Avatar 212 Cabinet

Two Celestion 12" Speakers + input jack + output jack for daisy chaining. What else do you need? Rated 9 because it would have been a "nice to have" had there been a way to put a switch on the output for running two of these in series rather than in parallel. But then I don't know any manufacturers that do that.

I have the Contemporary Cabinet. These are the heaviest of the lot. They're also IMO the best sounding of the lot, and the best looking. The closed back cabinet is made with some very heavy wood. Lots of punch.

Just make sure your cabinet speakers wattage rating is >/= the wattage of your amp and you'll be fine. If you don't, you can't complain.

The dude running the place is a great guy. He stands behind his product. We had a mutual misunderstanding and internet colors on web sites can be so misleading and they got both of us. He gave me the link to his tolex supplier. I looked. I looked at the tolex Korg supplies. The colors looked identical. They weren't. He did explain thoroughly the policy before I made the decision. I made the call. It was the wrong call. Purple Bronco is not the same as the tolex for the Marshall Vintage Modern. I called him to let him know for the next customer who wanted to try it. If you're trying to match it, just order the tolex from Korg and put it on yourself or get something that contrasts. That said the purple bronco is cool against my black JVM. :)

If this cabinet were stolen I'd check local hospitals for the guy with the hernia. I love that it's heavy because heavy means the sound has a great punch. I hate that it's heavy because I'm not that young anymore and the things are hard on my back. I compared this to several other cabs. I liked the Orange cab the best of the others I looked at, but then have you seen their prices? EEEK!!! Someone directed me to Avatar. I'm directing others there because of the quality of the cabinets. The price to me on these is a bonus feature.

Price below includes shipping.

Metal corners and handles, nice daisy chain jacks. Couldn't be anything better.

With a Celestion Alnico Blue and a Greenback it is full of funk and soul. Sweet blues and rock is all I'm after.

Will last longer than I do. If I don't get too frisky and start dinging it up, it will be proudly passed down to my children.

Call Avatar and find out for yourself. What a team.

Played everything but a Dumble over the last 45 years. I currently own 6 guitar cabs. 5 of them are Avatars. Absolutely no reason to ever buy any other cab.

One G12H30 and a Greenback. Quality components at every turn.

Gorgeous tone for rock and blues. Wouldn't know about anything else.

This thing looks like it will outlive me.

It isn't possible to be treated with more professionalism or courtesy.

Been playing for over 45 years. Owned, modded and played everything but a Dumble. I currently own 6 guitar cabs, 5 of them are Avatar in various configurations. Nobody makes a better cab.

A 2x12 cab features?

Sound fine.

This is where these cabs fail. Don't drop it it's made out of crappy plywood. Why don't they use solid pine? Why do you think all the old Fender cabs are still around? Fender used solid wood.

There are plenty of people like The Cab Guy and JDNewell who are selling QUALITY SOLID pine cabinets for 2x12 setups at $200. When I asked for solid pine I got the run around. The truth is it is cheap to make out of plywood and plywood is poor quality.

I would go with the solid pine cabinet.

This is for a 2007 Avatar 2x12 Vintage cabinet. Mine is stocked with a pair of Celestion Blues. I play blues, rock, folk, and prog -type stuff. OK, and maybe occasionally some wannabe death metal.

The cab looks like an old Bluesbreaker cab. It's wired for 8 ohms and has an out jack for daisy-chaining another cab. I haven't tried that yet.

The cab has a partially-open back---the middle is open, and the top and bottom are closed. You could move either the top or bottom panels to change the location of the open port, or you could easily make it a closed-back cab by simply attaching a fitted piece of plywood. I really like this versatility.

Also, the cab is deeper than most of the cabs made by the "big" guys like Marshall and Vox. An original Bluesbreaker cab would have been a full 12" deep, but the current Marshall reissues are only 9" or 10". This will impact your bass response and hence overall tone. Avatar measurements are the real deal...mine is nice and deep.


I play the amp with a '99 Gibson SG into a Vox AC30 custom classic head, modified by Dan "Toneman" Butler, who does great work and has great customer service just like Dave at Avatar.

The cab is built very well, but it's actually pretty light. It's lighter than my AC30 head. It has recessed handles on the sides.

When buying a cab, you will probably be concerned with three main things: quality of construction, design (measurements, front angle, open or closed back, etc.), and the speakers inside.

The Avatar cabs are constructed well, they're designed better than most of the reissue cabs by the big amp manufacturers (see previous section), and Celestion Blues are IMHO the best speakers out there.

Therefore, the cab sounds great. Great bass....it doesn't get lost, and it doesn't sound farty either (though this has to do with other elements of your setup as well).

The wiring is neat. The baffle is high-quality and the speakers were in perfect shape. The Tolex and grillcloth were neatly applied. The wood and screws are high quality.

Ideally, I would like the cab to be built with dovetail joints, as they are the strongest. I think Avatar offers dovetail joints as an optional feature, so I won't deduct any points for that.

Dave at Avatar is not only a nice guy, but he'll sit and have a real conversation with you about what you're looking for, what parts/options/etc. you want, and any questions you may have. He shipped the amp to me very quickly, and it was packed so well that I believe I could have dropped the package down the stairs without it breaking. I'll leave that experiment to you, though.

This is the great kind of customer service that NONE of the big companies could ever, ever match; and this, along with Dave's great attention to detail, is why you really ought to buy an Avatar cab instead of the Vox 2x12 or one of the similar Marshall cabs.

When you buy something that was handmade by a guy doing what he loves, you end up with higher quality. that's a no-brainer.

made in 2007, and a 2-12 is the most versatile speaker cabinet there is! its got 2 inputs, but i only use one, nothing i wish it had. it was shipped to me bare, with nothing in it but the cables to connect the speakers, but i loaded in 2 jensen p12Q's that i originally got for my ac30 cc2 (bad combination-- i sold the vox) but its a basic geetar cabinet, made of birch!

i use my 1966 bassman head into it with the jensens, and after a day of breaking them in in my basement, theres not a sound they cant make for the geetar! since theres only one sound to the bassman, theres only one sound for the cabinet, but thats the sound i want! i use a variety of geetars, such as an epiphone casino and les paul junior 57 reissue (see the extensive reviews i wrote up about the 2 of them!) both with duncan antiquitiy p90's (alnico 2 magnets-- very warm), a gretsch, a rickenbacker, telecaster and a danelectro 6 string bass, and there isnt a sound i cant get! its a bit noisy with the p90's but what isnt? it suits my musical style to a tee, which includes rockabilly/psychobilly/merseybeat, surf, country, r & b, garage, punk rock and anything else i like thats good! a cranked bassman to 7 is a glorious sound! i saw mike ness use the same head this week, and no one complains about that sound! same as about a million other greats! im glad i can get that sound now!

the speaker cabinet is one of the most reliable cabinets i ever used! i tried to buiild my own, but i messed up, so i just called a pro and they sent it to me complete! cant get much simpler than that! this cab looks sturdy as hell and i cant wait to gig with it on friday!

avatar is the best! the guy whom i got on the phone the first time is a total professional, and knows his shit with speakers and cabinets! id reccomend him to anyone! i dont think ill need a warranty on this, but its nice to know that NY Music repair in Mellville will help me out with ANYTHING i need in that department!

ive been playing close to 2 decades and own tons of other gear! amps, i got a fender deluxe reverb reissue, a vox ac15 and a crappy reissue champion 600 that i want to sell soon! geetars, i got an epiuphone casino, les paul jr. 57 reissue, a gretsch electromatic 5129, rickenbacker 330, a tokai telecaster and a danelectro baritone, all of which get extensive use! then also, i got a ton of effects, but i dont feeeeel i need to use those now! theres nbothing i dislike about it! i chose this one cause i know it was well built and relatively inexpensive! i think its better to buy no name brands that are made of high quality than to splurge on the same thing with a marshall, fender or vox name brand on it (that isnt even the real thing to begin with!

G212H Eminence loaded cab has two new Eminence 150 watt rms speakers from the new Patriot line. This cab has one Eminence 12 inch Tonker and one Eminence 12 inch Swamp Thang. it is a 300 watt cab. They are both high efficiency speakers at 102 db. Black tolex cab has the satin finish powder coated black metal grill shock mounted on thick rubber supports. This is a standard 8 ohm mono cab. This cab is constructed of high quality 13 PLY voidless Baltic Birch plywood and has rabbet and dado interlocking side joints for extreme strength. The cab has two in/out jacks on the rear input panel for easy daisy chaining with other speaker cabs. It has protective nickel corners, black rubber feet.

I selected this combination because I wanted to do amp/cab modeling using a Line6 Pod XT Pro with a Carvin rack mount TS100 power amp. The Eminence speakers perform exactly as I expected with the highest quality, huge versatility, and no negative issues or susprises.

The cabinet's interios dimensions must be perfect since the sound seems perfect. Lucky me.

It's difficult to know since reliability depends more on the user and how much care he takes with the equipment than on anything else, afterall the junkyards are full of cars and they're made out of steel. However, I have to take issue with a previous reviewer about plywood and density since the issue should be strength, not density (mdf is dense but not strong) while 13 ply plywood with rabbet and dado interlocking side joints is as perfectly strong as it gets for this kind of use. I opened the cabinet back to change the speakers to a stereo setup and in terms of strength and quality, there is nothing to worry about, even if you hire drunk gorillas as roadies.

Bottom Line: The cabinets are second to none in construction!

Pleasent, efficient, active listeners during one brief phone call to pay for the cabinet.

I couldn't be happier with the purchase. I recieved exactly what I wanted at a competitive price. Delivery was fast. the Cabinet is Beautiful on the outside, and The acoustic dimensions of the sound seem perfect to my ear. I will definately buy another Avatar Cabinet when the need arised. Thanks.

I own two of these. Both of mine are Avatar's open-back design, which is more like a "semi" open back due to the small size of the port in back. Black tolex, metal corners, plywood construction, and wheat colored grill cloth. Good design.

The speaker terminal plate in the back has two 1/4" phono jacks, and comes hardwired from the factory in your choice of series, parallel, or stereo. I would have been willing to pay the extra $12 for a more versatile terminal plate, but Avatar only offers this one to save on costs. It works, but it limits versatility.

My main dissappointment with these cabs came when I swapped speakers in one of them, and discovered that the speakers are mounted to the baffle board using wood screws. This works and sounds fine, but if you like to swap speakers, you will want to dowel the holes in your speaker baffle, and then replace the screws with bolts and t-nuts like those used in decent speaker cabs (Mesa, Peavey, etc.). Using screws instead of bolts saves a few cents, but I would have preferred having the speakers mounted using bolts.

If you ever plan to swap speakers in one of these cabs, remember this review, and then go buy yourself $3 worth of bolts and t-nuts before you get started...

These are great sounding cabs. They might not be as sturdy as higher priced cabs, but they sound just as good as anything out there. The design on these wins the prize. Perfect amount of air in the cab to develop a good bass resonance, and the opening in the back is just the right size too. My cabs sound thick and punchy, like a closed back cab, but the port on the back lets the speakers move more freely than a closed back cab, so you get more volume too.

These are budget priced cabs that just happen to sound really good. The plywood is not very dense, and I imagine it would crumple if dropped more than a few feet. This and the fact that they used wood screws instead of bolts to hold the speakers means you probably won't see too many "vintage" Avatar cabs 20 years from now...

On the other hand, while most budget cabs use plastic corners, the metal corners on the Avatar cabs should improve longevity. Also, while the simple speaker terminal may limit versitily, simple tends to more reliable in the long-run.

Dave at Avatar is legendary! Very nice guy and a straight talker too. I believe these come with a 12 month warranty, and during that 12 months, Avatar will bend over backwards to make sure you, the customer, are as happy as possible.

If you want a good sounding speaker cab for cheap, this is it.

In terms of overall construction, if you have a bit more money to spend, there are probably better options out there, but I would buy Avatar again because it's a hassle free path to a good sounding cab.

The Eminence and Celestion speakers that Avatar puts in their cabs are some of the best sounding guitar speakers ever made, and for the price, you really can't go wrong.

If you talk to Dave, mention the thing about the bolts and t-nuts vs. screws. If enough people mention it, maybe they will change and/or at least offer the bolts as an option. Also, an option for a more versatile speaker terminal plate would be nice too.

This is a new Avatar G212H custom 2x12 open back cab with one Celestion Vintage 30 and one Celestion G12H30 speaker. The cab has black Tolex with a black grill. It is the same as Avatar's special offering for only $289 plus shipping, of the same cab and speaker arrangement, only this has a black grill instead of the wheat or Fender silver grills that are offered as a special. I opted for the black on black to better match my black amp. It has professional looks, as well as, sound. I'll go into the sound later. The recessed side handles are a very nice touch and provide a secure grip for transport. The cab is rated at an 8 ohm load, and can be ordered at other ohm ratings. The black tolex is nicely applied and the metal corners provide a bit more protection from the bumps of the road. The cab is built with 3/4 inch voidless birch ply and have rabbett and dado interlocking side joints. The cab has quality construction and feels very sturdy.

I am using this cab with a Mesa F-50 combo amp. Styles of music range from blues, country, pop, and classic rock, however, the cab is in no way limited to these types of music. Guitars used are a Fender American Deluxe HSS, an Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II, and a Taylor 314CE acoustic. All sound just fantastic with the tones dialed in for each instrument. The speaker "mismatch" is actually one of it's strong points as each speaker covers a different spectrum of tone that work very well together and enhances the overall sound. An A/B comparison was done with the cab using a Mesa LSS combo. To be as fair as possible, first LSS was played using both the stock C90 and a Mesa 1x12 open back cab with a Vintage 30 speaker together. Then, the Avatar was plugged into the LSS. The tones were surprisingly similar, although the Avatar discernably had more bottom end. This could be due the larger overall cab size, and the C90 vs. the G12H30. In any case, the Avatar brought smiles to all 5 listeners in the studio. The cab was deemed to be gig approved and will also be used for recording. It has a very smooth sound and is warmer than the single C90 in my amp.

With the metal connector plate and the stout construction, I hope to use this cab for years of trouble free use. There are no rattles or any other sounds that distract from the tone. I tend to take care of my musical instruments and don't anticipate any issues with this cab. It was purchased to be played and would feel at home on any stage.

When I contacted Avatar initially via the internet, they were prompt, courteous, and friendly. There were some questions that I had and needed assistance on some aspects of the purchase. I felt as though I was a welcomed and familiar returning customer. Should the occasion arise, I will be. I have been involved in customer service and support for years. Dave and Evan went above and beyond to assist me and actually surpassed my expectation. This is rare these days and I can only name a handful of resellers who have done that. There is no pretense or unsubstantiated claims when it comes to Avatar's ability to accomodate their customers. (If English is your first language, you can plainly understand them, too!!) 10+ and thank you again to Dave and your team.

I am a long time hobbyist/enthusiast who is fortunate enough to be playing with 4 others who, cumulatively, have well over 100 years of experience. I am very pleased with my purchase and would buy another Avatar if it was lost or stolen. Upon placing my order, the cab was at my doorstep in only 3 days. Have your ever ordered anything that was not in stock from a store and waited for it to come in? If so, you would agree that this is pretty quick service. I like the way the cab looks and more importantly, the way it sounds. If you're looking for greater vintage aesthetics, take a look at Avatar's Premiere Vintage cab. I do appreciate the wide variety of speaker combinations and cab combinations that can be ordered from Avatar. If you have a particular speaker sound, chances are that you can order your cab with a speaker combination that your style. I can't think of anything that I dislike about the cab, except that it'll take up more room in the truck. I looked at Mesa Boogie cabs, Bogner, as well as, others. Dollar for dollar, I firmly believe that this is the best value on the market, if you're not hung up on a "brand" named cab that matches the brand of your amp. The savings allowed me to buy another guitar without sacrificing quality. Great product, great service, and great price. What more could you ask for?

This is an Avatar 212 loaded with one Eminence Governor and one Eminence Swamp thing. I had them build the cab in stereo so I could A/B the speakers or use them one at a time if I wanted to. Comes with black tolex (my choice) and oxblood grill cloth (also my choice). Two hefty side handles (if I could change anything about the cab, I'd add a top-mounted strap handle).

I use Les Pauls of various stripes (Smartwood, Standard, Custom) and a mini-humbucker SG-1 with this cab. I build my own amps, and they sound fantastic through this cabinet. The speakers mix together perfectly to provide a clear, balanced attack, without overt highs that cut your face off.

Just got it, but it looks very well built. I'd be really surprised if it didn't hold up.

When you call Avatar, you talk to a real, live person, IN THE USA. I asked them to put some tape on the top of the cab to label which speaker was which (so I could A/B them), and they dutifully did so. They told me my cab would arrive the next Friday and it got to my house on the next Thursday. Sweet.

Been playing since 1984. This is the best-sounding cab I've played through in all that time. I can't wait to get home and play through this sucker some more!