EarCandy Buzzbomb 212 Cabinet

Made in 2009
It has exactly what I asked for and ordered.
It has the stereo mono combo
I use it live and in the studio and has plenty of headroom for all 3 of my amps. Ill give it a 9 because it is only a cab, but has exactly what I wanted.

Gibson Les Paul custom with stock pickups
it is so versatile I use it for many different styles.
The cleans are brilliant and the distortion / over drive is clear as a bell. This sounds better than my other 2x and 4x12 cabs so Ill give it a 10.

I use it gigging and without a backup all the time, live and in the studio. It has not broke and I have had it a little over 6 months. It comes with a lifetime warranty and the guy there tim always answers his emails, sometimes with a little longer answer to questions than you would expect.

Tim was very friendly, candid, had a fun sense of humor and was very helpful to me with my ohm load confusion. They dont have any dealers or service centers so Ill give them a 8 on this one. I asked him about some of the bad reviews and he said it is a double edged sword, everyone wants to email him and he answers them personaly, a lot of people change the order on him which sets him back time wise. There is a clarification Id like to make and I hope im not over stepping bounds but, he told me he had kidney surgery, not heart surgery and they did have a time set back but everyting is fine. They took care of my order to a T. I had to change the shipping address so my wife would not get mad and they were very accomodating to that request also. Plain and simple, top of the line custom gear like this takes time, this guys stuff is worth the wait to me. I waited 7 weeks for it to get to my door step, a few days past what we expected but like I said, I changed the ship to address. Sounds like a lot of these reviews below are eronious to me.

Im over 30 and dont care to get into a huge list of gear but mainly my Lespaul, My Bogner My matchless and my Hiwatt.
If it were lost or stolen, I would order another one because this one was made for me and sounds better than any other cab I have owned. I will give a 10 in this catagorey as I told EarCandy I was going to post a review about how thier cab crushed my other 2 cabs and they asked me not to mention the other 2 cabs by name, out of courtesy. Now thats class, so with the CS, the awesome cab and the level of class and interaction with me, I give this catagorey a 10.

I need to do two reviews, one for the cab I ordered and received a long time ago, and one for the one I just finally gave up on ever receiving.

The first one I got in 2006. It's straight up black on black with black circle grills, black diamond plate front, 4/16 ohm jacks, loaded with 2 Eminence Swampthang speakers.

I ordered my second one the same way, with the only change being the speakers. It was supposed to have Eminence Texas Heats instead.

You can order (and possibly never receive) these things loaded however you want. It's a 2x12 so there aren't really that many other things you can do with them. Rated 8 just because that's the nature of a 2x12.

I play mostly metal. I use a couple different guitars with either EMG's or Blackouts. You know the tone I'm after. The cab I received sounds great. I have paired it with both a Genz-Benz El Diablo and a VHT Deliverance and it sounds great. Sounds very tight, projects well.

That's why I wanted another one. I actually wanted to run both heads and both cabs at the same time. It'd be total overkill. Too bad I'll probably never receive the second one.

Rated 9 because the one I got is killer.

I always had the impression the cab I bought a long time ago was amazingly well constructed. One day I accidentally left a cable plugged into the jack on the back and managed to snap it off. I took the jack plate off and removed the handle (I have the handles that are recessed on the top corners) to access everything and hopefully fix it.

The nut that holds the jack into the back plate is plastic. Is this on purpose so you don't mess up your jack when you do something stupid? Or is is just stupid?

The tolex that covers the exterior looks really nice. I have doubts regarding its durability. It's pretty soft stuff. When I removed the handle, I was surprised how badly the tolex was cut and wedged into the cab. Big V's and general sloppiness. Its all on the inside but it was disappointing.

On a plus note, all the wiring and soldering was top notch.

My first cab was supposed to take 6 weeks (back when Tim still stated turnaround time). It took 12. He did answer emails honestly and I did get my cab.

I ordered my second cab February 8th, 2009. Today is July 20th. From reading other reviews it seems like I have about 6 more months to wait if I ever want to see this thing.

After I ordered, I patiently waited for over 2 months, then sent an email. Nothing. Sent another. Nothing. Finally send a message through their website's contact us form. Got an email and a phone call. I think the excuse was kidney stones. I repeatedly waited a bit, did the same email thing. Like others here, I got stories of tornadoes, heart surgery, family members dying, and various other excuses.

Today I sent an email stating I've had enough and asked for my money back. In no less than 20 minutes I got a response. The usual excuse and a promise of two more weeks. Nope, I'm done.

Rated 1. Lies and excuses are far too plentiful.

I wish I could get a straight answer of what happened? If you look at reviews here from a couple years back, everything is great.

My only advice now to potential buyers is to look for one used.

Overall rating is a 5 because it's a nice cab from what has turned out to be a terrible company.

Simple. It's a 2x12 guitar cabinet.

I have heard good things about the sound quality. I have since heard they are not worth what you pay for. I have heard of many people getting sold "extras" and not even receiving them. I guess to report my own personal experience, Tim at EarCandy would actually have to send me the cabinet that I paid for.

From my understanding, they seem to work fine. IF YOU ACTUALLY RECEIVE THEM. i never received mine after paying 100% up front to Tim at EarCandy

Here's the main reason I'm writing this review. As many others have reported. You will NOT find WORSE customer service.

I feel the need to post this to save others from getting ripped off. If you are considering buying cabinets from Ear Candy you really need to read on. In Mid December 2007 I custom ordered a loaded cabinet from Tim at Ear Candy. He MADE SURE to get PAYMENT IN FULL up front. He said he was Really Backed Up on orders because he was selling so many cabinets so it would take 6 to 8 weeks to build. I found a deal I couldn???t pass up on a stack so I contacted Tim RIGHT AFTER the turn of the year to try and cancel my order or even have Tim simply sell it to another customer. I knew he had not started my cabinets yet. Tim said that would not be a problem. He would simply build the cabinet and sell it to someone else.

I stayed in close contact with Ear Candy. Or as Tim puts it.... ???I drove him crazy with status calls and emails.??? After several months went by Tim stopped returning my emails. During this time Ear Candy???s shop got flooded several times. He thought I would just go away and forget about my cab. Well, at this point I wouldn???t have an Ear Candy cab if you gave it to me. Well, maybe to burn on YouTube.

I got Tim???s attention when I posted a comment about this on one of his YouTube videos. THIS REALLY UPSET HIM. Of course, he doesn???t want people to know that he???s a thief. That would be bad for finding future suckers. He didn???t have a problem getting in touch of me then. I received all kinds of threats and abusive language in emails. I would be happy to forward any and all emails to anyone that wants to read just to see what kind of guy we???re talking about.

I guess this will be a battle of the attorneys, because he says he???s going to sue me for telling people the truth about our deal. What I don???t think his attorney knows is this is all FACT. I have not embellished one bit. In fact I left a lot of details out to save people all the reading and keep this as short as possible. That???s called Freedom of Speech. Just so long as everything I say is true there???s NOTHING HE CAN DO!

I???ll let you be the judge. If this had happened to you would you call him a thief or just a great business man? In my opinion the worst kind of criminal are thief's and child molesters. I would like to hear your thoughts. When he drags me into court I would love to show the judge how the rest of America would feel had it been them. People like this must be stopped or they will continue to steal peoples money. He knows that all the attorney fees and court fees would cost more that the cabinet so he THINKS people will just write it off and forget about it. Well, I???ve written the money off, but I???ll be damned if I???m going to sit back and act like it didn???t happen. The funny thing is Tim SAID he???s bigger than the internet and could never be stopped. Is that funny or what. Now that???s a ???EGOTISTICAL BIG HEADED BASTARD???!

Feel free to contact me if you would like more info on this matter.
Toddf007@yahoo.com

Thanks for your time.
Todd

I can not stress enough how bad of a person Tim at EarCandy is. He does not care one bit about his customers. It's ALL ABOUT TIM.

Anybody that would steal their customer's money and give NOTHING in return is a THIEF. Plain and Simple. He stole my money. There's no other way of looking at it.

I have to say that transactions with this company are extremely bad . I have to agree with everyone that states the fore mentioned in the reviews. Actual build/shipping time's are likely 6-8 months & has been longer for others . The truth is you will be ******* around with wrong ( Bogus ? ) shipping numbers , false email responses to inquiry's about an order's status .
My experiences ( I own 2 BuzzBombs ) reflect these exact circumstances . The 1st cab took 5-6 months , the 2nd cab took 8 months and both time's a long , long time wasted trying to figure out what was the truthful reality going on . One of the worst that I have come across ever in pursuit of quality equipment.
Its a truly sad state of affairs with a company that's quality is extremely high in their products but is an total **** You Over otherwise .
Honesty , truth in actual build time's / information is not available at all . Yeah, its really that bad ...no kidding . By the time its all over , any desire to be affiliated with the product , its business practices have shot your attitude all to HELL .
I could never recommend this company to anyone , even with the extreme quality the product itself has you would feel just horrible putting the advice out to buy from EarCandy .
So many other's to purchase from without all the DRAMA !!!

It did not have the features I paid for, hence the low rating here. Read below

Les Paul & Tele > Blackface Bassman Head > Ear Candy Buzzbomb.

This is a great sounding cab. I bought it empty and had a few different pairs of speakers including EV EVM's, and an Eminence Texas Heat and a Redcoat (a very good combination). This cab has a bigger bass than some Marshall 4x12's I've owned, a very good sounding cab. I play Alterna Rock, and Classic Rock; it works very good for me.

The cabinet is very robust, but the speaker grilles are cheesy, and the Tolex is sub-par.

I bought this cab a couple years ago, and it has served me well. I don't gig more than once a month, so it is not exactly put through hell, but the wood has held up well.

The sound is excellent, my problems are with the honesty of the seller. I saw an Ear Candy Cab that had been sold on eBay by the maker, and he didn't have another Buzzbomb listed, so I contacted him and asked if he could make me one just like the one in the auction, and he said, no problem. He quoted me a price and I agreed. I sent him payment, and a few weeks later, I received a cab. It was not exactly like the cab in the auction we had agreed on.

The cab in the auction had very nice recessed handles on each side, and a pair of wheels that worked in conjunction with a 3rd recessed handle that slid out of the top of the cab. The cab I received had cheapo, spring-loaded, screw-on. He installed the wheels, but there was no sliding handle on top. I emailed him about the wrong specs, and he said he would send me the sliding handle. What he sent me was another cheapo spring-loaded handle.

He had stated in the auction that this cab was solid wood. What I received was Plywood. I called him on this, and he stated he meant to say that it was void-free plywood. He also stated that no one uses solid wood. I told him that was not true, at the time Krank was using solid wood on all their cabs, and many boutique combos and cab are made with solid wood.

Also, the Tolex is a cheap, fabric store tolex, it's puffy, and not durable. The Tolex job was not of professional quality either, there is a thick double seam at the bottom center of the cab, and it was coming loose from the time I received the cab. Also, on the left side, writing seeped through the Tolex. It looks like there was writing on the wood in black indelible marker, and over time, it seeped into the tolex, so now it's visible on the orange Tolex, big and ugly writing.

I probably should have pursued the matter, but I just chalked it up to experience...don't buy from Ear Candy ever again.

Well, I feel I was duped by Ear Candy. It is a good-sounding cab, but what I got was not what I paid for.

I've owned boutique amps (Zinky, Fargen, Sewell), and vintage amps (Marshall, Fender, Hiwatt, Orange), and the Ear Candy definitely looks like some guy made it in his garage, it does not look like a professionally made cab.

This cab was made in November of 2008. Actually, I'm not quite sure when it made because I had ordered it 11 months prior to it arriving at my doorstep.

It is solid birch and mahogany ply (as I am told), beautiful and very light. The tolex is black, very thick, and soft. The metal grill is heavy-duty, as well as the casters. The top-hat handles make it easy to carry. It is wired with Green Machines for 4 ohms with a line out.

This cab was put together so well that when I knock on the tolex, I can hear my knock echo and resonate within the cab. I'm only taking a few points off because I have no idea when it was actually made.

I play death metal and grindcore. The Green Machines sound absolutely stellar! Also, they do not "fart out" when I am chugging power chords in drop-B on my Agile baritone. Everything stays articulate and clear. Also, I can feel the air being pushed by the cab when I stand in front of it.

Pure awesomeness.

However, I would have happily taken an Avatar if I had known I would have to wait 11 months and file a claim with my credit card in order to receive my cab from Tim Paulsen. To me the sound quality is compromised due to the fact that I was almost screwed out of my hard-earned money.

I have a feeling this thing will last through the tornado that is about to destroy Lawrence, Kansas as I type this review.

However, if there are any problems with it, I doubt I will be able to contact Tim. He will probably be getting more heart surgery (or whatever excuse he decides to give) every time I try and contact him. Either that or he will be out of business and it won't matter.

Because the cab will last forever I will give it a 10. Because I wouldn't be able to get in touch with Tim if I needed, I will give a 0. I will average the two scores since both categories are equally important to me.

It took me a long time (about a year) in order to save up the $650 it cost to buy that cab. I was in touch with Tim for about two weeks before I bought the cab discussing details, and such. After I paid, he told it would take 2-4 weeks for it to arrive at my door. This seemed reasonable since it was, after all, a "custom" cab. Four weeks later, my nightmare began...

After 5 weeks, I thought, "No big deal. Things are probably busy". After 6 weeks, I thought, "Okay, I'm going to email Tim". I got wrapped up with all sorts of other responsibilities and then I realized it had been two months since I ordered and I hadn't even gotten an email. I emailed and asked what was going on and Tim said it would be there soon and gave a me a FedEx tracking number. A week later and no cab.

To make a long story short, we went back and forth for a while (I still have the email thread if anyone wants me to send it to them), I did some research and found his registered number for his business had been disconnected, things got put on hold due to other responsibilities of mine, etc. Finally, I called my credit card and filed a claim. Tim Paulsen ended up sending my cab right at the end of my credit card's two month deadline. My cab finally arrived 11 MONTHS AFTER I PAID FOR IT!

When the cab arrived, there was no letter of explanation or apology - just the cab. I was really mad and didn't want to even use it. Tim never even sent me an email or called to explain what happened.

I thought I had been screwed out of $650 and, in a way, I still feel I was.

I WILL NEVER BUY FROM TIM PAULSEN/EARCANDY CABS AGAIN AND I ADVISE EVERYONE TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS FROM THIS PRODUCT!

I have been playing about 14 years and have a wide variety of gear.

If someone stole this I would be happy because then I would never have to look at it again. Also, it is insured so I would get a portion of my money back.

It is an amazing cab; however, if I had it to do over, I would just have saved up the money for an ISP Vector Active Cab. ISP products are awesome! If that was not possible then I would buy an Avatar cab.

Everything you really need to know is in the category above. Do yourself a favor and stay away from EarCandy Cabs.

I have no opinion yet because this cab is still on order.

The reviews are very good on this product which is why I ordered one in the first place. I am looking forward to delivery.

Again, the reviews are very good.

This is where I do have an opinion. Tim is a very polite guy and I give him all the credit in the world for attempting to make the best product he can. He needs to learn how to communicate honestly to his customers. I ordered an unloaded (no speakers) Buzzbomb 11 months ago, and have not received it yet. My credit card was billed one week after placing the order. After 10 months of no communication, I e-mailed him and he said I would have my cab by the end of the following week. Another month has gone by and no speaker cab, and no communication. I will wait patiently, but this is very disappointing.

Anticipation raises expectations. I hope the cab lives up to it.

Customer support is excellent; emails are usually responded to within 1 - 2 days.

Avoid this company. You'll order a cab and never receive it. It'll perpetually remain in a state of being 2 weeks from being ready.

Ordered it custom from Tim, black on black with the black circular grills. Looks pretty mean if you ask me.

The construction is SOLID and the tolex appears to be of good quality. I believe the front panel is mahogany and the rest of the cab is 3/4 voidless plywood.

I don't know what you can say about features per se on a cab, but this is one is ported.

I play a Jackson Kelly Pro (w/ DiMarzio D-Activator and PAF Joe)and recently acquired a Jackson SL1. I am currently running these guitars through a VHT Sig:X.

I do not have the Green Machine speakers, but am using some Celestion G12K100s. All in all these are some awesome speakers, but may have a little too much bass for a ported cab. When playing the br00talz the bass can sometimes be overwhelming, but this is not necessarily the cabs fault, just a combination of amp, speakers, and the cab.

For jazz/blues/classic rock this speaker combo works great. Really detailed. However, it was a little odd at first especially since I was used to open back 212s. But I have played open backs after this and don't find them as appealing as I used to.

So yes, I do recommend this cab, but the Green Machines might sound better in it since they are supposedly a more neutral speaker.

So far so good, built like a tank.

Tim answered a barrage of e-mails that I initially had for him before ordering the cab. So it was nice to see that he actually cared about customer support.

The cab took a few weeks longer than expected, but that was OK, no big deal.

I am recently having a noise artifact issue which may be related to my amp, but may also be the wiring in the cab, or an interaction of both (Tim and I are both stumped on this though). Just told Tim about last night and he is already shipping me out a new jack and wires. Now that is what I call customer service!

Overall I am very satisfied with the cab.

If it were lost or stolen I might try out some of the other ported cabs, just to check them out, but would probably end up with another one of these since it is solidly build, less expensive, and you can order it speakerless.

Again, so far so good, but I've only had it for a few months. Hopefully there will be nothing about that I don't end up liking.

You can custom order from alot of options, so the possible features are pretty great. I have all the options one the jack I will ever need.

Just Got mine in, loaded with Green Machines. At First they seemed a tad on the bright side and slightly boxy, but after a few days of breaking them in a little, the top end has smoothed out a bit, and I have adjusted my eq settings to match. Sound is very full and fills the room pretty good. Even off axis, you can hear it pretty well surprisingly. This cab had a little more low end with the same EQ settings as my 4x12, but so far its not overwhelming unusable lows. Overall it sounds pretty great, using stereo efx, the separation is not as much as my previous cab, being a 4x12 might have effected that, so I don't get quite as wide of an effect with panning delays, and with too much efx and verb, it has sounded slightly boxy at times, but as the speakers break in, I am noticing it less. its possible it was the speakers, or perhaps I am just getting used to it.

Only had it for less then a week thus far. Looks to be built really well though.

Have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, Tim was very nice and easy to deal with, and mostly answered emails in a reasonable time. My requests were noted and answered. But on the other hand, it was very hard to get accurate build time, having been told 6 weeks, which turned into numerous months, and still incorrect information given on my due time. I understand it can be hard for small companies to keep up and give accurate times, but honesty and communication should be a priority. It was 50/50 in that respect. But like I said, a nice company personality wise, who I believe is really trying hard to meet the demand and still crank out a good hand build product. In hindsight, I would of probally just gone with a port city cab and had it that week, but I am happy with this cab now that it is finally here...

So far, I am digging this cab. It matches my setup quite nice, and looks great! I am pleased with the sound, and I don't think I will miss the fullness and coverage of my 4x12, this seems to be the best of both worlds so to speak. Green Machine speakers are quite nuetral, basically what you put in gets spit out. Lots of clarity and sounds good clean and equally driven. I think I will keep these speakers untill I feel like trying something else. Glad its finally here, the wait was brutal and filled with a trail of emails. ha.