Marsha, Fortin, PT100, Ecstasy

[stephen sawall]

I want one amp that does everything well .... and I do mean everything.

I do not do a lot of high gain stuff ..... but do find myself there from time to time. I spend most my time in the Plexi or a bit hotter range.

Fortin means .... Bones, Meathead, Natas.

Please name amp if you pick other.
What one and why if you feel like it .....

 

[yngzaklynch]

Right now I'm hugely impressed by the Elmwood M90. Seemed to be able to cover a lot and sounded fantastic!!

 

[billm408]

The CAA, Marsha and Fortin are all upper mid voiced amps based around the Marshall sound- lot's of top end bite and aggression. The XTC is primarily lower mids with a chewy kind of growl. I've only heard clips on the Marsha & Fortin but owned a PT100 and have a 101B.... for versatility I voted XTC.

 

[merlop]

Right now I'm hugely impressed by the Elmwood M90. Seemed to be able to cover a lot and sounded fantastic!!

The Elmwoods are impressive indeed...

For me the Cornford MK50II is the one. Fendery cleans and all the overdrive textures you need.
Very warm and articulate... But most of all very responsive/expressive.

Unfortunately... all the amps you listed are awesome

If I had to pick one it would be the XTC

 

[realityescapes]

Had to pick other and go with the Diezel Herbert. Only amp from the list ive played/owned was the xtc 101b.

 

[glpg80]

i cant vote - non of those amps i have played or owned and nothing in that range comes to mind

 

[Digital Jams]

I can only speak of Fortin stuff as owned, I have played several different takes of earlier OD-100s so my suggestions is this..................

Email Mike and explain what you want in a modded plexi. I am sure the same could be suggested to Dave as well.

Only positive that I can add is that Mike treated me like a rock star, I received top notch work and received exactly what I wanted.

You are not a high gain guy, I know the Bones can do low gain very well from being there while it was doing it but it seems to me you want a Plexi with a slight kick in the ass.

 

[stephen sawall]

I am not interested in a mod at all ..... After years of communication with people like Mike Soldano, Andy Marshall, Mike Fortin, etc. I would do that with my father if I wanted to head down that road. I know he has a much better understanding of this stuff than any of them. I would have full control of voice I would get.

..... and I kind of lied about the high gain .... I love that stuff. I just have been much more into power amp distortion the last many years.

I think the Herbert is great, punch, low end, etc. .... but with what I do no Diezel cuts in the upper mids the way I need no matter what speaker or settings on the amp.

Elmwood also very cool .... but not my taste.

Well the Cornford go into high gain ..... like some of the amps above ?

One thing is for sure I would love to have all the amps brought up so far.

 

[Digital Jams]

Love the MK 50 and RK100, some do not like the voicing but I do and yeah they can get plenty rude.

Well I am voting Bones since I have experience and loved the amp.

 

[glpg80]

Having played a Meathead, I can truly say, that amp does it all...and can even do midi.

tbh, and not to be offensive to anyone at all, but now we are recommending a $5,000 amplifier

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

Take a trip down to Tone merchants or my shop and we could arrange a tryout of all of them through a amp switcher so you can switch in real time. The Fortin might be the only problem. That would really be the way to tell. Dave

 

[stephen sawall]

Take a trip down to Tone merchants or my shop and we could arrange a tryout of all of them through a amp switcher so you can switch in real time. The Fortin might be the only problem. That would really be the way to tell. Dave

I may be heading down that way sometime early next year. I would think the Meat Head may be down there by then. Thanks for the invite..... and I believe you are right.

I started this thread thinking it may clear my head ..... no such luck so far. But it is only a few hours old and I am never in a hurry much any more.

To be honest of what I hear on clips your work is what sounds the most like what I want to do ..... But we all know clips and being in the room are very different things

 

[stephen sawall]

Having played a Meathead, I can truly say, that amp does it all...and can even do midi.

tbh, and not to be offensive to anyone at all, but now we are recommending a $5,000 amplifier

I asked ....

 

[merlop]

I am not interested in a mod at all ..... After years of communication with people like Mike Soldano, Andy Marshall, Mike Fortin, etc. I would do that with my father if I wanted to head down that road. I know he has a much better understanding of this stuff than any of them. I would have full control of voice I would get.

..... and I kind of lied about the high gain .... I love that stuff. I just have been much more into power amp distortion the last many years.

I think the Herbert is great, punch, low end, etc. .... but with what I do no Diezel cuts in the upper mids the way I need no matter what speaker or settings on the amp.

Elmwood also very cool .... but not my taste.

Well the Cornford go into high gain ..... like some of the amps above ?

One thing is for sure I would love to have all the amps brought up so far.

I've got the Cornford MK50II... There is plenty of gain on tap. One of the reason's I like it so much is at all levels of gain, it sounds like the same signal. It doesn't squash or compress to much when the OD is cranked. It's very musical at all times, and I can dial in a smooth or very aggressive lead/ rhythm tone. I think the amp is pretty transparent too... The choice of guitar makes a huge difference. Very open tone. I have 6L6's in it currently, but it accepts EL34's as well.

 

[James Lugo]

Like Dave said you gotta try them for yourself.

 

[stephen sawall]

I am thinking the votes are being swayed by the fact no one has played all 4 amps .... and people are just voting for the one they own or what ever.

I guess we well see how the numbers change as time goes by ......

 

[hunter]

Depends where you post this. I bet over at HRI the majority vote will be PT100.

I haven't played the 20th Anniv. XTC but people say it's close to the 100B (which I have), especially in the EL34 version. Only thing that puts me off slightly is that the few clips that are out there sound quite often overly bright. Might be lack of recording skills or taste of the clip makers though.

Marsha with some pedals could surely bring you a long way too.

Anyways, as Bogner has been my pleasure go to tone for years, I voted XTC. If you can find a 100B affordable and in shape, go for that one!!

 

[stephen sawall]

The 20 th is the only one I have played of the four ..... it is a killer amp.

 

[se7en]

The 20th does it all. The red channel can even get a bit more of that Uberschall thing going on if you play the heavy, chugga chugga stuff. I've got a custom order EL34 version from Rob at Tone Merchants. I prefer it to the clips I've heard of the 6L6 version . The amp really can do it all and the plexi mode has more gain and can now be boosted as well. Someone said the clips sounded bright - well, it can be dialed in bright (and overall it does sounds more Marshall-like), but it can still get dark as all hell, too. I couldn't say that about the 101b I had...it was pretty much dark no matter what and ultra-smooth without the extra grit of the 20th. The 20th has a real smooth lead tone, but it suits chord-work better, IMO, due to the more aggressive upper mids in there.

 

[King Guitar]

I have played them all and owned all but the Fortin. They all will do what you want. I settled on the PT100 and I am happy it really is wicked versatile. Also dont rule out the Axe Ultra it also can do many many things very well.