The boogie has the typical late 90's/early 00's "metal" tone we are all are used to hearing, but the Marshall has a more modern/tight tone to it. Both are great, but man, I would love an IR of that marshall!
Exactly the difference I expected - though much more pronounced than I expected, and I do not comprehend why anyone would prefer the Mesa cab. You just talked (played?) me out of selling my 1960BV. So, so much better.
In my band (melodic metalcore) we play Mesa OS cabs. Mainly because of the sound, the superb built quality but most of all: the looks.It just looks bad-ass. And since it's the oversized version, it makes other cabs look smaller. However, in the rehearsal space we occasionally use there are Marshall 1960(A, not the BV!) en these really hold their own. So I would assume the BV would even be closer to the Mesa! The Mesa and Marshall are different beasts but I like them both. Edit: I also found that using the wheels (or not) under the cabinets makes a subtle difference!
Not necessarily like I said they both sound great. Depends what genre you prefer playing 80s the Marshall I play death metal and metal core gotta go with the Reto
Don't forget Mesa cabs are designed for Mesa amps, and so on with Marshall. I have both cabs, both amps, and clearly the extra-mids of Mesa cab are here to add some mids to Mesa amps which are plenty of lows and highs. For Marshall that's the same philosophy, but the Marshall cab is this time here to tame the mids of the amps and give a good overall EQ balance. That's why the test with a 5150 is very smart ;-) ! But by my side, the Mesa cab is my go to cab for every projects I have, probably the best user friendly cab for every amps. Everything sounds instantly inside !
Both have cool tone, mix and match . Coarse the Marshall has that Post inside. That must be tight to back panel. Yours is setup nice 👍 My personal fave is a 80’s Carvin 4 - 12 . Got for $50 . Front was water damaged. So I saturated the front baffle with CA glue until it was rock hard no voids at all.. I have two cabinets loaded with identical speakers yet that Carvin is noticeably louder and has wider frequency than the Mesa Boogie right next to it with the same speakers. 🤘
both sounded great listening on my KRK studio speakers boogie sounded like it had a hair more bite...but both rock n roll.. love hearing you play...i actually just bought that mesa 2024 traditional slant 4x12 and its amazing still sounds same as old school
Hopefully I'll be able to order the 2×12 vertical at some point somewhat soon. Like within the year. Hope the "tan" model at Sweetwater will still be available. I think it will pair well with my PRS mt-15.
I like when these comparisons come out the opposite to me expecations. I was surprised that I preferred the Mesa Boogie - it has a more chewy bitey gravelly texture that I find really satifying. I think it reminds me of the sound of Pantera records, must check what Dimebag was using for cabs, but Randall I guess. I wonder if you happen to have an Orange PPC412? Those are my favourite of what I've tried. Be interesting to hear a comparison with the Marshall & Mesa Boogie. edit: I did prefer the Marshall for leads, but definitely the Mesa for rhythm. Of the newer cabs, I've tried ENGL, and you probably won't be surprised to hear ... they are awesome.
great video! i have the marshall 1960bv cab and was curious if you could do a video where you get the marshall cab to sound like the mesa cab using a pedal/eq and maybe vice versa! i love my marshall cabs vintage speakers but i do also love the beefyness of that mesa v30 speaker
Both killer sounding cabs! Love these type of videos. I suppose you connected them both to the 4 Ohm outs of the amp and had the cabs in parallel at 5.3 Ohms? Great riffage as usual too!
I own both these cabs and course from different years, but mine sound very similar to yours and I honestly like both so you can't really go wrong with either except for what amp you are looking to pair the cab with. That is where picking the right cab would really matter. Awesome comparison like usual \m/
Both sound great man! I have both of these cabs and love them equally. My Mesa is definitely smoother though while the Marshall has more bite that you mentioned and I would add "sizzle".
Both are great cabinets. I prefer the Marshall, it punches whereas the Mesa kind of hugs you with boomy sound. It sound good, just too boomy for me. But I do love the Mesa Rectifier 2x12, that cab is fantastic. I have a Marshall BV and it sounds absolutely insane with my Marshall and ENGL high gain heads.
Hi Euge, thanks for your vídeos I am wondering if you have ever tried an EVM 12 Black Label (Zakk Wyld signature speakers) Do you have any thoughts to share on this one? Perhaps it is an excellent idea for a video and/or some IR package. ;-)
I usually like mesa for a more modern tone. But I think I actually liked the attack and high mids of the Marshall. I have a vertical mesa 212 and it sounds huge. My brother has a Marshall origin with 70/80s and it’s a brighter, slightly shrill and more vintage sounding
I always wondered how much the cabs, the different speakers and different taps on the output transformer (OT) contribute to the difference in tone. Mesa: 8 Ohm voice coil + 8 Ohm OT winding (only a part of the secondary OT winding) Marshall: 16 Ohm voice coil + 16 Ohm OT winding (full secondary) Switching speakers between the cabs would be an interesting test.
the most noticeable difference is in the highs, apart from size and construction, two factors which have a major impact in the sound, the most noticeable difference is that one is slanted and the other is straight, slanted cabinets tame the highs and sound rounder. Having said that, both of them sound amazing, the Marshall edgier and with more bite, mesa rounder. You should try Engl standard cabs with V60s, killer cabs for metal with a surprising sound compared to V30 ones.
I just asked Pete Thorn about this in a chat today. Trying to get Lichtlaerm Audio (Fane) LCFR-12s but do not know what size to build the 8x12 cabinet. Should I go for less cubic meters or more cubic meters? Should i section off internally for two 4x12 or four 2x12 for bite?
I'd say Mesa for a rhythm oriented player and a Marshall for a lead focused player, if you happen to have a band like that. Just my opinion. Both sound really amazing I think.
About what I expected. More “guitar” sound from the boogie, and then the added hiss from the 16 ohm speakers in the Marshall. Not better or worse just different flavors. I like late 90s boogie cabs. My 1999 traditional was insane. Zero eq type cab. One 57, done.
There's a really irritating, very high frequency in the Mesa cab. It's worse the higher pitch you play. Easy enough to EQ out but it's horrible to listen to. But great playing and demo as always Euge, love your stuff.
So bottom line yes they do sound good. The Marshall sounds 80s and the rectifier Killswitch Engage sound so 90s 2000s so which one do you prefer comment down below below?
Euge, what do you think of the Bonsai, obviously it made the board so you like it, do you use any particular mode more than others, how does it compare to the original green boxes?
I like the way the marshall cuts through more. Mesa seems to have more bottom end but not as much clarity to my ears. The Marshall's 'in your face' a bit more. I have a Marshall JCM1960A 4x12, and a Mesa 2x12 rectocab but I like my Mesa over my Marshall. I like your Marshall over your Mesa.
I have a Marshall 1960B from the 90s but the Mesa just killed it! FOR SALE! LOL! I use a Mesa rectifier though. I gotta get the Mesa cab. Marshall sounds like a toy. I have the 75s in the Marshall though. I never liked the vintage 30s. Mesa sounds great.
@colelewis9940 I used to have a Marshall cab with the vintage speakers. It was JCM 800 cab. I presumed they wete vintage 30s. They sounded terrible a dual rectifier. When I got the 900 cab with the 75s it was a huge improvement. I thought the older recto cabs had Black Shadows in them..hmmm
the marshall is straight the mesa slant, miking in this way in my opinion there can be no good comparison. The upper cones in a slant sound very different from the same straight speaker and also the lower cones react and sound different. In a slant the upper cones serve mainly as monitors. who listens. In my opinion the comparison is made straight on straight and slant on slant. Let's also remember that the oversize / standard mesas sound very different from the stiletto / traditional.. For me the speakers make a big difference in the final sound for this reason I have several 5 4x12, then 2x12 and 1x12. Except for a bogner and a marshall the others are all mesa and all have appreciable differences.
This comparison was obviously with these two cabs. How a straight Marshall 1960BV compares to angled Mesa OS. And the speaker are different too. But I hear ya and like Mick Jagger sang; ”You can’t always get what you want” 😉.
@EugeValovirta230V When I finish my home recording studio, if you want I will host you in Italy to play. Because of you I also bought a Bogner Helios eclipse. At the moment the challenge for me is to build a small recording studio in the city center. I have a rehearsal room outside the city center where I can play at any volume but my dream is to have the same thing at home but as you can imagine it is a complicated thing.
I prefer the 1960 but its not 100% fair comparison due to different speakers. The marshall vintage variant is a lot different than the celestion boogie v30 spec.
Why does a speaker need to be in a box isn’t the box a restriction for the speaker can’t you just Mike up a speaker from behind the speaker for difference
That's very basic speaker acoustics. Summary: - Front and back waves from the speaker have opposite phase, since they're produced by the same cone. They would cancel each other. - The speaker needs to be mounted on a baffle in order to block the back wave from the front, also to diffract front sound waves forward. - The internal volume of a box tunes the low frequency resonance. If you want lows, you need volume. - There are open back boxes, ported boxes, passive radiators... They're used to tune the low frequency resonance while requiring less internal volume. But that already gets quite more complicated to design. In _Guitarland_ they used to build boxes just to fit some physical requirements (amp width, minimum space to contain 4 speakers required to handle the amps power, being part of a portable combo, and so on). If they sounded good or bad, that'd be pure chance. Nowadays we actually have properly designed boxes, but in some regard we want them to sound like the old ones, just because we're used to them and that's "the sound" of an electric guitar.
@EugeValovirta230V At least you mixed it up and didn't go full V30's. I'm an ElectroVoice/Eminence man myself. The only Celestions I like are G12M-70's I have in an old '80's Randall cab.
The boogie has the typical late 90's/early 00's "metal" tone we are all are used to hearing, but the Marshall has a more modern/tight tone to it. Both are great, but man, I would love an IR of that marshall!
Seeing this guy go down the mesa rabit hole is awesome😂
Rock on man.
Both sound fantastic! There´s certain aggressiveness with Marshall that is really cool.
I love the way Euge plays......He is my favorite guitarist blending the best elements of the last 40 years and arriving with his own unique sound.
Exactly the difference I expected - though much more pronounced than I expected, and I do not comprehend why anyone would prefer the Mesa cab. You just talked (played?) me out of selling my 1960BV. So, so much better.
Conclusion: Damn, now I need both!
The finnest sound taste in RUclips. Thanks Euge for your videos!
Glad you enjoy it! Thanks!
Everything i put through my OS Mesa cab sounds killer . I know im biased but who cares . Thanks for your videos 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Marshall for me hands down
awsome sound!!!!!!!!!!!! please make the take with both cabs together, like stereo it could soud huge!!!
In my band (melodic metalcore) we play Mesa OS cabs. Mainly because of the sound, the superb built quality but most of all: the looks.It just looks bad-ass. And since it's the oversized version, it makes other cabs look smaller.
However, in the rehearsal space we occasionally use there are Marshall 1960(A, not the BV!) en these really hold their own. So I would assume the BV would even be closer to the Mesa!
The Mesa and Marshall are different beasts but I like them both.
Edit: I also found that using the wheels (or not) under the cabinets makes a subtle difference!
damn, Marshall sounded AWESOME!! at 99% of times I tend to prefer Mesa, but to me Marshall won in this comparison specific
Not necessarily like I said they both sound great. Depends what genre you prefer playing 80s the Marshall I play death metal and metal core gotta go with the Reto
I mean, no one’s the winter here they both sound terrific
Great video mate, your setup made the test so seamless. Awesome content 👌🏻
Thanks!
Marshall cab sounds the best!
I've used both, and they are fantastic. In this comparison, I prefer the Boogie.
Both in a mix would be sweet. If I had to pick one, I’d go for the Mesa.
They both sound incredible. I like have always liked the Mesa sound for rhythm and Marshall for leads.
Great Video 🤘🏻
The Mesa Cab is just killer sounding 🔥
My favourite high gain tones
Rawk on!
Don't forget Mesa cabs are designed for Mesa amps, and so on with Marshall. I have both cabs, both amps, and clearly the extra-mids of Mesa cab are here to add some mids to Mesa amps which are plenty of lows and highs. For Marshall that's the same philosophy, but the Marshall cab is this time here to tame the mids of the amps and give a good overall EQ balance. That's why the test with a 5150 is very smart ;-) ! But by my side, the Mesa cab is my go to cab for every projects I have, probably the best user friendly cab for every amps. Everything sounds instantly inside !
Both sound killer but I love the in-your-face-ness of the Mesa cab here
Marshall and Mesa, my dream setup haha. I love both so much. Throw in a 5150 and you got everything you need I think.
Both have cool tone, mix and match . Coarse the Marshall has that Post inside. That must be tight to back panel. Yours is setup nice 👍
My personal fave is a 80’s Carvin 4 - 12 . Got for $50 .
Front was water damaged. So I saturated the front baffle with CA glue until it was rock hard no voids at all..
I have two cabinets loaded with identical speakers yet that Carvin is noticeably louder and has wider frequency than the Mesa Boogie right next to it with the same speakers. 🤘
Mesa Has The V30's!!!! Mic Drop,,, 🎤🎤🎤
both sounded great listening on my KRK studio speakers boogie sounded like it had a hair more bite...but both rock n roll.. love hearing you play...i actually just bought that mesa 2024 traditional slant 4x12 and its amazing still sounds same as old school
Hopefully I'll be able to order the 2×12 vertical at some point somewhat soon.
Like within the year.
Hope the "tan" model at Sweetwater will still be available.
I think it will pair well with my PRS mt-15.
I like when these comparisons come out the opposite to me expecations. I was surprised that I preferred the Mesa Boogie - it has a more chewy bitey gravelly texture that I find really satifying. I think it reminds me of the sound of Pantera records, must check what Dimebag was using for cabs, but Randall I guess. I wonder if you happen to have an Orange PPC412? Those are my favourite of what I've tried. Be interesting to hear a comparison with the Marshall & Mesa Boogie. edit: I did prefer the Marshall for leads, but definitely the Mesa for rhythm. Of the newer cabs, I've tried ENGL, and you probably won't be surprised to hear ... they are awesome.
I love Mesa OS,MArshall not so much...but my all time fave one is Orange PPC412 🤘
The best is purchaise BOTH in order to fit the subgenre composed, that's my truth!
Great Stuff, a pleasure to listen!! Killer cabinets!!🎉❤
What matters most are the speakers themselves. The cabinet may have a little influence on the tone, but it's not the dominant factor imo.
Euge is amazing,=
Legends
great video! i have the marshall 1960bv cab and was curious if you could do a video where you get the marshall cab to sound like the mesa cab using a pedal/eq and maybe vice versa!
i love my marshall cabs vintage speakers but i do also love the beefyness of that mesa v30 speaker
YEs!
The Marshall BV cab wins to my ears. It’s a really focused sound and nicer tone in the mids with more bite.
Both killer sounding cabs! Love these type of videos.
I suppose you connected them both to the 4 Ohm outs of the amp and had the cabs in parallel at 5.3 Ohms?
Great riffage as usual too!
Yeah! Glad to hear!
Yes 👌😎.
I think both sounded great. I’d go Marshall for rhythm and Mesa for leads.
Good stuff! Its alot about miking and speaker selection also i guess.
Thanks! Yes indeed.
I own both these cabs and course from different years, but mine sound very similar to yours and I honestly like both so you can't really go wrong with either except for what amp you are looking to pair the cab with. That is where picking the right cab would really matter. Awesome comparison like usual \m/
As a bass player I'm parcel to Mesa's... And I vote same here💀‼️
Both sound great man! I have both of these cabs and love them equally. My Mesa is definitely smoother though while the Marshall has more bite that you mentioned and I would add "sizzle".
Both are great cabinets. I prefer the Marshall, it punches whereas the Mesa kind of hugs you with boomy sound. It sound good, just too boomy for me. But I do love the Mesa Rectifier 2x12, that cab is fantastic. I have a Marshall BV and it sounds absolutely insane with my Marshall and ENGL high gain heads.
Hi Euge, thanks for your vídeos
I am wondering if you have ever tried an EVM 12 Black Label (Zakk Wyld signature speakers)
Do you have any thoughts to share on this one?
Perhaps it is an excellent idea for a video and/or some IR package. ;-)
Plays the Mesa: ohhh yea. This one sounds better.
Plays the Marshall: hmmm... This one is better.
rinse, repeat
I usually like mesa for a more modern tone. But I think I actually liked the attack and high mids of the Marshall.
I have a vertical mesa 212 and it sounds huge. My brother has a Marshall origin with 70/80s and it’s a brighter, slightly shrill and more vintage sounding
I always wondered how much the cabs, the different speakers and different taps on the output transformer (OT) contribute to the difference in tone.
Mesa: 8 Ohm voice coil + 8 Ohm OT winding (only a part of the secondary OT winding)
Marshall: 16 Ohm voice coil + 16 Ohm OT winding (full secondary)
Switching speakers between the cabs would be an interesting test.
Hmmm I think I have seen this exact amp and cab before 😆
Yes Sir 😎👌.
That Boogie cab ...
the most noticeable difference is in the highs, apart from size and construction, two factors which have a major impact in the sound, the most noticeable difference is that one is slanted and the other is straight, slanted cabinets tame the highs and sound rounder. Having said that, both of them sound amazing, the Marshall edgier and with more bite, mesa rounder.
You should try Engl standard cabs with V60s, killer cabs for metal with a surprising sound compared to V30 ones.
I liked the Marshall best.
I just asked Pete Thorn about this in a chat today. Trying to get Lichtlaerm Audio (Fane) LCFR-12s but do not know what size to build the 8x12 cabinet. Should I go for less cubic meters or more cubic meters? Should i section off internally for two 4x12 or four 2x12 for bite?
Euge you make any Cab sound great but I think the Marshall cab wins this one, I think the EVH 5150ii Cab is an underrated Cab also.
Yep, the EVH comes with modified Greenbacks.
Marshall every day of the week
Mesa every night.
Boogie = smile EQ, Marshall has a flatter curve. Both awesome
Man not at all, the Marshall is much more “scooped”, boogie has way more 1k, they always do
Exactly 👌.
I guess you meant the other way around or then mixed what I was using in the video? ’Cos it’s the complete opposite what you wrote 😁.
Awesome tones through both cabs! Is there any way you can capture the IR for both for download?
I'd say Mesa for a rhythm oriented player and a Marshall for a lead focused player, if you happen to have a band like that. Just my opinion. Both sound really amazing I think.
Holy shit, that Marshall demolished the Mesa. The Mesa sounds like it has a blanket over it. The Marshall is detailed and in your face.
Boogie sounds best. I think😅
About what I expected. More “guitar” sound from the boogie, and then the added hiss from the 16 ohm speakers in the Marshall. Not better or worse just different flavors. I like late 90s boogie cabs. My 1999 traditional was insane. Zero eq type cab. One 57, done.
There's a really irritating, very high frequency in the Mesa cab. It's worse the higher pitch you play. Easy enough to EQ out but it's horrible to listen to.
But great playing and demo as always Euge, love your stuff.
Wouldn't it be more accurate to do it on lower speakers? Now the mesa will be at an angle or further away
Nope. Quite the opposite. Just watch the video 😉.
@EugeValovirta230V Fair enough point, my bad! Should have finished watching it before commenting 🎅
So bottom line yes they do sound good. The Marshall sounds 80s and the rectifier Killswitch Engage sound so 90s 2000s so which one do you prefer comment down below below?
Euge, what do you think of the Bonsai, obviously it made the board so you like it, do you use any particular mode more than others, how does it compare to the original green boxes?
It’s great and I like it a lot. No idea.
Reinforces, speakers and mic placement are way more important than the amp
I like the way the marshall cuts through more. Mesa seems to have more bottom end but not as much clarity to my ears. The Marshall's 'in your face' a bit more.
I have a Marshall JCM1960A 4x12, and a Mesa 2x12 rectocab but I like my Mesa over my Marshall.
I like your Marshall over your Mesa.
🤘💪⚡️
Is that a Santa cruise riff at 4 min??
I prefer the Marshall sound, but could see using the Mesa depending on the Mix.
I have a Marshall 1960B from the 90s but the Mesa just killed it! FOR SALE! LOL! I use a Mesa rectifier though. I gotta get the Mesa cab. Marshall sounds like a toy. I have the 75s in the Marshall though. I never liked the vintage 30s. Mesa sounds great.
Vintage 30s are whats in a mesa cab
@colelewis9940 I used to have a Marshall cab with the vintage speakers. It was JCM 800 cab. I presumed they wete vintage 30s. They sounded terrible a dual rectifier. When I got the 900 cab with the 75s it was a huge improvement. I thought the older recto cabs had Black Shadows in them..hmmm
the marshall is straight the mesa slant, miking in this way in my opinion there can be no good comparison. The upper cones in a slant sound very different from the same straight speaker and also the lower cones react and sound different. In a slant the upper cones serve mainly as monitors. who listens. In my opinion the comparison is made straight on straight and slant on slant. Let's also remember that the oversize / standard mesas sound very different from the stiletto / traditional.. For me the speakers make a big difference in the final sound for this reason I have several 5 4x12, then 2x12 and 1x12. Except for a bogner and a marshall the others are all mesa and all have appreciable differences.
This comparison was obviously with these two cabs. How a straight Marshall 1960BV compares to angled Mesa OS. And the speaker are different too. But I hear ya and like Mick Jagger sang; ”You can’t always get what you want” 😉.
@EugeValovirta230V When I finish my home recording studio, if you want I will host you in Italy to play. Because of you I also bought a Bogner Helios eclipse. At the moment the challenge for me is to build a small recording studio in the city center. I have a rehearsal room outside the city center where I can play at any volume but my dream is to have the same thing at home but as you can imagine it is a complicated thing.
Both sound good, but I am a Mesa guy.
Mesas don’t rattle enough. Too tight. Stiff. Works wonders for many. But those Marshalls just shake and rattle right.
Bingo…all of my BV cabs have more low end than my recto cabs, precisely for this reason. Tighter construction ain’t always better.
I prefer the 1960 but its not 100% fair comparison due to different speakers.
The marshall vintage variant is a lot different than the celestion boogie v30 spec.
Marshall sounds tighter and sweeter, mesa is nice but ya can't beat classic marshall punch and Tone.
Why does a speaker need to be in a box isn’t the box a restriction for the speaker can’t you just Mike up a speaker from behind the speaker for difference
That's very basic speaker acoustics.
Summary:
- Front and back waves from the speaker have opposite phase, since they're produced by the same cone. They would cancel each other.
- The speaker needs to be mounted on a baffle in order to block the back wave from the front, also to diffract front sound waves forward.
- The internal volume of a box tunes the low frequency resonance. If you want lows, you need volume.
- There are open back boxes, ported boxes, passive radiators... They're used to tune the low frequency resonance while requiring less internal volume. But that already gets quite more complicated to design.
In _Guitarland_ they used to build boxes just to fit some physical requirements (amp width, minimum space to contain 4 speakers required to handle the amps power, being part of a portable combo, and so on). If they sounded good or bad, that'd be pure chance. Nowadays we actually have properly designed boxes, but in some regard we want them to sound like the old ones, just because we're used to them and that's "the sound" of an electric guitar.
Celestion speakers are the worst choice.
So many better options.
I like them the most and can’t argue with personal preferences. It’s just great that there’s so many options for different tastes nowadays 👌🎶.
@EugeValovirta230V At least you mixed it up and didn't go full V30's.
I'm an ElectroVoice/Eminence man myself.
The only Celestions I like are G12M-70's I have in an old '80's Randall cab.
Marshall sounds better by itself but mesa sounds a little more mid heavy to me
Mesa has much better midrange. Marshall is way too scooped.