What Cab should I get to compliment the Mark V?

[jjmathews202]

So I am about 98% sure that I am going to buy myself a Mark V head, however i am pretty unsure as to what cab i want to choose. Im on the go pretty often, so I like the sound of a 2x12 cab, but I have heard that those don't do justice to the Mark V. So Im not really sure what cab would sound best (2x12 or 4x12) that could be nice and portable but doesn't really sacrifice tone.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[gradyogle]

I have a Vader 4x12 loaded with Eminence Legends and I think it sounds beautiful for everything. I absolutely hate the sound of the Mark V played through V30s. But thats my opinion.

 

[borisson]

I play 2x12 recto vertical, great sound and nice optical match with the head. I also tried the front ported closed back 1x12 with C90 but didnt like it.

 

[jjmathews202]

how would a greenback sound? Like what about a marshall cab or something like that? I like midrange punch, so maybe like a 1960a cab would be nice? I've heard good things as well about the Mesa Stiletto cabs.

Any thoughts?

 

[Heritage Softail]

Take a Saturday, map out music stores with cabs you would consider, go take your head and try them all. I have 3 diff speaker types and they all sound a little different. Some sound better for some channels. The main cab I ended up with is an Egnater oversized 2x12 Tourmaster, other cab is Marshall GT75s 2x12, and a Fender 1x12 speaker in Blues Deluxe. All have a strength. There are a few threads on here about speakers. A good search will help too.

 

[jjmathews202]

Yeah But im so excited for the Mark V that when I get it i want a cab ready to go so that i can start playing instantly. I would go friggen bonkers if it was just sitting there for any amount of time

 

[scoden]

FWIW
With my Mesa Rect 4x12 with V30s ....everything sounds great through it esp the Mark V
I also have a Bogner OS 2x12 with nicely broken in V30s that sounds great with all modes of my V.

Just for variety/portability, I picked up a Mesa 3/4 back 1x12 with a C90. The speaker sounded a lil shrill and harsh at first , but now that its breaking in its getting fuller and smoother ......plus cab has a nice bloom to it with open back.

 

[bassmantim71]

Im on the go pretty often, so I like the sound of a 2x12 cab,

So get two 2x12 cabs..., easy to lug around :wink:

You can start with one for now.

 

[pathos45]

I have a Vader 4x12 loaded with Eminence Legends and I think it sounds beautiful for everything. I absolutely hate the sound of the Mark V played through V30s. But thats my opinion.

soo true my other guitarist has a home made cab with all legend 12s and they sound huge!!! my cabs how ever i prefer of anything it gives you great bottom end, crisp and not ear pericing highs, and the mids are so punchy. The great thing with the x pattern swamp thangs and texas heats is they are built similar to eachother in tone but one has a much biggger magnet on them. Plus nothing sounds better than a big old 4x12 u get the good ommph and i just find much better head room. Also hearing my mark v through two 4x12s then running it thorugh 1 just doesnt justify the tone and punchyness of the mark v. But im a hardcore metal head so bigger is always better lol.

 

[ixoye777]

My MV sounds like garbage through my DR 4x12 with V30's. WAY to much treble - very shrill and harsh on the top end. I played it through my friends 1960a with broken in greens and it was almost a different amp, in a good way. I'm going to reload my cab with something from Eminence or EVM12's as soon as $ allows.

 

[Heritage Softail]

I have a Vader 4x12 loaded with Eminence Legends and I think it sounds beautiful for everything. I absolutely hate the sound of the Mark V played through V30s. But thats my opinion.

soo true my other guitarist has a home made cab with all legend 12s and they sound huge!!! my cabs how ever i prefer of anything it gives you great bottom end, crisp and not ear pericing highs, and the mids are so punchy. The great thing with the x pattern swamp thangs and texas heats is they are built similar to eachother in tone but one has a much biggger magnet on them. Plus nothing sounds better than a big old 4x12 u get the good ommph and i just find much better head room. Also hearing my mark v through two 4x12s then running it thorugh 1 just doesnt justify the tone and punchyness of the mark v. But im a hardcore metal head so bigger is always better lol.

Can you post some of that speaker tone? I am stoked to get two of the Boogafunk 1x12 Thiele cabs and downsize my stereo rig. I could use one Heat and one Swamper. Always open to new things. Right now I have two Celeston GT75's and two Celestion Classic 80's that could go in those cabs. I like the GT75 with the Recifier, it is all grainy nasty bee hive uber REC sounding... The classic 80's tame some of the peaky MKV. How do the Heats and Swampers profile?

 

[jjmathews202]

I just heard my friends Roadster Head thru the Stiletto 4x12 cab and it sounded freakin' godly. :mrgreen:

Now Im not sure if i even want the mark V since they are soo expensive...

Any thoughts?

 

[dmcguitar]

so... do you want the roadster instead of the Mk V? they are the same price.

or do you have another amp already that will fit the tone in your head

 

[smd24fan]

I play 2x12 recto vertical, great sound and nice optical match with the head. I also tried the front ported closed back 1x12 with C90 but didnt like it.

Ditto with me. I just got my vertical 2x12 a few days ago and it sounds really great to me. Only thing I've heard close in my experience was my buddy's Orange 2x12.

 

[RectoStudioGuy]

Mills Acoustic Afterburner with EV's always sound amazing with everything.

 

[Marcus71]

how would a greenback sound? Like what about a marshall cab or something like that? I like midrange punch, so maybe like a 1960a cab would be nice? I've heard good things as well about the Mesa Stiletto cabs.

Any thoughts?

I played my Mark V combo through a 2X12 with greenbacks in it. It's so hard to describe a sound, but I liked it. I have also played it through a 2X12 with V30's and a 2X12 with Celestion 65's. The V30's I didn't care for. The 65's were really, really nice. But the Greenbacks were the ones I bought. I picked up a used boutique cabinet locally for a really good price.

I played my combo through the cabinet with and without using the combo speaker as well. Don't know why, but I preferred the tone when it was both types of speakers. But clearly to me, the Greenbacks sound better than the combo speaker. Much better in fact.

I am still trying to dial in the right tone with this amp and trying all sorts of tube options. Channel 3 is a beast. There's so much there to work with. And the Mark I mode on Channel 2 should not be overlooked. There is plenty of tone there.

And my cab is closed back, but it's not a super dense cab like a recto cab. It's much bigger for a 2X12.

As far as how I got this all to sound...my favorite tone that I uncovered today was Channel 3 on Mark IIC+ mode (gain at about 1:00, master at 2:00) pushing 10 watts but opened up. Man, that was something. I can't even describe it. Just switching to 45 watts changed it completely.

 

[sprada]

I love my rectifier 4x12 w v30s
but do yourself a favor dude and try out a Port City.

 

[ESlinker]

but do yourself a favor dude and try out a Port City.

I second that! I just purchased a Mark V head and on the verge of ordering a OS 2x12 from Port City, just havn't figured out which speakers to slap in it (don't think I wanna go the V30 route). Thinking either 2 Eminence Cannabis Rex or 2 Wizards.

 

[jjmathews202]

Word, Port Cities are so nice, but im trying to keep the budget down. I would need to buy the head used, and maybe the cab used depending on how badly i broke the bank on the head :lol:

my budget is around 2000 give or take a couple hundred

 

[jjmathews202]

Thats why i was looking into a roadster. They can get pretty cheap if you buy them used. The Mark V holds its value really well tho, so buying a used one isn't really much cheaper than new