Petersen Cabs vs. Stone Age Cabs - Thoughts?

[RAG7890]

Just wondering if any Forum members have had any direct experience comparing Petersen Cabs with Stone Age Cabs............both home and / or live use.

I'm rearranging some gear & a friend wants to take my last Bogner 212 OS Cab (which is a great Cab). This leaves me with Bogner 112 Open & 412 Closed Cabs.

Having said that I'm thinking of getting some Custom Cabs done & loading them myself.

Both of these Cab manufacturers have a good rep from what I can tell. I like the Petersen diagonal 212 Cab for something different and of course Stone Age make both a smaller 212 & a larger OS 212 (similar to the Bogner).

Don't have any issues re different names on a Head vs. a Cab.........does not bother me one little bit. I am only interested in Tone & quality.

Stone age is at https://www.stoneagecustomcabinets.com/

Petersen Cabs is at http://www.petersencustomcabinets.com/

I'm really interested to know if any members have actually played through both brands (also Bogner & Swanson Cabs for that matter for comparison sake).

Look forward to any useful feedback / comments / thoughts from any members............or any questions etc.

If you prefer not to post just drop me a PM & I'll get back to you.

Thanks heaps in advance.



P.S. I'm here in Australia & can't get my hands on these Cabs to try so I just have to bite the bullet & make a decision.

 

[NotScott]

I can't help you on the Peterson or Stoneage but I do have a Swanson 4x12 that Jeff modeled off of an old Hiwatt cab. It is built like a tank and sounds about as close to the real thing as possible.

Two other cabinet makers you should consider are:

http://www.soundsriteaudio.com/rocket-cab-solid-pine-guitar-cabinets/

I had Paul make me a tweed Deluxe extension cabinet to some exact dimensions and it came out perfect. It is my primary cabinet for small to medium gigs. He is fast, very reasonably priced, does impeccable work and they sound great.

http://jdesigncabs.com/home

Jeff is the brother of Ben Fargen, of Fargen amps fame. Jeff makes all of Ben's cabinets and some custom cabs as well. I had him make me a 2x12 Majestic with oval-ported rear out of pine. It has replaced all of my other 2X12s from Avatar and Port City. Like Paul, Jeff is also fast, very reasonably priced, does impeccable work and his cabinets sound great.

I am a big fan of pine cabinets for their rich, organic tone. They come alive at a lot lower levels than comparable birch cabs and weigh a lot less. Good luck with your search!

 

[LPV]

This isn't a useful comment because I have no experience with Peterson but I will just say that I've had a stone age for a few years and it's a really really good cab. As good as they get.

 

[RAG7890]

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it.

Will reply tonight.

 

[RAG7890]

I can't help you on the Peterson or Stoneage but I do have a Swanson 4x12 that Jeff modeled off of an old Hiwatt cab. It is built like a tank and sounds about as close to the real thing as possible.

Two other cabinet makers you should consider are:

http://www.soundsriteaudio.com/rocket-cab-solid-pine-guitar-cabinets/

I had Paul make me a tweed Deluxe extension cabinet to some exact dimensions and it came out perfect. It is my primary cabinet for small to medium gigs. He is fast, very reasonably priced, does impeccable work and they sound great.

http://jdesigncabs.com/home

Jeff is the brother of Ben Fargen, of Fargen amps fame. Jeff makes all of Ben's cabinets and some custom cabs as well. I had him make me a 2x12 Majestic with oval-ported rear out of pine. It has replaced all of my other 2X12s from Avatar and Port City. Like Paul, Jeff is also fast, very reasonably priced, does impeccable work and his cabinets sound great.

I am a big fan of pine cabinets for their rich, organic tone. They come alive at a lot lower levels than comparable birch cabs and weigh a lot less. Good luck with your search!

Thanks for this again.

I'm really interested to hear your detailed thoughts re Pine vs. Birch. I have only ever had Birch Cabs (most of which are Bogner Cabs), so I really don''t know anything about Pine Cabs. Totally understand the weight thing, mine are quite heavy & Pine would be lighter. I'd imagine they would alos "move" more.

Not quite sure what you mean re they come alive at lower levels.

If you had identical 212 Cabs with the same Speakers what major differences would I be hearing?

Thanks.

 

[RAG7890]

This isn't a useful comment because I have no experience with Peterson but I will just say that I've had a stone age for a few years and it's a really really good cab. As good as they get.

Yep, I remember asking you about your Stone Age Cab in your recent Thread.

No doubt in my mind that John makes great Cabs. A friend raved about his 112 Stone Age Cab.

My issue is that all my Heads are 24.5" or 26" Wide (also have a 30" Wide Head but I am selling that).

The 112 Stone Age is too narrow.

Both the Petersen 112 Oversized & 212 Diagonal Cabs are 26" Wide so this works for the Heads I have.

Thanks.

 

[LPV]

Yep, I remember asking you about your Stone Age Cab in your recent Thread.

No doubt in my mind that John makes great Cabs. A friend raved about his 112 Stone Age Cab.

My issue is that all my Heads are 24.5" or 26" Wide (also have a 30" Wide Head but I am selling that).

The 112 Stone Age is too narrow.

Both the Petersen 112 Oversized & 212 Diagonal Cabs are 26" Wide so this works for the Heads I have.

Thanks.

Dimensions play into tone even with open back cabs but not so much at lower volumes. But when played fairly loud different sized cabs will sound well, different. I know it's said allot that dimensions don't matter with an open back cab but with semi open back they really do. Depends on how loud you play too.

 

[RAG7890]

Dimensions play into tone even with open back cabs but not so much at lower volumes. But when played fairly loud different sized cabs will sound well, different. I know it's said allot that dimensions don't matter with an open back cab but with semi open back they really do. Depends on how loud you play too.

Yes totally agree.

Will comment in detail on this when I have more time.

 

[NotScott]

Thanks for this again.

I'm really interested to hear your detailed thoughts re Pine vs. Birch. I have only ever had Birch Cabs (most of which are Bogner Cabs), so I really don''t know anything about Pine Cabs. Totally understand the weight thing, mine are quite heavy & Pine would be lighter. I'd imagine they would alos "move" more.

Not quite sure what you mean re they come alive at lower levels.

If you had identical 212 Cabs with the same Speakers what major differences would I be hearing?

Thanks.

Sorry, I have been traveling and could not reply sooner.

I have pine and birch cabinets. I have had various builders buid me cabs from each material after speaking to them about what I wanted, so the following observations are based upon what I learned from those conversations, what i own and what I play out.

Birch is dense and rigid. It tends not to color the sound as much as pine and it retains tight lowend and projects highs better. If you are into the Marshall sound, play loud metal or need the absolutely loudest, uncompressed, cleanest tones, birch is your choice.

Pine is less dense and rigid. It tends to warm up your tone and soften the attack. It also has a nice ring to it that sounds like a slight reverb that you can achieve at levels less than half of a comparable birch cab. If you are into the Dumble sound, blues and/or like a looser, fatter tone, pine is the way to go.

As for your quest for specific dimensions, either of the guys I mentioned earlier can acommodate those requests.