Poll - Which Amp Should I Be Looking At?

[romanianreaper]

The way I look at it, the Jose was a collaboration between Friedman and Jose's family based on those old amp specs. You are getting that sound and should hold value, etc.

 

[reignman454]

I have really been getting into Marshall amps lately and currently have a JVM410H and DSL 100HR. Really like them both, very versatile and they cover a lot of ground. That said, I have found myself wanting a single channel amp that can authentically do both classic Plexi style tones as well as that aggressive Jose style high-gain thing we all love. After a deep internet dive, I have narrowed it down to 4 choices.

- Locate a used Marshall JTM reissue (show up pretty regularly in LA) and have it modded - jumped inputs / master volume / 3 - in - 1 Jose mod - Maybe the most "authentic" way to go, but will be expensive and may not be capable of the more aggressive tones some others offer

- Wait for a used Friedman Jose to show up - again, won't come cheap, but the amp sounds great to my ears - doesn't sound quite as mean as the Ceriatone Jose style amps

- Go for either a Ceriatone Chupacabra or Yeti - there will be a wait time - But may be the cheapest option out there - the "ERA" switch seems to make the amp pretty versatile - and they seem to be able to achieve an aggression that the others cannot

Would love to hear your thoughts and any other suggestions. Thanks!!!!

As what I would like to call an overly experienced Marshall tone chaser... let me be of assistance.

You'll do the following...

You'll buy an amp, it'll sound great for a few days. Honeymoon will end, you'll sell/trade it and buy another on your list.... then you'll find it lacking compared to the amp you had. You'll get the old one again, it'll suck compared to the old one. Welcome to the grind man....


Jokes aside (seriously though) you need to be real specific what what you're going to do, what you need and what you want to spend. Diminishing returns is a real thing. I've heard seriously disgusting tones come from $750-1250 amps... guys turn and buy a $3,000 amp expecting the perception of wayyy better tones and most of the time that ain't it... Other guys chime in and will say Cameron, Wizard, etc... Best thing you could do is name a few bands, songs you're after and realize shits way heavier sounding in a mix.... Don't buy that? Youtube Rebel Yell billy idol and then listen to the isolated guitars... Do the same for Bark at the moon etc...

What album, what tone, what song you chasing?



fwiw: Both of those amps should get you damn close to the ones you mentioned if dialed in... If you're not cranking the dsl100h it'll sound meh.... Find a spot you can roll the master to around 6/7 and you'll be blown away, even with 75's. Just got a seriously legit vintage modded 800 not long ago and truthfully, the dsl100h came wayyyyy too close considering the $$$ difference

 

[rsm]

I have a few Marshalls (1959HW, JCM 900 SL-X, JVM410H, DSL40CR, Origin 50C)

I have a Bogner Helios Eclipse 100W for modded Marshall tones; I also have an Engl Artist Edition E561 100W that does high gain beyond most stock Marshalls IMO, it nails '70s hard rock and 80s thrash IMO.

Both the Helios Eclipse and Artist Edition are worth a look. I got both before the Marshall modifieds were released.

I haven't tried the new modified Marshalls, but the JCM 800 modified seems like it's closest to what you're looking for?

 

[MadAsAHatter]

Try out a Marshall vintage modern if there are any near you.

This is what I was coming to suggest. It's a bit of a curveball, but definitely worth a look. I like my VM 2466 for something that's different but still Marshall. And there's some simple mods from Jason/Headfirst that can hotrod it more into JCM territory.

 

[gritstogroats]

This.

Whenever I see a thread about 'I want a Marshall amp' and then the choices aren't really Marshalls, well that doesn't make sense to me. Do you want a Marshall or something that tries and fails to be a Marshall?

The only best answer is to buy a Marshall, like ^^^ and first try a pedal or two, then maybe send it out for a mod. The other amps try to 'approximate' a Marshall...just get a real one. I know you have a JVM/DSL but you need a 2203 or a vintage 1959 to get the real experience imo. Less is more and as cool as a JVM/DSL can be, a JMP/JCM 2203 or SL just sound better IMO. Or, maybe try the newer modified series. They might be exactly what you want.

I had a similar thread up. Have a jcm 800 reissue but wanted a plexi again (had one for a short period).

I didnt know what I didnt know, so i engaged rt. And this was the good advice. I retried it and found something that is close enough with an mv.

Im sure the same query is tedious but appreciate the community here being a compass, showing north is still north time and time again...

 

[BABMusic]

Well, did you decide?

 

[angelspade]

Well, did you decide?

No...But as much as I appreciate some of the thoughts here, I am staying clear of the boosted JCM800 option. I have owned an 800 in the past and I am also not a big fan of external boosts and prefer to plug straight in whenever possible. I also feel that my DSL kinda mimics a boosted 800 already. I am leaning towards a Ceriatone Chupacabra or waiting for the right deal on a Friedman Jose right now. This could change, but that's where I am at today.

 

[BABMusic]

No...But as much as I appreciate some of the thoughts here, I am staying clear of the boosted JCM800 option. I have owned an 800 in the past and I am also not a big fan of external boosts and prefer to plug straight in whenever possible. I also feel that my DSL kinda mimics a boosted 800 already. I am leaning towards a Ceriatone Chupacabra or waiting for the right deal on a Friedman Jose right now. This could change, but that's where I am at today.

I learned over the last year that I prefer a hot rodded plexi tone much more than a boosted 800. Just ignore that previous thread of mine where I was asking for high gain 800 recommendations -- I was not really understanding what I wanted.

 

[harddriver]

Since you have higher gain Marshall's maybe you are looking for a cranked plexi tone????? I'd say the Suhr SL68 and or the Morris UK68. The Suhr is a traditional plexi circuit with tweaks and a PPIMV and the UK68 is a cascaded circuit with a loop and a non PPIMV master volume. I'd say both of these would qualify as hot rodded plexi tones. The only other cascaded mod platform that I feel that sound and feels like a plexi is the RT mod, the nice thing is with this mod is that you retain the stock plexi bright channel and then you can plug into the normal jacks for the modded/cascaded added gain channel. The drawback for the RT as is the Suhr is there is no loop that works with a PPIMV setup. Other than those if you want a Jose modded amp then a Jose build is what you need to get but that isn't a plexi any longer, I'd say 4T6&2 could put a nice Jose build together for you.

Not my vids but all of these vids are RT members



Here's an RT mod in a 68 Marshall Major

 

[Simon Dorn]

No...But as much as I appreciate some of the thoughts here, I am staying clear of the boosted JCM800 option. I have owned an 800 in the past and I am also not a big fan of external boosts and prefer to plug straight in whenever possible. I also feel that my DSL kinda mimics a boosted 800 already. I am leaning towards a Ceriatone Chupacabra or waiting for the right deal on a Friedman Jose right now. This could change, but that's where I am at today.

Get the Friedman Jose.

 

[BABMusic]

If anyone wants to loan me their Jose for a week, I'm cool with that. I promise to return it.

 

[ChurchHill]

If anyone wants to loan me their Jose for a week, I'm cool with that. I promise to return it.

You wouldn't want to return it.

If you were closer to the middle of the country, we might be able to work something out.

 

[Humbucking]

MGL

 

[RaceU4her]

im digging what im hearing from some of these hot mod things. that DSL sounds perfect with it. im kinda tempted to grab one now for

 

[Shask]

This. I've had so many amps , so many. Stock JCM800 boosted and especially double boosted for heavy stuff...done.

I thought I was crazy. Using a boost with my 2203 clone wasn't quite enough and recently started using 2 boosts with it. That finally started to hit the spot. I usually dont hear about people using 2 cascaded OD pedals, but I have been getting some great sounds lately.

 

[Shask]

No...But as much as I appreciate some of the thoughts here, I am staying clear of the boosted JCM800 option. I have owned an 800 in the past and I am also not a big fan of external boosts and prefer to plug straight in whenever possible. I also feel that my DSL kinda mimics a boosted 800 already. I am leaning towards a Ceriatone Chupacabra or waiting for the right deal on a Friedman Jose right now. This could change, but that's where I am at today.

I think every week you make me want a DSL100HR more, lol.

Lately I have been using 2 ODs with my 2203 clone, and my JCM800 Synergy module. I also have the Killer Kali Synergy module and the BE-Dlx Synergy modules. I know what you mean. The 800 circuit seems to be more chunky and more aggressive. The modded Plexi based circuits seem to be more fluid and smoother. Almost in a way like Mesa has the Recto vs the Mark circuits. Personally, I am preferring the boosted 800, but I could see why you would want the modded Plexi thing instead.

 

[angelspade]

Since you have higher gain Marshall's maybe you are looking for a cranked plexi tone????? I'd say the Suhr SL68 and or the Morris UK68. The Suhr is a traditional plexi circuit with tweaks and a PPIMV and the UK68 is a cascaded circuit with a loop and a non PPIMV master volume. I'd say both of these would qualify as hot rodded plexi tones. The only other cascaded mod platform that I feel that sound and feels like a plexi is the RT mod, the nice thing is with this mod is that you retain the stock plexi bright channel and then you can plug into the normal jacks for the modded/cascaded added gain channel. The drawback for the RT as is the Suhr is there is no loop that works with a PPIMV setup. Other than those if you want a Jose modded amp then a Jose build is what you need to get but that isn't a plexi any longer, I'd say 4T6&2 could put a nice Jose build together for you.

Not my vids but all of these vids are RT members

Thank you for these vids...Those Audette R/T mod Marshalls sound REALLY good to my ears...Love how rough around the edges those high gain tones are starting around 1:00:

 

[rsm]

I think every week you make me want a DSL100HR more, lol.

Lately I have been using 2 ODs with my 2203 clone, and my JCM800 Synergy module. I also have the Killer Kali Synergy module and the BE-Dlx Synergy modules. I know what you mean. The 800 circuit seems to be more chunky and more aggressive. The modded Plexi based circuits seem to be more fluid and smoother. Almost in a way like Mesa has the Recto vs the Mark circuits. Personally, I am preferring the boosted 800, but I could see why you would want the modded Plexi thing instead.

Truth be told, I play my DSL40CR more than my 100W Marshalls, Mesa, Engl and Bogner. The power scaling works great. Two channels, I use the classic for rhythm, and the ultra for lead, no pedals needed; though I'd like a delay pedal for it.


I've thought about a DSL 100 many times.

 

[Simon Dorn]

im digging what im hearing from some of these hot mod things. that DSL sounds perfect with it. im kinda tempted to grab one now for

I tried it twice. It's not for me. But most people seem to like it.

 

[Simon Dorn]

I thought I was crazy. Using a boost with my 2203 clone wasn't quite enough and recently started using 2 boosts with it. That finally started to hit the spot. I usually dont hear about people using 2 cascaded OD pedals, but I have been getting some great sounds lately.

I did use two boosts. But now i just crank the gain on the TS808HWV2. Very nice pedal.