Mesa oldschool 4x12 half-back question :

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thegame

thegame

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Yeah, so those old Boogie half-back 4x12s used to come with a variety of speakers. Usually 2 EVM12Ls and 2 of something else. When did MC90's first come out ?

And wasn't there a 150w Black Shadow (Emmience ?) that came in those cabs too ? How is that one compared to the EV ?

thanks
 
mine has the emi ms12's. i'm really diggin it the two times i've played it. :doh:
 
Most of them have 2 MC90's and 2 Vintage Black Shadows (which are pretty much horrible).

mesa-speakers.jpg


You'll see some with regular EVM's instead but the Eminence EVM types are much harder to come by...
 
Some of them have 50 watt emi's on the bottom with no emblem at all. I had to get a code number off mine and e-mail Ted Weber (RIP). And he told me about the unmarked Emi's that Boogie used.
 
The one in this PIC has MC90's on top and EVM12L's on the bottom, it was very heavy and bright sounding cab, cool looking, wish I would have kept it and the MKIII head..... :(

DSC00091.jpg
 
thegame":12cwtefj said:
When did MC90's first come out ?

88 / 89 ..... I forget what model .... but it was just changed a bit to make the cleans better and given this name.
 
JackBootedThug":6hz998j5 said:
mine has the emi ms12's. i'm really diggin it the two times i've played it. :doh:

How do those MS12's compare to EVM 12Ls ? I've read they have a bit less high end than an EV, but is the midrange voicing different ?
 
AmpliFIRE":1mijzlrt said:
Most of them have 2 MC90's and 2 Vintage Black Shadows (which are pretty much horrible).

mesa-speakers.jpg


You'll see some with regular EVM's instead but the Eminence EVM types are much harder to come by...

Cool, thanks ! Are those vintage black shadows the 50w ones ?
 
thegame":38ucza6b said:
JackBootedThug":38ucza6b said:
mine has the emi ms12's. i'm really diggin it the two times i've played it. :doh:

How do those MS12's compare to EVM 12Ls ? I've read they have a bit less high end than an EV, but is the midrange voicing different ?

They are very different speakers .... not even in the same ball park.

I would take the EV every time. They do great leads and cleans. They do not do that great of a crunch sound.
 
stephen sawall":1frbjgl2 said:
I would take the EV every time. They do great leads and cleans. They do not do that great of a crunch sound.

Because they are too smooth and round sounding ?
 
thegame":i3yqo9nk said:
stephen sawall":i3yqo9nk said:
I would take the EV every time. They do great leads and cleans. They do not do that great of a crunch sound.

Because they are too smooth and round sounding ?

Yes .... they do not crunch at all ..... playing one is about the only way to see what I mean. They are a lot more like a PA speaker than a Celesition
 
A mail I got from Michael Wolf at Mesa concerning the MS-12

"Hello Knut! that is a great speaker you have acquired. It was manufactured for us by Eminence in the early 1980's, but discontinued in use around 1986. It is similar to the EVM 12l, without the excessive brightness of the treble end that the EV has. It has a big, fat smooth but fast bottom end response that I personally like a lot. Thanks, Michael Wolf @ Mesa Boogie"
 
I wonder what speaker I was thinking of ..... thanks for correcting me guys. :yes:
 
I'm late to the part but really can't add to what has already been said!!

By the way, Psycho Dave has one of the sickest sounding boogie cabs Ive played! It's deeper then any Boogie cab Ive played. Sounded insane!
 
I thought the 50 watt Black Shadows were a bit scooped sounding. The cab with 2 EVM 12L's on the bottom and 2 MC90's up top is a great mix and a great sounding cab. A Herbert on that cab sounded massive.
 
I like the half back when I am playing different styles of music due to the fullness you get while using clean tones, really fills the room but the cab has enough grunt to still bring pounding rhythms.

I have one loaded with MC90s, like it very much.
 
thegame":2fy489lg said:
JackBootedThug":2fy489lg said:
mine has the emi ms12's. i'm really diggin it the two times i've played it. :doh:

How do those MS12's compare to EVM 12Ls ? I've read they have a bit less high end than an EV, but is the midrange voicing different ?

it's been years since i had my halfback with mc90's and ev's. psycodave mentioned to me that the ms12's were more "marshally" sounding, and i totally agree. it seems like the zakk wylde marshall cab that i had also had the ev's in it as well. it was a great sounding cab also. It's been years since i used either one so i cant really say anything about the ev's except that i liked them.
 
I got my halfback cab with 2 MS12's on top and 2 EV's on the bottom. I wish I would have left it alone, cause it did sound good, but I replaced the 2 MS12's with 2 MC90's. The MS12's were clearer and a little warmer, nice speakers.

I found I like the cab better as a full closed back cab, particularly with the mark IV, I think that amp just likes closed back cabs. My Mesa halfback cab is a super versatile cab, it is the only cab I own that sounds good to awesome for every amp I own.

I did have a halfback 212 cab for a while. The 212 version didn't hold a candle to the 412, it had 2 MC90's and just sounded thick and muddy. The top section was open on that cab, maybe it would have sounded better fully closed. I prefer the Marshall 1936 212 clone to the halfback 212 cab I had.
 
Necro-bump :lol: :LOL:

Alot of guys here have Mesa/Celestion MC-90s. Can someone please check their speaker and see which cone the MC90 uses ? It should be printed on the outside of the cone in white, probably. Should say either 444 or 1777. Thanks :thumbsup:
 
I do not see any white numbers on my top 2 mc90s, I could give you the frame stamp if you need that?
 
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