How can I improve my 412 cab?

I have a cheap Fender GE-412 cabinet. I can't even tell what kind of speakers are in this closed-box beast, because I bought it used for next to nothing. Harmony-central seems to have several posters that claim the cab is filled with Celestians, and others rebuking those posts saying they're not Celestians. I plugged my head into a Carvin 412 the other day and it sounded so much nicer. More dynamics, more range, better response, etc. There's not that much to a speaker cabinet. Speakers wired in a big wooden box, right? So there must be something I can do for this cabinet to make it sound less dull. Would better speakers be the easiest/simplest/most obvious move?

call Carvin and get a set of Vintage 30's.

good luck!

~Mo Fo

: I have a cheap Fender GE-412 cabinet. I can't even tell what kind of : speakers are in this closed-box beast, because I bought it used for : next to nothing. Harmony-central seems to have several posters that : claim the cab is filled with Celestians, and others rebuking those : posts saying they're not Celestians. I plugged my head into a Carvin : 412 the other day and it sounded so much nicer. More dynamics, more : range, better response, etc. There's not that much to a speaker : cabinet. Speakers wired in a big wooden box, right? So there must be : something I can do for this cabinet to make it sound less dull. Would : better speakers be the easiest/simplest/most obvious move?

Have you tried powering them with a Smokey Amp yet?

there are a lot of elements that determine the sound of a cabinet..

the speakers quality-manufacturer the nature of the cabinet, (open v.s. closed) the inside air volume if it's a closed cab

the impedance-wiring the weight and the density of the wood the mounting of the speakers on the baffle (front-inside)

if it's a closed, you might want to try Celestion Greenbacks..my favourites

Why on earth do you need a 300W rating? One of those new

Greenbacks are rated at 25W, and can blow quite easy if you exceed that by much. Properly wired, a 4x12 would handle 100W.

If you like low end, you might consider the G12H, rated at 30W each (120 total).

If you like mids and high gain, you might prefer the Vintage 30, rated at 60W each, 240 total.

A popular choice is 2 Vintage 30 and 2 G12H. However, you CANNOT just add the wattages in this scenario. Your total safe range will be 120W, the same as using all G12H.

BTW, Fender seems to be using a lot of Eminence drivers lately. To properly ID the drivers in your cab, you can look at the code on the speaker, then check here: http://www.webervst.com/codes.html or

If I swap out the speakers themselves on the cabinet, won't this change the wattage rating for the cab? Currently the cab is rated at 300W. Celestion Greenbacks are a different speaker so their wattage rating will likely be different, right? No idea how many watts those particular speakers can handle or how to calculate the total wattage. Is there a combination of 4 twelve inch Celestion Greenbacks that will allow me to keep the 300W total? *sigh*...math...

Joe,

You need to do more homework. Open the cab up and look inside, is the plug corroded? Check all the wiring and connections. Check the speakers. Your problem may be something cheap and easy to fix. While the box is open you can figure out what type of speakers you have.

Dave M.

What the hell would that do?

Would

Sounds like a plan Stan.

Ever hear a 200W 2 speaker Trayner combo tube-amp? Itll blow 4 full powered cabinets away. Unreal. Expensive as hell. We would watch our 4th floor windows bulge to near shattering when praciticing as kids.