Marshall 1960BX Cabinet

Mine is a reissue from the period when they first started reissuing this cab, probably late 80s or early 90s I imagine. It is a very good looking cab, and the checkerboard grillcloth lends a much more pleasant and "vintage" looking aesthetic, which is something I enjoy... However it is only mono. This version of the reissue actually came with Rola Celestion G12-65 speakers. I know for a fact that the speakers were stock, believe it or not. They sound and look very much like greenbacks, except for their larger ceramic magnets (between 20 and 30 oz I suppose...). They are 65 watt speakers, making this a 260 watt cab, although the plate on the back of the cab near the input jack says "100 watts peak." This cab is not versatile however, it only lends itself to one particular sound. Its loud enough to play with a very loud drummer, but if you're competing with someone who is using something like an ampeg v4 or a sunn or mesa amp, forget about fighting for volume because you'll never win. This cab does not provide volume, only tone. The speakers have very little headroom. When played heavily distorted, they compress almost as much as alnico magnet speakers.

The guitar I am using is a warmoth telecaster with a seymour duncan JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. the amps im using are a 61 brownface bassman (modded to 100 watts...), a 76 50-watt marshall non master JMP, and a 70's 100-watt traynor Mark III. The cab sounds very stereotypically 70's. Total vintage marshall tone with my '76 50 watt JMP. It also sounds great with my bassman, although the speakers break up A LOT. I wish it were cleaner. Don't even try using this cab for a "fender clean." It just won't happen at any reasonable volume. Even using a single coil guitar through my '61 bassman, which is a stereotypically "clean" amp at low volumes, it still breaks up a good bit. I have even replaced two of the 65's with eminence vintage 30 clones (legend v12), in an attempt to get more headroom when using a boost pedal (visual sound route 66 overdrive/compression). This worked only marginally. The 65's have a good tone when you're using a non master volume tube amp, but in my opinion speaker distortion is grainy and I would rather hear my amp distort, rather than the speakers. The enclosure itself does not project sound very well. In my opinion, the particle board used for the sides makes the cab sound muddy. The low end is not "tight" in any sense. I am usually a fan of heavy low end, and have always played with my cabs on the floor, but this one absolutely must be played with it on the casters or else it doesnt project. I have to scoop most of the very low bass frequencies (my bassman being a very bottom-heavy amplifier) to get a clear, concise tone. if you use this thing with an ampeg v4, forget about having any kind of clarity. this is one of my major pet peevs about this cabinet. for a cabinet that is so expensive you would expect them to use better production standards... but I digress. basically this cab is only good for one thing: distortion and power chords. I am pretty fed up with it and soon i am going to replace the speakers with weber electro-voice clones (weber michigan 12inch). I am hoping this will clean up the sound and give me a little bit more sound projection and headroom.

The tolex tears easily. One of the casters came straight out of the cabinet because the particle board used for the sides is really cheap and soft. You can push your hand on it and feel how soft it is. This really pisses me off. I wish i had bought an orange cab or a vintage ampeg or traynor one that uses 100 percent baltic birch plywood. the heavy weight of those cabs is worth the sound projection that you get out of them. one of the casters just tore out of the bottom of the cab when i was rolling it around one time. If you're not rolling it on straight pavement, i wouldnt suggest pushing it very hard because the crappy screws that are holding in the casters will just tear straight out of the enclosure. I replaced mine with heavy duty screws but i am still expecting them to tear out at some other time because I use this cabinet on tour with my band and its going to be rolled around on some more gravel and rocks and stuff... possibly brick pathways. whatever you can imagine. the screws holding on the back panel suck and they strip every time you try to take the panel on or off. the back panel is the only part made of plywood. If you dont screw it on really ridiculously tight, it rattles like hell when you're playing with heavy bass response.

never tried it

been playing for 11 years. I own a really crappy behringer enclosure that is sitting in my garage, unloaded now. its a piece of garbage basically, but even that thing had tighter bass and better sound projection than this marshall cab. if this thing were stolen i would only be sad because of how much money i put into it, rather than losing the cab. the only thing i love about it is the way it looks, its a really beautiful cabinet and the grill cloth is pretty. the speakers are just okay... i dont know why speaker breakup is the standard for rock guitar. it seems silly to me, why would you want that kind of grainy distortion in your tone? i would much rather hear my power tubes distorting on a cranked non master volume tube amp, with no tonal coloration from the speakers. the things that i hate about it are numerous... it doesnt project for crap, the bass response is muddy as hell, the screws strip really easily and tear straight out of the particle board. the construction standards are just sad. I wish it was made out of 100 percent baltic birch plywood like an orange cab, and I wish it were loaded with some high wattage electo voice guitar speakers or JBL speakers. basically unless you're using this thing in the studio, i wouldnt suggest getting it... especially if youre trying to get any kind of headroom or clean tone.

Made in 2004. 4x12 Greenback 25W speakers. Solid construction with a classic touch. I bought it new 3 month ago. It's a mono cab, and that is why I rate it 9 in this category.

Great cab! It sounds much warmer and "rounder" than the Vintage 30 which I also have but mainly used for modern metal sounds. The greebacks is my choice for guitar soloing. It cuts through the mix very well and the sound is warm and focused. The 1960 standard and vintage series tend to have the "overtone" when playing solo, and the overtone bothers me very much. I use the Greenbacks with my Marshall JCM800 and TSL100, and this cab does reproduce a much more "authentic" tone that your guitar produce. When I use it with my TSL100 (crunch channel) and Fender American Deluxe(all stock pickups), the sound is impecable and you'll get every nuance of your playing and that percussive "wood" tone of a Fender, a great setup for alternative rock or blues. When it''s used with my Jackson RR1 and JCM800, I will get that classic shred sound that my V30 and Standard can't even get close enough. When I use the Lead channel of the TSL100 with my Music Man Petrucci model, I'm in progressive rock heaven. By the way, I love my Ernie Ball Petrucci guitar, it gives you the most balanced and best distortion sound. The clean sound that this cab produce is among the best I've ever experienced (especially with my Gibson ES335). Don't get me wrong, I also love my Marshall 1960AV, but I use it almost only for mean,tight and heavy bottom gritty metal sounds. (1960AV/BV is great for 7 string or alternate tunning). If you are a tone freak like me, get both the Greenback and Vintage series. There is a good reason why Marshall make them differently. I used to be a MesaBoogie user for many years, but ever since I switched to my first Marshall, I never look back.

No Problem yet.

Don't know yet.

If you are a tone freak like me, get both the Greenback and Vintage series. There is a good reason why Marshall make them differently. I used to be a MesaBoogie user for many years, but ever since I switched to my first Marshall, I never look back.

It's got all I'll ever need. Corner protectors might have been a good idea, though.

By far the best sounding cabinet I've ever heard. I run it with a Mesa Dual Rec 3 channel head on the rhythm channel with low-medium distortion and it sounds amazing. I also used a JCM 800 2210 head and was also pretty impressed. The closest to perfect sound that you can get with any amp. It's not extremely loud, but it handles shows fine and lets you get a better tone with a little less volume. The top right speaker is a little louder/has more presence than the other 3 (weird, anyone else's do that?) but I don't care, it didn't affect anything that I can tell.

Only had it a couple weeks, played 2 shows with it and it seems to be doing fine. Previous owner clearly used it a lot, as the tolex is torn all over, but it's not the cosmetics that matter, it's the sound that comes out of it. I saw it for $400 at a used store and had to get it. The cashier told me it had to be mispriced, but sold it for what it said. Hell yeah. I traded in a blown combo and a shitty Peavey 412 then paid $150 and took the Marshall home.

Suits just about any style well. And it looks cool. Buy one. I would definitely buy another one if something happened to the one I have now.

As an authentic reissue, this cab unfortunately doesn't have stereo
capability like the new Marshall cabs with Vintage 30's or G12-75's.

For getting the 1970's hard rock tones, having this specific cabinet, versus some of the other Marshall cabinets, is much more important that which particular amp head you use. Many different heads, combined with the Greenback speakers, will give you those 70's tones; on the other hand, no Marshall head will give you those tones through the modern 1960 or 1960V cabinets. Don't even attempt to get tones from early AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Schenker, Blackmore,
early ZZ Top, and even early Van Halen, without this cabinet. Just
think about it, were the G12-75 or Vintage 30's available when those
recordings were cut? By the way, the Vintage 30's are not reissues of
any of the vintage speakers, as their name would mislead you to
believe. At the power rating of 60, they sound quite different than
any of the old Celestion 30 Watt speakers, and they are manufactured
quite differently to achieve the higher power rating. One advantage the cabinets with the Vintage 30's have is that the sound is dispersed
much more evenly, in all directions, than the cabinets with the
Greenbacks. In other words, with the Greenbacks you need to stand
right in front of the cabinet to hear the best tone, namely the tone
that a close positioned microphone would pick up. This is not the
case with the Vintage 30's cabinets. But stand right in front of the
cabinet and the Greenbacks will sound much better. Another difference is that the cabinet with the Greenbacks is less loud than the Marshall
cabs with G12-75's and Vintage 30's. This is not a small difference,
it is very audible, and will be great if you are trying to get a good
tone at a lower volume. Finally, there is also a very audible difference between straight and slant cabinets. What you hear on
old hard rock recordings is much more often the straight cab than
the slant cab. Obviously the straight cab don't look as good and
don't sound as good at the bottom of a stack when you are standing.
However, if you have another cabinet to put them on top, or a table
or something else to bring them higher, you will hear the midrange
that the slant cabs can't produce. In fact, when you stand in the
position where the two cabs produce their best tones, the straight cab, surprisingly, sounds less bassy, despite its greater bulk.

These cabs are well built and their lower power rating is not a reliability problem, it is the price you have to pay for getting a
particular tone.

The best among Marshall or any other cabs for old hard rock and early heavy metal.

This is a straight 4X12 Marshall reissue cab with 25W Celestion greenback speakers. 100W. Checkers cloth. Gorgeous. Only one imput as opposed to the newer ones that have the two imputs and the mono/stereo switch. No corner protecters, so you've gotta be careful so that the tolex doesn't peel. Medium-sized Marshall logo. I give it a nine because this cab has all the features it's supposed to have, but the new ones have a few more options and more power handling.

This is simply the best sounding cab I've ever owned, and I've had many different ones. The speakers are very warm sounding but with a good amp (I use the 100W Super Lead plexi) they can roar. They are just kind of warm, but mean. The cabinet is extra tall, so there is more room for the sound to resonate. You just really can't beat the sound of it. This one beats the pants of the new ones in terms of sound. Very happening.

One must be very careful with these finicky vintage Celestion Greenbacks. They only handle 25 watts a piece, so a 100W head can blow these or wear them out pretty fast. The coils are paper. After cranking them, you've got to let them cool down first, and you shouldn't crank them too hard in the first place. It's not like they're incredibly fragile or anything, but they will not take tons of punishment. I use that 100W Super Lead head, so I don't get the amp's volume past six or seven. With one of Marshall's 300W cabs, one can keep the amp on ten all the time and never have a problem, but those don't sound or look as good. If you must crank the amp, like I do, you've got to either get a second cab or use a power attenuator (THD Hotplate works best).

Never had to contact the guys.

Bottom line: best cab money can buy sonically and aesthetically, but they are slightly more fragile than others. I would definately get a new one if it got stolen or something. If you're looking for the best tone around, your search is over for speakers. Get the 1960BX.