Frustrated: one amp for classic rock up to modern metal?

[cardinal]

Thanks guys. I've been on the look out for the Standout. The more limited range of the Focus worries me a bit for my purposes.

The Randall 667 looks cool (I assume it's a budget Meathead?). Does it have a bright-Marshall-ish channel?

I have what I think is a Rev E Recto sitting in a box at my house as of this afternoon. I'm hoping that maybe it'll be brighter/tighter than the other Rectos I've used. At a minimum it has a serial loop so maybe I can just use a GEQ pedal in the loop to knock out any excessive low end that's bugging me.

 

[JerEvil]

Splawn nitro?
Henning Cherry bomb?

it seems I've read on here before that if you're right with your Marshall, throw the proper boost in front and it'll get you "there"...but, that may not be what your looking for either.

Cherry Bomb will still take some volume rolling and boosts to accomplish what the OP is asking.

Sig: X for sure but I'll throw the KSR Gemini in the mix as well. Especially with the Satch mod for the Crunch Channel which gives a separate EQ for that channel.

 

[Pentatonic Wanker]

JSX
3120
Engle Fireball


All come to mind.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Wizard MTL

 

[155]

5153 50 watt best bang for the buck these days will do all that then some..and well

 

[MetalHeadMike]

Pedals with your JCM sounds like a great Idea as was mentioned above

OR

A Wizard

 

[Racerxrated]

Would a Wizard Modern Classic do it? Can it krang like a stock Marshall but also do more convincing brutal/metal mayhem?

The Sig:X looks cool, but I've moved on from amps with good-but-not-great crunch sounds, and I worry the Sig:X will end up in that camp?

Easily. The MCI that I had was easily classic to hard rock, and with a boost in front could do metal well by dropping those mids just a little. The EQ is very responsive and you can dial in just about anything with it.

 

[Racerxrated]

Keep your jcm800. Get a Fortin Grind or even better a VFE Standout/Focus if you can find one, that'll boost the 800 into tight br00tz territory.

Great call...I'd also say the Recto can sound classic rock-ish as well, drop the gain back and up those mids. My Triple did a pretty convincing 'Whole Lotta Love' at a gig 2 yrs ago....Through G12 65s.

 

[dirtyfunkg]

Would a Wizard Modern Classic do it? Can it krang like a stock Marshall but also do more convincing brutal/metal mayhem?

The Sig:X looks cool, but I've moved on from amps with good-but-not-great crunch sounds, and I worry the Sig:X will end up in that camp?

So, I think "crunch" means different things to different people, but my $0.02 is that the green channel of the Sig:X is akin to any NMV British amp (more Hiwatt than Marshall, but in that family), which is to say it crunches pretty damned well. You can then set one of the other channels as your "clean" with the remaining channel as your modern/droptune high gain.

The Diezel D-Moll might be a good look also for the drop tuning. The clean channel of that amp can be set to be very classic rock crunchy at a reasonable volume. The trade-off there is that you're sacrificing a dedicated clean channel if you do that.

Another option could be a Recto with EL34's. It changes the character of those amps in a pretty major (and in my opinion, positive) way.

I only know the amps I've played through and, more importantly, owned. YMMV.

 

[cardinal]

Keep your jcm800. Get a Fortin Grind or even better a VFE Standout/Focus if you can find one, that'll boost the 800 into tight br00tz territory.

Great call...I'd also say the Recto can sound classic rock-ish as well, drop the gain back and up those mids. My Triple did a pretty convincing 'Whole Lotta Love' at a gig 2 yrs ago....Through G12 65s.

Yeah, I’m having more luck dialing in the Recto for classic rock crunch than I am trying to get it right enough for low tuned metal.

I’m also using a cab with G12-65s, which I’m wondering is why I’m having trouble getting modern tones. Thinking of picking up something like an Ubercab or other Bogner to get more aggressive.

 

[some dude]

This is one of the reasons I switched to the Triple Crown. It combines things I like about a Mark, Recto and Electra Dyne into one amp.

Specifically, I like it because it it does both high and mid gain convincingly. The tight/loose switch lets me dial in a lot of gain without it turning to mush, or dial back the gain without it being too stiff/sterile.

 

[cardinal]

This is one of the reasons I switched to the Triple Crown. It combines things I like about a Mark, Recto and Electra Dyne into one amp.

Specifically, I like it because it it does both high and mid gain convincingly. The tight/loose switch lets me dial in a lot of gain without it turning to mush, or dial back the gain without it being too stiff/sterile.

For some reason I’ve assumed the Triple Crown doesn’t do the really heavy stuff, kinda like the Electra Dyne did up to hard rock and then stopped.

 

[cardinal]

Initial impression is the Recto 569 (Rev E?) is a big improvement over the Rev Gs I’ve have here. It’s brighter and a bit tighter, so I can run the bass higher and the treble lower, and that way when boosted it doesn’t sound weird. At least that’s how it seems after a few minutes with it.

 

[ClintN667]

I will put another vote in for the Splawn Nitro and add a boost. It does mid gain tones really well and with a boost can get pretty nasty. I would add a pedal that adds some saturation.

Having said that the JCM is the common denominator for all the bands I love. Mastodon, Obituary, Morbid Angel then practically every band in the 80's, Fugazi, RATM. Just so many different ways you can go with it with the right pedals.

Also seeing KillertoneTexas' vids with stock Marshalls with a Grind or 33 sounds fantastic. Put a Grind/Savage Drive/VFE Standout+ a Maxon OD 808/Tube Screamer + a Proco Rat/Muff/DS1 and you have all your bases covered.

 

[Monkey Man]

JVM and 5150 III spring immediately to mind.

Each can deliver the range you're after; it's just a matter of picking which one suits your tastes as they're distinctly-different from each other tonally.

 

[Emg77]

Boogie Roadster

 

[D-Rock]

Save your money. Pick up a used JCM2000 DSL, and call it a day.

Don't know why people get so caught up in thinking they have to spend a fortune. Hell, better yet, a Peavey JSX. 3 excellent, useable channels. Exceptional crunch, massive ultra channel, and damn fine for leads. I'd take a JSX over a 5150 III any day. Red channel on the 5150 is over the top, and unusable, (for me, anyway, and I love high gain). The blue channel is the 5150's bread and butter. Love that channel. If they lowered the gain on the red and made it more musical/useable, I'd still own one.

I'll throw the Randall KH103 out there as well.

The 5150 III red channel really just needs a simple preamp tube swap to calm down the gain, reduce some of the compression and increase it's dynamics.
I successfully obtained approx. two additional notches on the red channel gain dial and got more clarity. Where I would normally have the gain dial set to, I now have it set two notches back without any loss of attack or aggressiveness.
I also increased the blue channel's gain a little bit and made the mids warmer, punchier and less sterile.

I've owned the same JSX head since 2004 and have always loved it. But since owning a 5150 III and JVM, it doesn't see much play time anymore.

 

[some dude]

For some reason I’ve assumed the Triple Crown doesn’t do the really heavy stuff, kinda like the Electra Dyne did up to hard rock and then stopped.

Channel 2 is ED without the crazy low end.

Channel 3 is kind of Mark-ish in terms of gain and saturation, but more natural sounding. Some people describe it as Bogner-ish. IMO, it’s more Mesa than Marshall. The EL34s cut a lot of low end and bring out the mids and compression.

Swap a set of 6L6 in and they start sounding more stereotypically Mesa if that’s what you want. 6L6 produce better high gain chugging, but IMO the mid gain crunch tones stiffen up and go to shit. EL34 will give it a softer clip that sounds more natural/authentic for old school tone.

 

[jabps]

JVM might do it. Extremely versatile.

Absolutley agree. Especially if you want to stay in the Marshall tonal realm.

JVM! Checks all the boxes and then some. Classic crunch to massive gain. OD1 Orange is about as modded Marshall as you're going to get...and it's a Marshall. Ton of options from pristine clean to JCM 800 crunch to full on modded Marshall with gain to spare. Great loop, great switching options with the pedal or like me using a full midi setup. I'd start there.

I've owned many of the same amps you have...SLO, 5150, Diezel etc... Never been as satisfied with one amp for this long. Really the only reason I want other amps are to replace things that I had at one time and enjoyed. The JSX - great amp, w/6L6's pretty huge sounding, SigX - years ago it came down to this amp and the JVM, that's how much I like the SigX. And maybe another 5150 / 6505...really just to have them. Lots of great ideas from all in this thread, lots of great amps.

 

[psychodave]

Keep your jcm800. Get a Fortin Grind or even better a VFE Standout/Focus if you can find one, that'll boost the 800 into tight br00tz territory.

Agree with that as well. OP needs to find the right boosts, not a new amp!

This! Find a VFE Dragon and Standout and you’ll be shocked.

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