Cab advice for Thunderverb 50/200

[markus2018]

Hello,

I recently picked up both a TV50 and TV200 and have currently been playing them through a Marshall 1960AHW with G12H30s (55hz) that I use with my Marshall heads.

Absolutely love the cleans and low to medium gain crunch but I am left not fully satisfied with the high gain chug/lead tones with this setup.

I was wondering whether a PPC412 or PPC412-HP8 would yield better results for higher gain applications with these Orange heads. Am also thinking about the Marshall 1960BV as it has a 4ohm option that would allow full 200w on the TV200 and uses the UK Vintage 30s - although have read the PPC412 has more bottom end and there is a bit more mojo when using Orange cabs with Orange heads

I cannot seem to find any online demonstrations of the PPC412-HP8 with a TV50 or TV200 and cannot get a demo of these cabs in store as the HP8s are now very rare - so was wondering if anyone has had any direct experience with these cabs with the TV200 and/or TV50 that they could share.

Thanks in advance for any advice and/or opinions you can provide.

Markus.

[D|C|M|E]

I've never played a Thunderverb of any wattage but when it comes to my Rockerverb 100MKIII, I can tell you that if you need the "chug" you're going to be best off with a PPC412 STRAIGHT cabinet. Gotta be straight to maximize that aspect.

And that effect is going to be drastically different between your 50 and your 200. There will be much more of that on tap coming from the 200 if my experience with power scaling my RV100 is any indication.

No experience with the 400W cab though.

[Dark Helmet]

I play a TV50 as my primary amp for a variety of styles, and usually through an Avatar with Split V30s and G12Hs... It's a very, very happy match, but it's as good, or even better, with my PPC412 if I'm pushing the gain.

So what I would say is that the key is a STRAIGHT cab, and the V30s are the speakers to have.... the Orange PPC412 is a GREAT cab, try one if you can, they really do sound great... a big part of that is the heavier 18mm plywood they use.

now, on to the TV200 and the HP8.... you NEED a cab with a ~400w rating if you are going to open up the TV200. The guy I bought my PPC412 from had an HP8 as well, and he said it was amazing with the TV200. Again, the amp was voiced with THAT cab in mind, so you would expect that to be a constructive pairing.

SO... my advice? get an HP8. find one, and just buy it. it'll be worth it if you ever want to use the TV200 as intended. there are a lot of great 412 (and even 212) cabs out there that the TV50 will work with, but I'd start with the HP8.

[markus2018]

Thank you so much for the replies guys!

If I get the PPC412 and use it with my 1960AHW I can open up the TV200 at 200w due to 16ohm + 16ohm = 8 ohm but I am not sure how the power dissipates across multiple cabs if one is only rated at 120w and the other at 240w.

I guess my final question is has anyone used the HP8 for lead playing as well and can it do this as well as the standard PPC412 or was the HP8 more designed around mainly low end rhythm ?

I have listened to all the G12k100 vs V30 comparisons I could find but real world/use experience would help me much more if anyone has used it.

Thanks again!

[Gorgar]

I have a TV50 and a TV200 that I run through an HP8 cab. I run the TV200 at half power because the cab is 16 ohms each side in stereo, and the 200 doesn't have a 200W 16 ohm setting. Run this way, there's not that much difference in volume settings between the two amps. I think I have the 50 up just a hair louder to make it sound balanced. The two amps don't really sound that different to me.

As far as lead goes, it sounds good to me. I'm not playing it with a band currently, and if I wanted it to "cut through", I'd probably want a pedal, since these amps are sort of dark by nature. I did actually use the 200 in a band with a drummer and never had trouble being heard, though. I used to use a Distortion+ and run the amp essentially clean. It was the world's biggest, beefiest electric folk rock amp. Silly use for a TV200, and they don't get that loud if you want to stay clean, but it did sound pretty good.

Now I play them mainly as the pair into that HP8, running a stereo phaser into them, and with the gain all the way up on channel B or around 10-11 o'clock on channel A. Sounds glorious that way.

As far as speaker comparisons go, that cab definitely sounds darker to me than my Engl V30 cab, especially since I tend to play brighter amps through the Engl and the TV series is darker. So if you're looking for Marshall bite, you might be disappointed. I haven't found a way to get the TV to do that naturally, though an EQ in the effects loop will add bite. I do wish there was a presence control on these amps, so that they could go from the sound they have to something more cutting on occasion. It can help to use channel A with the treble and mids up.

[markus2018]

Thanks for all the info!

I managed to get to demo both the PPC412AD at 100w and the PPC412HP8 at 200w with a Thunderverb 200 and to my ears, while the PPC412AD sounded more trebly, it seemed to have a sweeter tone for lead runs and a more in your face chug.

I was all set on the HP8 but while it sounded smoother and less ear fatiguing - it also sounded a little muffled in comparison - which while still a really great tone in isolation - made me feel like some part of the harmonic spectrum of the guitar/amp combination was missing. Even turning up the treble/mids did not seem to be able to bring this back fully - but how much can you really learn in 30 minutes of demoing?

Based on this - I am assuming that the perfect combination for me would be a straight PPC412 as this would probably tame some of the in your face highs, still give me a good chug and hopefully maintain that searing harmonic lead. I guess my only fear is of the V30 ice pick that many refer to

[pedecamp]

Thanks for all the info!

I managed to get to demo both the PPC412AD at 100w and the PPC412HP8 at 200w with a Thunderverb 200 and to my ears, while the PPC412AD sounded more trebly, it seemed to have a sweeter tone for lead runs and a more in your face chug.

I was all set on the HP8 but while it sounded smoother and less ear fatiguing - it also sounded a little muffled in comparison - which while still a really great tone in isolation - made me feel like some part of the harmonic spectrum of the guitar/amp combination was missing. Even turning up the treble/mids did not seem to be able to bring this back fully - but how much can you really learn in 30 minutes of demoing?

Based on this - I am assuming that the perfect combination for me would be a straight PPC412 as this would probably tame some of the in your face highs, still give me a good chug and hopefully maintain that searing harmonic lead. I guess my only fear is of the V30 ice pick that many refer to

Ice pick should never be a concern if you install beam blockers in your cab. Me I'm partial to G12T75 speakers with my TV50.