Mixing speakers:

Try a mix of different type of speakers in a multi speaker setup.

This way you get a richer and fuller sound like some sort of doubling guitar tracks effect.

Live: record the Vintage 30 and use an Electro Voice EV200 (not miked) for the OEMPH factor

on stage.

When you'r into jazzrock or  blues; a mix of a Vintage 30 and Classic Lead 80 will suit you fine.

Into rock/metal? the somewhat mid-spiky Vintage 30 and little scooped G12T75 will balance 

each out. More British; G12H30 and the Greenback G12H25.

Notice that the power handling of the speaker combinations mentioned before are very close to

each other. Technically speaking you can make combinations of all kind of different watts. 

But is it usefull? The effective power handling is NOT the sum of the speakers' watts, but the 

lowest speaker watt multiplied by the quantity of  speakers. Example: 25 watt  and 75 watt will

deliver 2 x 25watt = 50 watt in total and not 100 watt. 

Also notice the high power watt speaker won't 'do' much in this example.

Front- vs rearloaded:

Speakers can be front- or rear mounted in a cabinet.

Frontloading: the speaker is mounted at the outside of the baffle board.

You hear relatively more 'speaker' than rearloaded does.

Frontloading creates some sort of loudness effect; little more bass and high end. Nice to 

compensate a middy speaker or cab. But at high volumes it can be harsh depending on the

speaker used.

Rearloading: the speaker is mounted at the inside of the baffle board.

It takes more volume to make the sound come out of the cab. The cab is more important this way.

You hear relatively more of a woody tone, also more of a 3d effect.

A speaker wil sound more middy when being rearloaded.

X-pattern:

Think about the position placement of mixed speakers in a 4x12 cabinet.

A good way of mixing two Vintage 30 and two G12T75 is installing in a so called X-pattern.

For instance a Vintage 30 up left and down right and a G12T75 up right and down left.

To make it just more fun: the Vintage 30 frontloaded and the G12T75 rearloaded.

Open vs closed:

Speaker cabs can have closed back or open back.

Variations like 3/4 closed or a small gaps are also not uncommon.

Closed back do have more projection. Better projection is recommended when you are recording.

In a band situation with lots of stage noises a little more focus is easier to monitor yourself.

Open back you hear as much noise from the back as from the front. This way you get a natural

surround sound. Playing alone in a home environment it's nicer. But, in a band situation your sound

can get lost. Unwanted reflections from the back. Also the sound disappearing from the back can

be bassy and different what you hear from the front. A little tricky when you are in a

crowded studio. Best of both worlds is the cab at the top to be half back, the bottom cab closed.

Mike the closed one. Try it yourself, it will cost you only a multiply birch to experiment.

1x12 vs 4x12 vs 2x12:

Owning a full 4x12 stack seems to be a goal by it self for many guitarist.

But the crowd does propably not know who owns the cab or even haven't a clue what the box

is for!

1x12:

Because of the limited size of the cab the air will move the speaker conus quick at low volumes.

A small cab projects very good because the sound can't go much elsewhere than in front.

You will be surprised how many L.A. studio guitarist use 1x12s for recording sessions.

A problem is finding a good speaker that handles lots of power and doesn't fart out in the lowend.

You need cubic inches to create lowend. This is a problem with small 1x12s. An artificial solution

to mimic the lowend is using damping material and ports. Waves needs space. Bass needs bigger

waves than treble. If there is no space there is no natural sounding bass.

4x12:

A 4x12 doesn't sound 4 times better. You will fool yourself by playing loud and hearing the

multi speakers. When you reach the point of moving air in a 4x12 you play probably way too loud.

Besides that you have to take 8 metres or so to monitor yourself optimum. So you have to extend

the stage and the rehearselroom ;-).

Bigger cabs have less punch and bigger bass response (bigger waves).

I always feel a 4x12 sounds too big. Big size = big waves. It's very personal, but I know many

people who like a standard sized 4x12 better than an oversized.

Something like a wide Q-factor on an equalizer. A smaller Q-factor gives a tighter and

punchier bass. Recomendation: go test 2 2x12s against a 4x12. Many customers play now 2 2x12s!

2x12:

For projection still the 1x12 is the way to go. For bass punch and tightness a 2x12 is more  natural

than a 1x12. A 2x12 has almost the same volume as a 4x12 has.  Doubling the amount of speakers

doesn't mean doubling in volume. Also speakers work harder when there are less to devide the

power into. The best way to go is a closed 2x12 at the bottom and a half open/closed 2x12 on top.

Vertical vs horizontal:

Imagine you have 2 2x12s. How do you position these to each other?

Test: 2 2x12 placed horizontally vs 2 2x12 placed vertically. And guess what?

Vertically did sound better! Probably the standing waves have a natural shape.

Anyway: it will cost you nothing, but sounds better! Give it a try.

Resonance:

Put 2 cabs next to each other so they acoustically couple.

As a result you will hear more volume and bigger, looser bass.

Probably you like the standalone sounds better beacuse it's more natural.

Also be sure your cabs doesn't make contact to the floor. Using foam between the cab and floor

will make your cab resonate freely without booming lowend, especially on wooden stages.

The bassplayer and soundengineer will be thankfull to you.