Metropoulos True Replica '68 4X12" cabinet

[yngwie308]

Some shots of my incredible Metro True Replica '68 Basket weave 4X12" and my Metrofied Marshall 1959HW.
This is a quite some time ago but George and company packed the hell out of this thing a very happy day for me indeed:
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... bc075f.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... 2e6480.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... ce0a0f.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... 7fdbaf.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... 9f1e11.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... a393b0.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... 770560.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... 39b268.jpg
I cannot express just how RIGHT this cab sounds, it is as good as or better than my originals I bought from Jim Marshall's Hanwell London shop back in 1968.
I chose the fantastic Celestion Creamback G12H-75 speakers @ 16 ohms how great they sound in this cab.
I have always been an H man and these higher power handling Creambacks sound incredible, such rich mids, trebles perfect and bass to die for!!
I am so glad to have a speaker cab again after not having one for a few years due to my selling that piss poor HW stack I had previously, some love 'em not me!!!
Again thanks to Metro for providing the perfect complement to my upgraded Marshall 1959HW which George did a superb job on.
I am loving the tone heaven I am in currently.
I have my two Rockman modules, my Korg SDDD-3300 Triple Digital Delay and my pedal set up which includes my BSM Spectrum boost/fuzz, my Maxon ST-01 Super Tube Screamer from the mid eighties which I scored from Tokyo. Then I have my DOD YJM308 with the 741 Mojo mod by Analog Mike and my Boss DD-6 also Analogmaned with the high cut mod for that analog sounding warmness.Not forgetting my Digitech Bad Monkey and my lastest pedal the Buffalo FX Patriot Sovtek Civil War Sovtek Big Muff recreation, also the Fulltone mini Deja' Vibe.
I am so happy with my various set ups at the moment and I am really practicing hard.
I am attempting to read music for the first time, it's never to late right and I am finding this more satisfying than just following tab as that can be more difficult to infuse with the correct feel, at least for me anyway.
I tell everyone about how great the True Replica cabs are and I hope they are popular. What a bargain it is an exact copy of the best Marshall cabs ever to .001 of an inch! And the construction and materials are first class and they are a real bargain financially I must say.
I debated a MG 6" logo but am leaving it a Metro as it truly is.
George your latest amp pics on Photobucket of the 12000 series build are incredible.
As George explains these are copies of specific amps not generic models and that has always been true of Metro.
Thanks George for the great cabinet and all your hard work you did for me with my amp .
I will always be thankful and fortunate to have such quality work.
Dave

[guitar007]

It's certainly a sweet cabinet!

[VelvetGeorge]

Glad you love it Dave!

george

[guitar007]

Do have pics of the inside bracing?

[VelvetGeorge]

Yep, high res pics on the true replica webpage:

http://plexireplicas.com/true-replica-c ... -cabinets/

george

[Strat78]

I cherish mine as well. George, do you use solid core wiring in these?

[progson]

Hi Yngwie308,
I am thinking to buy the same cabinet: The Metro `68 cabinet slant. At the moment I have the Marshall 1960AHW cabinet. You wrote:.....the piss poor HW stack.......
Please can you tell exactely the difference in sound between these two cabs? I use a Marshall JCM800 2203 original from `83 within Drakes, Mullards and all is original. Guitar is my Gibson SG Junior from early `65. Speakers: Celestion Creambacks G12H-75 (!!!!!) and Creambacks G12M-65....

Hoping for an answer and greetings from cologne in Germany!

P.S. The inside bracing from top/bottom, left/right and in the bottom corners pictured on the hompage are from the slant or the straight cabinet?????

[yngwie308]

Thanks, the bracing is identical in both Metro cabs. I bought a complete HW stack in 2005 before I had heard of Metro.
Having owned two original basket weave stacks previously the quality of the construction of the HW cabinets was inferior to the originals.
The True Replica cabs once they were developed were my ultimate goal even over an original vintage Marshall cab!!
They are a true bargain for being identical in every way to the '68 Marshall cabs they are built in tribute to.
Good luck and you won't be sorry with buying from George.
Your Marshall amp sounds awesome.
Dave

[progson]

Hi Dave,
big thanks for your answer! I believe your words that bracing is identical, but look at the homepage from geroge. On the right side from the basketweave cabinets there are small pictures. In the second row a cab with bracing, in the fourth row without any bracing???
I think I will order from george. The reason: My amp sounds really awesome, my guitar too and the cab........you know! Very good, that your answer came this mornig. Because at the moment I am looking for an eBay offer in germany about an old Marshall cab from the sixties. I think it will end about 600.-Euros. In addition the sending costs, the job of making new tolex, pipping, basketweave etc.it will be around 1600 - 1700.-Euros. I can not make the job of restauration and cab looks it was in Stalingrad 1942. OK, it looks vintage, but that not really my goal. And the backside of this cab is NOT original, it was made by the owner himself. In the end it will cost much more money than buying a new cabinet from geroge in new condition and with the same or better sound.........Greetings from germany

[BaronGreenback]

Only angled cabs have the cross bracing inside. It is there to support the baffle which is cut into two pieces on an angled cab. There is no need for it on a straight cab.

[yngwie308]

Thanks what Baron said! I recall now!! I will post some pics of my HW stack internally. I think you are making the right decision.
Buying a most likely thrashed old Marshall cab and then fixing it up can be pricey and George has built the perfect mousetrap with his True Replica cabs.
You get an exact Marshall cab from the sixties with the same materials and even the same Whitworth threaded hardware!
It is too good to be true but it really is!
You won't regret it, I don't and this cab will last me for the rest of my natural born days.
I'm sixty already this year and long term I am very happy with the 1982A cab and my Celestion Creamback G12H-75 speakers.
Best of luck
Dave

[progson]

Hi Dave and the other Boys,

Today I am totally confused: Since several days I am searching, looking and want to make a decision. Yesterday evening I got an E-Mail from george himself. He wrote: He built 2 Versions of the cabinets: The older ones are with bracing, the newer ones without bracing. And the newer ones without any bracing sounds more correct like the old ones. I tried to research the weight of the cabs, but didn`t found it on george`s site. Made a look to Jim Scumback who build also cabs with the old specs. His cabs has unloaded the weight of 19,05kg WITH bracings. My Marshall HW 1960AHW has WITHOUT bracings the weight of 18,90kg?????????
What the hell is going on? The weight of the better built cabs are the same, the newer ones from george are without bracings like my Marshall??????
I need a litlle help again. Normally I would order here in germany this cabinet, try it , keep it or send it back . But ordering from the USA is a very expensive decision......
Hoping to hear again..........
Greetings from cologne

[Scumback Speakers]

This is one of my 69 spec slant cabs (before tolex/cloth installation) as shown from the rear (back panel removed). This one is the same specs/bracing as a 1969 1960A Marshall cab with the 100 and 6" gold logos, baltic birch 11 ply plywood, etc.

Click on the link below to view bracing:
http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/cabinet ... ar-raw.jpg

Note the bracing in the baffle board center area is only for a slant cab. Straight cabs do not have bracing in the middle, only the large sound post. The 69 spec cab uses triangular bracing at the bottom of the baffle board where the caster bases are drilled into them from the bottom of the cab and press fit in to those triangular braces. In other words, the caster base is driven in from the bottom, through the bottom of the cab and into those triangular bracing cleats. Then the caster bases are screwed into the bottom of the cab. It makes for a very solid fit and foundation for structural rigidity...something you typically want with a cab of this type.

Hopefully this pic illustrates what you're trying to understand without Dave having to go dig up a pic from his hard drive!

George's cabinet may use the earlier 68 spec bracing at the bottom of the baffle board. That's a 5/8" tall by 2" deep strip of plywood pushed up against the baffle board bottom on the inside. The strip runs the inside width of the cabinet from side to side to brace the baffle board. Or at least that's what mine did.

Marshall changed the bracing as time went on, too. By 1971 there were no more triangular baffle board bottom support pieces. They decided to use cheaper casters that don't drill into the baffle board and provide better stability. These are the casters you see today from them which break off if you hit any decent crack in the sidewalk. A bean counter/cost cutting move to make $2 more per cabinet I guess. Then they switched to MDF/particle board back panels, plastic handles, plastic caster cups, plastic caster bases, out with S&P, in with the cheap black cloth...sheesh. The list of cost cutting, and tone robbing "features" after 71 - 72 is pretty deep.

IMO, you get an old Marshall cab from pre 1972, and you're good. You get anything later and you get to fix it. Sorry, that's just my opinion, take it or leave it. But I've arrived at it after owning a good 100 plus of these old cabs and comparing them side by side for tone and construction.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go with!

[Tazin]

Speaking of the replica cabinets offered by Metro and Scumback, is there any comparison audio/video of an original '68 - '69 verse the replicas available that anyone knows about?

[yngwie308]

Hi Dave and the other Boys,

Today I am totally confused: Since several days I am searching, looking and want to make a decision. Yesterday evening I got an E-Mail from george himself. He wrote: He built 2 Versions of the cabinets: The older ones are with bracing, the newer ones without bracing. And the newer ones without any bracing sounds more correct like the old ones. I tried to research the weight of the cabs, but didn`t found it on george`s site. Made a look to Jim Scumback who build also cabs with the old specs. His cabs has unloaded the weight of 19,05kg WITH bracings. My Marshall HW 1960AHW has WITHOUT bracings the weight of 18,90kg?????????
What the hell is going on? The weight of the better built cabs are the same, the newer ones from george are without bracings like my Marshall??????
I need a litlle help again. Normally I would order here in germany this cabinet, try it , keep it or send it back . But ordering from the USA is a very expensive decision......
Hoping to hear again..........
Greetings from cologne

progson. what denotes an older spec True Replica cabinet, what date did they change? This is the first I have heard of any changes to the cabs..now I am confused!
Thanks to Jim for his post.
Dave