Need advice.To Full Stack or not?

[jerryjg]

I've recently run across some pretty good deals on Marshall cabinets.I already have a bottom unit( 1960A i believe). Truth is, I dont see anyone using these full stack- not even Clapton or a lot of other heaveyweights. If anything, they use two cabinets side by side like Eric Johnson.. and Ive already got another Marshall cabinet bottom unit. Is a full stack like 80's hair metal retro? Mind you, I have a full on 100 watt MKII head, so perhaps a stack would help absorb some of that wattage? I honestly dont know.It would look cool, or would it look stupid?Then again, a 4X12 top with gt-65's and a 4x12 bottm loaded with G12m-25's might sound awesome together with a full 100 watts driven thru them? TIA for your consideration.

[curtisstetka]

Where are you playing that you would "need" a full stack?

[cooltone]

Is a full stack like 80's hair metal retro?

If you still have a mullett, then yes...yes it is.

[Cogs]

I can't think of a single venue that would require a full stack. It only looks & sounds cool in your mind.

[Mesotech]

Full stacks are almost always required for practices in basements and garages.

[curtisstetka]

Well, if you're up to hauling it around, there's no reason you have to actually plug in the bottom cab. It can just be there for looks.

[NeoFauve]

Ding, ding!

That's the sound of tinnitus.

[Gravity Jim]

... would look cool, or would it look stupid?Then again, a 4X12 top with gt-65's and a 4x12 bottm loaded with G12m-25's might sound awesome together with a full 100 watts driven thru them?

Well.... it wouldn't exactly look cool. Unless you could win a Zakk Wylde lookalike contest, I'd have to side with "stupid."

As for sounding awesome.... where? Not in any enclosed space too small to play pro football in.

I have to side with the rest of these guys... it's just too much for any practical application.

[NeoFauve]

I've recently run across some pretty good deals on Marshall cabinets.
____________________________

Truth is, I dont see anyone using these full stack...

Hmmm...

[juniorspecial]

Go for it!

Don't listen to these guys. They're not real rock 'n' rollers. They're retired.

[elicross]

Did you know that every time your ears ring, that's a sign of nerves dying, and the pitch you're hearing is one you'll never hear again?*

(That's if you're lucky enough not to have chronic tinnitus, where the ringing never stops. Protect your ears and stay in school, kids!)



*I learned that from "Children of Men."

[rudutch]

do you have a 'roadie'??

http://pages.prodigy.net/replyasap/

[NeoFauve]

Go for it!

Don't listen to these guys. They're not real rock 'n' rollers. They're retired.

As the Nuge would say,
What did you say???

[Gravity Jim]

Some of us are retired. But more than a few of us can still rock your face off, yours truly among them if I may be so bold.

And, as a bonus, we can still hear.

[NeoFauve]

If a Marshall stack falls over in the woods, and you have tinnitus, it might make a sound.

[Rickenjangle]

I think my Hiwatt stack looks pretty cool. But then again, it only stands about 2-1/2' tall, like the mini-stonehenge in Spinal Tap.

I can't imagine a situation I'd be in where I'd

A. Want to haul around one, much less two, 4x12's.
B. Need 100 watts
C. Need to be loud enough to induce tinnitus

If you've already got a couple of bottoms, why not just use them? I think it looks cooler anyway when you have 2 bottoms next to each other and the head sits in the middle of both...or, use the money you have to buy another head and run stereo.

[pc]

I LOVE the sound of my Budda boo-teek Marshall clone, but even a 2x12 combo amp is tough for me to cart around anymore, especially when I remember that nobody in the audience can really tell the difference between that and my DRRI with OCD pedal. (Plus, when I switch from the LP to the Strat, the DRRI is always better than the Budda).

Now a 2x10 5e3 might well be a different story...

[JAM]

Now a 2x10 5e3 might well be a different story...

Or a 5E3 head with 2 1X12 cabs, that's the only stack I'd want!

[rudutch]

why not a pair of these? only 165lbs each!

[NeoFauve]

Now a 2x10 5e3 might well be a different story...

Gulp...

[rudutch]

Go for it!

Don't listen to these guys. They're not real rock 'n' rollers. They're retired.

NO we're not!
Well, Fezz is... but the rest of us GEEZERS are still working

[jeru]

If you want the full stack, then buy more cabs. Just be honest with yourself about why.


If you really think you need it for playing live/playing out, and you want to lug it all around, then who cares what we think? (sure, buy it...)
If you just want it cuz you think it's cool to look at, and you can afford it, then again, who cares what we think? (sure, buy it...)


I just bought a 1x12 extension cab for my 1x12 combo to sit on. Do I play venues that "require" pushing the extra air? No. Any reason at all that putting the amp on a milk crate or a stand wouldn't be just fine? Nope, none.

I just wanted it.


I find that once I'm satisfied that I'm being honest with myself about why I'm making the decisions that I am, that I sweat them a lot less. YMMV

[pc]

Or a 5E3 head with 2 1X12 cabs, that's the only stack I'd want!

Mmmmm. Of course I still wouldn't stack 'em, I'd put 'em about five feet apart both aiming at my head to bathe myself in 5e3 goodness.

[Rickenjangle]

Or a 5E3 head with 2 1X12 cabs, that's the only stack I'd want!

Aww, shoot, that would be niiiiiice! Perhaps in cabinets covered in blonde tolex with wheat grille cloth?

Or in the sumptuous green tolex like the Fezzter Prince Gautama! MMMMM good.

[Gravity Jim]

The Prince is going to be living as a mini-stack shortly... a matching extension cab with a single 12" Red Fang, so I can use either the 10 or he 12. Yum.

I'm replacing the combo cab, too (because of the Tolex prob), so the whole thing will be Mojo Cabs before long.

[jerryjg]

Mini stacks are cool. Wowo, the list of Fezz clients is astonishing. Makes me wanna bury my head in the sand like an ostrich!!
But i am under the impression that i may be able to get more tube goodness with another cabinet...that is, to be able to turn up the MKII 100 watt head higher, and get more sag/saturation or wahtever the heck you call it, at the same SPL< by soaking the speaker load. In that case, it would make sence to run two cabinets, but if its only going to increase the volume, than who needs that, ..not me! I don't really think a full stack looks that groovy by itself, however two of them....

[JAM]

... But i am under the impression that i may be able to get more tube goodness with another cabinet...that is, to be able to turn up the MKII 100 watt head higher, and get more sag/saturation or wahtever the heck you call it, at the same SPL< by soaking the speaker load.

More tube goodness? Go get yourself a 5F1 or similar and just crank it! You'll have all the sag/saturation you could ever want. 100W into 4 12s is just asking to go deaf, adding another cab will make it even louder.

[Don]

My herniated discs (a problem that will never go away), mild tinnitus (another problem that will never go away), and mild (only certain frequencies) hearing loss (that will never get better) says that you don't want a full stack.

[Gtrplyr]

Full stacks are almost always required for practices in basements and garages.

I've also been contemplating snagging a 70's Marshall straight bass cab just to make my 100w JMP Marshall rig complete. Most people want stupid money for these now so I'm curious where you're finding these deals.

I don't really think I would ever play out with a full stack and in fact I'd be nervous that someone would knock the stack over. But it's a such a icon/classic rock amp and it simply looks awesome without even playing through it.

Add to the fact the prices on these keep climbing it's always something one could sell off whenever and get your money back from + some if one needs room for furniture I say go for it if you can find a reasonably priced one.

[Gravity Jim]

You know what would be both stupid and cool?

Two Marshall cabs, modded with baffles for a single 12", and a 5e3 in a Marshall head box. Place the cabs side by side, with the head straddling the two.....

15 watts of pure tweed goodness disguised as Jimi's amp. Then you get the tone and the response Jim Marshall was going for with the stage volume you need, PLUS the rock 'n' roll visual and the fun of moving huge boxes around.

[NeoFauve]

That's just cra...

Wait a minute.
Is it crazy, or did you just blow our minds?

What might be less stupid, but maybe cooler-
inflatable Marshall stack facades, with a 5E3 clone behind it, on a milk crate, wailing through a secret hollowed out section of the lower half of the play-stack.

Tone for days, and light as a feather.

[curtisstetka]

Somebody ought to make styrofoam stacks. That would be fantastic! You could smash your guitar right through them at the end of every gig!

[Cogs]

You know what would be both stupid and cool?

Two Marshall cabs, modded with baffles for a single 12", and a 5e3 in a Marshall head box. Place the cabs side by side, with the head straddling the two.....

15 watts of pure tweed goodness disguised as Jimi's amp. Then you get the tone and the response Jim Marshall was going for with the stage volume you need, PLUS the rock 'n' roll visual and the fun of moving huge boxes around.

THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!!!

[JAM]

What might be less stupid, but maybe cooler-
inflatable Marshall stack facades, with a 5E3 clone behind it, on a milk crate, wailing through a secret hollowed out section of the lower half of the play-stack.

Tone for days, and light as a feather.

That would give new meaning to blowing up your amp.

[Offshore Angler]

A full stack sounds delicious. One of guitar playings finest rewards is playing through one at volume. If you are playing large clubs and can hack humping it around it's the sland. You just need to make sure you match the equipment to the mix. Plus, a full stack really isn't as loud as most people who haven't played one cranked would like to believe. They are loud, yes, but they are BIG sounding. Love 'em, love em' love em.
If you ever get a chance to play through a couple of stacks to a few thousand people, nothing else will ever sound quite right. Trust me.

[Mesotech]

Of course, you can't really beat the "warm dry tone" obtained from a stack of these.

[Kap'n]

Of course, you can't really beat the "warm dry tone" obtained from a stack of these.

Two half stacks. Not really the same thing.

[boobtube21]

That's the sound of tinnitus.

[boobtube21]

I think to the unwitting general public, a full stack onstage looks like you mean business, and does look cool.

While I do like the look of full stack, I do sort of chuckle under my breath when I see one in a small venue.

I think I've told this story, but one time in Fullerton at a bar called Stubrick's I saw this SRV wanna-be playing a strat through not one, but TWO full plexi stacks. We're talking about a 900 sq ft or so bar here. Talk about tinnitus, he was playing waaaay too frickin' loud.

[elicross]

Tone for days, and light as a feather.

You're onto something, Neo. Now we just fill those inflatable Marshall stack facades with helium. You anchor them to the stage while you're performing, and when you're ready to load out, they can float your guitars, amps, and drummer out to the van!