I have a Peavey Ultra 112 that I am using as my main gig/practice amp and I am considering swapping the OEM Sheffield 1230 for something else. My band is playing everything from Brian Adams, to Ratt, STP, Blondie, Incubus,... you name it it is fair game. Therein lies the challenge... an amp/speaker combo that is flexible enough to handle a wide variety of sounds.
I really like the Ultra overall though the clean channel is a bit flat. I'm running Sovtek 12ax7's in the preamp section- not the best for clean but really bitchin for high gain :-) and JJ 6L6GC's in the power section. My primary guitar is a PRS SE Custom 24 Ann Edition (HH) and a Boss ME 50 in the effects loop. I only use the crunch & gain/distortion available through the amp so the ME 50 has basically become a chorus/phase/delay/wah pedal.
Our practice and gigging volumes will be fairly low, 2-5 on the dial (small bars/ private parties, etc) so I want to be able to get good full sound at sane decibels.
Preferences- I love the sound of a Marshall 1960A 4x12 cabinet, generally preferring closed back cabs overall but i feel like I can really improve the overall quality of the sound of this little deamon of an amp with a speaker swap?
For what it is worth, I may pull the chassis out of the stock cabinet and put it in a spearate enclosure, with the goal being head/cab set-up for easier portability (lighter weight pices to haul around). If I do that I could partially close up the rest of the OEM enclosure for a slightly tighter/closed back feel. May be more trouble than it is worth especially if I get the right speaker. I read somewhere that using a higher wattage speaker may help smooth out the open-back combo set-up? Something about a larger voice coil, blah blah blah.
I am open to any suggestions as I have been considering V30's, G12T-75's, etc though I have not tried any of them with my current set up. Without and A/B comparison it is tough to know what might suit my ear but I'd love to not buy a chinese made over-priced speaker if I can avoid it.
Enough rambling. Thoughts?
I was also thinking I could just add/build my own closed-back extension cab to get a blended sound with the existing set-up. FYI amp is 60W with two speaker outputs in parallel and switchable ohms 4/8/16
BTW- I am the lead guitarist and will playing the solos and key riffs. Thought that may be an important detail to include as well. Thanks!
Jamey D
Here is what I'm keying in on:
"I really like the Ultra overall though the clean channel is a bit flat."
"Our practice and gigging volumes will be fairly low, 2-5 on the dial (small bars/ private parties, etc) so I want to be able to get good full sound at sane decibels."
This points to one speaker: The ET65.
They are fantastic in open-back ... but if you do go for a semi-open back, they work great there too :-)