Any Comments on the Marshall 1936 2x12 cabinet?

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Drew

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Whenever I see posts on guitar gear forums regarding Marshall 1936 2x12 cabs, the reviews and comments on it are almost always negative and that there are much better 2x12 cabs out there.

I've been using a 1936 cab for the last 4+ years and to me, it sounds OK. My one complaint is that in certain spots on stage it does sound a bit harsh.

After reading so many negative comments on my cab, I'm curious as to what might be a better option. However, I'm hesitant to go to the expense of buying and trying several other cabs to compare.

One thing I always hear is that the Marshall 2x12 cabs from the 80's sound better than recent ones (mine was made in 2000)--pre MDF wood backs etc. I don't agree with that comment now. I have a friend who has an 80's Marshall 2x12 and we ran our two cabs with a few of his Marshalls and neither of us could really tell any major difference between the cabs. Both cabs have Celestion 75's.

About two years ago I did a few things that improved my cab. The first was removing the Marshall DSL50 sitting on top of it and I replaced it with a Cameron modded 1977 100 watt Marshall... The second thing I did was to install "beam blockers". The 3rd thing I did was to rewire the cab with high quality wire and remove the stereo wiring jack--so now it's a single 8ohm cab with no stereo option.

So any comments on the 1936? Would I see some benefit by trying some different speakers? If so, which ones--Vintage 30's, Celestion 65's or something else?

I believe Bogner and CAE puts some fabric "batting" inside their cabs. Anybody have any comments on the sound implications of that?

Or should I blindly dump the Marshall cab in favor of a Bogner 2x12 (or CAE or Avatar or Tone Tools or Stone Age or Ear Candy)?

Thanks for any comments.
 
I have a marshall 1936 copy and I run Celestion Classic Lead 80's in there, its a very nice sounding cab.

I don't find my cab very beamy either, I typically run it on its side now for better dispersion though.
 
i had one and thought it was a turd

personally i'd take something like one of the avatar vintage cabs over one of those if ya don't wanna spend a ton of cash
 
I have a 1936 that I got almost 10 years ago, it didnt do it for me with the stock speakers but when i put some v30's in them is sounded a hell of a lot better - I think its a good cab and its a workhorse, I also think it sounds better than the avatar stuff - its bigger than a standard 212 as well and I feel they are lighter than the mesa and bogner 212's - I like mine, in fact over the years I ahve gone through tons of cabs but I kept this one and I have done hundreds of gigs with it -
 
Mine isn't bad. I have typically been using it at low volumes at home. I ripped out the speakers for g12h30s and that was the biggest improvement. I'm half debating putting the H30s in my 412 x'ed with greenbacks and putting two of the greenies in the 1936.
 
Sup Drew!

I never used to like 2x12's until I heard the earcandies. To me they sound more like a 4x12 and they sound pretty amazing from just about every angle. To me, the EC cabs sound a lot like the old Boogie half back cabs but with more punch.
 
Hi Ralph!

Thanks to everybody for the replies.

Today I A/B 'ed my Marshall 2x12 against two Bogner 1x12's. The Bogners (loaded with Vintage 30') sounded better -- clearer cleans and fatter, warmer gain sounds. However, it was not night and day and I'd be willing to bet most non-musicians could not tell the difference.
 
The 1936, every one I've heard, has sounded somewhat "wrong" to me, irrespective of the speakers in the cabinet or the year the cabinet was made or the thickness of wire used and so on.

They tend to be very prominent in the upper mids, somewhat loose in the mids overall and lacking in lows.

Since I've never owned one, I didn't get a chance to try using batting inside it. That's something I might experiment with in one of my cabinets sometime this year, but even so I don't know if the difference would translate to the 1936.

My Avatar closed back 2x12 sounds quite nice. I would advise against using Vintage 30s for both speakers though since the lows can be a bit overpowering and loose that way. Mixing a Vintage 30 with a G12H30 works well, and using two greenbacks also works well in the cabinet.
 
I found that Beam blockers really helped to bring out the best in a 1936 cab. I had 2 older JCM 800 cabs and it really made a big difference when I compared them side by side. Spread the sound out nicely and didn't kill you when you stood directly in front of them.
 
I had one and had no problems with it except for that "harsh zone" like you talked about.

However, I've since picked up a Voodoo 2 x 12 and it SHITS all over that Marshall cab.
 
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