NCD, uh wait a minute... something isn't right... NSD! Inc Rough clips. (Creamback H75)

guitarfishbay

So I picked up another Mesa Recto 2x12 cab last week from Gumtree.  Clips in post 2.

I'd been looking for a while and the price was decent so I went for it.  I was told that there were guitars there to test with so I didn't take my own.  Annoyingly both his guitars had wiring problems - a Peavy Wolfgang he had lasted until I turned the volume pot slightly then it cut out, then his strat sounded very bright to me (and the tone pot did nothing until on 0).  I also didn't turn it up very loud as he had a young kid there... I put my ear against the grill and it sounded like both speakers were making noise so I bought it.  Outwardly it is mint.

Soon as I get it home, I realise A - Mesa have done two different shades of black Tolex at some point, and I've managed to get one of each, great.  But more worryingly B - my old cab annihilated it when A/B'd.  The guy said he'd never played it out of the house and had bought it ex demo from a closing store.  I figured the reason it was bright at his house was his guitars, and the fact it might not be very broken in (my old cab has probably hundreds of hours at high volume).  But yeah something was up, really obvious when the volume was cranked up a bit it felt like there was half the amount of bass I'd expect...

It didn't sound like phasing, but I decided to try the battery test anyway as step one in diagnosis before pulling it apart - right speaker cone moved, left basically didn't.  Tested with a multimeter it was within range but it sounded terrible beyond whisper volume next to the other speaker and felt like it wasn't producing power.  I checked the wiring and it was all correct and the cab tested within range (about 6.9 ohms IIRC).  The cone of the speaker is a bit tough to the touch, doesn't exhibit the usual dull 'thud' when you touch a cone, sounds more like just tapping on card.  So I think it might have been frozen?  Either way it sounded rubbish despite checking out ok on the Multimeter so I've removed it and replaced it.  I am annoyed that I cocked this up and didn't notice in the room but I genuinely thought it seemed ok at the volume I tried it at and genuinely thought it was the fault of the guitar. Things happen!

It gave me an excuse to order a H75 Creamback.  So I may have spent more than I wanted to right away but I did want to try this anyway.

Quick test and the thump is back in the cab.  Hurray!

So far I have a couple of hours of home volume in on the speaker.  It sounds pretty cool from what I can tell.  VS my old cab (two well broken in V30s) this cab is brighter, and a bit looser - which I didn't expect but maybe the H75 is looser than a V30?  The H75/V30 cab also seems to have a bit more chewyness, and overall brightness to it.  Feels flatter across the mids.  It is a bit hard to tell as I'm always hearing it next to the V30, but the balance seems really good, and the balance vs the other cab is good too.

First big test will be rehearsal next week, but so far I'm pretty happy with it at home.  I guess I'll update my impressions here after I've given it a spin at higher volume.

guitarfishbay

I shot two very quick demos with a Zoom iQ5 attached to an iPhone.  These are roughly 2 feet away I think, though it looks closer because of how the iPhone sort of zooms in for videos vs pictures.  Volume might be low, I don't know how to increase it from my phone.  I've only just found out how to stop sending everyone iMessages, I'm still an iNoob.

As best I can, I've aimed the mic at the H75.  Guitar is my PRS Single Cut with stock #7 pickups.

As before - I'm tuned in C# / Drop B, I have no standard tuned guitars.  This means I've got thicker strings contributing to a darker sound from the instrument.  If I had a standard tuned guitar I'd use it as I know it would be more helpful to people.  But they might be useful to some.  Playing is sloppy but I'm just back last night after being away for a few days.

FAS brown VH patch I made today.

5153 Red Patch I modified from the last time I uploaded clips.

ICBM

guitarfishbay said:

VS my old cab (two well broken in V30s) this cab is brighter, and a bit looser - which I didn't expect but maybe the H75 is looser than a V30?  The H75/V30 cab also seems to have a bit more chewyness, and overall brightness to it.  Feels flatter across the mids.

That's exactly what I would expect. The H30 (and so presumably the H75) is much looser as well as brighter than a V30. It's almost the opposite of the V30 and so will even out the response very well.

You 'ear test' wasn't to blame - I've been caught out like that before as well. In a closed cab even a completely stuck speaker will make sound *through* the cone when there is another working speaker in there, and at low volume it can be hard to tell.

Dave_Mc

Wow, sorry to hear that

guitarfishbay

Well at least I feel less stupid if it has happened to @ICBM. It was a 5 hour round trip to collect, and from Gumtree paid in cash, so I'm not even going to bother chasing it up as I doubt I'll ever hear back. Even then I doubt he'd give me any cash back as we both agreed on the deal in person at the time so probably won't believe me. I guess I'll never know if he knew or if he didn't, my gut instinct was that he didn't just from chatting to him and playing his guitars.

I'm just going to write it off as a lesson learned, especially as I do like the outcome of the Creamback H so far.

It has made me realise just how dark I set my home tones though. The H75 seems to add a nice brightness to my home tones without being harsh, I'll have to experiment with finding a balance I like. I know it is silly but I like the colour too.

ICBM

guitarfishbay said:

I guess I'll never know if he knew or if he didn't, my gut instinct was that he didn't just from chatting to him and playing his guitars.

If he'd bought it ex-demo and only ever used it at home I would take a bet he didn't know, and it had been sold, blown and then returned, and put back into stock by the shop without being properly tested. It takes quite a lot to blow a V30.

guitarfishbay

Just back from rehearsal. Late night as some bellend(s) smashed our drummer's driver side window while we were practicing and there was glass all over his seat... Thankfully/bizarrely they only nicked his pen?? Left the (old) Sat Nav... We stayed with him til he'd made the necessary calls and helped clear his seat of glass... Thankfully he's a sweaty man so had a towel with him for practice, gave him something to sit on just incase there were any rogue shares of glass we missed. The cab - well, it sounds marginally brighter, feels looser, and doesn't quite have as much punch as the all v30 cab. But overall everyone agreed it works well as a 'stack'. It certainly makes it easier to hear myself!

guitarfishbay

No idea why paragraphs haven't worked there..

Dave_Mc

wow that sucks about the car

guitarfishbay

Went to a different rehearsal facility last night, the room was huge with a really high ceiling! Glad I took both cabs. Here's a quick clip shot on my iq5, might be low level again but I have no idea how to normalise audio on iOS. The cab on the left has the h75. I wanted to see if the melody comes out against the chords, I have a habit of writing these kinds of arrangements on acoustic where it is really easy to hear all the notes.