Badlander vs Marshalls x3

I don't think the Badlander is designed or should be expected to supplant a Marshall. It's never going to have that same snap and bite. It still has the Mesa low-mids thing, but sort of through a "British" lens. I guess maybe look at it as splitting the difference, as if you blended a Mesa and Marshall on a record, rather than Mesa trying to make a JCM.
 
Spaceboy said:
I don't think the Badlander is designed or should be expected to supplant a Marshall. It's never going to have that same snap and bite. It still has the Mesa low-mids thing, but sort of through a "British" lens. I guess maybe look at it as splitting the difference, as if you blended a Mesa and Marshall on a record, rather than Mesa trying to make a JCM.
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100% on the money
 
Spaceboy said:
I don't think the Badlander is designed or should be expected to supplant a Marshall. It's never going to have that same snap and bite. It still has the Mesa low-mids thing, but sort of through a "British" lens. I guess maybe look at it as splitting the difference, as if you blended a Mesa and Marshall on a record, rather than Mesa trying to make a JCM.
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I agree that my Badlander is a very different flavor than my Marshall’s, but in its own way has imo a similar amount of bite and snap as my Marshall’s
 
Thanks for that awesome clip! I liked the JCM 800 best and the Badlander was my #2 choice, but they all sounded great. Does the Badlander do anything that you like better than the Marshalls?
 
Racerxrated said:
Nice work Blake! For my tastes the Marshalls have the edge.....but you don't buy a Mesa to sound like a Marshall. The BL gets very close, and sounds like a C modded Recto with even more upper mids.
Really the perfect Recto for my preferences short of a real C/D Recto.
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I don’t know about the C, but my Badlander is VERY different in both sound and feel from my Rev D. It’s way tighter, brighter, more attack, more upper mids, more modern, not nearly as thick, warm or organic like the Rev D. Like Blake said calling it a Recto may have been a mistake on Boogie’s end. A bit misleading. The growl itself on the BL is still very much that Recto sound, only Recto’s do that type of throaty growl, but otherwise very different from other Recto’s. I’ve not tried a C yet, but based on clips seems similar to my Rev D, so I doubt it’s like a BL either. BL is it’s own thing imo
 
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Will Onyx said:
Thanks for that awesome clip! I liked the JCM 800 best and the Badlander was my #2 choice, but they all sounded great. Does the Badlander do anything that you like better than the Marshalls?
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I’ve got a bunch of Marshall’s stock and modded (include a Cameron Jose), have had a Cameron Aldrich mod like Blake’s as well as those other model Marshall’s shown here, and I would say the BL has a much more modern flavor that the Marshall’s don’t have and it has a unique throaty growl like the other Recto’s that Marshall’s don’t have, so that’s why it’s been a keeper for me. Maybe Blake has a different view on it. My Marshall’s are still my overall favorite amps for my taste, but the BL imo offers something cool and unique
 
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I've listened to this clip on my phone, in my truck and on my Yamaha HS80Ms.
They're really close. I couldn't hear the nuances on my phone. Except for the Cameron.
The Cameron stands out with something extra in the mids.

Listening on the monitors:
The Marshalls, especially the 4010, have a bit more chunk on the power chords vs the Mesa.
@Bxlxaxkxe, confirmed the 4104 is an 84. Indeed, we are onto something. :)

I'm surprised by how close the Mesa sounds. It's def closer than the Royal Atlantic, Elecra Dyne and Stiletto, imo. How does it feel on the attack?
I'm curious if they would sound more different from each other if recorded with a mic on a speaker vs a load into an IR?
Your recordings always sound good, polished. What do you use for reverb? Any master eq or compression?
 
LPMojoGL said:
I've listened to this clip on my phone, in my truck and on my Yamaha HS80Ms.
They're really close. I couldn't hear the nuances on my phone. Except for the Cameron.
The Cameron stands out with something extra in the mids.

Listening on the monitors:
The Marshalls, especially the 4010, have a bit more chunk on the power chords vs the Mesa.
@Bxlxaxkxe, confirmed the 4104 is an 84. Indeed, we are onto something. :)

I'm surprised by how close the Mesa sounds. It's def closer than the Royal Atlantic, Elecra Dyne and Stiletto, imo. How does it feel on the attack?
I'm curious if they would sound more different from each other if recorded with a mic on a speaker vs a load into an IR?
Your recordings always sound good, polished. What do you use for reverb? Any master eq or compression?
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Those nuances are imo a big part of what makes the Cameron mods better to me than most others. Not everyone seems to hear those nuances though. Not sure if that’s a blessing or curse lol. My BadLander imo feels different on the attack than my stock & modded Marshall’s, but closer to them than other Mesa’s, but still overall feels like a Mesa to me in a good way
 
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It’s surprising how close the BL sounds to the Marshalls. Dial a little more bass out of the BL and I’d imagine you’d be damn close. If it’s got a good clean channel and keeps up with a boosted 800 or Cameron what the hell else do you need?
 
I see no reason to force Badlander to sound as Marshall. If it should mimic Marshall, then it definitely lacks something. If it stays in it's own territory, then it seems to be a good amp. I understand the first video as a comparison, not an attempt to chase Marshall.
 
Spaceboy said:
I don't think the Badlander is designed or should be expected to supplant a Marshall. It's never going to have that same snap and bite. It still has the Mesa low-mids thing, but sort of through a "British" lens. I guess maybe look at it as splitting the difference, as if you blended a Mesa and Marshall on a record, rather than Mesa trying to make a JCM.
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I agree for guys that use a mix of Marshall/ Mesa in the studio this seems like a good choice as it neither full Recto or Marshall but has DNA of both
 
braintheory said:
Those nuances are imo a big part of what makes the Cameron mods better to me than most others. Not everyone seems to hear those nuances though. Not sure if that’s a blessing or curse lol. My BadLander imo feels different on the attack than my stock & modded Marshall’s, but closer to them than other Mesa’s, but still overall feels like a Mesa to me in a good way
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It's a curse, my friend.
A wicked, beautiful curse.
 
braintheory said:
I’ve got a bunch of Marshall’s stock and modded (include a Cameron Jose), have had a Cameron Aldrich mod like Blake’s as well as those other model Marshall’s shown here, and I would say the BL has a much more modern flavor that the Marshall’s don’t have and it has a unique throaty growl like the other Recto’s that Marshall’s don’t have, so that’s why it’s been a keeper for me. Maybe Blake has a different view on it. My Marshall’s are still my overall favorite amps for my taste, but the BL imo offers something cool and unique
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Yea that’s pretty much my take on it as well. More low end, more gain, more modern, great master, 2 channels, etc. May just be the honeymoon thing but the Badlander high gain tone is super addictive to my ears, i really just enjoy that sound- it’s got everything I want to hear in a modern high gain tone. The clean channel with the gain way up high has a similar vibe to a stock 2203, but a little more polished sounding. That said, it doesn’t replace any of my Marshalls- and I hope I made that clear in the OP.
 
I haven’t kept up on gear recently. I remember when Mesa released the Badlander, but it never prompted any deep dive on my part to track down / compare clips or to ever seek one out to play through. I am really surprised at how good it sounds and how close it is to some really exceptional examples of the ‘Marshall’ sound. Would be hard to complain if you had a fly date with your travel board and the venue had a Badlander in the backline.
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
Yea that’s pretty much my take on it as well. More low end, more gain, more modern, great master, 2 channels, etc. May just be the honeymoon thing but the Badlander high gain tone is super addictive to my ears, i really just enjoy that sound- it’s got everything I want to hear in a modern high gain tone. The clean channel with the gain way up high has a similar vibe to a stock 2203, but a little more polished sounding. That said, it doesn’t replace any of my Marshalls- and I hope I made that clear in the OP.
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Yes also for me one of the few modern high gain amps I’ve kept along with my Megalith Beta and Wizard. It’s got a very aggressive, ripping tone to its growl, which is for me where the addictive vibe comes from. My modded Marshall’s actually have more gain and saturation than my Bad Lander and even better masters imo than my BL, but I guess it really depends on the mods. Both have their own things going for them
 
braintheory said:
Yes also for me one of the few modern high gain amps I’ve kept along with my Megalith Beta and Wizard. It’s got a very aggressive, ripping tone to its growl, which is for me where the addictive vibe comes from. My modded Marshall’s actually have more gain and saturation than my Bad Lander and even better masters imo than my BL, but I guess it really depends on the mods. Both have their own things going for them
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I was just referring to benenfit of Badlander to stock marshalls
 
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