Marshall As Platform and Pedals for tonality

[ConcreteVampire]

Saving money vs getting a high gainer seems to be part of the mission here, how does a plexi+$pedal+attenuator = cheap?

 

[ttosh]

Saving money vs getting a high gainer seems to be part of the mission here, how does a plexi+$pedal+attenuator = cheap?

Great point but it is not about saving money as much as my posts might have seemed.

In regards to saving money if you have a good Marshall and you are using pedals to tailor your tone you can much easier swap out a pedal or buy one than purchase a different boutique amp.

Second routing is more simple IMHO, you can route everything in front of the amp if you desire and easy setup.

Lastly for me I have had a lot of boutique high gain heads and I can say I prefer what I have heard going this route better so far. It is a matter of taste of course and everybody will have to make a decision.

Also a Plexi can be had for under a grand, a good pedal $200 and attenuator even if you went with the most expensive ones you are still right at $2000 which is not near as much as quite a few High Gain amps go for on the market. As expressed above add a few $100-$400 drive pedals with different flavors to it and you can compare it to a few high gain amps which well exceeds the price.

Again not trying to compare high gain amps to this scenario, only answering the question. More interested in hearing from people who have done or are doing this and what are some scenarios they like best.

 

[bds9487]

Saving money vs getting a high gainer seems to be part of the mission here, how does a plexi+$pedal+attenuator = cheap?

Good point. It's not really all that cheap, but it sounds good.

 

[Hacksaw]

Might not all be "that" cheap. but to add a 2nd backup amp would be under 1k.. and it could be the exact same amp. I can see benefit. and all the silly pedal settings wont change. still cheaper than a lot of boutique stuff and has the marshall things going on.. I can see the path very well. Then .. if you have pedals.. you can play with any amp at the rented or location owned back line and you are still having fun.

hows the Maxon OD820?

 

[Badronald]

I've been using a JTM45 mostly clean for the last 5 years or so. I use a Fulldrive II Mosfet on Vintage Setting with the Mosfet switch engaged with all gains maxed (not really that much gain) for my main crunch sound. For leads I kick in a Keeley Baked TS-9 (ton's of gain) on top of the Fulldrive. It's the most glassy, woody tone you can imagine. It's sustains forever and is my favorite tone I've ever had.

I dare you to find a better tone in a high gain amp.

 

[Greazygeo]

Saving money vs getting a high gainer seems to be part of the mission here, how does a plexi+$pedal+attenuator = cheap?

How about '69 plexi for 350.00, basketweave cab for 250, THD Hotplate for 250 and Boss SD-1 for 50.00? That was pretty cheap.

 

[thenine]

I have a 1959 JCM800 (loud mutha). I dont play through that rig all the time but I still love the simplicity of this type of rig. Dont laugh but I have a DS-1 that sounds terrific. It is Jap orig from '83 tho. One thing I really like about this setup (for me),... I jumper the channels and turn on my dirt. Then I dial in the amount of sizzle with the vol1 and the thump with vol2. I just live with whatever clean comes out. But I usually grease it up with some delay and chorus so no biggy. For this rig I have a simplish pedal board with a tuner, phase 90, wah, DS1, OD1, chorus and delay. Again, I dont always use this rig, but I dig it.

 

[ttosh]

Saving money vs getting a high gainer seems to be part of the mission here, how does a plexi+$pedal+attenuator = cheap?

How about '69 plexi for 350.00, basketweave cab for 250, THD Hotplate for 250 and Boss SD-1 for 50.00? That was pretty cheap.

Sign me up as to where you get your stuff. That is great prices, however like a Visa Commercial, George's talent = priceless!!

Gotta have some talent to play these amps, they do not play themselves in gob of gain that covers it all up!!!

I figured that out tonight spending 4 hours with my best friends Plexi with a few choice pedals and using a Mosvalve power amp for some W/D action. We threw all kinds of music at it and it just roared and sounded great with a volume knob, minimal fuss, great tone and so so much fun to play.

 

[ttosh]

I have a 1959 JCM800 (loud mutha). I dont play through that rig all the time but I still love the simplicity of this type of rig. Dont laugh but I have a DS-1 that sounds terrific. It is Jap orig from '83 tho. One thing I really like about this setup (for me),... I jumper the channels and turn on my dirt. Then I dial in the amount of sizzle with the vol1 and the thump with vol2. I just live with whatever clean comes out. But I usually grease it up with some delay and chorus so no biggy. For this rig I have a simplish pedal board with a tuner, phase 90, wah, DS1, OD1, chorus and delay. Again, I dont always use this rig, but I dig it.

Sounds nice. I was amazed at the Plexi cleans with the volume knob tonight when we got the amp cranked up. Very full rich and touch sensitive. Using the W/D brought in some cool ambient effects as well. I can say this type of rig could carry a lot of ground and allow one to focus on other things than gear. All the while giving some of the best tone around.

 

[Greazygeo]

Saving money vs getting a high gainer seems to be part of the mission here, how does a plexi+$pedal+attenuator = cheap?

How about '69 plexi for 350.00, basketweave cab for 250, THD Hotplate for 250 and Boss SD-1 for 50.00? That was pretty cheap.

Sign me up as to where you get your stuff. That is great prices, however like a Visa Commercial, George's talent = priceless!!

Gotta have some talent to play these amps, they do not play themselves in gob of gain that covers it all up!!!

I figured that out tonight spending 4 hours with my best friends Plexi with a few choice pedals and using a Mosvalve power amp for some W/D action. We threw all kinds of music at it and it just roared and sounded great with a volume knob, minimal fuss, great tone and so so much fun to play.

Well to be fair, I bought these back in the early 90's...cept for the SD-1 in '85.

Different animal to get the hang of, but worth it. So much you can do with different attack and such.

I need to get a Mosvalve one of these days. All i have at the moment is a PV CS800. It works, but 16 ohm loads don't get much output.

What pedals did you try?

 

[joepete77]

I thought the same thing, problem is my stock 75 superlead is so damn loud that U still will need an attenuator or a master volume added, u need to get the amp at least into semi breakup as a base tone, mine with pedals is just so bright and loud that most pedals didnt work well with it. I know that many clip the bright cap off of the volume pot for just that reason and if u plan on using pedals for your od then u might want to look into clipping your bright cap. The pedal that I did use that sounded best with mine was a maxon od9+pro which is basically a modded tubescreamer.

 

[mentoneman]

There was an interesting post the other day on the Carl Martin Plexitone pedal. See if you can search for it. There was a mod that Vertex was doing to it. A video of the pedal was on the posting as well. Nice Plexi tones there too and some interesting shoes....

That's the extent of my help here with clean Plexi. I gots to have my gain.....


Steve

that vid had me interested as well as i have the plexitone and love it in front of both my peacemaker and carol ann.

i just posted a vid of my peacemaker rig yesterday with the type of setup mentioned on this thread

the peacemaker is set edgy but not very broken up by itself. but the badgerplex and plexitone produce enough gain to make soloing very comfortable. i still fight the line between tone clarity of less gain, and liquid feel with more gain all the time, because i really want to be able to get clean with the volume knob and you can't do that as well when you gain out.
and the hotplate and power dampening blur things more but i was after vh tone at low volume.

im not a fan of fulldrive II because they just feel boxy and don't sound as amp-like as say a ocd, although two players i know and respect greatly love them. one's a vox guy and one's a plexi guy.

 

[marshall]

I've done pedals into Marshalls since the early 70's. From the old MXR Distortion+, Jap Boss DS-1, various fuzzes, etc.

 

[Meathead]

There was an interesting post the other day on the Carl Martin Plexitone pedal. See if you can search for it. There was a mod that Vertex was doing to it. A video of the pedal was on the posting as well. Nice Plexi tones there too and some interesting shoes....

That's the extent of my help here with clean Plexi. I gots to have my gain.....


Steve

that vid had me interested as well as i have the plexitone and love it in front of both my peacemaker and carol ann.

i just posted a vid of my peacemaker rig yesterday with the type of setup mentioned on this thread

the peacemaker is set edgy but not very broken up by itself. but the badgerplex and plexitone produce enough gain to make soloing very comfortable. i still fight the line between tone clarity of less gain, and liquid feel with more gain all the time, because i really want to be able to get clean with the volume knob and you can't do that as well when you gain out.
and the hotplate and power dampening blur things more but i was after vh tone at low volume.

im not a fan of fulldrive II because they just feel boxy and don't sound as amp-like as say a ocd, although two players i know and respect greatly love them. one's a vox guy and one's a plexi guy.

sounds like when I used to run a Plexitone into a JCM800 years ago, that Plexitone did clean up very well for a distortion box.

I like my gear and tone now, but you guys are making me wonder if I should try a Plexitone...quit it!

 

[Meathead]

To the OP...if you wish to run an amp clean and use pedals for gain, I would go with a Fender Tweed or Deville over a Marshall 100 watt head.
With a JMP type Marshall amp I would use the gain that's in it with a boost type pedal, no pedal will sound and especially feel better to play with. Load it down with an attenuator a bit if it's too loud and just use your volume knob on the guitar for clean. Welcome to heaven.

 

[mixohoytian]

+1 on plexitone pedal into marshall set cleanish, sounds really good

I did this with my peacemaker
I sold all pedals though, and am going to eventually get an axe fx

I feel like the axe fx should be able to cop the plexitone pedal, replex etc.. ..right??

 

[Hacksaw]

yjm308 modded by analogman. sounds like it would be a fun pedal to add.

 

['63-Strat]

To the OP...if you wish to run an amp clean and use pedals for gain, I would go with a Fender Tweed or Deville over a Marshall 100 watt head.
With a JMP type Marshall amp I would use the gain that's in it with a boost type pedal, no pedal will sound and especially feel better to play with. Load it down with an attenuator a bit if it's too loud and just use your volume knob on the guitar for clean. Welcome to heaven.

Yep, there's no doubt this will sound great, only possible issue is volume but if you're already planning to get an attenuator then it's tameable. I've never been a fan of running a ton of different overdrives for everything from light OD to heavy rhythm to lead sounds into a really clean amp though. Especially for rhythm tones, lead tones are easier to get to feel right in that situation IMO. So long as you can get the amp into breakup territory then pedals to push it over the top works great.

An uber gear nerd friend of mine that has since moved to Denver always had all the latest boutique ODs, tons of boutique guitars, all run into a deluxe reverb he played super quiet in his condo and the only gig I ever saw him play was a one time thing where he was strumming some acoustic rhythm guitar with a countryish type girl act. He would always be unhappy with his "tone." One time he said I just don't think my '59 historic LP is doing it for me man, just kinda dead-sounding. That guitar freaking screamed! He just didn't know what to do with it

 

[glip22]

yjm308 modded by analogman. sounds like it would be a fun pedal to add.

no, they are not very good.

Very well said

 

[stratotone]

I'm on the fence about this - started buying some cool old Marshalls because I was getting tired of channel switchers. I have a '70 100 watt coming in next week, already have a '72 100 watt, a '74 50 watt, a '68 spec clone. All have had master volumes added, and with a hotplate sound fine on their own. I can push them a bit with a TS9 type pedal to get into easy solo territory. My problems with this setup:

1) Time base effects sound like crap
2) No volume boost available for leads

I can solve both problems by using the line out on the hotplate to another power amp, and then run effects after the hotplate line out but before the power amp, but it's a LOT of stuff to carry around. May not be as big a deal if you keep the rig at home.

Pete