# Vader. Best cabs for metal?



## Bearitone (Apr 25, 2015)

I read that Vader cabs are unbeatable for downtuned metal but suck for anything else. I was wondering how much of this is truth and how much is hype?

I want a great universal cabinet but something particularly good for the brutes. I'm looking into getting an Avatar with v30's and K100's right now but would be willing to reconsider if Vaders are more well rounded than their reputation makes them out to be

EDIT: 
My current signal chain is a KM7 with BKP Ceramic Warpigs into a boosted 6505 into a B-52 412 cabinet


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## Fryderyczek (Apr 25, 2015)

I can't comment on the Vader cabs but good all round cabs are the Orangee PPC 4x12's and the Mesa ones.


Orange also has the PPC412H, which has 4 Celestion G12K100's.


Links to both PPC and PPC4x12H
https://www.orangeamps.com/products/guitar-speaker-enclosures/closed-back/ppc412/

https://www.orangeamps.com/products/guitar-speaker-enclosures/closed-back/ppc412hp8/


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## littleredguitars2 (Apr 25, 2015)

the peavey 5150 cab i own is pretty great for metal. works great with my orange, mesa and my old 5150


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## Krucifixtion (Apr 25, 2015)

To start off I'm just going to say that you aren't going to easily find a Vader and they just briefly did a short order of more cabs, but don't even have the exact same Eminence Legends that were originally made for them years ago.

I have a Vader 4x12 and it's awesome for metal. I wouldn't say that it sucks for everything else though. I have used it to play rock/classic rock, etc.
My only complaint about it for that kind of stuff is that the cleans could be a little warmer. I also own a Mesa 2x12 with Vintage 30's and I used to use my friends Mesa 4x12 for practice until I ended up buying our old bassists Vader 4x12 he had when he was playing guitar for other projects. 

Orange cabs are pretty awesome too. You can't go wrong with a Mesa cab though. The Mesa cab works really well with the 6505. I used to own a 5150 II and ran it through the Mesa all the time.


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## DC23 (Apr 25, 2015)

I've owned a number of Mesa cabs (2x12 horizontals, 4x12 standard and recto). I think they are great for all sorts of stuff--pretty much a staple in metal. The only cab that topped the mesa cabs for me was the Bogner OS 2x12. Almost the size of a 4x12 though


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## xero7 (Apr 25, 2015)

I had a rhino lined one years ago. Sounded decent with a number of different amps I went through at the time. Wasn't better than an avatar I used to have or my oversized recto I use to own at the same time. I sold it when I got a newer Randall ported cab that I put swamp thing and Texas heats in cause that cab smashed it in my opinion. I, d recommend anything similar to mesa/orange build with speakers of choice.


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## SilentCartographer (Apr 25, 2015)

oversized Mesa cabs are perfect, Vader cab paired with a 5150 is quite the brutal tone (in a good way ofcourse).. can't go wrong with a mesa or an orange though.. check out Zilla or HESU, they have some awesome 2x12s that can sound huge


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## VBCheeseGrater (Apr 25, 2015)

kindsage said:


> I read that Vader cabs are unbeatable for downtuned metal but suck for anything else. I was wondering how much of this is truth and how much is hype?



Well, if you showed up at an old guy classic rock gig with an all black covered 4x12 with VADER in silver bold italics, it would probably look a bit weird. I'm guessing one could still play classic rock and sound good through it.

What i'm saying is, I seriously doubt it would suck for anything but downtuned metal. A good cab with good speakers is still a good cab, even with the variations out there (open back, closed back, speakers, etc) that will change the tone.


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## Pav (Apr 25, 2015)

Vader cabs seem to have jumped substantially in demand after closing their doors.

They're good but not great. In my last band, I played through a Mesa cab side-by-side with my other guitarists' Vader 4x12. He didn't like the cab and everyone was unanimous that my Mesa blew his Vader right out of the water.

They're good cabs but as far as "best cabs for metal", I can't help but lol.


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## glpg80 (Apr 25, 2015)

Not mentioned on this forum a lot, but honestly my splawn 4x12's absolutely destroy with metal. Tight, void free birch, 13 ply, and CNC'd for accuracy. Bar none the best IMO.


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## Bearitone (Apr 26, 2015)

Aw man. So many cab suggestions.

Honestly this is the one part of my rig that I'm having the hardest time deciding on. I've been on this merry-go-round of wanting an orange to mesa to marshall to blah blah and I finally settled on the Avatar with the speaker mix until I read up on Vaders and posted this thread and now I'm back to not feeling confident in any choice again.

I'll just start with the Avatar because its cheap and i get to mix the v30's with the K100's

Thanks all.
All of your input really does help in my gear choices/ purchases


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## TRENCHLORD (Apr 26, 2015)

kindsage said:


> Aw man. So many cab suggestions.
> 
> Honestly this is the one part of my rig that I'm having the hardest time deciding on. I've been on this merry-go-round of wanting an orange to mesa to marshall to blah blah and I finally settled on the Avatar with the speaker mix until I read up on Vaders and posted this thread and now I'm back to not feeling confident in any choice again.
> 
> ...



Wise man you are . Will sound like a v30 cab with extra umph in the lows and clarity in the presence.

Are you going with a contemporary or sig-cab?
Decided on your cosmetics?
Are you going with the X-pattern?
Do you like interviews?


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## spawnofthesith (Apr 26, 2015)

I loved my vader 2x12, but I love my mesa trad4x12 a lot more


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## Bearitone (Apr 26, 2015)

TRENCHLORD said:


> Wise man you are . Will sound like a v30 cab with extra umph in the lows and clarity in the presence.
> 
> Are you going with a contemporary or sig-cab?
> Decided on your cosmetics?
> ...



I love interviews! 

Im going with a contemporary so i can get it in all black with a metal grill on the front. I'm super paranoid about things breaking  so i like the extra protection of the grill (just in case someone decides to dive head first into my cabinet )

And yeah I'm gunna go X pattern for sure. I'm just not sure about the Ohms and if I'm gunna make it stereo and all that. Most likely will 

Thanks for asking!


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## glpg80 (Apr 26, 2015)

FWIW I have played avatar 4x12 loaded with GM 25W greenbacks that destroyed a mesa oversized 4x12 and squeaked a mesa stiletto cab loaded with V30's - it was a close call. Absolutely great sounding. Balanced, tight, and also recorded great in the guy's studio. The cabinet didn't have any muffled characteristics and projected the true speaker voicing without issues at all. It's construction was also great for the money. I would consider avatar cabinets If I ever had to sell the splawns.


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## Fluff191 (Apr 27, 2015)

A beat up, used Mesa Recto 4x12 is nearly impossible to beat price-wise on the used market.


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## Promit (Apr 27, 2015)

I've heard some people complain that Recto 4x12s are boomy or muddy. No comment myself, it's just something I've heard before. I think the real important point is, don't buy a 1960. Lots of good cabs out there but Mesas are very easy to find. If you want to go out of your way... Splawn, Bogner come to mind. If you go Avatar, make sure to get the Contemporary as the Traditional is a surprisingly weak sounding option.

I had a Carvin Legacy 4x12 before and that thing was really nice actually. Nice thing about them is you can often find them for stupid cheap, under 300 cheap. I also believe there is one legendary Line 6 cab (the spider valve cab) that comes with V30s, if you can find one.


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## cGoEcYk (Apr 27, 2015)

Tons of cool cabs out there. 

V30/G12K is a sick combination, very hard to beat!

My end all has been Emperor 2x12 (based on Orange OS) with Eminence Legend V1216's. Phenomenal for cleans and great for all kinds of metal.


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## Bearitone (Apr 27, 2015)

Fluff191 said:


> A beat up, used Mesa Recto 4x12 is nearly impossible to beat price-wise on the used market.



Fluff!
I've always wanted to ask you, how do you like your DV mark cab?

Its hard to find any info on them and they seem like a great idea considering how light weight they are 

Thanks


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## desmondtencents (Apr 27, 2015)

I'll throw another suggestion out there for Avatar.
I've got two Contemporary 2x12's. One loaded with V30's and the other has K100's.
I'm using them both with a Triple Rectifier and HOLY S#!T it sounds soooo good.
Haven't had a lot of opportunity to really crank it and do tons of tweaking but yeah, killer speaker combo and their cabs are definitely very well built. 
I can also say from experience that their customer support is second to none!


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## feraledge (Apr 27, 2015)

I've always found Vader cabs to sound a bit sterile, but the K100s have too much headroom to break up. I'd almost think if you were doing 2 K100s and 2 V30s it could be better to do the K100s on bottom and V30s on top instead of an X pattern. Use the K100s for sheer volume and V30s for tone. I had a Peavey 6505 cab for a while that sounded okay, but I kept it on bottom for volume when I was using a full stack and my 1960BV on top for tone. 
But that comes down to preference really. I am of the unpopular opinion that oversized cabs don't get the same oomph when mic'ed as a regular sized cab. I always stuck with my Marshall 1960BV because it was extremely versatile and mic'ed well in a straight forward way. Basically it sounded great and was predictable. 
Orange cabs are unquestionably great. Some of the best projection I've heard, but that's in construction. 
I've come to love the sound of lower wattage speakers. My EVH 212 cab is flooring, but at 60 watts it's 1/5 as powerful as my (soon to be former) 1960BV.

I think cabs and speakers are definitely very subjective though. Also dependent on different room and mic'ing situations. My old guitarist and I used to use a 4x12" and a 2x15". They sounded amazing, even his Little Joe 412 and 215, especially since the 412 was slit back. However, clubs would always mic one cab and even when it sounded awesome on stage it just didn't translate right through sound systems. So I just made sure that if one speaker of my main cab was mic'ed it sounded like I wanted it too.


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## geekusa (Apr 27, 2015)

Pav said:


> Vader cabs seem to have jumped substantially in demand after closing their doors.
> 
> They're good but not great. In my last band, I played through a Mesa cab side-by-side with my other guitarists' Vader 4x12. He didn't like the cab and everyone was unanimous that my Mesa blew his Vader right out of the water.
> 
> They're good cabs but as far as "best cabs for metal", I can't help but lol.



There is no best cab for metal in my experience. It's all subjective. It really depends on the amp going into the cabinet and your ears. I owned a Recto 412 and I thought it sounded pretty good with my Fryette Pittbull. I ended up trying a Vader and A/B'ing with my Mesa and it sounded much better to me, so I traded straight across. To my ears the Vader was much tighter and drier, but perhaps not as huge sounding. I do agree that there is a lot of hype surrounding Vaders though. So for my situation the Vader blew the Mesa out of the water, to my ears.
As far as the versatility, I did find the Vader to be a bit lifeless for cleans. Take it with a grain of salt as I'm playing through a Pittbull 100cl as stated. Ultra tight, and it cut through the band mix amazingly well for downtuned metal. For overdriven rock type tones tones I just found it to be very tight and responsive. Maybe not as honkey or midrange humpy as some people like. It let the amp do the work, the speakers didn't seem to color the sound or add as much grit as the Mesa did. I no longer own the Vader because I was able to get my greasy mitts on a FatBottom cab!


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