Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

[RacerX]

President's Day sale at local GC; looked at used 4x12 cabs:

5150 II in good shape, $599
Jackson cab, yukky black carpet with cat hairs all over it, $219
Soldano cab, some tears in tolex, $429
There were several Framus cabs also, but they weren't on sale at $699 each

I didn't have my own Marshall 4210 on me. I will use it as a head (it is modded with an extra 12ax7). So in the store I tried the Jackson & Soldano cabs, using a JCM900 combo as a head, and A-B'd it with a Framus Cobra head (tagged at $1699). The Jackson was pretty weak & thin-sounding, although that price was pretty good. The Soldano sounded lots better, so I had them hold it for me.

So, is that a good price? And is that a good choice? Most of you know what types of metal / tones I like. I notice the Soldano is a bit smaller than usual 4x12s. I was actually looking for a 2x12 cab in the $200-300 range.
Comments?

[Soloist1]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

That's a decent price for a Soldano depending how bad the tears are. I'dd pick the one you like the best bro. If the Soldano sounded the best grab that. It's some where in between the price of the other two also.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

I have a Soldano 4x12 that has Celestion V30's in it and its an alright sounding cab. It does have a lot of lower end thump and punch to it which is pretty cool, I'm asumming because its a front loaded cab.

That isn't too bad of a price actually. I paid $310 for mine and paid $90 to have it shipped. You are right, it is smaller than most 4x12's in size, thickness of the wood used etc.



I think if you are in the LA area, for $429.00 you could find a better cab locally though. I got a VHT fatbotom 4x12 locally in Dallas for 400 and it is a better sounding full size cab. For your JCM800 a good cab IMHO is the JCM800 1960, nice match for my 2203 head. Mine has the G12T75's

[Ozz666]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

I think out of those 3 used cabs the Soldano would be the best choice. Although in CA you could probably find a used VHT, Bogner, or Mesa that I'm sure you'd absolutely LOVE. It seems the Shefield 12"'s in the 5150 cabs were voiced almost exclusively for the 5150 heads.

- Joel

[catzodellamarina]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

My 5150 cab is a POS but sounds good. Brighter and more bite than the Marshall 1960 I play in practice. It also takes the lows now without farting. I've tightened the back panel with a center screw and weather stripped the edges. The stock casters wore out quickly, have been replaced with different ones. The Sheffields can take some serious punishment.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

Unless you are going to be using a 5150 head, I'd think that the Soldano edges the 5150 cab out just a bit.

The Jackson, ehh, no go IMO unless loaded with Celestions...

[toejam]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

I like my Jackson cabs. I believe the speakers were made by Eminence, but they're not marked at all. Sounds very nice, smooth low end without getting flubby. Of course, mine are the 2x12 versions and not the full 4x12. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] And I don't know what it is about the carpeting on them, but my two cats seem to really like them! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[catzodellamarina]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

Those are sweeeeet!

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

Emminence? Cool, they make some pretty good sounding units, not all of them, but many are quite cool.

[Bro V]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

I think a marshall cab or a framus dragon cab would be useful to look into. I think the vintage 30 is my favorite speaker for that head. It has just the right frequencys for heavy stuff. Machine Head used 5150s w/ vintage 30s on some of thier albums so their you go. Good stuff! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[toejam]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

Yeah, from what I read on the Harmony Central reviews, some guy said he got info from Jackson about them being Eminence speakers. They sound pretty good to me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[lerxstcat]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

Ron, being in Greater L.A. you should scope out www.recycler.com if you don't already. There is always someone selling his gear for gas money to go home to Peoria or wherever and you can score some great deals. Since you're using it with your combo's speakers, get a cab that's wired for 16 or 8 ohms rather than 4; if you run lower than 4 ohms total it will put too much strain on your amp.

As for Eminence, they make most American manufacturers' Celestion knockoffs and seem to do a great job on them. They aren't EVs or JBLs but most rock and metal players don't really want speakers as clean as those.

[RacerX]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

Hi Rich, yeah I know you're a fan of The Recycler, I checked there already, all the good cabs are $450-500 and up. The ohm thing always confuses me...I'm gonna have to read some threads, or just ask in here again later. I'm gonna have Mark Cameron look at my Marshall; maybe he can explain it to me.

[lerxstcat]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

I know you're not a big fan of Carvin, but my Carvin X-Series 412 straight with stock Carvin speakers sounded just as good as my Marshall 1960 Classic with 25 watt Greenback Reissues.
I got it in excellent condition with popout casters and cover for $240. Of course the X-Series are wired at 4 ohms only, but the MTS cabs are stereo-mono switchable at 8 or 16 ohms. Those are in there for $200 - $250 often. You can always remove the logo, LOL; most people do. Randall cabs fall into this decent-for-cheap realm too. Also, Recycler prices are subject to haggling, just don't haggle on the phone, do it in person! The best way is to have the money you want to pay
separate from your secret reserve, and pull the money out and count it. "DAMN! I only have $350 dude, but I'm here right now with the cash, how about it?" Almost everybody selling in the Recycler is going to come off his price by $50 to $100 if you wave cash in his face; same with pawnshops a fair % of the time.

The JCM800 cabs for $350 ARE out there, you just have to scan for a few to several weeks to snag one at that price. It helps to hit the site early Thursday morning when the listings come out. The difference between 7:00 AM and 7:30 AM can be score or snore.

The thing with impedance is that most guitar amps can't go below 4 ohms min. impedance without damaging the amp. Amps with multiple speaker outs are usually wired in parallel. This means the total impedance load will drop the more cabs you use. Let's say your amp's internal speakers total 8 ohms; if you add an 8 ohm extension cabinet, then your total ohms will be 4 ohms, the minimum. If your internal speaker is 16 ohms and you add a 16-ohm cab your total impedance is 8 ohms; if you added an 8-ohm cab it'd be 12 ohms, odd but within tolerances if you ran the amp at 16 ohms.

Don't discount the pawnshops either, you can find some good deals there too.

[Firebird V]

Re: Cabinet shopping: Soldano vs. 5150 vs. Jackson

I had two carvin 2 x 12 cabs that were loaded with emminence speakers(200w ea.) and they sounded really nice. I like the soldano front load cabs too. I use one with my slo but I also run a boogie cab (rear loaded) with it and it is the best of both I guess. I would get the Soldano. That is a fair price. Do you know what speakers are in it? Are they emminence? I put reverend all-tone 1250's in mine. That is what is in the boogie too. I have not heard a Jackson cab in a very long time but I remember I liked the Carvin 2 x 12 much better. They had the Carpet on them too. I hate that. Everything sticks to them. That material is a static magnet.

I think you made the best choice of the 3.