69 Superbass/VH4 Or Herbert/VH4?

[jonl]

I currently run the VH4 with a Herbert and have been thinking about selling the Herbert and picking up a 69 Superbass to run with the VH4.
Talk me into it or talk me out of it.

I would have to run the Marshall with a THD hotplate to get the tone I would want out of it but I think its worth it!

Your thoughts?

 

[cardinal]

I'd look into something like the BE-100, personally. Cranked NMV Marshalls sound glorious but OMG are they loud. The Friedman I played sounded very Marshally at any volume in the BE input. No attenuators needed.

 

[Aristocat]

I have a BE Modded 71' Super Lead before it was modded, you would need to crank it to no end to get it to break up.

I'm talking about evicted from your apartment volumes.

Like cardinal said above, a BE mod or something similar would be great.

Check out a Henning Cherry Bomb. Steve's amp sounds incredible.

 

[jonl]

I'd look into something like the BE-100, personally. Cranked NMV Marshalls sound glorious but OMG are they loud. The Friedman I played sounded very Marshally at any volume in the BE input. No attenuators needed.

I played a BE the other day, it was very nice...
I haven't had the change to play a vintage marshall yet, can the BE-100 pull off that tone?

 

[fearhk213]

The BE is definitely a killer Marshall style amp. One of the best sounding amps I've ever played with an awesome master volume. As far as whether it can pull off vintage Marshall tones, it can certainly be dialed in for a killer vintagey tone, but it won't completely pull off a 69 Superbass tone & vibe. The BE inherently has a more refined and compressed tone with a more forgiving and controllable feel. Those vintage Marshalls are rawer, wide open, and jump out of the cab like nothing else. So it really just depends on what you want. If you have to have that sound, then the BE may not be your thing. But don't underestimate the loud warning about those old Marshalls. Just saying...

To be completely fair, though, the BE is supposed to be a "modded" Marshall style amp, not a vintage clone. Something like a Metroamp 12,000 Series or Germino Headroom 100 would be a better choice if you want vintage Marshall Superbass tone in a new, boutique package.

 

[cardinal]

Like fear said, the BE I played wasn't quite the same as a cranked up Superlead, but neither is a heavily attenuated Superlead. How loud can you get the amp? If volume is at all a concern, you probably dont want a Superlead/Superbass (or clone) if you're looking for a heavily overdriven sound.

That said, supposedly Suhr's SL68 with the PPIMV sounds great a reasonable volumes. Not sure if there's something unique about the way Suhr does it.

 

[Velvetgeorge]

You might also try the Metro-Friedman. Pure plexi head that's meant to be dimed. Does require an attenuator though.

George

 

[freeballinusa]

YESYESYES to your hot plate super bass idea___ It will provide the 'notation' that the other amps can't as well imo

Plus it will give a more Organic tilt to the overall sound So one Plexi and one VH4 or BE and I think that will be awesome

 

[ericsabbath]

for the classic 60's marshall tone without the huge volume, you want a bray modded marshall, not a friedman
love every friedman amp I heard, but it's a quite modern sound
brays are amazing amps with more of the classic mojo and more affordable prices

 

[Jofipe]

The Gower KK++ packs a GREAT stock plexi sound aswell. Very open and articulate...
The Friedman works great also, full blast with using the gain as volume... switch on the C45 and you get creamy rock sounds all over the place.

 

[petejt]

The BE inherently has a more refined and compressed tone with a more forgiving and controllable feel.

I don't like the sound of that.

 

[fearhk213]

The BE inherently has a more refined and compressed tone with a more forgiving and controllable feel.

I don't like the sound of that.

Don't let that description fool you. The BE doesn't have the life squashed out of it by any means; the amp breathes and responds to your playing dynamics. It's just that within the context of comparing it to an old Marshall those will be some differences you'll notice.