Metropoulos Forum

Hi from cologne in germany, I am new in this forum and not a really expert in cabinets. My question is: Is the ´68 Metropoulos basketweave cabinet better than the Marshall 1960AHW cabinet? Of course I read and saw the difference in building quality (for example the bracings), but what will really change in my sound? I use an Marshall JCM800 2203. This amp is all original with Drakes, old Mullard tubes and nothing changed. Guitar is my original Gibson SG Junior from early `65. Style is Heavy/Hard-Rock with blues influences. I wrote a similar message to Yngwie308, but I am not sure he saw the mail. I would be glad, to hear some words about this question. Another question is: There are pictures from the cabinet inside. One with, another without bracings. I think, the straight cabinet has no bracings, the slant has bracings. Right or wrong? Greetings from Germany!

Cab construction is important, the early cabs with ply backs certainly project better but that can be a matter of taste (the particle board backs follow hi-fi ideas that it is the drivers that are important and certain frequencies are desirable to be killed off by the back.
Marshall cabs from the 70s seem to be the best bang for your buck in terms of being cheap, of good construction and if you get the G65 options the speakers will go well with your head, I suspect easy to find in Germany.
I suspect shipping on one of George's True Replicas might be quite expensive but would certainly last a lifetime. What speakers are you thinking of?

Hi Neikeel,
thanks for your answer. The speakers in my new cabinet will be two Celestion Creambacks G12-H75 and two Creambacks G12-M65. These speakers are the perfect match with my Marshall JCM800 2203 amp. This amp is 100% original and was built in `83. And in original condition the 2203 it is a very bright amp and the new creambacks are a little bit dark.
I think, I will buy the `68 cab from George. Yngwie308 told me, these cabs are better than old originals. At the moment I am looking for an old sixties Marshall cab at ebay Germany. When I make a calculation - the cab (the back is NOT original) / sendings costs / new tolex/piping /new basketweave cause it looks it was in Stalingrad 1942 etc.it will be around 1700.-Euros!!! Because I am not able to do this job, And the new cab from george will be around 1470.-Euro (the cab, sendings costs, tax etc.). Greetings

Hi progson.
Yes yngwie 308 gave you very good advise.
I had the experience of rebuilding a Marshall handwired cabinet that a friend of mine bought and was damaged in shipping.
I also hate the tolex glue on the handwired ones. It's like black tar and underneath the tolex the wood will never look the same as your cab gets tatty. I love the way the old glue ages brown.
It really was junk compared to the originals and George's. You will not be sorry to get a '68 cab from Metropolous.

And welcome to the forum!

Metal Handles here is a shot George sent me when my cab was being loaded with the killer Celestion G12H-75's!
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/ ... 49bd59.jpg
You will love your Metro True Replica cab!
yngwie308

progson, as you're in Germany you should have a look at these cabs : http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en/shop_Sp ... _Cabinets/

I just bought one, second hand, and it's built just like an old basketweave cab, much better build quailty than a HW ! I have not yet played it but will asap and I'll post a few pics.

ynwie, I like me some Creambacks too!

Of all my Basketweave cabs with everything from 20 watt pre-Rolas to Blackback G12M 25's, I swear my favorite one is a '68 beat up bottom cab with a pair of Creamback 25's and a pair of bare magnet 25's that no doubt have been crushed for years. Those speakers are the sweetest ones I got in my whole collection.

Now it's up to me to treat the pre-Rolas I got rudely for a while and sweeten' 'em up a bit! I used to think I should take real good care of those speakers to make 'em last longer. There's definitely something to breaking in those cones.

Hey bill,
those TAD website cabs look to be Mojo cabs. I see that logo at the bottom of each picture.
I have a Mojo 4X12 bottom cab that is fine. It serves the purpose that I bought it for, but the
Metro cabs are in a league above that I believe.

You're right they look like the Mojo cabs I see on their website.
I have no doubt George's cabs are in a different league but unfortunately for us in europe they're also 3 times the price ! I was merely suggesting a cheapish alternative to the HW cabs.

My bad bill. Sorry I didn't read your post better!
You are right local vs shipping is a major factor, and yup Mojo cabs are not bad.
What kind of speakers did you load in your Mojo?

It came with 2 x V30 and a pair of Shcumback's H75 LDC (the blue ones).
But I'll make a straight comparison with the HW (mine is slightly upgraded), using the same speakers