Hi Rain,
In my opinion, the cool thing about buying an already made cab is....the wood is supposed to compliment the speakers inside it. I've always liked Marshall slant (tops) cabs because they don't "woomf" with low end. My weapon of choice is the 25 watt greenback Celestion. I like them because:
1. they don't need loads of gain to break up...they do that on their own nicely
2. They are one of the warmest speakers I've ever played through
3. They have one of the most focused sounds for recording of all time (meaning, they are made for close mic'ing yet still sound pretty good up to 6 ft away. After 6 ft away though, they start to lose focus because they are made for close range. Whether or not a cab sounds good after 6ft usually means it sounds bad up close or is pretty bassy. from 0-4ft is what matters to me. All the rest comes through the mic really.)
4. They don't have to be loud to sound good.
I like them over the regular 75's and the vintage 30's you talked about because the 25 watt greenies don't have that harsh back-tone. The 30's have a sizzle that I just can't stomach and just don't sound as warm, and the regular 75's (the 300 watt cabs) have a 5-6 k nasal sound that is just not for me.
I've tried these speakers in my own enclosures as well as some others have built and unfortunately, they just didn't sound good. They only seem to sound good in the Marshall or Mesa boxes. If I were you, I'd definitely invest in one good cab with the speakers you want in it.
My old guitar teacher got these little Marshall mini cabs a few years back. They are like 1/4 the size of the ones I have but are still loaded with 25 watt greenbacks. They sounded awesome....and one of those would probably be perfect for you for recording. You'd have the big cab sound with a smaller space taker. I don't know what the heck those things are called, but they were amazing and sounded just as good as mine at about 1/4 the size.
To me, nothing sounds like a 4x12 cab especially for rock. I've used 1x12, 2x12, they all sound good....but man, 4x12 just gives you a nice pallet to work from. 2 57's on a 45 or 90 degree angle on the top and bottom, a 421 where it sounds the best to your ears and another mic of your choice getting the room and whew....you get quite a wall of sound at any volume. Check out the greenbacks if you haven't. In my opinion, they are the best Celestion I've ever used and they can be used for everything. Good luck!
-Danny