Mesa / Celestion Black Shadows?!?!

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Hey guys!

So, I had a bunch of time to kill when in town today....after no deliberation, I decided to go to the local shop and start trying everything I possibly could

Got to a 1x12 Rectoverb combo, started playing, and was pleasantly suprised by the tone....what very different than every Rectifier I had ever played....

Looked at the back, and the one speaker it was running was a Black Shadow...if I am correct, these are refered to as C90s also...

Overall, the tone was much smoother...there seemed to be a bit more presence in the mids...no spike, smooth highs, and a much cleaner low end....

Has anyone else tried these with a rectifier? Can they be found in a 4x12? Would you recommend them all by themselves? I'm contemplating ditching two of the V30s in my recto cab and replacing them with two of these :?

How about adding a 2x12 with the C90's? Would they balance nicely, with the 4 V30s, or would it be unbalanced and pointless?!?!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[barneyc4]

Hey Ibanez, what tones are you going after? What tones do ypu like now? Name some bands.

I saw your thread about getting a traditional cab too. C90s are less tight than V30s.

By the way, Mark Tremonti uses C90 speakers in his cabs.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Does he really?!?!

I had no idea :shock:

Might be exactly why I find these speakers more pleasing to the ear.... :lol:

Wow...that really changes my perspective on things....and I really didn't find the C90s less tight at all....the low end seemed much more composed with them.....

So...how do I get these speakers within a reasonable price? Do I need to get 2 3/4 back 2x12s?

Or maybe one of these 2x12s with a Recto 2x12 to mix the speakers?

Is there anything strictly with C90s? in 4x12 form?

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I FORGOT....THE ROAD KING CAB :shock:

This would probably be the easiest way to go...unless if I just swapped out two V30s....

Where can I buy the C90's alone?

How is this combination with the rectifiers? How would you compare it to V30s alone? Do they work well together, most importantly in high gain applications?!?!

 

[barneyc4]

Check this out:
http://www.marktremonti.net/equipment/basicfourtwelve.htm

And check this out:

http://mesa.stores.yahoo.net/12ingusp.html

If you think about it, The Road King is a Rectifier, so I assume it would sound good with the Dual Rect.

 

[Eric]

Is there a sound difference from 8 to 16 ohms ?

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I guess I'll just have to get to my local Mesa dealer and try out the C90s...

I'd like some more opinions on them first....I didn't get to test them TOO much, but for the little time I did, I loved it!

Do they work best alone? Or do they mix well with V30s for high gain tones, ALA the road king cab?

 

[JOEY B.]

These are 8 ohm C90's in the top of my standard recto. You can find them used either here or on Ebay from time to time. Just remember if you are building a 2x12, use 16 ohm speakers. If you are biulding a 4x12, use 8 ohm speakers. This will keep your total impedance at 8 ohms, which will make it much easier to connect an additional cab to your amp (you won't have to break out the calculator).

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

So...overall verdict on the C90s?

 

[disassembled]

That's the exact same speaker config the older 412 cabs came with. The main difference is the top speakers are open backed.

My 212 cab is the old mark style and has a C90 with a EVM 12L on the bottom. The top is open back while the bottom is ported. I think it's great for a full range of tone (it's like having an open back combo and thiele 112 cab).

Greg

 

[TheRazMeister]

Ibanez...the C90 are supposedly re-branded Celestion Classic Lead 80's... Don't know if they're exactly the same or tweaked by Celestion per Mesa specs.

So...overall verdict on the C90s?

 

[Humbility]

you could always try 2 C90's and 20 V 30's in your recto cab. Combine the tones. You NEVER know.

Hum

 

[triple rectumfrier]

you could always try 2 C90's and 20 V 30's in your recto cab. Combine the tones. You NEVER know.

Hum

:shock: 20 V30's? thatd be nuts.
:wink:

 

[Barry]

Hey guys!

So, I had a bunch of time to kill when in town today....after no deliberation, I decided to go to the local shop and start trying everything I possibly could

Got to a 1x12 Rectoverb combo, started playing, and was pleasantly suprised by the tone....what very different than every Rectifier I had ever played....

Looked at the back, and the one speaker it was running was a Black Shadow...if I am correct, these are refered to as C90s also...

Overall, the tone was much smoother...there seemed to be a bit more presence in the mids...no spike, smooth highs, and a much cleaner low end....

Has anyone else tried these with a rectifier? Can they be found in a 4x12? Would you recommend them all by themselves? I'm contemplating ditching two of the V30s in my recto cab and replacing them with two of these :?

How about adding a 2x12 with the C90's? Would they balance nicely, with the 4 V30s, or would it be unbalanced and pointless?!?!

Thanks for the advice!

I would suggest mixing the C90 and V30 . Thats whats in my RK 2X12 cab

 

[eaeolian]

So...overall verdict on the C90s?

I love them - they're SO much better sounding to me than V30s. Smooth, a little dark, but not murky...

 

[electrickn]

So...overall verdict on the C90s?

I loved the tone in my Rectoverb. With my Dual Rectifier I use two 2X12 cabs, one with 2 V 30's the other with 2 C 90's. Best of both worlds imho. I never tried the EV's some people rave about.

 

[Machine Gun]

I personally think the C-90's are a little tighter than the V-30's, seem a little less muddy in my opinion.

 

[Nomad100]

MC90's are one of my favorite speakers. Pretty much the only speaker I've ever used that does everything well.

Plus, they sound equally good with different amps other then Boogies (Marshall, Peavey, etc).

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Guess I just need to go out, try them to get a final taste, and then order two....

Anyone want a pair of well broken in Mesa V30s?

 

[phyrexia]

I have two black shadows (MC90) on order from Boogie for a customer who bought a Roadster head. When I talked to our Mesa rep he told me the Black Shadows are essentially higher headroom and flatter than the v30. I can't say much about the tightness of either speaker.

Also the RK cab has two MC90s in the open side and two V30s in the closed side.

My Mark III sounds good with its stock black shadow but I also enjoy it through vintage 30s. I think 2/2 in either an X or top/bottom would work well.