Mesa/Boogie Half-Back cabs have returned

[Grindspine]

Boogie Cabinets | Mesa/Boogie

www.mesaboogie.com

I just saw this ad on FB... Gibson-era Mesa/Boogie is hitting the reissues hard between the Nineties Recto, the IIC+, and now Half-Back 2x12 vertical and 4x12 cabs.

I see a surprising absence of EVM12L speakers though. The 2x12 is just two MC-90 Black Shadows, but at least the bottom speaker is in a ported cab. The 4x12, with its combo of V30 and C90 speakers, seems a bit redundant with the Road King 4x12 having the same speaker compliment.

 

[Big Dumb Bitch]

$1700 for a 4x12 lmao Mesa are high as fuck. A Science 6x12 is like $50 more and way cooler and easier to move. Absolute clown behavior.

 

[tedtan]

I have a Road King cabinet, so no need for the current iteration of the half back cab, but I think Mesa has discontinued the Road King cabs (the heads were discontinued a while back), so this is probably the replacement.

Might be interesting with EVM12Ls in the bottom, though.

 

[Grindspine]

I currently run a Road King 2x12 with my 2:Ninety and a Recto 2x12 Vertical with my Mark 525. I had given up on trying to get a half-back cab since they are so rare on the used market. The idea of an EVM12L Thiele cabinet with a C90 on top is still cool.

Who knows, maybe I'll get a 2x12 half-back vertical and run it alongside my Recto 2x12 vertical. Really it'd just be like a Road King 4x12 split into two easier to move up stairs cabs though.

 

[Marked Man]

Awesome to see these back!

The full potential of those cabs is always reached with EVM12Ls in the sealed bottoms! C90s top and bottom is fine, but screw V30s!

A garden variety Soldano cab with 4 V30s costs $1500, so it would be a no brainer for me to get the Mark halfback for $200 more (knowing them like I do) and installing God's speakers in the bottom. Sell the V30s as fast as you can...

 

[budda]

412s in general are funny money new. Im greatful for whoever buys them given i went from owning 1 to 2 to a lot but i can buy 1980s jcm800’s for what a new mesa or marshall HW costs sticker.

Im sure some people will grab these for their reissue marks.

 

[Kagami]

412s in general are funny money new. Im greatful for whoever buys them given i went from owning 1 to 2 to a lot but i can buy 1980s jcm800’s for what a new mesa or marshall HW costs sticker.

Im sure some people will grab these for their reissue marks.

I can't recall seeing one for sale in my area so never had a chance to try one or buy one, mesa cabs here are usually rectifier oversized which sound terrible imo.

 

[budda]

I can't recall seeing one for sale in my area so never had a chance to try one or buy one, mesa cabs here are usually rectifier oversized which sound terrible imo.

Yeah its always OS though ive seen a metal grille and standard a couple times in the last year.

 

[Jon Pearson]

I saw that someone in a Mesa group reached out to Mesa about the lack of EVM12L speakers, apparently they are looking into it because of all the requests they have gotten for them. Keep in mind, that will push the price even higher. I think I'm priced out of new cabs, luckily I've got all the cabs I'm likely to ever need or want.

 

[Kagami]

I saw that someone in a Mesa group reached out to Mesa about the lack of EVM12L speakers, apparently they are looking into it because of all the requests they have gotten for them. Keep in mind, that will push the price even higher. I think I'm priced out of new cabs, luckily I've got all the cabs I'm likely to ever need or want.

That would be nice to option them in but yeah 280 bucks for EVM12L classics vs 160 for celestions is going to definitely crank up the price a lot.

 

[cardinal]

Seems clueless for Mesa to not have the EVM12L in the bottom, but maybe it's a cost problem.

 

[Dumple Stilzkin]

Can someone fill me in as to why these cabs are so well regarded? Do the 2x12 sound as good as the 4x12’s?

 

[tedtan]

Seems clueless for Mesa to not have the EVM12L in the bottom, but maybe it's a cost problem.

They’re owned by Gibson now, so this cab will be re-reissued with the more accurate EVM12Ls next year so you have to go back and buy the new one just like they do with the reissue guitars.

 

[Grindspine]

Can someone fill me in as to why these cabs are so well regarded? Do the 2x12 sound as good as the 4x12’s?

The 2x12 half-back was renowned for working well with Mark series amps (and the Studio preamp) since the lower portion was in a ported Thiele design cabinet with an EVM12L for really massive push and high fidelity sound while the upper portion was an open-back MC-90 Black Shadow for that more classic open-back combo sound. The half-back cabs were phased out in the early 2000s, if memory serves. Later, the Road King cabinets (sealed V30s with open-back C90s) filled the niche. There have still been a lot of people who seek out half-back cabs on the used market though. There is probably enough demand for a reissue, but the lack of the EVM in the bottom is a big miss for Gibson running a reissue campaign.

 

[Dumple Stilzkin]

The 2x12 half-back was renowned for working well with Mark series amps (and the Studio preamp) since the lower portion was in a ported Thiele design cabinet with an EVM12L for really massive push and high fidelity sound while the upper portion was an open-back MC-90 Black Shadow for that more classic open-back combo sound. The half-back cabs were phased out in the early 2000s, if memory serves. Later, the Road King cabinets (sealed V30s with open-back C90s) filled the niche. There have still been a lot of people who seek out half-back cabs on the used market though. There is probably enough demand for a reissue, but the lack of the EVM in the bottom is a big miss for Gibson running a reissue campaign.

Thanks pimp. Consider me interested.

 

[narad]

Can someone fill me in as to why these cabs are so well regarded? Do the 2x12 sound as good as the 4x12’s?

There's some rationale for them based on the somewhat rare construction style, but if we're being real, they look nostalgic and cool.

 

[cardinal]

I want the side armor recto cabs back, if we're doing retro and cool, expensive 4x12s

 

[LCW]

I want the side armor recto cabs back, if we're doing retro and cool, expensive 4x12s

There are diamond plate side pieces you can get from Mesa as an accessory for the 4x12.

 

[DarkstarII]

The 2x12 half-back was renowned for working well with Mark series amps (and the Studio preamp) since the lower portion was in a ported Thiele design cabinet with an EVM12L for really massive push and high fidelity sound while the upper portion was an open-back MC-90 Black Shadow for that more classic open-back combo sound. The half-back cabs were phased out in the early 2000s, if memory serves. Later, the Road King cabinets (sealed V30s with open-back C90s) filled the niche. There have still been a lot of people who seek out half-back cabs on the used market though. There is probably enough demand for a reissue, but the lack of the EVM in the bottom is a big miss for Gibson running a reissue campaign.

I will just add to Grindspine’s excellent post that I believe these were phased out for the Recto Traditional 4-12 around ‘95-‘96. If Mesa adds the EVM speaker instead of the V30s, these reissues will touch $2k for a 412 cab… ludicrous.

 

[cardinal]

There are diamond plate side pieces you can get from Mesa as an accessory for the 4x12.

Seriously? That's perfect since I already have a great sounding Recto cab.