Available Now at Northeast Music Center!
MESA/Boogie Split-Back 4x12 Speaker Cabinet – Black Bronco
Two Celestion C90s. Two Celestion Vintage 30s. Open-back dimension on top. Sealed, ported punch down below. The MESA/Boogie Split-Back 4x12 gives you two distinct cabinet personalities working together in one formidable 300-watt enclosure.
The MESA/Boogie Split-Back 4x12 brings back one of the company's most innovative cabinet designs—a configuration that helped deliver some enormous guitar sounds during the 1980s and now returns as an exceptional partner for today's Mark Series, Rectifier, and other high-powered MESA amplifiers.
Rather than simply loading four identical speakers into a conventional enclosure, MESA takes a much more interesting approach.
The upper open-back chamber houses two proprietary Celestion C90 speakers, contributing openness, dimension, and spacious projection. Below them, two proprietary Celestion Vintage 30 speakers operate within a sealed, ported chamber, adding the tight low-end authority, punch, and aggressive character players expect from a serious closed-back cabinet.
Available from Northeast Music Center, the Split-Back 4x12 is for the player who wants the scale and authority of a 4x12 without limiting the rig to a single cabinet personality.
KEY FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS:
TWO C90s + TWO VINTAGE 30s
The speaker configuration is one of the biggest reasons this cabinet is special.
Instead of choosing between the personalities of the Celestion C90 and Vintage 30, MESA gives you both.
The two C90s occupy the upper open-back chamber. Their high power handling, broad response, and characteristic MESA voicing work beautifully for everything from expansive clean tones to articulate overdrive.
The two Vintage 30s are positioned in the lower sealed and ported chamber, where their distinctive midrange character, harmonic richness, and aggressive response combine with the enclosure to produce a powerful foundation underneath the C90s.
The result isn't simply four speakers producing more volume.
It's a carefully conceived blend of speaker voices and cabinet responses.
OPEN ON TOP. SEALED AND PORTED BELOW.
This is where the Split-Back design really separates itself from a conventional 4x12.
The upper open-back chamber allows sound to project from both the front and rear of the cabinet, creating the airy, dimensional response players associate with great open-back combos and cabinets.
Move down to the lower half and the design changes completely.
The lower Vintage 30 chamber is sealed and ported, providing the controlled low-frequency response, punch, and percussive authority associated with a serious closed-back enclosure.
That means one cabinet can deliver open-back spaciousness and closed-back authority simultaneously.
For players moving between pristine cleans, edge-of-breakup sounds, classic rock, saturated leads, and aggressive high-gain rhythm tones during the same performance, that versatility can be extremely valuable.
300 WATTS OF POWER HANDLING
With 300 watts of total power handling, the Split-Back 4x12 is built to work comfortably with serious MESA power.
High-powered Mark Series and Rectifier heads can breathe through this cabinet without sacrificing the dynamic range and authority that make those amplifiers so exciting to play.
And because the cabinet combines the characteristics of two different speaker designs, clean and high-gain sounds don't simply become louder—they retain their individual personalities.
At Northeast Music Center, we think that's an important distinction.
A great speaker cabinet shouldn't merely survive the amplifier connected to it. It should become part of the instrument.
MONO OR TRUE SPLIT/STEREO OPERATION
The Split-Back 4x12 also offers considerably more routing flexibility than a traditional 4x12.
For a conventional rig, connect to the main input and operate the cabinet at 8 ohms Mono.
The parallel output allows an additional 8-ohm cabinet to be connected, creating a 4-ohm total load.
But MESA also provides dedicated Split Mode inputs, separating the left and right halves of the cabinet for 4-ohm-per-side stereo operation.
That opens up serious possibilities for stereo effects processors, rack systems, wet/dry configurations, and other sophisticated guitar rigs.
For the player who wants a traditional 4x12 today but may build a more elaborate system tomorrow, that flexibility matters.
BUILT LIKE A SERIOUS MESA CABINET
A cabinet this substantial needs equally serious construction.
MESA builds the Split-Back 4x12 from void-free marine-grade Baltic birch plywood, creating a rigid and durable enclosure designed for professional use.
The Black Bronco exterior is complemented by hand-formed leather corners and a rugged expanded-metal grille, giving the cabinet a distinctive Boogie appearance while providing serious protection for the speakers underneath.
And at 101 pounds, there is nothing lightweight about the construction.
Fortunately, MESA includes its Track-Loc removable caster system, allowing the cabinet to roll when necessary while making caster removal quick when you want the enclosure firmly planted on stage.
A fitted slipcover is also included.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF 4x12
The conventional closed-back 4x12 remains one of the great sounds in electric guitar.
But not every player wants conventional.
The Split-Back gives you the physical scale and projection of four 12-inch speakers while introducing the air and dimensionality of an open-back enclosure into a format still capable of delivering the tight, percussive response required for serious high-gain playing.
That's why this cabinet makes such an interesting partner for an amplifier like the Mark IIC+ HRG. Clean and lower-gain sounds can take advantage of the spacious C90 upper section, while the Vintage 30-loaded lower chamber supplies the authority and focus necessary when the Lead circuit takes over.
It is equally compelling underneath a Rectifier for a player who wants to broaden the traditional Rectifier cabinet experience.
At Northeast Music Center, we believe cabinets deserve the same consideration as the amplifier sitting on top of them. Speaker selection, enclosure architecture, construction, impedance, and power handling all affect what ultimately reaches the player's ears.
That's why Northeast Music Center is proud to offer distinctive MESA/Boogie designs like the Split-Back 4x12 to players looking for something beyond another conventional speaker cabinet.
And for the guitarist assembling a professional MESA rig, Northeast Music Center is here to help make sure the amplifier and cabinet combination makes sense both electrically and musically.
Two C90s. Two Vintage 30s. 300 watts. Open-back air. Sealed and ported punch. Mono or stereo operation.
One cabinet—and two sides of the MESA/Boogie experience.
