What amp would you pick?

[glpg80]

Both Through a 4 x 12 ?

Both through a 4x12 - the small amplifiers can’t supply the current the speakers need to really get moving which makes them sound anemic.

For the record I play through two 4x12s every day. Same fingers. Same guitar. Same effects. The small amps have their purpose but my lunchbox 6505 isn’t moving my big amps anytime soon.

 

[braintheory]

Get an OG JCM800 and put a green pedal in front of it and you will have a nirvana moment of clarity as to what every boutique amp builder in the world is chasing.

Nailed it on the part about that the nirvana moment. That’s exactly what happened to me when I spent years for a while only trying all these boutique amps assuming they were automatically gonna be better than outdated Marshall’s until eventually I was in this studio that had some ‘80’s JCM800’s as well as a big chunk of many of the trendy flavor of the month Marshall-esque boutique amps (and most trendy non-Marshall boutique amps) and that was my first (of many more later) aha moment as to how much worse and sterile/lifeless they sounded vs an actual vintage Marshall. I would just say though my favorite pedals to use in front of Marshall’s (and most amps really) are either silver or gold colored, but the green ones are no slouches either

 

[Techdeth]

Nothing weird about that. Volume on 2 though doesn't really mean much though since those amps can vary so much on the volume taper. On some that would be loud, but on the last jmp2203 that would be pretty quiet still. Fwiw, I think the my 1972 Superlead 100 (and other nvm's) gets more of an AC/DC sound than any 2203/4 I've tried, but I don't care for that sound anyway (their sound generally lacked growl on chords for my taste), so for me doesn't matter

I get it . It’s not for everyone. It’s a clean kerrang sound . I love it . Not my main sound though

 

[braintheory]

I get it . It’s not for everyone. It’s a clean kerrang sound . I love it . Not my main sound though

Yeah to me for a clean kerrang, punchy sound my 1972 SLP or even the Wizards do that sound better IME. I actually think the 2203’s generally have too much growl/hair to really nail that sound and to me that’s a good thing/improvement since I always felt chords should growl rather than stay smooth

 

[Techdeth]

Yeah to me for a clean kerrang, punchy sound my 1972 SLP or even the Wizards do that sound better IME. I actually think the 2203’s generally have too much growl/hair to really nail that sound and to me that’s a good thing/improvement since I always felt chords should growl rather than stay smooth

I bought the one Blake had on his channel . The 78 . It shocked me I actually liked it quiet even

 

[braintheory]

I bought the one Blake had on his channel . The 78 . It shocked me I actually liked it quiet even

The 1979 JMP2203 I had was also like that. Surprisingly good even at lower levels

 

[anomaly]

...again proving that clips are a fucking joke. I've played many DSLs at backline gigs 20+ yrs ago...they are decent Marshalls sure but they can't even compare in the room, at all, to a vintage NMV Marshall + a pedal or two. Kinda like a 2203 eats any DSL, a vintage stock Superlead eats a 2203.

If you're playing metal I wouldn't say a Superlead eats a 2203. Different amps for different applications.

 

[Racerxrated]

If you're playing metal I wouldn't say a Superlead eats a 2203. Different amps for different applications.

I guess I mean, for the ultimate in a Marshall experience I feel the vintage Superlead with a pedal or two is the pinnacle. Clarity, push are even better than a 2203. If those are important then a Superlead is the king of the Marshalls. I had a re capped 83 2203, with fresh vintage GE 6550s that sounded killer….got my 72, boosted it and was blown away…then played the 2203. It sounded small in comparison. And we know 2203s aren’t small sounding amps!

 

[Jimty]

The 1979 JMP2203 I had was also like that. Surprisingly good even at lower levels

Likewise. Bought an unmolested ‘78 JMP 2204 earlier this year - thought I’d have to run it through the PowerStation to get the tone I wanted, but there’s no need for the PS at all. Sounds great at lower volumes. Added a HotMod v2 and get great modded Marshall tones. I can’t go above 6 on the preamp with the HotMod though, because of the unshielded wiring on pin 7 of the v1 tube. It’s no problem (I have a Headfirst for even higher gain stuff) but I understand that Marshall started shielding that wire from early in ‘79. So if you wanted to run a stock amp plus HotMod with all the gain, a ‘79 onward would be the ticket.

 

[JLR]

Yes...I have a JMP 2204 made 4/7/79 with V1 pin 7 shielded wire so no high pitch squealing with the Hotmod v2. 6 is about the max I go anyway with the gain with the Hotmod in the lower gain setting. Although it sounds good low volume it sounds better with the master @ 5-6 with my PS 100. This allows me to also use the fx loop for reverb and delay. What a rig.

 

[anomaly]

I guess I mean, for the ultimate in a Marshall experience I feel the vintage Superlead with a pedal or two is the pinnacle. Clarity, push are even better than a 2203. If those are important then a Superlead is the king of the Marshalls. I had a re capped 83 2203, with fresh vintage GE 6550s that sounded killer….got my 72, boosted it and was blown away…then played the 2203. It sounded small in comparison. And we know 2203s aren’t small sounding amps!

You know it's really hard for me to take you seriously. You wanna know why? You like the green channel on the Randall RG100ES. Now who the fuck likes the green channel on a RG100ES for anything other than cleans?? No one, and you of course. It's all about the RED channel. You turn the green channel's master and gain to zero and you boost the Red channel (best with two 4x12's (4ohms) of course) and you stand back and get crushed by the best solid state lead circuit ever designed. The green channel is for weirdo's that don't know what a good high gain tone is... they want everything to sound like 1973.

 

[Racerxrated]

You know it's really hard for me to take you seriously. You wanna know why? You like the green channel on the Randall RG100ES. Now who the fuck likes the green channel on a RG100ES for anything other than cleans?? No one, and you of course. It's all about the RED channel. You turn the green channel's master and gain to zero and you boost the Red channel (best with two 4x12's (4ohms) of course) and you stand back and get crushed by the best solid state lead circuit ever designed. The green channel is for weirdo's that don't know what a good high gain tone is... they want everything to sound like 1973.

Wtf are you off your meds??? Where did I say anything ever about a green, red, blue channel on a fn Randall???
Find where I even mention anything about wtf you are talking about, and I’ll apologize to you. All I’ve ever said about the Randall RGs is, they are a great cheap amp; and that I don’t dial them in like Dime because I think his tone is shit. As far as boosting this/that channel, who the fuck cares. It’s my little practice amp.
Your butthurt stems from my insult to Dimes tone, I’m quite sure of that.
And for you to chime in in a Marshall thread is hilarious; you’ve probably never plugged into one in your life.
Not enough METULZZ for you
?

 

[glpg80]

I’ve played a boosted non master superlead 1959 in a JCM 800 chassis before. Those are transitional amps so they were only made for a few years. I boosted it with an SD-1, jumped the channels as you should, and the best it could do was Van Halen I tones. It was before a guitar center store was open and we had the whole store to ourselves so we also had it wide open. It sounded great but my 6550 loaded modded 74 superlead would absolutely destroy it by comparison as would my boosted blue channel XTC. They’re great amps but do have their limits.

 

[Racerxrated]

I’ve played a boosted non master superlead 1959 in a JCM 800 chassis before. Those are transitional amps so they were only made for a few years. I boosted it with an SD-1, jumped the channels as you should, and the best it could do was Van Halen I tones. It was before a guitar center store was open and we had the whole store to ourselves so we also had it wide open. It sounded great but my 6550 loaded modded 74 superlead would absolutely destroy it by comparison as would my boosted blue channel XTC. They’re great amps but do have their limits.

I think it still depends on the year a bit. I also had a 4 holer 800, Nick did his 'Nick' mod to it and it was great. But I don't think it had the 5K bright cap; and no 800 pt has the huge voltage that existed in the early 70s PTs. Like you, my 72 was boosted with an SD1 and it was cool. I bought it just to have a hand wired NMV stocker. Wasn't planning on playing it too much as I had a 3 channel Cameron SLP and that 83 2203. Then I played with double boosting it and it blew me away, using 2 of the cheaper pedals I had. Jumped the lower L to the upper R; plugged into the bottom R and it easily does anything 80s. I also read that either pulling or changing the value on the 5K Lemco can help volume sweep and you still get the same gain/tone just higher on the sweep. Not the case at all with my amp. That magic it has, exists because of that cap. I pulled it, lowered it and the only way to get it to sound exactly like before was to put it right back in.
It won't get 90s and beyond heavy but I can use my Recto or Naylor for that. It gets a lot (surprisingly so) of tight lows too...just not 90s style. For me, it's so punchy and clear that I sold the Cameron, 2203, C+ Coliseum and don't miss any of them. The Wizard MC100 I had, that would have been an interesting A/B comp. But any GAS I had for another, left after getting the 72.

 

[braintheory]

I’ve played a boosted non master superlead 1959 in a JCM 800 chassis before. Those are transitional amps so they were only made for a few years. I boosted it with an SD-1, jumped the channels as you should, and the best it could do was Van Halen I tones. It was before a guitar center store was open and we had the whole store to ourselves so we also had it wide open. It sounded great but my 6550 loaded modded 74 superlead would absolutely destroy it by comparison as would my boosted blue channel XTC. They’re great amps but do have their limits.

I don’t know about the particular NMV Marshall you mentioned, but I have the luxury of being able to crank my 1972 SuperLead 100 whenever I want (still don’t do it too often though lol) and while there are limits to how heavy it can get (gets heavier though than VH with my boosts), nothing else I’ve tried is anywhere close to the hard hitting, direct punch it has. Not my Wizard, not the Hiwatt DR103 I had, not my Boogie colisuems. The only amps I still really gotta try are a Larry, Trainwreck and MLC Silenoz. To me it’s a much better amp overall than any of the Marshall’s that came out later except maybe 1 or 2 modded ones I’ve had/still have and while those have more growl (one the ‘72’s Achilles heal admittedly), gain and juicy mids, the punch is nowhere near comparable to the 72 SuperLead 100. The Marshall’s I’ve had and tried from 1965-1967 were much softer & darker sounding fwiw. Great amps as well, more warm, prettier tone, no kerrang or brashness to be found, but nowhere near the punch either. Haven’t had proper experience yet with Marshall’s from 1968-1971 to know how those would stack up

 

[anomaly]

Wtf are you off your meds??? Where did I say anything ever about a green, red, blue channel on a fn Randall???
Find where I even mention anything about wtf you are talking about, and I’ll apologize to you. All I’ve ever said about the Randall RGs is, they are a great cheap amp; and that I don’t dial them in like Dime because I think his tone is shit. As far as boosting this/that channel, who the fuck cares. It’s my little practice amp.
Your butthurt stems from my insult to Dimes tone, I’m quite sure of that.
And for you to chime in in a Marshall thread is hilarious; you’ve probably never plugged into one in your life.
Not enough METULZZ for you
?

First off, I really don't care if you like Dime's tone or not, a lot of people don't like his tone... who cares. No one can deny that Far Beyond Driven is a great sounding album though, but to each his own. Second, you've owned 60+ Marshall Plexi's hey? (Do you own a Mansion and a Yaght too Elmer Fudd?) and only two of them needed caps? What did you just own them for a weekend or something? These are 50 year old amps. Any amp that old, if it is still stock should be going to the tech for a recap, especially the high voltage filter caps... if they are stock.

And yes, i've plugged into a few Plexi's before, I've plugged into many NMV amps in my 26 years of playing guitar. Never did I feel like I had enough gain with one though, and that's even with an overdrive. They're loud brash amplifiers that are basically obsolete these days. They've got one sound, well two depending if you're plugging in with a strat with single coils or a LP with humbuckers.

Comparing them to a 2203 or a DSL is not even fair as they do different tones. A DSL is a more modern high gain marshall, which is a tone a plexi can't get, so why compare? Apples and Oranges man.

 

[Racerxrated]

First off, I really don't care if you like Dime's tone or not, a lot of people don't like his tone... who cares. No one can deny that Far Beyond Driven is a great sounding album though, but to each his own. Second, you've owned 60+ Marshall Plexi's hey? (Do you own a Mansion and a Yaght too Elmer Fudd?) and only two of them needed caps? What did you just own them for a weekend or something? These are 50 year old amps. Any amp that old, if it is still stock should be going to the tech for a recap, especially the high voltage filter caps... if they are stock.

And yes, i've plugged into a few Plexi's before, I've plugged into many NMV amps in my 26 years of playing guitar. Never did I feel like I had enough gain with one though, and that's even with an overdrive. They're loud brash amplifiers that are basically obsolete these days. They've got one sound, well two depending if you're plugging in with a strat with single coils or a LP with humbuckers.

Comparing them to a 2203 or a DSL is not even fair as they do different tones. A DSL is a more modern high gain marshall, which is a tone a plexi can't get, so why compare? Apples and Oranges man.

I said 60+ Marshalls, not Plexis dipshit; better brush up on your reading comprehension. Your posts lately seem to swoop in and get all negative no matter what the thread...sorry if your life sucks. And I owned/tried/returned/sold them in about a 12 year period....you do the math(oh wait maybe you can't). Clearly you don't have much(if any) experience with Marshalls since nearly all of them had original Daly or LCR caps. As Larry said in a previous thread; 'they defy the laws of physics'..so you go ahead and change the caps in your Mk IV(yeah every Mesa needs them changed so I agree with that)...but I'll keep my vintage Marshalls sounding killer with the originals. And, I call more bullshit on your supposed 'experience' with NMV Marshalls saying they 'only have one sound'...lots of ways to run a 4 holer but you'd be too fucking dumb to know that.
The OP wanted to know about a real Marshall and what would be a good choice; I simply feel that a good early 70s version is the top of the Marshall mountain. Others seem to think a DSL will do the job. I disagree. Simple as that. Then, you feel the need to attack me because of some imagined Randall RG operating error? Ya Ok retard. Make shit up as you go.
You should just stay out of Marshall threads...you don't know shit about them. Stick to the MetalZone in front of your Crates and Randall Warheads or whatever the metalzfuck you attempt to play.

 

[Greazygeo]

I think it still depends on the year a bit. I also had a 4 holer 800, Nick did his 'Nick' mod to it and it was great. But I don't think it had the 5K bright cap; and no 800 pt has the huge voltage that existed in the early 70s PTs. Like you, my 72 was boosted with an SD1 and it was cool. I bought it just to have a hand wired NMV stocker. Wasn't planning on playing it too much as I had a 3 channel Cameron SLP and that 83 2203. Then I played with double boosting it and it blew me away, using 2 of the cheaper pedals I had. Jumped the lower L to the upper R; plugged into the bottom R and it easily does anything 80s. I also read that either pulling or changing the value on the 5K Lemco can help volume sweep and you still get the same gain/tone just higher on the sweep. Not the case at all with my amp. That magic it has, exists because of that cap. I pulled it, lowered it and the only way to get it to sound exactly like before was to put it right back in.
It won't get 90s and beyond heavy but I can use my Recto or Naylor for that. It gets a lot (surprisingly so) of tight lows too...just not 90s style. For me, it's so punchy and clear that I sold the Cameron, 2203, C+ Coliseum and don't miss any of them. The Wizard MC100 I had, that would have been an interesting A/B comp. But any GAS I had for another, left after getting the 72.

First thing I do is remove and replace that 5k cap…absolutely hate it.

 

[anomaly]

I said 60+ Marshalls, not Plexis dipshit; better brush up on your reading comprehension. Your posts lately seem to swoop in and get all negative no matter what the thread...sorry if your life sucks. And I owned/tried/returned/sold them in about a 12 year period....you do the math(oh wait maybe you can't). Clearly you don't have much(if any) experience with Marshalls since nearly all of them had original Daly or LCR caps. As Larry said in a previous thread; 'they defy the laws of physics'..so you go ahead and change the caps in your Mk IV(yeah every Mesa needs them changed so I agree with that)...but I'll keep my vintage Marshalls sounding killer with the originals. And, I call more bullshit on your supposed 'experience' with NMV Marshalls saying they 'only have one sound'...lots of ways to run a 4 holer but you'd be too fucking dumb to know that.
The OP wanted to know about a real Marshall and what would be a good choice; I simply feel that a good early 70s version is the top of the Marshall mountain. Others seem to think a DSL will do the job. I disagree. Simple as that. Then, you feel the need to attack me because of some imagined Randall RG operating error? Ya Ok retard. Make shit up as you go.
You should just stay out of Marshall threads...you don't know shit about them. Stick to the MetalZone in front of your Crates and Randall Warheads or whatever the metalzfuck you attempt to play.

Oh, I'm the negative one here.

You just can't agree with anything can you?

You made a post a long time ago that stuck with me about the Randall RG series and I recall you saying that you liked to boost the green channel on the rg100es, alright, that's it. It's not a big deal. My quote was more a joke than anything, as you can use your amps however you like with whatever settings you like and whatever channel you like.

I owned a Warhead once actually and it was the worst amp I have ever played, I also owned a Crate gx-130c as well, and I wasn't impressed with that one either. In fact the only solid state amps I'll use these days are the older Randall RG series... and yes, I'll boost it with a metal zone sometimes.

In fact I do know a little about Marshall's as I have used quite a few of them including plexi's... so I'll post in Marshall threads whenever I like, OK... and yes, I'm in the camp that says a DSL will do just fine.

 

[Racerxrated]

First thing I do is remove and replace that 5k cap…absolutely hate it.

...and I hated it AFTER removing. I had a 67 50 Trem that didn't have any cap; would've been interesting to hear it with one. The 5K definitely means no vol taper; but on mine removing it totally neutered the amp.