Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

[Whiplash]

Im tempted to buy a Randall RH100 head, but im not sure about a cab or two to go with it! Have any of u guys tried the cheaper randall cabs, the R412CXM?

How about one of the new marshall 1960 cabs, how roadworthy are they compared to the randalls? or are there any other brands i should look in to? (I cant afford any of the boutique market cabs btw)

im asking for new, because im from the UK, and i want to go round trying a few heads first with the cabs i would like plugged in and very few shops tend to stock the older cabs. now im on the subject, have any of you in the Uk seen any shops with Randall heads in stock?

any help is much appreciated,

Tom

[Sylvian]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

Tom, it doesn't matter a jot to whatever audience you'll play to, what head and cab you have. Just make sure the OHM's are right, that's all. You'd need ears like a bat to distinguish between almost all cabinets (and speakers for that matter). I've had my share of insecurity with regards to my setup; stack or combo, transistor or valve, rackmount or pedals, active or passive-and much more, believe me! A Marshall 1960A (or B) is very roadworthy and durable. If you look around a bit, you'll find a good Marshall cab for about £150. A lot of gear purists will argue the toss for Celestion greenbacks against the standard issue Celestion's Marshall supply. Their price doesn't justify the gain you'll make in your sound. I have, I believe, one of the best setups money can buy, but I still get blown away from time to time by some kid with a Jagstang and a transistor Fender amp!

[Riffmeister]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

Tom,

It's all about what sounds good to YOU. I have a MArshall head, but I use a Crate cabinet with vintage 30's. To ME the vintage 30 crate sounded better than the Marshall with regular celestions in it.

I'm sure once in a while there are times when manufactures make a particular thing that is designed for use with their products, but this isn'the case. Just go with what sounds good to you and what you can afford. [img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[OklaStrat]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

Originally posted by Sylvian:
You'd need ears like a bat to distinguish between almost all cabinets (and speakers for that matter).

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I guess I have ears like a bat then... I can tell the difference between speakers and cabs like night and day. Now, the AUDIENCE isn't going to discern much, but there is a huge difference in tone between cabs.

Why not get the head, and then prowl around any music stores in your area and test *your* amp and *your* guitar through the cabs? You may really like a 'cheaper' cab better than an expensive one. I hate the sound of vintage 30s, and prefer 75 watt celestions, but more people like the V30s.

Pete

[skidd]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

I run a Mesa though my marshall 1960/jcm 900 lead cab (it the stero top one) I have had it about ten years, 3 1/2 or real road work 5-9 nights a week playing. It sounds great and held up real well. When I sold off the rest of my cabs,that the only one I kept.

[ January 11, 2003, 05:42 PM: Message edited by: skidd ]

[Sylvian]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

I guess you must have Okla. My own experience tells me that whatever you have, if you didn't have a choice , for one reason or another, you'll find a way to make it sound good. Randy Rhoads had a laughable setup to what I have now, but I still don't sound as good. It's not the gear you have, it's you, hence 16 year olds with Jagstangs and Epiphones blowing me (and I'm sure, a few of you) away.

[redmanjj]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

Good point Sylvian. It's amazing how we all (myself included) think that upgrading our gear will make us better.

To some degree, it helps, but a good player CAN make junk equipment sound good.

I'll still keep buying new gear though!!!

[Venomboy]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

There's a huge difference between cabinet and speaker brands. My Single Recto and DC5 heads sound like night and day when I play them thru my mesa 4x12 and 2x12 cabs. The 4x12 with Black Shadows makes the DC5 sound very different. The 2x12 has a very bright sound that changes as you increase volume. The 4x12 stays pretty consistent.

There's a lot of people here who will vouch that the Recto cab with a Recto head sounds different than a Recto head thru a non recto mesa cab.

True, if you're stuck with a set of gear, you can probably get it to sound great to your liking. But to say you neat ears like a bat...that's just laughable.

[Sylvian]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

I could walk into any of your houses and make whatever gear you have sound different, you could definately do the same to me. As long as you have semi decent amplification, with a semi decent guitar, you can do anything you want. Get caught up with speakers, pickups, effects loops, graphic equalizers, valves, transistors, pedals, rack...you might as well resign yourself to being a bedroom player. We're blaming our tools here, the whole point is music, just play it.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

Get caught up with speakers, pickups, effects loops, graphic equalizers, valves, transistors, pedals, rack...you might as well resign yourself to being a bedroom player

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Get a clue... If you don't pay some attention to that stuff, you'll prolly be a bedroom player, hahah...

I can definitely tell between amps, speakers etc...

Strangely enough, although most kids don't, some of the audience actually can. They don't know what it is, but they know it's more pleasing.

I had some totally unlikely metalhead, dweeby, very nerdy looking girl come up to me one night after a show, and compliment my tone. She said she wasn't sure what it was, but my guitar sound was the best she'd ever heard in a local band ever. So she could at least appreciate my tone. She wasn;t hitting on me, and was just impressed with the sound of the CAE3+se and VHT 2150. Umm, I have to say I agree.

So, craftyour tone, and don't let someone tell you it doesn't matter, cuz it does... Don't fixate. But, don't ignore it either.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

I think if someone trys to play Pantera with a tone like Randy Rhoads had, the audience is gonna be able to tell a difference. Tone IS mostly in the fingers, and it varies from player to player. This is what I like to call "natural tone"-the tone that a person gets that sounds like them no matter what they are playing thru. Now if you play thru a Marshall or a Boogie or whatever, it's gonna sound like you playing thru a Marshall or a Boogie. Equipment makes a difference in your tone, but it mostly covers what sounds you get, and those all depend on the rig.

[OklaStrat]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

*shrugs* if you can't tell the difference in tone between say a open back 1x12 cab and a sealed 4x12, or a set of cheapass crate speakers in a 4x12 versus some celestions or EVs, then hey, that's great. You'll save a ton of money on gear - it's just that people probably cringe when you play. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Pete

[horns666]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

Oh boy... Picks , Strings , Speakers , Cabs , Tubes , Cables , pickups , bridges , tone woods , all that stuff matters....BIG TIME

If not we would all be playing cheap Jagstangs and Fender amps. It would be awesome if you could have all the amps and guitars we would ever need for under $400.

Why in the hell did I just buy an $2500 Uberschall...it sounds just like a $200 transistor Fender amp...I'm so stupid [img]graemlins/brow.gif[/img]

We don't upgrade our Equipment to make us better players . But it's sure nice to take off the training wheels off your bicycle and hop on a Full Dressed HOG.

[ January 12, 2003, 12:47 AM: Message edited by: horns666 ]

[diablomozart]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

i ended up using ampeg v4 cabs (as old or older than i am....) to go with my ampeg head made in the late 80's...personally i like the sound of closed back 4x12's...as for speakers there's definitely a difference...celestions tend to break up a little quicker than say ev's...it all depends on your ears and what is pleasing to you...i def. agree with the advice given earlier...take your head and guitar and go comparative shopping...d.m.

[StuTDavis]

Re: Is it better to have a matchin brand head and cab?

I'm definitely of the opinion that, depending on the player, each and every part of your gear can have anywhere from a minor to extremely significant difference in that player's perception of his or her gear.

Here's a silly but relevant example...

Ever since I started playing, I've used Dunlop Jazz III picks. They're very small and pretty thick, with a very pointed tip. I started using them for the most silly reason of all--my guitar teacher was using them--but I started on them, and they feel right to me. Ya wanna know what? I sound like CRAP if I play with your average larger pick...especially the thinner ones. Completely horrible...like night and day. Why? Because I like what I like, and if something's not "just right" in the mix, my brain perceives it, and it throws my whole playing experience off. Just because of a pick... Don't even get me started on how much difference tiny changes in an EQ slider drive me batty...aye yi yi...but I'm just like that.

The point is...the MAIN idea of playing should always be to enjoy yourself! Whether playing by yourself or in front of an audience, it's extremely important to like and enjoy your gear. If your gear isn't cutting it for you, you're going to probably have a nagging in your noggin every time you play, and that's distracting for most people. And if you're playing by yourself, that's just damn annoying... But, if you're up in front of people, and something is distracting you or throwing you off--like not being cool with your gear--you're gonna know it, and the audience is sure gonna know it. Ever been to a show where the band's just kinda standing there playing, you can tell they're not quite comfortable with playing or being in front of people, or maybe didn't quite finish getting over last night's hangover? You can tell...

There's nothing wrong with a quest for the perfect gear for you, and I think WAY too many people feel there's something wrong with people who are into gear and want their setup to sound and feel as good as it can for themselves. These are the same people who, if someone posts "hey what effects do you use?", will reply "NONE!"...or..."guitar...cable...amp...don't need nothin else". What's that supposed to be, impressive or something? Maybe I missed something, is having very little gear somehow equated to having a large penis now? Because, chances are, the person asking "what effects do you use" really is asking so he can get ideas on what effects people like so he can go check them out. "NONE" probably isn't very helpful... [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

As far as the matching head/cab thing, well, one thing to think about is that companies do make "matching" heads and cabs with their own ideas of what is "a good match" in mind. In this, they've probably tried different speakers and cab builds with the head, trying to find out what sounds and works best to them, keeping in mind the target audience they are trying to sell to, as well as the price range the product has to fall within, in order to sell to the target audience and to be appropriate for their company to sell. Hrmmm...okay...that COULD end up in a very good match of head/cab, but if it's a cheaper company/product, they might tend to cheap out on materials--the wood for the cab, for instance. Maybe it has nice name-brand speakers you trust, but the cab itself deteriorates the sound. If it's a high end company/product, they might be less likely to cheap out on things like that. But, that doesn't mean that all their heads and "matching" cabs are perfect together for everyone. And...well...here we go again, what EVERYTHING boils down to with guitar gear...the only real way to know is to go try different combinations of heads and cabs out for yourself, if you can. Otherwise, you can ask for opinions...but even if you value the opinion of someone else very highly, it doesn't mean their top choice would be yours, or right for you. Ahhh...ain't it all fun... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]