Roadster and a 2x12 Recto Cab, w/V-30s, Horizontal ... bad?

[BostonRedSox]

Hey:

I am not that familiar with Recto cabs. Anybody care to share their experiences using this cab with the Roadster/Road Kings? All I can gather from using search is that there is incredible lows when gainy. What about clean tones, do those suffer? I am torn between this and the familiar Orange PPC 212

 

[jtroska]

I have the Stiletto horizontal 2x12", which is very similar but a bit smaller.

I haven't used it live with a band, yet. I've just been using my old Line 6 combo for gigs because we've been miced through the PA and I figured the Line 6 is easier to carry and the sound guy will screw up the sound anyway.

But I think I'll use my Roadster / Stiletto 2x12" at our next show in mid-July.

I think these cabs can be perceived as bassy if they are left flat on the floor because the directional highs get fired into the ground while the omni-directional lows get to your ear. 4x12" slant cabs may be perceived as brighter because they fire more highs into your ear.

I keep mine up on a milk crate. It sounds pretty good and balanced from what I can tell in my room. But, as you probably know, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll sound good at a gig.

Of course, I did test it thoroughly in the store's crank room before buying it and was, obviously, satisfied.

Because it's so small, it has a narrow sweet-spot if you're standing up close to it. As said before, it can seem to lack highs if it's firing into your ankles. As you lift it up or move yourself further away to where the sound has a chance to spread out, it sounds a lot better. I'm guessing it should sound perfect out in the audience of in a smaller venue. I'll know more after my mid-july gig.

 

[jtroska]

btw: That horizontal 2x12" I have was packaged with my Roadster head as a set with matching crocodile leather covering. So it can`t be a "bad" match or Mesa/Boogie wouldn`t pair them together like that. It really comes down to whether or not a 2x12" is right for your own needs. It`s good for me because smaller bars don`t allow me to play so loud. And big outdoor shows have me miced anyway.

 

[Drahthaar]

I had a Roadster for a couple of years. One of the guitar players in our band has a 2x12 rectifier cab that I played through a couple of times. I normally used a 2x12 roadking cab with the roadster. In comparison between the two the rectifier cab had quite bit more lows but in my opinion not so much so that one could not dial it out to a reasonable level. I actually thought it sounded pretty good. The cleans were still good but not as good as the roadking cabinet, more than likely due to addition of the c90 and open back of the roadking cab.

 

[giantstepjoe]

I have a Roadster and a horizontal Rectifier 2x12 cab w/v-30s and it sounds great. It can be a little directional but raising it up helps quite a bit. I also use a mesa 1x12 halfback with an evm 12L to complement it at times if if I want more open and chimey cleans.

 

[BostonRedSox]

Thanks for the information everyone! I ended up going with a 2x12 Port City Wave cabinet. This things seriously rocks! I love it so much. Not as big sounding as the Orange, but more lively with a prominent midrange/high character. This thing packs some serious punch and honestly sound extremely full, even on ground level. The front-ported section really does add and push the sound waves up.