2x12 speaker cab

[newguy12]

I know this has been talked about to some degree but I wanted a little verification from a few tapeoppers. I wanted a new guitar cab and was looking at the orange 2X12. I've never had to rewire speakers before to fit a certain Ohms but wouldn't a 2x12 be wired for 4ohms from the factory? And if so could it be changed to be 8 or 16ohms. Basically, I have a few guitar heads and wanted a bit more versatility. I have a 4x12 cab and a friend has a 4x10 but I really wanted a 2X12 but I don't know if it can handle any of the amp heads I have.

[I'm Painting Again]

the marshall 4x12 that I have is 8ohms to two of the speakers..so i guess it depends on the individual cabinet..let us know when you know what you have to work with..

[ryangobie]

i think the orange cabs are wired to 16 ohms. i could be very wrong though.

[newguy12]

I have a marshal jcm900 and a sovtek mig 50. I'm just saw a silverface dual showman in a pawn shop the other day and I was thinking about getting one of those. I think there 8ohms output too but I don't remember and I didn't check. Anyway, I would use the cab with the marshal and sovtek head as well as the dual showman and any other amp heads my friends might bring over.

[dwelle]

the ohm rating on the cab will depend on what speakers you have (ohm rating) and whether they are wire in series or parallel.

i put some old 8 ohm greenbacks in my marshall 4x12 to go with my '68 showman...

[newguy12]

The orange cab is loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. I checked the specs on the Celestion website but I don't really understand what it all means. Are there any places/people that build custom cabs for realitivly cheap. Thanks for everyones help thus far.

[maz]

Vintage 30's are 8ohm speakers (according to the Celestion website) so therefore your cab can be wired for 4 ohms (parallel) or 16 ohms (series).

Here's some good info... http://www.webervst.com/sptalk.html

As far as custom cab builders, here's a few:

http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoast/
http://www.drzamps.com


I'm blanking out on others right now.

[dwelle]

i'm kinda fuzzy on this stuff.

wouldn't 8 ohm speakers in parallel make an 8 ohm load?

[thenumber]

no, it would make a 4 ohm load. two 8 ohm speakers in series would make a 16 ohm load. if you want a two speaker cabinet at 8 ohms, you either put two 16 ohm speakers in parallel, or two 4 ohm speakers in series.

[shamtown]

The Orange 2x12 uses 2 vintage 30's. V-30's are available in 8 or 16 ohms. The orange website doesn't say which v-30's they use, nor do tell you what the impedance of the cab is. here are all possible scenarios:

2x8ohm wired parallel = 4ohms
2x8ohm wired series = 16ohms
2x16ohm wired parallel = 8ohms
2x16ohm wired series = 32ohms

2x16ohm wired in series is highly unlikely (no one does it, don't ask why...), so the cab is most likely either 4, 8, or 16.

check the back of your guitar head(s) and see if they can be switched to run at different impedances. most tube heads will run at 4, 8, or 16 (none of this matters with solid state heads).

also keep in mind that if you use two cabinets with one head, you have to add the impedances together. for example: if you use 2 8ohm cabs together, you would want to switch your head to run at 4ohms. if you use 2 8ohm cabs and set your head to 8 ohms, you will probably blow up your head because the cab would be drawing too much voltage. if you use 2 4ohm cabs together, the total impedance would be 2ohms. most heads don't run at 2 ohms, you would likely blow up your head, again, because cab is trying to suck too much voltage out of the head.

*****
here's my suggestion: get a fender vibro-king cab (4 ohm) or a fender tonemaster cab (16 ohm). these also use vintage 30's, are made of birch (like the orange cab), are much easier to find, and can be found for MUCH cheaper than the orange cab. sub $400 range cheap.

*****
oh, one more thing. vintage-30's are 60 watt speakers, not 30 watts like the name seems to suggest. they are also relatively inexpensive, very efficient (read LOUD), and can handle a lot of abuse. great all-around speaker.

[exit2studios]

www.avatarspeakers.com

dave at avatar is a good guy and builds somewhat "custom" cabs. I have one with a greenback and a G12H speaker wired for 16ohms. Open and closed back options and I love it. Gave new life to my 50 watt JMP head.

[shamtown]

www.avatarspeakers.com

dave at avatar is a good guy and builds somewhat "custom" cabs. I have one with a greenback and a G12H speaker wired for 16ohms. Open and closed back options and I love it. Gave new life to my 50 watt JMP head.

that's kinda cool. i've never seen custom non-particle-board cabs that cheap. i want one.

[trodden]

Maybe cause i smoke too much pot.. even after playing guitar for over ten years. i still get confused on the ohm thing... is it safer for your head to be running a cab that has a higher ohm rating, i.e. 4ohm output into 8ohm cab or vice versa? I have a sovtech mig 100 and it has three different speaker out puts... one 8 ohm and two 4 ohm. I've been running a stack of two 8 ohm cabs, each one plugged into one of the 4 ohm out puts on the head.. am i ok? well ok, in the ohm situation at least.

[doc]

Maybe cause i smoke too much pot.. even after playing guitar for over ten years. i still get confused on the ohm thing... is it safer for your head to be running a cab that has a higher ohm rating, i.e. 4ohm output into 8ohm cab or vice versa?

The rule of thumb to follow is that you can pour smaller into the same or bigger. 4 into 4, 8, or 16. 8 into 8 or 16. 16 into 16. You couldn't pour something bigger into something smaller.


-Doc

[ryangobie]

hmmm...i'm curious, i know that when you run multiple cabs from a single head the total impedance changes, but i was under the impression that this change occured when you ran the cab's in series(?) i.e. head into the one imput of a cab and then linking those 2 cabs together...does this still apply if i run 2 cabs, but each being fed directly from the heads speaker outs?