Any decent amp is only as good as the speaker cabinet it’s hooked up to. Even a boutique, hand-wired masterpiece can end up sounding thin, flabby or one-dimensional if it’s paired with a hastily glued together chipboard box and low-quality speakers.
Most amp manufacturers offer a range of properly built matching
cabinets loaded with speakers specifically chosen to complement
their amps’ tones. However, you could well end up paying that bit
extra for a matching cabinet that has only been tuned for one
particular sound. Here, we’re taking a look at a pair of new cabinet designs that aim to offer more versatility. Zilla Music has been building top-quality custom speaker cabinets for a few years now, and we were very impressed with the two examples we tested back in issue 98. Besides a wide range of sizes and speaker configurations, customers can specify what kind of speakers, grille cloth and Tolex covering they want, or even order a completely custom cabinet.

Conclusion
As with the other examples of Zilla’s cabinets we’ve seen, both the Mini Modern 1x12 and Studio Pro 2x12 are very impressive indeed. The Mini Modern could be just the bit of kit to complete a compact rig – pair it with an Orange Tiny Terror or Marshall style 18-watter and you have a hugely portable classic rock or blues rig, all without compromising on your tone. The Studio Pro is a great jack of all trades, capable of taking just about any musical style or setting in its stride – it would be a huge shame if it were merely confined to the studio! The standard of construction is high and both cabs really look the part. While not as keenly priced as some of the products lower down the Zilla range, the extra features here are certainly worth the additional outlay. If you’re struggling to find the cab to handle both studio and live work, we’re happy to recommend either of these speaker cabinets.

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Zilla Music is an independent English company specialising in extension speaker cabinets. There are a number of ‘standard’ 1 x 12 and 2 x 12 formats available; this is the Tall Vintage 2 x 12 measuring 740mm wide and 460mm tall - which is shorter than a Marshall 1936, making it space efficient in the boot of your car. There are plenty of standard vinyls and custom order Tolex options to choose from, likewise with grille cloth, piping and hardware. We’ve
gone for black, of course, which costs £212 unloaded. Construction is sturdy, using Baltic ply and 12mm finger joints, the only visual anomaly being chrome screws among all that black – we should have asked for black! This cabinet has a straight baffle, but Zilla
also offers a slanted version, likewise with closed- and openback
configurations.

Zilla offers Celestion Vintage 30s, Greenbacks and G12Hs,
again with custom options available, including the English-made Tayden speakers. Here we have one Vintage 30 and one G12H (+£135 for the two) rear mounted to offer a versatile, all-round rock ’n’ roll configuration.

In Use
Those with lower power amps might prefer Greenbacks, but on the end of a Mesa Lonestar head and a Hughes & Kettner Puretone, this configuration shows a good, versatile balance of power handling, sweetness, low-end weight and projection.

Verdict
The price is very reasonable given the custom options, build
quality and spec, making Zilla highly recommended to anyone
in search of a custom cab.

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In terms of tone, it should be much easier to pick one over the other, but which one you prefer will very much depend on the sound you’re going for. It’s not often that we find ourselves testing two cabs with differing dimensions head-to-head, but it’s a timely reminder of just how much of a difference the size and design of a cabinet can make to its sound. Granted, the Modern and Fatboy we have here are fitted with different speakers, but there are some much more fundamental principles at work here. It must be said that both cabs
perform very well, offering the robust response and full, vibrant tone that you only get from a solidly made cab and good-quality speakers. However, while the Modern offers a brighter, more open tone, it’s striking how much more bass the Fatboy delivers. The low end is big and solid and there’s more emphasis on the low mid-range. This is partly to do with the choice of drivers: by combining the clarity and cut of a Vintage 30 with the darker, meaty mid-range of the G12H, a thicker, more complex tone results. However, the whole sound has a feeling of beefy punch and compactness that’s absent from the Modern 2x12. However, while you might think
that you can never have too much low-end thump, that’s not always the case. While the Fatboy would be the automatic pick if we wanted to dole out some down-tuned riffs, the Modern is perhaps better suited for blues, country and classic rock. Don’t forget that, if there’s a bass player and a drummer in the band too, there’s no shortage of oomph in the low end. If you want to give the rest of the band space, and cut through the mix yourself, a little less bass and a little
more bite in the upper mid-range are no bad thing.

Conclusion
At the end of the day, neither of these cabs is going to disappoint.
They sound very good, especially overdriven, where the Modern serves up plenty of jangle and snarl, in contrast to the Fatboy’s darker, smoother and altogether heavier tone, which is indeed, as Zilla suggests, not unlike a full-sized 4x12. The standard of construction is high and the pricing competitive, especially when you
consider that these cabs are hand-built in the UK, with many custom options coming at no extra charge. We have no hesitation in recommending these Zilla cabs, though which one will very much be up to you.

Click here to view the full PDF review