Vi. Greenbacks 4x12

I have really come to enjoy the Greenbacks 4x12 for a few of my tones, mostly Satriani and EVH. It has some buzzy quality to it, which might not work for heavier music. But it works for a slightly-nasal traditional rock tone, with nice midrange. It might get you a good 80's metal tone. It sounds good paired with the SM57 off axis mic though. For some reason this cab seems to have more highs with the SM57 off axis than on axis.

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Vii. Uber 4x12

The Uber 4x12 is another good option, modeling a 4x12 with 2 Vintage 30 and 2 G12T-75 speakers. It's got a great bass response and a touch of a vintage sound to it. I think it sounds more like the Tread V-30 4x12 than the XXL 4x12 does. It's more like a real cab "out-the-box".

The only caveat, which is true of pretty much every cab but the Tread V-30, is that it's a little lacking in the high-end response. You can dial some in with a very strong presence boost around 2 - 2.8 kHZ, but it's going to sound a little noisy. Getting the right amount of bass isn't a fight like with the XXL. You can probably get away with just adjusting the amp's bass knob.

It's highly valuable for dual cab tones - a perfect complement for the Treadplate 4x12's brightness to fill in some punch and warmth. Also when mic'ed with a 57 gets that raucous T75 tone, but has a more modern sound than the Brit-T75 4x12.

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Viii. Brit-T75 4x12

Very nasal and vintage-sounding. I find I prefer the Uber for a more modern T75 sound. I occasionally use this cab for classic rock tones, but you're going to need some EQ treatment. The lower mids can be a bit boomy and it's a bit muffled in the high end. I very rarely use this cab because of how noisy it is and how difficult it is to dial-in, but it does have that pure T75 sound if that's what you want.

Ix. Other cabs

As for Blackbacks 4x12, I don't dislike it perse, but I never found it preferable to the ones listed above for the tones I was going for. I don't know what it is - I tend to love it at first but slowly get a little annoyed with them. I think they have a little buzz to them that's too prominent compared to the rest of the tone - there's not enough creamy mids here. I find the Blackbacks 4x12 is in the same league as the Uber. It can sound a bit aggressive and vintage at the same time, but ultimately I just can't dial it in where it doesn't sound harsh, noisy, or fake.

As for the other cabs, I simply didn't find many of them useful for a high gain tone. They all sound REALLY thin, especially the Fenders. The Celest 12-H 1x12 and the PhD ported 2x12 are probably the best suited for a high gain tone, but unless you're mixing them with another cab, you won't find enough punch.

For clean tones, I like the Fender 2x12 and the Celest 12-H the best.

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Date: 2016-01-03; view: 907