Interesting...I've played my 1212 in several different settings in the past week, each with slightly different set ups...just to see how things translate. Each time I used my Mesa 400+ and the 1212 alone.
Friday night we played a mid-sized club, and as I used to do with my 4x10, I put my cab up on a chair (horizontal cab placement) with amp head on top. The mids were outstanding...maybe even a bit too much. I had a hard time dialing in some of the lows I wanted at our (loud) stage volume, and some of the notes on the fretboard were really jumping out, almost wolf notes (in the neighborhood of 9th fret) due to the mids and I had to be careful not to hit in that area too hard. I dialed my Mesa's bass (shift out) up to about 6.5, which is lots of boost, but at that volume the cab sounded like it was at it's limit with that low end. Everyone did agree that we had too loud a stage volume, so I guess that's not a surprise.
Monday night, a much smaller room, with my same rig...This time I turned the amp vertically and placed it on the cement floor. I pushed my master up a bit (right around 6.5 or 7) and brought both preamp volumes down. I also brought the bass down a touch to 4 (still plenty of boost) and also pulled the mid down to 7.5 (that's cut on the Mesa). I've got to say I really hated the sound of the cab on it's side. That tweeter (set about half) was killing me and the tone wasn't really speaking. Two songs in I stopped and changed the set up and put the cab on the horizontal, but stacked on a milk crate to get it up a bit. Much better.
Tonight we played a 'quiet' gig...an oddball well paying benefit in a department store. I put the 1212 right on the floor, amp on top, then our PA head/mixer on top of that. The Mesa was the same set up as before. I was quite worried that I wouldn't be able to hear myself well with the speakers by my ankles, even at low volumes. Hmmmmmm...Not a problem.The cab sounded the best it has so far...half way through the set, we turned up a bit to 'mid volume' and it was still good. I even brought up the mids a bit, but didn't have to touch my lows. They were just fine! Once again I didn't have to push either amp or cab too hard.
It will be very cool to see how Saturday's gig goes...mid-to-large room...good system, and a big hollow stage. I've been toying with the thought of bringing my Avatar SB112 with the 1212, but I'd love to not bring it. I think I'm still getting used to the more precise sound from this cab, I love the tight punchiness, but still worry about missing some of the fat lows.
Any advice or commentary?
