Building a new rig! Advice and tips appreciated!

[anomaly]

Seems like a good rig to me. Is that Fender amp gonna have the headroom though? Seems like with only 22 watts the Marshall would bury it??

I use a Mesa cab that has two 4ohm inputs works great for a stereo rig.

 

[s_swanson]

I had a Marshall 1960B and I tried running it as two separate 2x12's one time and didn't like the result, it's like there is to much extra "air" inside to run it as a 2x12 and it just didn't have as much punch as a regular 2x12. I'm not sure if there is a way you can get an A/B/Y splitter or something so you can switch between the two and use the full cab for each of them, but that's something I would look into. Either that, or run 2 2x12 cabs.

I like the G12H65 and G12M speakers over the G12T75's as well. The G12T's have worked for me when mixed with other speakers (Had G12T75/G12H30 x-pattern that was cool), but by themselves I though they were kind of dark and muted sounding. I've never mixed the H65's and Greenbacks, so I can't say for sure what they'd sound like together, but they are definitely two of my favorite speakers.

That's all I would personally change, it sounds like a very cool rig! I've had some modded Friedman's and those amps are awesome!

 

[GOHOINC]

For multi amp switching I really like the voodoo amp selector because you can do up to 4 amps in mono or run 2 amps per side in stereo plus it has ground lifts for all 4 channels to help with odd hums and what not... The two inputs really help keep the wet and dry sides separated or run stereo effects with each amp operating as one channel and turn them on/off as you please. Unfortunately it doesnt have midi to use with the ES-8 though. Not sure if there is something similar that has midi. For something simple though I have a radial bighsot ABY that works well.

In terms of boosts maybe try a bogner blue? I think its actually a very versatile pedal since there are two stages. I run mine in plexi mode with all the knobs maxed except gain which I run around 2 o'clock, then I have the second stage controls set to add volume and just a hair more gain. The great thing is that the volume and gain are adjustable on both stages so you can tinker with it as kind of an OD then a Boost on stage 2, or as a Boost with OD on stage 2 or as Boost with more Boost on stage 2. Just gives more options...

One more thing that I really dig in multi amp setups is a EB 6165 stereo/pan volume pedal. I dig being able to control the pan effect side to side for some spacey sounds...

 

[GOHOINC]

I'm not sure if there is a way you can get an A/B/Y splitter or something so you can switch between the two and use the full cab for each of them, but that's something I would look into. Either that, or run 2 2x12 cabs.

Radial headbone?

 

[severinsteel]

Just playing devil's advocate, does the modded marshall have a clean channel? Simplifying down to one amp would solve much of you problems.

 

[Racerxrated]

With the cab you could put a piece of wood in there vertically to separate each side to avoid the issue mentioned previously.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Bogner 45w Goldfinger
Fendery cleans, Marshally gain - it's a fanfreakingtastic amp, and has switching to go from 45w to 9w or something close to that.
That amp with a good 2x12 (or a 412) will cover the tones your listed.

Another option is the Suhr Badger 35, chimey cleans and can get grindy gain, best EL84 amp I've ever played (along with a Bogner Metropolis).
You can use your volume knob or lighten up picking and it cleans up well.

 

[severinsteel]

Just playing devil's advocate, does the modded marshall have a clean channel? Simplifying down to one amp would solve much of you problems.

No ;(

I could go back to my VH4 rig with my midi switching rack, but that's already built and then I wouldn't have a fun project

Gotcha. If you are trying to go low wattage, it might be fun to go with a pair of cabs instead of a single 4x12. Maybe 2 2x12's or 2 1x12's. That would solve some of your problems. The sound of a 4x12 is way more important for me at home than at a gig. If I'm being miced and I can hear myself, I don't really care what I'm playing through cab wise.

 

[bonedarrell]

Radial Switchbone ABY has a nice boost/overdrive that would work well with any amp situation. I have great success with an EP booster in loops. The Eventide H9 max can't be beat for many things.

 

[stephen sawall]

Also recommding a cab for each amp. I never cared for the results of using different type amps with a stereo 4x12.

I used a similar rig in the 80's..... But used a Fender Twin, Marshall Super Lead and a Mesa Mark III for the lead stuff and high gain......

 

[Badronald]

The 50 watt Marshall will be very loud.
Also, the 22watt Deluxe Reverb is a loud amp.

Just saying that you shouldn't be surprised by how loud this rig is. You're calling it "low wattage" but.........

 

[paulyc]

A lot of people think that a 100 watt amp must be twice as loud as a 50 watt, which isn't the case. It takes 1000 watts to double the perceived volume of a 100 watt amp, so you're not scaling back much, really. Just sayin'...

 

[paulyc]

I think I read somewhere that the difference between a 100 watt and a 50 is 6 db, I don't know what it would be between 50 and 22, but 3 db sounds good.

 

[paulyc]

You could also have a Pentode/Triode switch installed in the Marshall like a Silver Jubilee amp to cut power,and/or custom transformers to lower B+ voltage in the amp or run the Marshall into an attenuator to cut some power...

 

[shadow070]

Damn thats still a lot to hall around but it will sound wicked

 

[anomaly]

While 50 watts to 100 may only be 3db's, there's usually a good increase in punchiness and bass responce in a 100 watt amp.

 

[1big1]

i have tried using a 1960 cab the way you are describing. i would agree with those folks who say that it sounds too "boxy". i would also stick with separate 1x12 or 2x12 cabs. the radial big shot works fine.. but has some drawbacks. there are no led's to tell you which amp is "on".. and there's also a noticeable loss of treble because it's passive. a switchbone would probably be a better choice.

 

[RockyStar]

You lost me at one cab. Not ever a fan of sharing a cab unless it is one amp at a time through said cab. At that point you may as well keep your VH4 rig and add a combo amp to switch to for whatever you want.

 

[bste328]

check the Ampete spyder series.

http://ampete.com/products/switcher-series/ampete-222/


It's the only thing out there that will allow you to run two (or more) amplifier in one (or more) cab and be also able to share the same loop fx chain of effects.

 

[Devilinside]

Have you tried classic lead 80's?
I mix them with H30's and it's a great combo