ordered something...

So I finally got around to it. Placed an order with thomann.de. Microphone for vocals as well as miking the amp, midi controller, cable and microphone stand. And something special. We'll get back to that one hopefully.

As for miking the amp. I tried connecting directly to my sound interface and using software amplification. And apart from the trouble with dialing in the tone I want there was the latency issue. Huge latency. Really messed up my playing. So that's out for electric.

I also tried putting my existing microphone right up to one speaker cone. Worked nicely with my 1x12 combo. Not so much so with the 4x12 and me not wanting to go deaf. So I am going to try just having a room microphone. Might work.

Just hope the gear gets here in one piece. The 4x12 was a close call but that Kramer SM-1 I ordered back in 2018... It's no fun getting a new guitar only to find it was destroyed by the postal service. But hopefully this package will arrive unharmed.

Deciding on a cabinet

So now I had my head. Next thing to do? Find a cabinet. Again, this was a daunting task. Seemed easy enough at first. When I had considered the DSL20 and Code 100 all cabinets had seemed to be of a suitable size. I want the cabinet to be the same width as the head or wider, definitely not narrower, at least not by much. The Code 100H is just 52.5cm wide. The DG130H though is 71cm wide. Obviously, the range of suitable cabinets shrunk significantly.

I started looking at used cabinets. There were surprisingly few cabinets that were wide enough that weren’t also either a bit much and too far away compared to ordering one. And then there was the issue of speakers… When I had looked at the Code 100 head I was thinking the Code 412 cabinet would work great with that. Except I kept reading that it really needed celestion speakers to shine, Vintage 30 and Greenbacks seemed to be preferred. Speakers do matter, I do not question that at all. So I started going through youtube videos and forum discussions to figure out what speakers I should look for. And the Vintage 30’s did not really look that great at this point.

By this time I was very annoyed at this whole thing. I had no idea which way to go. Then I recalled. The DG80-112 had come with Celestion Vintage 30’s. And checking the manual for the DG130 I found that the matching cabinet, the S412V, came with 4 8ohm Vintage 30 speakers. Ok, so I figured that would be a good starting point. I ideally needed something with Vintage 30 speakers.

Again, this of course did not help much. I was offered a Marshall 1960 cabinet with greenbacks. This might have worked but the wattage was really on the limit there. I was also offered a Peavey 6505 cab, which may or may not have had Vintage 30’s, Peavey seem to not have been very consistent. A good friend found a Mesa Boogie 2x12, which had vintage 30´s. I do trust him on these issues. We were getting into some rather expensive options though, in relation to my budget for this. But it got me back to looking at 2x12’s. A certain german online retailer has a brand of music equipment which offer some very attractive budget options. So a 2x12 cab with vintage 30’s, that would be 120W at 8ohm. But… 130W amp… Ok, so in hindsight I can say that I’m certain that 120W at 8ohm would have been fine. The amp is rated 130W at 4ohm and 100W at 8ohm. But since doubt had been placed in my head…

I just went ahead and ordered the Harley Benton G412A Vintage. Just to get it done. The price was pretty much the same as other cabinets I had considered used. Except this was with shipping and not spending hours driving back and forth. Slightly lower than the used Marshall options. Noticeably lower than a new Marshall 1960A.

The cabinet arrived a few days after placing the order. Now, I have previously ordered things from this german online retailer and have bad experiences with the shipping (broken guitar). So I specifically asked them to make sure the packaging was sufficient and, if possible, remove castors to reduce the risk of damage. When it arrived, there was a big hole in the carton. No extra padding for protection. Castors still on. Seriously, just adding a layer of carton would have been sufficient to protect from some rough handling. The condition was good enough though that I didn’t want to bother.

Finding the right amplifier

So, once I had decided to turn part of my living room into a guitaring area I started thinking about what amplifier I should use. I knew that I would need an amplifier upstairs for when I put my girls to sleep, they appreciate their father noodling about while they try to fall asleep, and I decided that my old DG60 would be serving that purpose. What I needed then was something that would match or preferrably outshine the DG60 in every way.

As my thoughts moved on, I decided my new amplifier needed to have some furniture-like qualities. It needed to look good. And take up some vertical space as the walls are pretty boring. That ruled out most combo amplifiers really. Small size is good for many things, this was not one of them. So maybe a half or full stack? Yes, why not work on what used to be a distant dream? Half stack it was. Checking the used market made me think this would definitely be a good idea.

So, a half stack then. But what half stack? I looked around at used amps and there were Laney, Marshall, Peavey, Mesa Boogie, Fender… I quickly decided against a Mesa Boogie head. I know they’re great but way above my budget. Marshall, well, turned out the ones that were within my budget were solid state and opinions varied from them being pure crap to being great for what they are. So I gave it some more though. Like, I don’t really need a 100W head, do I? My 60W combo was louder than I needed. 

Also, looks. I needed it to look good. The Laney and Peavey heads I found would all look great in a man-cave or at rehearsal. Not so much so in a living-room. The Fenders were somewhat in-between in this regard.

So this is when I look at what shops have and I stumble across Marshalls Origin 20H. Wow. Now, that seems to tick the boxes. Then the DSL20H. Yes, one of these would do it. Then I noticed the Code 100H. Now, it’s a 100W head but I know that modelling amps can be run at low output and still sound good, plus I read up a bit on things and figured a 100W amp isn’t necessarily THAT much louder than a 60W amp. It should be possible to play at tolerable levels.

Of course, me being me, this is when I started second guessing myself. I always do this. Would a 20W head be loud enough? Would the tube amps require pedals to get the sound I want? Would the Code 100H phone app stop working at the next android update?

Eventually, I had a look online at the used section at one of the big stores here in Sweden. Found a DSL20H cheap. Just couldn’t figure out how to order it. Went to another store website. Found an even cheaper Code 100H. And ordering was easy.

Pretty much had my mind made up there. Until I looked to see if they had a suitable cabinet. And that’s when I saw it. My new amp. The Yamaha DG130HA. After a chat with a friend, I decided to order that. I’ll do a separate writeup on this amplifier, hopefully with pictures. But the reason I ordered it is basically that I know how good my DG60 sounds and I needed to match or exceed that. And the DG130H… Well, kind of a unicorn. I can always get one of the Marshall heads later this year, this could easily have been the last time I ever saw the Yamaha head for sale.