Finding your way back to where you started

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hard&Heavy
  • Start date Start date
H

Hard&Heavy

New member
I know that some of you have never left,but to those that have moved on from that marshall or boogie tone to other amps. Have you found yourself coming back to you first love within the last couple of months.

I love my diezel's dearly for the heavy stuff and what not,but I have found myself looking for that hat rodded marshall tone lately. I just recently found a couple jmps to mod.I got my first one last week and it put a huge smile on my face :D when I plug straight into it and crank it up :D

This is the first time since the mid 90's that there a marshall in the house and I am really enjoying it.
 
Started with Marshall's in the 80's. Got rid of them. :doh:

Moved to Boogie in the 90's.

Then to a bunch of miscellaneous crap (clean amps with processors, POD's, etc.) in the 2000's. :confused:

In the last six months I bought a 77 JMP 2203 modded by Rocktah Amps (Mark A.) and an 81 JCM 800 2204 modded by Voodoo. :rock:

Best decision I've made in a long time. I swear, I'll never let them go again.
 
rlord1974":qgmt9suc said:
Sometimes meat and potatoes is all you need.....
Click to expand...

Sometimes Meat and Potatoes
Sometimes Chicken n Rice
Sometimes Fish n chips
Sometimes Dessert
Sometimes Salad
Sometimes Beer and pretzels


Sometimes we drive to get from here to there, BUT... Sometimes we drive just to enjoy the ride/drive and the scenery, or win a race.

I have always been a tone enthusiast, and have taken some wonderful adventures with LOTS of various gear. I discovered that in MANY cases there are tons of options which get me in the ball park, BUT sometimes "Close enough" just doesn't motivate like NAILING it does.

So--

When I am after a Fender Super Reverb tone, I use a Fender Super Reverb
When I am after Mesa/Boogie MKIII Coliseum Simul-Class tones, I use a Mesa/Boogie MKIII Coliseum Simul-Class
When I am after a Marshall Super Lead tone, I'll use a Marshall Super Lead.
When I am after a Vox AC30 tone, I'll use a Vox AC30
When I am after a Les Paul tone, I use a Les Paul
Tele
Strat
Gretch
ES175, ES335, Gibson J200 etc... etc...

You get the idea... as far as adding effects goes, the same is true.

Certain combinations and routing options seem to just work well for achieving a particular goal, and using the "Right Tools" for the job is KEY to me achieving tonal contentment. Compromise is fine, and I do it all the time, but if I don't have to compromise, I just assume not, because I end up happier with the end result.
 
My first good amp was a Mesa Mark III... so that type of very smooth Boogie lead sound and general versatility has been something that I've loved since I was about 13 or 14. I've been through countless amps since that one and in that time have owned 3 Mesa Mark series amps (the III, a Studio Preamp, and currently a Mark V). That Boogie Mark tone is just what I gravitate to and sound my best with IMHO. That being said, I also love the roar of a good Marshall style amp as well, and I'd love to have BOTH tonalities (Mark V and maybe a Friedman, Bray, Voodoo or Rockstah). However, if I had to pick only one it would be the Mesa for sure.
 
Forme the boosted Marshall tone is the most diserable tone out there. There are other really great amps that are a blast to play through but at the end of the day...
 
After numerous racks and amps, I'm back the simple arrangement of a Marshall-inspired amp (Marsha) and a few pedals.
 
Ive struggled with this for a long time now and it is true, ive come full circle.

I started out with Marshalls and hated every minute of it , so I moved onto the Modded Marshalls and it still was just ok. Then I got hipped to the Boogie Mark series and loved them for many years but as soon as I switched to the Boogies, the music style changed and I was sent packing. I Came back to playing live after a long layoff, started out with the Boogies and then went digital because It was easier and I was to lazy to carry an amp and effects rig. The Tone was ok but after landing some really killer gigs, the digital thing was just ok. It seemed that I had good tone but there was just something missing and everytime I played a show with a guy playing through a tube amp, it just kicked my dick in the dirt. END OF DISCUSSION FOR ME. YMMV.

Now here is where it gets very interesting. Everytime Ive talken the boogie into a studio and played against a guy piping through a Marshall I got eaten alive. It was ok on its own, amazing actually and the tone is very good when Im playing as a single guitarist, but whenever I got paired with a guy playing through a GOOD Marshall it has been my experiance that ive gotten eaten alive. I just saw this happen YET AGAIN with a guy who borrowed my MKIV for a gig. He came on sounded cool and then another band came on after him and the tone dusted what we had and it was a marshall/pedal combo.

Needless to say, Ive come full circle and I would not have believed it. I'm back with a Fortin modded Marshall and sometimes I even use a stock 2205 and a Few pedals and now I'm the guy killing the PA. This is the shit that I had to go through in order to see what really works for me. At the end of the Day, I could use my MKIV and get a killer tone but my Fortin or stock 2205 kills in a band situation and I thought Id never in million years go back to what I started out on. Now, to end my Rant........The Marshalls that I have access to now are WAY more consistent to the ones ive had in the 80's. People can tell me I'm smoking crack but I have live recordings of many bands from back in the day and 9 out of 10 played Marshalls and there tone sucked ass. The older more seasoned guys had the tone that used to escaped me but now Im pretty much on point.

Still love the boogs and they kill, but it has been my experiance that nothing cuts like the marshalls/modded Marshalls.

all the best!

Ralph
 
Spaceboy":3gqxb3g9 said:
I go back to the 5150 at least once a year.
Click to expand...

After having the Jet City for 10 days I got around to playing some metal on it, wishing it sounded more like a 5150. I'll buy another 5150 some day, for myself, for metal, but since I don't really play metal and my band isn't metal at all the Jet City suits me.
 
I've had my '79 JMP since I started playing and that's not going anywhere. However it hasn't been my main amp for years. My main amp choice made the loop all the way back around. Started with a Peavey Ultra Plus I used for years then I went to an Engl Powerball, Then a POD XT into an atomic amp, then a Dual Recto, then a GSP1101 and ART SLA-2 setup and then a lightly modded 5150 (still have that one) and now my main amp is a Peavey 3120 with 6L6s which is basically the newest incarnation of the Ultra Plus I started with :doh: So I went pretty much all the way back around.

I'm going to sell the 5150 soon and try something in the hot rod Marshall family...Splawn or JVM I think.
 
My first tube amp was a Dual Recto. I always liked the sound, but I started reading internet forums and the internet kept telling me that Rectos sucked and other amps were much better.

So... I decided to try some of these amps out. Sold the Recto and went on a merry search. I tried plenty of amps that sounded amazing, but I'd always be fighting with them, trying to get them to sound/feel exactly the way I wanted.

Then one day I arbitrarily traded one of my heads for another Dual Rectifier. It was one of those lightbulb going off moments. I've had a number of those moments recently as I slowly devolve back to what I was using in 2003... a guitar loaded with EMGs plugged directly into a Dual Rectifier running into a Recto 4x12.
 
I have cause I've gone back to my roots musically which is more mississippi hill country and old delta blues. So I need a decent loud clean channel. So I'm mainly using the clean channel of the Peavey Bravo I;ve had forever with a bad monkey and an 80's rat in front for gritty slide. It's a far cry from my huge pedal board and loud as shit ampeg V4. Also, had a guitar built specifically for that playing style and tones
photo5.jpg

photo6.jpg

photo7.jpg

photo8.jpg

photo9.jpg

photo10.jpg

photo11.jpg

photo12.jpg
 
Amps, guitars and stylistically I've come full circle in the last year.

It's been a fun road trying different stuff, but when it comes down to it nothing makes me happier than a loud Marshall or Mesa, a Strat or Strat style guitar and a humbucker.

Add in to that riff based hard rock and I'm happy.

I'll be happy if I never lazily strum a chord for the rest of my life. Or play old classic blues/rock tunes in a bar to 10 people ever again. :aww:
 
I think the only thing that ive come back to in the last 10 years is the old stock pedals. I've been pretty consistent with my amplifiers and guitars since day one, but i do remember dumping all my pedals and doing the digital rack mount stuff to only come back full circle to the old basic stuff again. Thats not to say if I ever played through a guy like Zach's state of the art rack I wouldnt be inspired and catch the virus again! :lol: :LOL: ..actually my next evolution is using the old pedals but with a modern loop switcher because my old ass can't tap dance anymore and i end breaking knobs and tripping all over the place on stage. :no:


now I would expect (Joe) barzini at this point to chime in with a twisted photoshop of some sort busting my chops... :thumbsup:
 
70strathead":tjcqy92i said:
I think the only thing that ive come back to in the last 10 years is the old stock pedals. I've been pretty consistent with my amplifiers and guitars since day one, but i do remember dumping all my pedals and doing the digital rack mount stuff to only come back full circle to the old basic stuff again. Thats not to say if I ever played through a guy like Zach's state of the art rack I wouldnt be inspired and catch the virus again! :lol: :LOL: ..actually my next evolution is using the old pedals but with a modern loop switcher because my old ass can't tap dance anymore and i end breaking knobs and tripping all over the place on stage. :no:


now I would expect (Joe) barzini at this point to chime in with a twisted photoshop of some sort busting my chops... :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

The thought of you doing a demo of the CCV at TM with some serious sauce in the loop has me thinking some Barzini thoughts.


Would be epic :rock:
 
70strathead":1v75j8cs said:
I think the only thing that ive come back to in the last 10 years is the old stock pedals. I've been pretty consistent with my amplifiers and guitars since day one, but i do remember dumping all my pedals and doing the digital rack mount stuff to only come back full circle to the old basic stuff again. Thats not to say if I ever played through a guy like Zach's state of the art rack I wouldnt be inspired and catch the virus again! :lol: :LOL: ..actually my next evolution is using the old pedals but with a modern loop switcher because my old ass can't tap dance anymore and i end breaking knobs and tripping all over the place on stage. :no:


now I would expect (Joe) barzini at this point to chime in with a twisted photoshop of some sort busting my chops... :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention this too. I've gone through dozens of booteek pedals and I was looking at my small board last night. Three Boss pedals and a Keeley TS-9 and Fulldrive II. I still stick with the higher end dirt pedals (because they typically sound better) but for delays and a chorus or wah. Just typical junk. :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top