What amp would you pick?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadAsAHatter
  • Start date Start date
I went through this exact dilemma for a long time. Never owned a true tube Marshall since I started playing in the 80’s. I went through tons of Bogner, Engl, Diezel, etc…love them all. I finally broke down and bought a 1984 JCM800 2204 a few years ago. While I was not blown away by it as being so much better than any of my others, I do love it. It satisfied that itch to have “the real thing” if that makes sense.

So to me, if you’re stuck on that question, just go ahead and get one to scratch that itch. Get whatever you feel the “real” thing is. They hold value so you can always resell and get your money back if you don’t like it.
 
Racerxrated said:
...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.
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I put one in, not that 5k though, not a fan of that sound.
 
anomaly said:
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.
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i have my Ampeg v50h which is a NMV EL34 50w plexi type head, if we are talking strait tone its probably the best amp i have, big clear beautiful cleans that are great for a pedal platform which is mostly what i use it for, about 11 to 2 oclock has that nice open and dynamic chimey break up that is wonderful for boosting, and then after 2 oclock it just gets more compressed and chewy and its wonderful for lead playing. its a great amp and im sure a good vintage marshall is better, however i kind of agree.. for anything past Aerosmith kind of mid 70s rock levels of gain, which I have to play at concert levels which is tiring after about two minutes, it’s not as good as other amps as much as I’ve tried with different boosts and everything else, I just can’t get it modern enough. I’d love to try a good vintage Marshall though and see what’s going on
 
Jimty said:
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.
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My 78 is great like this as well
 
RaceU4her said:
i have my Ampeg v50h which is a NMV EL34 50w plexi type head, if we are talking strait tone its probably the best amp i have, big clear beautiful cleans that are great for a pedal platform which is mostly what i use it for, about 11 to 2 oclock has that nice open and dynamic chimey break up that is wonderful for boosting, and then after 2 oclock it just gets more compressed and chewy and its wonderful for lead playing. its a great amp and im sure a good vintage marshall is better, however i kind of agree.. for anything past Aerosmith kind of mid 70s rock levels of gain, which I have to play at concert levels which is tiring after about two minutes, it’s not as good as other amps as much as I’ve tried with different boosts and everything else, I just can’t get it modern enough. I’d love to try a good vintage Marshall though and see what’s going on
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With the 2 boosts I use it's easily 80s hard rock/metal. It would struggle to get 90s and beyond; but maybe with a different pedal(s) it would get there.
 
Racerxrated said:
With the 2 boosts I use it's easily 80s hard rock/metal. It would struggle to get 90s and beyond; but maybe with a different pedal(s) it would get there.
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But after two boost pedals, are you sure it’s the amps sound you now love or just the dominant sound of the solid state pedals through a marginally clean amplifier with vintage capacitors? A boosted Marshall sounds great but if you lean too heavily on the gain of the pedal, you hear the pedal more than the amplifier.
 
@Briman24

Since tone is from the magic toan fingers

Please get crushing metal tones from a blackface fender without a pedal and record some clips for us

Or a Roland jazz chorus, that will work too

I'd love to hear some clips of your magic tone fingers magically making tones
 
Racerxrated said:
With the 2 boosts I use it's easily 80s hard rock/metal. It would struggle to get 90s and beyond; but maybe with a different pedal(s) it would get there.
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i havent tried double boosting in a while, next time i plug into my ampeg im gonna try again. i found this clip though of my ampeg cranked with my sg from long ago, i love it for this kind of stuff, might have to make more clips like this now i have better recording equipment

https://app.box.com/embed/s/1c4xh18kcazz3e1hlqkf7stewb0ltqzl
 
glpg80 said:
But after two boost pedals, are you sure it’s the amps sound you now love or just the dominant sound of the solid state pedals through a marginally clean amplifier with vintage capacitors? A boosted Marshall sounds great but if you lean too heavily on the gain of the pedal, you hear the pedal more than the amplifier.
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Well, to me it sounds just like the boosted 2203 I had at the same time (when I first got the 72) except better in all areas...better clarity, punch, tighter lows, searing mids...like taking the 2203 and giving it a supercharger or a twin turbo lol.
Like the difference between a Mk III and a C+...both are cool but the C+ just gives you more of everything.
 
RaceU4her said:
i havent tried double boosting in a while, next time i plug into my ampeg im gonna try again. i found this clip though of my ampeg cranked with my sg from long ago, i love it for this kind of stuff, might have to make more clips like this now i have better recording equipment

https://app.box.com/embed/s/1c4xh18kcazz3e1hlqkf7stewb0ltqzl
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One thing I noticed is, I had to start low and go slow with 2 boost pedals...once I dialed it right, if I moved anything it changed it way too much haha...and, I have to have an off SD1 last in the chain.
Little things but it's a touchy vintage amp
 
DanTravis62 said:
@Briman24

Since tone is from the magic toan fingers

Please get crushing metal tones from a blackface fender without a pedal and record some clips for us

Or a Roland jazz chorus, that will work too

I'd love to hear some clips of your magic tone fingers magically making tones
Click to expand...
I will do even better. I will play play classical guitar stuff on my Uberschall or better yet on one of my fuzzes or Hm-2. It’ll definitely sound great and not like a complete mess since it’s all in the fingers not the gear. Who needs to get a 6 figure priced Hauser guitar when you can get the same results on a high gain amp and kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Sure is on to something. Especially in that DSL clip. We learned from it that if we make a lo-fi phone recording, have the amp completely drenched in reverb/delay and top it off with mindless noodly gobbly gook style lead playing alla EVH, a DSL does in that context in fact sound as good or better than any NMV Marshall. So much great info here sometimes
 
glpg80 said:
But after two boost pedals, are you sure it’s the amps sound you now love or just the dominant sound of the solid state pedals through a marginally clean amplifier with vintage capacitors? A boosted Marshall sounds great but if you lean too heavily on the gain of the pedal, you hear the pedal more than the amplifier.
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I found the best results for me just plugging straight in (no boosts), just loud and sometimes using my Scarlet Tunic turned off (just as a buffer. It adds sparkle and detail to the sound). For anything ‘80’s or before it’s got the gain, just not the more extended bottom end needed for metal. I don’t really like it with most pedals boosting other than my Klon, which can be glorious. I find the amp has such an inherently good, natural sound that it really exposes those awful plastic-y/filtered sounds that 99%+ recent made pedals tend to have, so they take away from the experience with the amp imo. NMV’s ime generally are a lot more picky with pedals. They’re like prima donna’s that only want good quality stuff into them. I do think though it can make for one of the best pedal platforms out there with my fuzzes or ‘80’s HM-2
 
MadAsAHatter said:
This is mostly me thinking out loud, but any feedback would be appreciated.

Let's say you have the Marshall tones covered pretty well in some form, but have never owned a Marshall before (though you have played through them many a time). You're able to get one more amp without having to offload something. Do you finally break down and by a Marshall for yourself because nothing beats the original? Or having the Marshall vibe covered do you go for something completely different?
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I think it depends on which Marshall tone you want. If you want a JVM, nothing else sounds like it - and it's an awesome amp. If you want a JCM800, you'll be better off buying a Marshall since clones are starting to cost just as much. The Vintage Modern is also another great amp, and unique Marshall tone you can't get anywhere else. If you want Marshall'ish or modded-Marshall, you'll find products like Friedman which are amazing amps but they don't sound exactly and feel like a Marshall, so I say if you want Marshall, get a Marshall.
 
DanTravis62 said:
@Briman24

Since tone is from the magic toan fingers

Please get crushing metal tones from a blackface fender without a pedal and record some clips for us

Or a Roland jazz chorus, that will work too

I'd love to hear some clips of your magic tone fingers magically making tones
Click to expand...
Lol where did i say it was my fingers?
 
RaceU4her said:
i have my Ampeg v50h which is a NMV EL34 50w plexi type head, if we are talking strait tone its probably the best amp i have, big clear beautiful cleans that are great for a pedal platform which is mostly what i use it for, about 11 to 2 oclock has that nice open and dynamic chimey break up that is wonderful for boosting, and then after 2 oclock it just gets more compressed and chewy and its wonderful for lead playing. its a great amp and im sure a good vintage marshall is better, however i kind of agree.. for anything past Aerosmith kind of mid 70s rock levels of gain, which I have to play at concert levels which is tiring after about two minutes, it’s not as good as other amps as much as I’ve tried with different boosts and everything else, I just can’t get it modern enough. I’d love to try a good vintage Marshall though and see what’s going on
Click to expand...
I've never owned a Plexi, but i've played through a few of them and have owned a few NMV amps (Fender bassman, Ampeg V4 (loud motherfucker) and VT-22) and they have a certain sound to them that is nice and very dynamic, and they take pedals great. All that said, I'm a 90's guy... I grew up in the 90's so those are the tones I gravitate towards and a Plexi just doesn't have that sound to it... it's too old school sounding and nothing you do really makes it sound like it's not a 1970's amplifier, so they're just not my thing.
 
So then, you think ___insert your favorite guitarist___ could plug straight into a jazz chorus and get thrash tones?

And if only you were an exceptional player, you would have the magic toan fingers?

This is a cope that many people seem to use.

Your technique matters, for sure, but power chords are power chords, and that's what the vast majority of people mean when they say "tone."

Not "golly, I like that guys playing."
 
DanTravis62 said:
So then, you think ___insert your favorite guitarist___ could plug straight into a jazz chorus and get thrash tones?

And if only you were an exceptional player, you would have the magic toan fingers?

This is a cope that many people seem to use.

Your technique matters, for sure, but power chords are power chords, and that's what the vast majority of people mean when they say "tone."

Not "golly, I like that guys playing."
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Yup I hear what your saying and agree.

I had to go back a read this thread from beginning because i had a few cocktails friday at Christmas party and didn't remember everything i posted. I was kinda implying that a great player will sound great through any amp with the comment tone is in the finger thingy. Then
I posted clips of dsl's to show that they can get high gain tones and plexi tones for the op.
I saw i said that one of the clips, he was using a combo into a 4x12 and and 100 watt head into same cab that "levelled the playing field". What i meant was it brings it closer by making it sound bigger and fuller but not better or the same as the 100 watt.
 
I appreciate all the feedback from everyone. It's helped guide me toward narrowing down some things.
Here's where I'm at right now. I'm looking at getting something in about 8 months, maybe a little longer. I need to put aside more since what I have in the blow the money on gear fund is already marked for other purchases. Though I have some time to think about it more, I kinda want to put something in my sights. That way I have a goal to save for that'll keep me from pissing funds away on an impulse buy.

I've narrowed it down to 3 choices in no particular order.
  • Marshall NMV Superlead
  • Marshall 2203/04
  • Wizard Amp of some type - Not 100% sure yet, but thinking an MC2.
If you had to pick which one would you go for and why?
 
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