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[Electric Warrior]

u mean the Champ model?

[Dave Martin]

Electric Warrior wrote on Tue, 03 January 2006 19:04

u mean the Champ model?

Or possibly the Blues Jr.?

[Kenny Holloway]

Guitar Tone is my favorite source engineering aspect.  Your looking for an inexpensive solution to get killer tone.  It's the same dilema as getting that great vocal sound with a cheap mic/pre combo.  Not going to happen.  You seem to gravitate toward a Mashall tone that you heard somewhere and suggestions are to go Fender.  They both make great amps, but they're two different beasts and Fender is not the solution to Marshall tone.

If you don't want to pony up $1800 you mentioned, and you want the variety of tones that a studio environment demands, you might want to check into the Vox ToneLab or the Pod.  I'm not a fan of modeling amps, but they're hard to beat when it's time to go cheap.

You might want to consider getting a great tube amp for the power section.  Check eBay for a TopHat amp like the Club Royale.  You can put a ToneLab in front of it and get your Marshall Bluesbreaker - Plexi tone to chimey Vox.  It is not your Fender solution.  The Fender solution is a Fender.

I'd venture to say your strat could use new pups/wiring as most factory strats are lacking and noisy.

[floodstage]

Dave Martin wrote on Tue, 03 January 2006 23:52

Electric Warrior wrote on Tue, 03 January 2006 19:04 u mean the Champ model? Or possibly the Blues Jr.?

Don't leave out the Princeton Reverb.  
One of the nicest amps in the world IMO.

[James Duncan]

Kenny Holloway wrote on Wed, 04 January 2006 01:28

If you don't want to pony up $1800 you mentioned, and you want the variety of tones that a studio environment demands, you might want to check into the Vox ToneLab or the Pod.  I'm not a fan of modeling amps, but they're hard to beat when it's time to go cheap.

Thanks Kenny. Actually, I will pony up the $1,800 if that is what it takes, I was just thinking that I should be able to get better results with the gear I have, which is pretty frustrating. I don't like the loose, flabby-sounding distortion I am getting from the modern Marshalls, and was wondering if getting an JCM900 or JCM800 was going to get me where I need to go without going all the way to a Jubilee.

As far as modeling goes, I am not a fan either, and will not go that route any time soon!

Quote:

You might want to consider getting a great tube amp for the power section.  Check eBay for a TopHat amp like the Club Royale.  You can put a ToneLab in front of it and get your Marshall Bluesbreaker - Plexi tone to chimey Vox.  It is not your Fender solution.  The Fender solution is a Fender.

I already have an all-tube Mesa Boogie 2:90 (it has 8 6L6's in it), but I need to get the right preamp to go with it.

I also plan on dealing with the "Fender issue" at a later time, and that will another thread for another time!

Quote:

I'd venture to say your strat could use new pups/wiring as most factory strats are lacking and noisy.

The Strat has already been rebuilt and re-wired along with new pickups.

Thanks for all the advice guys!

[George_]

I went trough a lot of amps..

my best choice till now is a REUSSENZEHN (handmade in germany but not very expensive), mounted with 2 diffrent sets of tubes.. its a 2x50watt poweramp (only poweramp!). so I can connect 2 speakers to the outputs and do biamping without tuning 2 amps till the end of time..

I use a ENGL E630 preamp. too much gain somethimes and maybe too noisy if you dont produce metal.

I recoomend also getting your JCM 900 to a tuning tech.. mine was modded for 300$.. it sounds killer now.. focused gain.. much more gain.. totally diffrent sounding.. but marshall.

wagener waves about the RANDAL POWERAMP..

get rid of the 2:90 mesa poweramp and hear the mesa 295 poweramp.

[John Ivan]

DivideByZero wrote on Sun, 01 January 2006 14:20

I would steer you towaard the 1980's red knob Fender Twin. It's distortion is wailing, or not, and crushing, or not, but the notes are always separated, and it has a fantastic clean sound. It crunches like a good Marshall, with more tone control, and a reverb. For recording distorted guitar, turn the distortion down a lil. My Marshall settings go Bass 0, Mid 10, Treb 10, Pres 10-or-0, gain 5-6, master 4-7. If non-master I strap the channels, and peg II, then turn I up to taste. M

I had a pair of these in cases I did shows with for years. GREAT sounding amps. They did it all.

Marshal amps have always been a real drag for me.. No Joke, I have liked every Peavey Tube amp I've ever plugged into compared to the Marshals. I have a Peavey 60-60 power amp {6L6} that sounds really great..I use a variety of pre amps in front of it and hit Rivera 4x10 open back's. Puts a Marshal to sleep. I also have a pair of oldish Duncan combo amps {EL-84's} that sound great. The statement about great guitar tones costing a lot of money is something I never understood..

Ivan..................

[bigaudioblowhard]

A guy I know has a killer collection of vintage guitars and amps. I recently asked him a similar question. He felt two great amps were an original AC-15 and ofcoarse the Marshall Bluesbreaker 18 watt. He actually has both, and I've played the Marshall with his old Les Paul. I WAS BLOWN AWAY, for real. The point here is he claims the reissure is pretty darned good, and I trust his opinion. I dont know what he thinks of the reissure AC-15 though. I could ask if you like. How about a little Supro? Isnt that what Jimmy Page played? I dont think they're too much money. I've heard the guy from Los Lobos (forget his name) has a collection of small amps he uses to record with as well. I hung on a session with a bunch of metal heads once in the 80's who swore that to record a 4 X 12 is to close mike each speaker with the following. U87 w -10 pad, SM57, 421, 451 with -10 pad and elbow (for some reason this elbow is part of the sound). Sounded great to me. I've got some old Rickenbacker with a single 6V6 and an Alnico Jensen 8" that overdrives great and you can still carry on a conversation in the same room, great for recording in my apartment, and I can use my Sony C37A without worrying. I also like the old Traynors with EL34's and the Blackface pre 67 Deluxe,  (6V6).

best luck. bab

[covert]

Since we seem to have shifted to a discussion of reasonably priced amps, the Randall RM series needs to be mentioned.  The different preamp modules actually do sound significantly different, and usually good.

[tmoney]

Ryan Leigh Patterson wrote on Sun, 01 January 2006 21:50

Ampeg V4-B and V4-G.. also nice, think mini SVT.

I've heard that the V4-B and V4, the latter is also called the V4-G, are the exact same amp except that the "B" version has no reverb. Anyway, I have one of these heads, and it sounds simply incredible. Not a very changeable sound, definitely a "one trick pony," and you'll have to get the tubes and caps changed and maybe some capacitors and transistors swapped, but the one sound it does is incredible-- so warm and full. Good control over the sound due to 3-way midrange frequency band selector and "ultrahi". 3-way switchable impedance, 2 speaker outs also! They also make a 50-watt version which would be easier to drive up. It's called the V-2.

Also try Fenders and Orange. I agree that Twins sound great as well. GREAT reverb inside and they drive well. Bassman might not give you enough tone control if you're looking for a versatile studio head, but they still sound great.

[Ryan Leigh Patterson]

the V4 also sounds amazing for bass...

a great buy..

[tats_dragon]

Quote:

I already have an all-tube Mesa Boogie 2:90 (it has 8 6L6's in it), but I need to get the right preamp to go with it.

Try a Peavey Rock Master preamp, can be had for about $150+ on Ebay.  A very versatile 3 channel preamp.  

My favorite is the Hughes and Kettner Access. About $500+ on Ebay.  The sound and features on this preamp is outstanding.

Quote:

Since we seem to have shifted to a discussion of reasonably priced amps, the Randall RM series needs to be mentioned. The different preamp modules actually do sound significantly different, and usually good.

+1.  Not only do they make about 10 different preamp modules,  their stereo power amp is 6L6 on one side and EL34 on the other, which can also be channel switched.

Jun

[James Duncan]

As a bit of an update...

First off, I am finding that the Marshall Jubilees are really not $1,800!!! My local GC has one listed for $1,800, and the Atlanta GC has one listed on Ebay for $1,800...BUT...

A quick search of previously sold Jubilees on Ebay shows the range to be more like $650 - $1,200.

This is good news since I really like what I have heard so far.

Secondly, I borrowed a Peavey XXX combo last night just to test, and I have to admit that it was much better than the crap I am getting with my modern Marshalls. Still not where I want it, but certainly "better".

Also, I am looking into some mods for my TSL, and the Voodoo Amp mods seem to be looking pretty good. Anyone have any experience with modding a Marshall TSL through them? Thanks!

http://voodooamps.com/standardmods.html

[brandondrury]

I still don't understand what you want.  I don't I'm alone because you are getting responses that cover the gammut of guitar amplifiers here.

Brandon

[Primear]

compasspnt wrote on Sun, 01 January 2006 14:47

However, I wobder about the room in which you record these, as well as the mic'ing techniques.  Neither of those is mentioned.

I would bet this is the issue. You've certainly a nice group of amp and guitars. I think a reading of Slippy's guitar recording thread may be in order as well? Maybe you've already read it?

Just a thought...