Upgrading your guitar speakers is DUMB.........here's why.

I'm now waiting for the Kyle v. Glenn cage match 😂😂

I think yours and Glenn's videos approach it from two different points of view. You're coming at it from the resale value and how buying speakers may not be a good return on an investment if/when you come to sell them, and as you say with how cheap cabs cab be had, it makes a lot of sense to wait for a good deal. Glenn's comes at it from an engineers point of view in what makes the biggest change to your tone and in a dollar to tone change ratio, assuming that you're not intending to sell the gear down the line. Both are very valid points to consider when purchasing any new gear, not just speakers.

This sounds more like a capitalism problem than an actual speaker problem.

Interesting take. I think you’re right about the investment angle. However I personally like to load my 4x12s with a few different speaker options for recording and blending tones in the studio. Powerful tone sculpting tools, that’s where the value is for me. I have a Marshall 1960b with g12-75’s and Marshall Vintage. And a Mesa oversized slant with Vintage 30s and eminence dv77’s. In the studio the options are plentiful.

This is definitely a valid argument for 4x12 cabs. I’m in the 1x12 combo amp world, I still think upgrading the speaker in a cheap combo is worth it. But, keep the stock speaker and swap it back in if you want to sell the amp.

For my first (and only) cab I got it custom made by my friend. It has Mojotone speakers and I love how it sounds I know it wont hold much value but I supported a local artist and helped support our local hardcore scene.

This advice makes sense if you are a hobbyist who buys and sells used gear. His same same advice would go for new pickups, hardware or any other upgrades to lower cost gear. But if you actually gig or make serious recordings you might want a fine-tuned rig with upgraded speakers as an investment in your music career. (And you can alway put the original speakers back if you decide to sell an amp or cabinet.)

ABSOLUTELY! Patience pays off. I just got a '99 Mesa Rec 4x12 for 350! Great vid 👍

A good parametric EQ does wonders for tones if speaker swapping gets exhausting.

That's why I use a 2x12. If I'm going to get bored with Vintage 30s in my Zilla Fatboy, I'll go and buy Hesu Demons or something else. Plus I'm not buying and selling gear, so I don't care on resale value on my gear.

I upgraded every single 4x12 cab I have (3 of them as of now) and I am very happy I did. It took me time to find the right combos (different flavor of speakers into the same cab) but that was worth the effort and money.

Agree by a Part: 1. Why do you not like your AMP Tone , did you not test the AMP befor buying ? 2. 1st try to dail in your AMP and EQ and Pedal the AMP, maybe there is even the option of an Pedal replacing the Gainstage of your AMP instead. 3. Mostly the Speaker of your AMP was choosen well by people know what speaker will fit in there the best. To change the Speaker you get an totally different AMP in Sound, just the Basic does stay the same And you have to know the speakers , the speaker you play atm and the speaker you wanna buy you have to know the direction it will go even before you will change. You have to know all that will change and all that you got atm, or you will end up unhappy again. Upgrading is also the Wrong word , you will end up with a different tone, does not say better or worse , it might be just fit for what you are going to go for when you know what you are doing or maybe not at all. Also to mention , you have to play a while new speakers , the sound will still settle after the speaker did work some hours. Money does not play much a role. But there is no better speaker, the tone is just different , its the same with pick ups there is just a difference in tone and not a better or worse. When you got a very boxy totally cheap amp or an Hi Def Expensive AMP you got an Lo Fi filter in front, they will be similar in Tone because there is no better at all.

Hey Kyle. I scored a Engl pro 412 cab on GC for $899 used!! It was a 3 hour drive for me and I traded in my Carvin Legacy 412 to put towards it. I ordered casters for the Engl which ran me about $60 from Thomann and shipped to my door in about 3 days from Germany. With my trade in and casters I was in it for about $750 for a brand used Engl Pro cab. I couldn’t be happier!

I put 12L’s and V30 in an empty Mesa road king slant cab I got from a closing studio 13 years ago. My only 4x12, but I got new speakers for it now too. It’s nice to have a solid reliable gear.

Interesting approach, that works for the individual. I'm almost 40 and haven't parted with any piece of gear I've bought since I was 14

Alrighty - don’t know if this will help anybody make some decisions, but here goes: I have a pair of 212 Avatar cabs, one closed back and one open back. For those unfamiliar, Avatar is brand of guitar & bass speaker cabinet manufacturer. I purchased the first of the two cabs in 2017, with stock Chinese V30s. Fast forward some years, I got rid of the Chinese V30s. I end up getting a pair of (new) UK Greenbacks, a pair of (used) G12T-75s, and just about a month ago, a single (used) UK V30 (I have more speakers than cabs currently 😂) I have opened up those cabs each handfuls of times. I’ve gone back and forth. Here’s the point I’m trying to make. Over the course of about 7 years, I’ve tried all sorts of combinations. My tastes have changed gradually. And I can’t say for sure that any current setup will always work for me. However…. I have forever accepted that I’m making a relatively blind purchase with each. I spend months with a particular setup, I gig with it live, and every gig I treat it as a bit of an experiment. There is no definite answer for what will work for you forever; and in that regard, my dude’s advice is completely sound. You can change so many variables while you do these things. To me, it’s always been fun. I’ve learned so much in the process. To save yourself from giving up on something, the best advice I can give anybody is simply: if something isn’t working, and you feel the need to change something, change as few variables as you can at a time. So, if you are wanting to buy new speakers, before you commit to a pair, or a set, try just one. These things are investments.

Absolutely. Got a used Bogner Uberkab 4x12 off GC pristine condition for $600. Saved $700 vs new.

Celestion Seventy 80 are my favorite cheap celestion. $30-50 per speaker used. Once broken in, they have great harmonic content and balanced tone. Work for lots of cabs and tones. Wont do maybe some specific vintage mid humped tones but add an EQ and you can get there. The reason I like these speakers is you get the basic Celestion tone, a good mid sized magnet, overall balanced tone and can tweak with EQ and cab dimensions. And they are cheap, and everywhere. Once they start getting broken in on the used market (ie: all the ones people ripped out of brand new cabs) start getting used and the tone smooths out, I can see them being more widely embraced and understood. Theres some bad intel online that these are only made for modelers. To my ear they are basically a V type with less mids.

What would happen if your trying to load a Marshall 1960A with Tone Tubbys' does that help in keeping the value? the 1960A I have has vintage 30's in it.

Thanks for the reasale caution, Kyle! It's the same way with guitar modding: just because you tricked out a Squier Affinity DOES NOT mean it will sell for the same amount you put into it. After watching Jim Lill's vid on speaker cabinet geometry, I think I'm just going to build my own 2 x 12, put a Hesu Demon and Hempback in it, and not care about the resale.