So which cab/speaker is right for me?

[Lethe]

Hey guys,

the Peavey Bandit arrived yesterday - sadly, the speaker's blown, but that's what you get with cheap eBay stuff.

I had planned to replace it anyway, so the question is: Which speaker is right for me?

I play the Pod through the clean channel, so the amp doesn't factor in as much, I'm interested in the way a real speaker removes some of the Pod fuzz and transforms it into a Dismember-like buzzsaw sound.

In the past, I tried a Marshall amp with (I think) Goldbacks, and that did the trick. My buddy has T75s, those are a little too edgy for me, but the bass response is nice - I like lots of bass in my sound, and I've found settings where that doesn't give me mud and doesn't drown out the bass guitar.

Not sure about V30s, I want to know what else is out there: In short, I want a 12", 8 Ohm speaker with a low resonant frequency and good bass response that converts fuzz to buzzsaw and still gives me lots of mid definition.

[warlock7strEMG]

i wouldnt bother with Celestions. great speakers but unless you buy a cab already loaded with them, they are not worth the extra money you pay for em. id go with Eminence, they make really great speakers and are fairly inexpensive.

the Eminence Swamp Thang or Texas Heat would sound amazing in that amp. both are known to sound great in solid state amps. they are similar speakers in some ways; both have a big thick sound to them, they are also very clear but very punchy, round and chunky and they will tame and warm up solid state/fizzy highs without destroying your high end...and at 150 watts both have a ton of head room too.

the Swamp Thangs have are somewhat dark with articulate mids and a ton of tight bass; the Heats, while not quite as bass heavy, have a more aggressive grind in the upper midrange...so the Heats might be more of what you are lookin for to give you that buzzsaw type tone. but honestly either speaker would be fine for what you are lookin for. or you could always get a cab with half Swamps/half Heats

[Lethe]

Huh, the Swamp Thangs sound exactly like what I'm looking for, but I'm finding mixed reviews for these. Some say they're all bass and piercing highs with nothing in between?

[groph]

I have a Bandit, and when I was building my 2x12 cab I decided on loading it with Celestion Seventy/80's. Not high end speakers at all but they blow the hell out of the stock one that came with the amp. The tone was much more "alive" sounding, I guess, but that's a useless description. The highs were much smoother and a little tubey sounding, that's about the best I can do. The tone definitely improved a LOT. They're not expensive at all either, mine were 80 bucks a pop brand new.

[warlock7strEMG]

Originally Posted by Lethe

Huh, the Swamp Thangs sound exactly like what I'm looking for, but I'm finding mixed reviews for these. Some say they're all bass and piercing highs with nothing in between?

hmmm, i didnt find this to be true with the Swamp Thangs. the lows are very prominent but i find they have plenty of mids too, more mids than a G12T75. as a matter of fact one of my frends bought some x pattern with the T75's in his Marshall 1960 cabs and they gave the cab a much better midrange, also made the highs sound better. also, one of the guys on the forum use all Swamp Thangs in their 4x12 with a Peavey 6505+ and absolutely loves it. but personally while i do like both speakers, i do like the Texas Heat just a little more....but thats just me

[Lethe]

After some consideration and hunting for sound clips, I ordered one Texas Heat.

With luck, it'll be here tomorrow, but let's face it, when it comes to shipping times, I'm never lucky.

[warlock7strEMG]

Originally Posted by Lethe

After some consideration and hunting for sound clips, I ordered one Texas Heat.

With luck, it'll be here tomorrow, but let's face it, when it comes to shipping times, I'm never lucky.

good deal man, i think you ll be happy. ive been wanting to respeaker my cab with 4 of of em. that, or 2 Heats/2 Swamps. but yea, let us know how it works for for ya.

one thing to keep in mind that a new speaker doesnt completely show its real sound til its had some hours of moderate to high volume playing on it. so it might sound a little too bright and feel somewhat stiff at first til its newness has worn off and the glue and all has kinda softened up.

and i know what you mean about shipping, shit never arrives the day you are expecting it and if it does they happen to show up at ur house when your not there!!! it never fails!!!

[budda]

Peavey Sheffield XXX - 100W V30-esque speaker. It shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg either.

If you want to get rid of fuzz, re-EQ

[Banana Wedgie]

Originally Posted by budda

If you want to get rid of fuzz, re-EQ

I couldn't stop laughing at the truth.

[Lethe]

No worries, I will wobble it in using a continuous 20-50Hz sweep overnight. That should do the trick.

And it's not like my patches suffer from too much fuzz - it's just that they're lacking a certain buzzsaw grind that I have achieved with certain cabs in the past.

[Lethe]

Ok, speaker has been installed and tried out. Overall, it's ok, but I still prefer the sound when I go directly into the PA - it's clearer and of course the beaming is a lot less noticable.

I'll mess around with the settings for a couple of months, but right now it looks like I'll stick with the PA and only use the Peavey when I'm at a venue with a crappy PA.

[warlock7strEMG]

Originally Posted by Lethe

Ok, speaker has been installed and tried out. Overall, it's ok, but I still prefer the sound when I go directly into the PA - it's clearer and of course the beaming is a lot less noticable.

I'll mess around with the settings for a couple of months, but right now it looks like I'll stick with the PA and only use the Peavey when I'm at a venue with a crappy PA.

hey man, sorry if i steered you in the wrong direction. i know i personally prefer the Texas Heat and Swamp Thang over most speakers, especially for taming bright and/or fizzy amps, but i also know that what my ears tell me sounds good isnt always heared the same way by everyone elses ears.


maybe give it some time to break in and warm up to see what you think.....or maybe the POD though a Bandit just does not work well, regardless what speaker is in the amp, as speakers can only help so much........or maybe the POD thru a good PA is just YOUR sound and thats all you need, works for Meshuggah and countless other bands!!!


either way, i hope you're not too disappointed!!!

[Lethe]

It's all good, man. I don't think it's your fault - the speaker you recommended does exactly what you said it does, it just doesn't work with my sound. It's not bad, but it's not better than going through the PA - which was a tall order anyway.

Everybody else in the band is always telling me how a "real" amp will always sound better than the PA, I must confess that that influenced me a bit. But at least now I know what works for me and what doesn't.

[warlock7strEMG]

Originally Posted by Lethe

It's all good, man. I don't think it's your fault - the speaker you recommended does exactly what you said it does, it just doesn't work with my sound. It's not bad, but it's not better than going through the PA - which was a tall order anyway.

Everybody else in the band is always telling me how a "real" amp will always sound better than the PA, I must confess that that influenced me a bit. But at least now I know what works for me and what doesn't.

yeah youre right, regardless of how "good" something may be, when it comes down to it the only thing that matters is how it sounds to you and if its what youre lookin for.

as far as running a POD with a "real" amp set up for the times when a good PA isnt available, i think you would get the best possible sound by running it straight into a dedicated power amp and cab of some sort. this way you arent gettin color and buffering from the preamp of whatever combo or head you are powering it with(like u are with the Bandit). since the POD already has 90% of the tone built in....it just needs to be amplified with straight up clean and for the most part, uncolored power of some sort. i imagine that something like a Carvin TS100, Mesa 2:90 or an old Peavey 50/50 through a good cab would sound the best for doin this.

one more thing...are you running your POD with the Cab Sim's on? because from what i understand they work great when running straight into a PA but when using any kinda of amp with guitar speakers its best to turn the Cab Sim function off to get the best sound.

[Lethe]

I am bypassing the peavey's preamp by going straight to the FX return. Also, I tried both cab sim enabled and disabled, but enabled still gives me the better sound. I tweaked my settings some more, going to test it tonight.