5150iii EL34 50W with G1275 loaded 1960A

[Rayneman]

I have great results with a Maxon 808, but haven’t tried anything else.

 

[Bloodstorm]

Can't seem to dial in much of a saggy Marshally tone. Kind of let down because I played 100w a few months ago and it blew me away. Had a deeper, fat tone to it. This amp, while good, just seems too brittle and thin. Maybe it's my pickups or something. Idk...

 

[Racerxrated]

Can't seem to dial in much of a saggy Marshally tone. Kind of let down because I played 100w a few months ago and it blew me away. Had a deeper, fat tone to it. This amp, while good, just seems too brittle and thin. Maybe it's my pickups or something. Idk...

Try dialing the low end more with the resonance. That might thicken it up a bit. Keep in mind though, any 100w amp will always sound bigger than the 50w version even if both are the same volume. IMO.

 

[Bloodstorm]

Can't seem to dial in much of a saggy Marshally tone. Kind of let down because I played 100w a few months ago and it blew me away. Had a deeper, fat tone to it. This amp, while good, just seems too brittle and thin. Maybe it's my pickups or something. Idk...

Try dialing the low end more with the resonance. That might thicken it up a bit. Keep in mind though, any 100w amp will always sound bigger than the 50w version even if both are the same volume. IMO.

Tried that. I don't think this amp has the basic sound I'm going for.

 

[fek]

I posted this on another forum as well but in a nutshell, the blue channel was tricky to dial in. I forgot to dime the gain like Rayneman does but I will get there with the next jam session. My concern was that putting the gain full up would make it even thicker.

Was able to let the 5150III breath a bit on Saturday night. I didn't like the blue channel at first. After spending some time dialing it in, it is actually pretty sweet. Gain around noon, bass at 9:00, mids around 10:00, and treble at 2:00. I did have to boost the front end with a TS type to tighten it up a bit more for me but it is a good tone that I will use most of time.

The red channel is just nuts. Everything at noon and it is good to go right out of the box.

 

[Bloodstorm]

I don't like it at all personally. Shrill, brittle, and harsh. Harmonics have certain color to their sound that can't be dialed out. The amp has no sag or richness, it's just a bunch of very bad sounding, knuckle-dragging gain. I'm very disappointed. I wanted it to be good.

 

[ChurchHill]

Since you just got it, maybe you could exchange it for something? Maybe one of those new Marshall DSLs? Nothing quite like a Marshall for saggy Marshall tone... The 100w DSL-HR is around the same price and from all reports is a great sounding amp. I've got a JCM2000 DSL100 and it's full of those kind of saggy hot-rodded Marshall sounds.

 

[Bloodstorm]

Since you just got it, maybe you could exchange it for something? Maybe one of those new Marshall DSLs? Nothing quite like a Marshall for saggy Marshall tone... The 100w DSL-HR is around the same price and from all reports is a great sounding amp. I've got a JCM2000 DSL100 and it's full of those kind of saggy hot-rodded Marshall sounds.

Idk man. It's probably got to do with my guitar and my playing too. I never seem to get something that works for me.

 

[ChurchHill]

Might be worth a shot, in any case. It took me 8.5 years before I found an amp I was even remotely happy with, and I went through a TON of amps before I found it.

 

[Bloodstorm]

I hear people talking about all these amps. "This one sounds killer", "that one sounds killer". I don't know what they're talking about. No tube head I've ever played sounded good to me at all. I play a pro mod with a bill and Becky lx500 in the bridge. There's no reason the amps should sound so muddy. You try to palm mute a note on the low e string all you get is this round bumm bumm bumm sound. That's the case with most tube amps I've played. I plugged into a Marshall mg100hdfx and boom! there was the tone! Super rich, saggy, great Harmonics, great palm-muted low notes, etc... The cheap little solid state blew them all away. The only other amp I got good tone from was my old peavey xxx 212 combo. I don't know the secret but I never seem to get the awesome tones everyone else talks about. This 5150 sounds like garbage to me.

 

[ChurchHill]

IDK... those LX500 pickups are pretty bright (that might be an understatement). Could explain why most amps sound harsh and brittle to you.