? Leave both greenies in or put the v30 back in the one side. I feel guilty for spending SO MUCH $$$$$$$$$s on gear this year. It is been far too much and I'm never happy. Hopefully the Dual sounds as good tomorrow as it did today.
Conclusion 2) Dave at Mills Acoustics designs awesome cabs.
Conclusion 3) Mixing Celestion v30s with c90s does a great job of at least mitigating low volume fizz. They also sound huge when running together.