Cab more important than amp?

[JD01]

In this case definitely!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYPvSN65Vsw

I'm always impressed with the tones Johan gets from amps when he plugs them into a 1960A with vintage speakers.

Greg, if you can click on the link to get it to play but listen to it without watching what amp it is. There's some talking at the start that explains it too.

[miroslav]

Not understanding why you're saying/asking cab more important than amp...?

[JD01]

Not understanding why your saying/asking cab more important than amp...?

Well, its generally thought that its probably the case, and in this case he's playing a shitty little low wattage box made in China, but getting a good tone out of it when playing it through a big cab. Just thought it was interesting that's all.

[Greg_L]

I like that guy, but really, he sounds the same no matter what he does. He's got piles and piles of awesome gear, and he sounds the same through all of it. I think it has a lot to do with his room and how he blends his mics. He uses a lot of room mic.

Anyway, no, I don't think a cab is more important than an amp. They're both pretty damn important. I think I'd rather have a great amp and a mediocre cab instead of a mediocre amp and a great cab.

[Roman]

More importantly the skill and style of the player factors in. If you gave this guy a fender champ he'd still figure out how to get his sound. (Or close to it)

[miroslav]

I like that guy, but really, he sounds the same no matter what he does. He's got piles and piles of awesome gear, and he sounds the same through all of it.

If you gave this guy a fender champ he'd still figure out how to get his sound. (Or close to it)

Yeah...he does have the same general sound. It's probably what he hears and what he likes.

I use to do that in the past for awhile...even though I have all these different styles of amps, if I was into a particular "sound" at the time, no matter what amp I plugged into, I would sit there dialing the damn thing and subconsciously trying to get the same sound as on the other amp...etc...and then when I became aware of that, I just stopped doing it, and instead let each amp do it's own thing and I can appreciate the different sonic flavors instead of always trying to force the same sound out of everything.

[Greg_L]

I like all tones that are Marshall.

[JD01]

Yeah. You're probably right. He'll sound like himself pretty much all the time anyway. Impressive tone he's got there from a 5W Chinese box though.

[miroslav]

I like all tones that are Marshall.

Right...but if you had to play through a Tweed, you would totally waste your time if you sat there trying to make it sound like your Marshall.

[JD01]

I like all tones that are Marshall.

I like the sound of the bigger ones but they're totally impractical for me. They're all just too loud for me to get them to where they need to be. I've been listening to a lot of JTM45 clips recently and they sound fucking great.

I like that 25W Mesa but it's just so fucking expensive. All I want is an amp under a grand and under 30W with a clean channel, drive channel and a master volume. Even just individual channel volumes would be enough, particularly if there's a gain separate gain control on the drive channel.

[Roman]

I like all tones that are Marshall.

Right...but if you had to play through a Tweed, you would totally waste your time if you sat there trying to make it sound like your Marshall.

That's why God invented pedals.

[Greg_L]

Right...but if you had to play through a Tweed, you would totally waste your time if you sat there trying to make it sound like your Marshall.

Lol. Yeah but I'd have to! A tweed can't do nothing for me.

[Greg_L]

I like the sound of the bigger ones but they're totally impractical for me. They're all just too loud for me to get them to where they need to be. I've been listening to a lot of JTM45 clips recently and they sound fucking great.

There is something magical that happens when you get a big amp pushing air around. You need to buy one them castles yall got all over the place and get loud.

[JD01]

I like the sound of the bigger ones but they're totally impractical for me. They're all just too loud for me to get them to where they need to be. I've been listening to a lot of JTM45 clips recently and they sound fucking great.

There is something magical that happens when you get a big amp pushing air around. You need to buy one them castles yall got all over the place and get loud.

Would love to... but they cost even more than the fucking amps!

[Lt. Bob]

Not understanding why your saying/asking cab more important than amp...?

Well, its generally thought that its probably the case,

By who?

Cabs matter ..... even whether speakers are front or rear mounted makes a difference.
having multiple speakers also affects the freq response versus a single speaker and they work like a line array to some extent allowing things in the back to sound more like up closer.

But amps absolutely make a huge difference and I'd argue moreso than the cab.

And I've never heard a single person ever say the can mattered more than the amp .... if anything players sometimes give less thought to the speaker than they should.

To me the amp makes a bigger difference than the cab although that's not to say that speakers don't make a big difference.

[Greg_L]

if anything players sometimes give less thought to the speaker than they should.

This x 1000000000000000000000

Speakers matter a ton. The poor lowly speaker is the last ingredient in the tone chain, and it's one that has a massive impact on the final sound. People will spend hundreds of dollars on meaningless NOS tubes and guitar cables while not having any idea what the speakers in their cab are. I know a dude that has, I swear, about 40-50 guitars, maybe a fucking hundred pedals, 6 or 7 heads....one cab and he has no idea what's in it. I've asked him. He doesn't know. I know what's in it, but he doesn't.

[Lt. Bob]

I think I'd say amps and speakers really matter equally ...... both make big differences in toan.

One of the very easiest mods with the biggest results as far as tone goes is changing an amps speaker.

[Roman]

Word. ^^^^

[miroslav]

... if anything players sometimes give less thought to the speaker than they should.

You're probably right for a lot of guys who just play without too much thought about tonal nuances.

I'm guilty of the opposite...which is probably why I have 8-10 speakers in boxes, in a closet.
Every time I buy an amp...I go through them, trying them out until I find the one(s) that work best with a given amp/cab... and sometimes I'll also take the opportunity to do some swapping with my other cabs, just to change things up, to find some new/fresh tones...though there certainly are some near-perfect combinations that I don't fuck with.

I keep thinking about selling off some of the extra speakers...but then I end up buying another 1-2...
... though eventually I thin them out a bit, when I am convinced a have little to no current or future use for a certain speaker.

[Roman]

Hoarder