new member to the family

[jdurso]

So after much toiling on looking for a cab..... going through thoughts of ported cabs (freda, port city wave), newer cabs (vht deliverance, mesa stiletto) and getting a custom cab built (half ported/half closed back) i finally pulled the trigger.....

i found a used (but in great condition) Mesa 4x12 Halfback .... it has 2 c90s on top and some unmarked (maybe eminence 50s??) on the bottom... tolex is in remarkable shape considering its over 10 years old.... i payed $425 for the cab and go to Brooklyn to pick it up tomorrow

i will post an update once i hook up my roadster through that bad boy.... i'm psyched.... all thats left is to take the metal grille off and make a nice s&p grille for it.... best part is (also found another halfback for 400 that was a little beat up) i dont have to retolex it like i was planning

any ideas on how to redo the grille? I was thinking of making a wood frame, stretching and stapling the a s&p grille to it, and re-attaching the wood frame to the same screw holes used to attach the metal grille... anyone ever do something like this

 

[lockbody]

leave the metal grille. i have one of these. it adds prison character.

Roadster + Metal Grille = Bad A$$

 

[jdurso]

true but i think the s&p would add class... plus it will make people think twice about what cab it is... they may think its a custom stiletto cab if they're just looking at the front :wink:

 

[satisfied5582]

i like the grill looks bad a@#

 

[jdurso]

ok so first impression of 4x12 halfback....

right off the bat i demo'd this bad boy at the sellers studio through a caliber 50 and was absolutely floored by the sheer power of the cab.... the sound was unreal

so when i got home and plugged in my roadster my first impression was kinda so-so..... i still had the amp eq'd for my basson 2x12 and those cabs are way different.... so it was back to tweaking

i found i was using way to much treble which i think has a lot to do with the difference in speakers (c90s as compared to eminence legends) and the fact that the basson is mdf which really dulls the sound of the cab.... also it may have a lot to do with the front loaded vs rear loaded speakers

so i twaeked for about 30 minutes and got the tone on most channels to a good place.... it still needs work but i am **** impressed with this cab.... the sound is huge and lively and LOUD..... now if my maxon eq wasn't broken i'd be in the money... don;t you hate when you by a brand new pedal and a month later it poops out?

 

[mikey383]

If I remember right, those halfbacks came loaded with EVs and C90s, which for $425 is a freakin' steal!

 

[jdurso]

If I remember right, those halfbacks came loaded with EVs and C90s, which for $425 is a freakin' steal!

this one doesn't have the EVs or atleast i dont think it does.... the bottom speakers are unmarked (maybe i'll take the back off to check again)... i believe they're unmarked which from what i heard are the eminence 50s?

anyone ever tried the eminence p-50s they make for vht in a halfback or any cab for that matter?

 

[jdurso]

ok so after much toiling and not find the sound i wanted with the roadster and halfback cab (when i demo'd it the guy had a caliber 50 and the cab sounded amazing) i was almost at the point of taking all my stuff to GC and getting what i could for it.... then rationality kicked in... i went to a local guitar shop and picked up 2 new planet wave speaker cables and hooked up both the halfback and the basson 2x12..... turned on my amp as was pleased but not thrilled..... so after a little more twaeking i was almost there..... alone the basson sounded a little better than the halfback which seriously started to piss me off..... and then i thought "hey with the halfback your having to drive 4 speakers instead of 2 and with both 6 speakers instead of 2".... so i just turned it up and bam the whole rig was cooking..... so i unplugged the basson and had the halfback going by itself and it sounded amazing when i turned up (but still pretty thin when playing low which kinda makes sense)..... so in the end i have the the roadster hooked up to both cabs because them together sounds 1000x better than either amp by itself..... Basson makes unbelievable cabs for pairing with other 4x12s or 2x12s...... they have a very uncoloring tone thats super tight and punchy..... brings a great balance to a very flavorful cab like the halfback.... BTW.... the cleans on the roadster sound unbelievable through just the openback half of the halfback.... will post picks as soon as i tidy things up

 

[siggy14]

Mesa didnt mark any of the EV's on the bottem, so it is possible they are the 200 watters.

If I remember right, those halfbacks came loaded with EVs and C90s, which for $425 is a freakin' steal!

this one doesn't have the EVs or atleast i dont think it does.... the bottom speakers are unmarked (maybe i'll take the back off to check again)... i believe they're unmarked which from what i heard are the eminence 50s?

anyone ever tried the eminence p-50s they make for vht in a halfback or any cab for that matter?

 

[jdurso]

Mesa didnt mark any of the EV's on the bottem, so it is possible they are the 200 watters.

If I remember right, those halfbacks came loaded with EVs and C90s, which for $425 is a freakin' steal!

this one doesn't have the EVs or atleast i dont think it does.... the bottom speakers are unmarked (maybe i'll take the back off to check again)... i believe they're unmarked which from what i heard are the eminence 50s?

anyone ever tried the eminence p-50s they make for vht in a halfback or any cab for that matter?

yeah but from just looking at pictures of the fronts of cabs that have EVs i dont think it does..... the holes in the back of the driver should be bigger if they are EVs right? I'll have to check them out when i get a chance to open the bottom up.

none the less the combination of the basson and the halfback is brutal.... i'd like to get to a point of just using the halfback if possible by changing out those bottom speakers..... did the eminence 50s have a scooped feel to them? thats kind of what i'm getting from the bottom end of this cab.... seems the mids are lacking somewhat and its creating an almost flat feel.. the c90s help that in creating a more full sound, but not until i added the basson with those eminence legends did the mids come back and the bottom end really tightened up..... i'm considering maybe throwing some legends in the bottom or maybe even the celestion g12k-100s or maybe even some v30 to add their mid range growl ( i can hear the sceams coming)... any opinions? Trust me if i could blow $400 on a pair of EVs i'd try it but not yet