Has anyone got the horn?!

[Jennings]

I'm playing about with a 1x12" over-size cab setup...I want to use it with an AC50 head, but also my higher 100+ watters too.  The cab's dimensionally based on the Marshall Lead and Bass 1x12", and is currently loaded with an Eminence Legacy 1218 150W speaker to encompass the power needs of my several amp heads.


Just like Vox found, I'd really like to increase the treble and sparkle from the AC50 with this cab...so I'm thinking of playing about for the first time with compression horn drivers, just like Vox then did.  Only these days Goodmans Midax horns seem a bit thin on the ground, and there's a literal bewildering plethora of modern compression drivers to choose from.


Does anyone use a speaker & horn setup in their rigs?  Or have any recommendations for a suitable horn to pair with 12" in my cab?  The old Midax mid-range horns seem to have a frequency response of 650 - 8000hz.

[Willabe]

John Cipollina of Quick Silver Messenger Service used horns, 6 Wurlitzer horns driven by a Fender Dual Showman head. 

He was in 1 of the 60's San Fransisco psychedelic bands. Had a hit with; Take Another Hit of Fresh Air. 

Discription of his multi amp rig below; 

"On the bottom of the stack sat two solid-state Standel bass amps, each of which were equipped with two 15 inch speakers. In contrast, on the top of the stack sat two Fender tube amps: a Twin Reverb sporting two 12-inch speakers, and a Dual Showman which had been modified to drive six Wurlitzer horns.
This set up was deliberately designed so as to form a symbiotic relationship with the guitar. Cipollina's SGs were wired to have one pickup going purely to the Standel bass amps, and have the other pickup going purely to the Fender guitar amps. This meant Cipollina could play with the low crunch of the Standel amps and the classic spiky cleans of the Fenders simultaneously.
"I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top" - John Cipollina
Cipollina also used the driven Wurlitzer horns to good effect, using a foot-switch to turn them on and off. When pushed by the Dual Showman, they provided a familiar rounded tone with overtones of distorted tube breakup. (An example of the horn tone can be heard in Quicksilver Messenger Service's 'How You Love')"  

[Jennings]

What an absolutely gloriously insane, yet somehow amazing sounding, rig! Personally I’d build that, although the missis is already giving me that look which makes it clear that I’m already one horn too many in this house 
I’m in danger of spiralling into a worm hole of horn experimentation. However I think I’d better stick to one speaker, one horn. There’s room in my cab (depth permitting) for mounting internally too. I perhaps need to find an appropriate compression driver at maybe 150w to match the speaker and allow for the power handling on the bigger amps.

[Willabe]

Leslie speakers use a horn.

But I wouldn't use a horn, guitar amps can be too bright as is. 

[Jennings]

Fair enough, I know what you mean. Maybe I’ll make it switchable.


An AC50 isn’t an overly bright amp, and when paired with a high wattage speaker like mine you definitely need some added sparkle. Sounds great with a V30 in the cab, or one of my alnicos, but I need the cab to be more multi purpose.


Effectively I’m loosely thinking of a 1x12” plus mid-horn setup like the old AC50 cab:


https://www.voxshowroom.com/uk/amp/ac50bb4.html