Scumback M75 PVC - Wow

[dawgchamp]

I got back from Whittier about four hours ago where I met Jim and one of his production crew at his facility/showroom. I brought along my Reason Bambino to play through a few of his Cali-production Scumbacks to pick a replacement for my current Weber-produced H75-30.

Since my playing sucks, I had Jim play a bunch through my Bambino with his LP. Various types of music, cleans, dirty, crunch, 2 watt, 8 watt, with me changing amp settings while he played. On a side note, he's a fine player, and it was great to actually listen rather than worry about what you're playing.

After a half-hour or so, we both agreed that the M75-PVC sounded best with this amp so, after taking up an hour of this man's time, I left with the M.

When I got home, I took a last listen to my old speaker, then installed the PVC into my Mather 1x12 cab. I expected to hear a difference, but not nearly to the degree that I did. I was literally stunned.

The cleans are stellar; it doesn't sound like the same amp and LP. Dialing it up a bit with the stack mode, I had none of the mid-range fizz I had with my old speaker which was a late production from Indiana. OD from the amp was amazing. Even my wife commented on the obvious difference by saying "It sounds so different. A lot better than before."

In short, Jim has hit it out of the park with these PVC speakers. My thanks to him for a great product, and the time he generously spent with me today.

[shakti]

I've just ordered 4 M75-PVCs and 4 H55-PVCs for this stack...can't wait!

[rgorke]

Congrats!!! I was at Jim's around the holidays when he had the creaping crud and still took the time to listen to my unpotted vintage dimarzio super distortion squeal like a banshee.

The PVCs are awesome!!!.

[NY Chief]

Hey dawg, welcome to the Scumback Speaker Demo room experience!

Just make sure you don't visit on Sunday.....

[Scumback Speakers]

Hey dawg, welcome to the Scumback Speaker Demo room experience!

Just make sure you don't visit on Sunday.....

Yeah you ruined that for everybody, Mike!

[Roe]

I've saved up for a quad - only need to decide on the cab, whether I want a tall or standard straight cab

[shakti]

Go tall Roe!

My speakers are out in the barn, ready for mounting right after I finish this coffee...oh boy!

[Scumback Speakers]

Go tall Roe!

My speakers are out in the barn, ready for mounting right after I finish this coffee...oh boy!

Animal.

LOL...I'm figuring the all 8 are getting fired up at once. Keep the barn door locked so that the police don't take you away!

[shakti]

Only had time to mount the four M75-PVCs yesterday, in the slant cab pictured above. It's a Hendrix RI stack cab which I've upgraded the internal bracing and soundpost on, and installed EC Collins pinstripe. I quickly sold the G12C speakers in it, thought those were pretty harsh sounding. Very crunchy and sizzly, which actually sounded pretty cool for clean Strat sounds with a JTM45/100, but unusable for anything else really...

I also had a quad of '69 G12M 75hZ speakers in there for a while, but since I have another cab with similar speakers I decided I wanted to try the PVCs, as they match the cab aesthetically...i.e. they're both clones of a '66-67 style cab and speakers.

I'll reserve the full review until I have more time with them, but I am *very* impressed with what I hear! They have the same warmth and fatness of the '69 speakers, but with even more articulation! The bass is actually much tighter - there's not really less bass, but it's beautifully under control. Mids are just as they should and as expected for an M magnet greenback. But the real beauty is in the upper mids and high end, where these speakers really, really shine! The '69 era G12Ms have a very warm and almost soft top end, even the 75Hz ones. These M75-PVCs are really open on the top end, but never harsh. They also have this very fast response to them that mates beautifully with the lower gain Marshall plexis. A Strat sounded much more alive with these speakers, yet a Les Paul had the same full, fat sound.

A friend of mine has a '66 4x12 with G12Ms (two H1777 cones, two 102 003 cones, but April '66 date codes on all speakers, IIRC). Another friend of mine recently scored two '66 Marshall PA cabs with similar speakers, so I've played originals of these before. While this wasn't a side by side comparison, these speakers remind me a LOT of what I've heard from those cabs.

Hope to try the H55-PVCs later today, and will come back with a full review when I have more time, but initial impressions are *very* favourable.

I should also mention that Jim, as always, is a total pleasure to deal with. I've pestered him about these PVC speakers for what feels like years now, and he's replied to every single annoying email from me. He was even generous enough to do FBI on these speakers free of charge even though it's not normally an option on these models. I'm not even sure if I should mention that since it's not something that's offered as an option, and I don't think anyone should expect the same...but I wanted to mention it nonetheless. Jim, here's to you!

[shakti]

Needless to say(?), the H55-PVCs also sound awesome. Cleaner than the Ms and a little bit louder, though not as much as expected. I think I'm getting some standing waves in the tall cab that I need to eliminate to get even more punch, but the base tone is really there and I can hear the speakers shine with classic G12H sound, yet that upper mid snarl and crunch of the 66-67 era. Strat into the JTM45/100 with the tall bottom cab and H55-PVCs = Hendrix BBC tone to a T!