what are people using to boost their marshalls?

  • Thread starter Thread starter RaceU4her
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I normally use a TS9 or a BB Preamp. This "Baked" TS9 sounds interesting. What's the deal with that?

I went to Keeley's site and it doesn't look like they'll mod your TS9 anymore with the Baked mod. . . looks like you have to buy the whole thing for $209.
 
its pretty much exactly what i wanted. my "project" is like a rockin power trio Zep meets soundgarden type of thing and id like to record the guitars myself if possible and this is just what i wanted. thing is i like the crunch right at about 2 oclock and the lead tone full blast but the low end gets a tad flubby full bore so im thinking a boost and maybe a tube change is what i need. heres a real quick clip i just recorded, volumes all the way up
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Ok, for you needs I would try the Cornell TM Boost (my tip), Zvex Super Hard On or another Treble Booster like Range King, Divided by 13.

I also own a JMI MKII Tonebender, this is a whole other Story, this pedal was used on the first Zeppelin into a light crunchy clean amp with much highs (supro).

As your amp is small with typical (little Marshall brilliance), I would not recommend a Tonebender, as the Tonebender MKII is much more like a better Big Muff with mojo and character (i.e. lot of distortion/fuzz/mushiness), the tonebender is creating the distortion, it is not recommended to boost an already gainy amp which lacks treble.

Be sure to evaluate the sound with my tips using the volume on your guitar, very important when trying fuzzes, treble boosters; pus with less output and single coils definitely have an advantage here.

Will make sound files soon.....

You could try to give the amp a 12ay7 in the first stage (cleaner sounding), the best 12ax7 with the most definition and most good highs is an old NOS Telefunken smooth plate, not so cool in my JMP Marshall (which is extremely bitey, there I recommend a NOS mullard from the blackburn plant.
I had a cornell 18/20 which killed the marshall 1974X in every!!!! aspect, the the telefunken smooth plate was great there, but I would swap the speaker to a scumback M75 which makes a bigger difference than swapping tubes...incredible good vintage speaker.

Kai
 
I'm still searching.. :( something always missing it seems. Some i've tried:

RC Booster- too scratchy for me, something there that just annoyed me and didn't have as much gain as I wanted.
BB preamp- great for making the 2204 or JMP style amp sound a bit more soldanoish to me because it thickened things and added compression. Wish the gain were a little more gradual. Seemed like it was barely cracked or too much for me.
Bad Monkey - still use it. Fairly neutral I find and just tightens up the low end. it has EQ adjustment so that is a plus
SD-1 - classic. colours the tone but all the gain you'll ever need
Zakk Wylde OD - similar to SD-1 a bit more honk in mids. FAirly noisy but has it's place for certain sounds.
BOSS GE-7 - quite a bit of boost here.. thicken the sound, transparent enough.
DOD YJM 308 - modded to grey specs, great for single coils, a little too flubby for buckers for me.


Would love to try a guvnor but the aforementioned KOT should be along those lines. OCD would be great to try. I always post a link to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDHIqs8JXU8 helpful. That ceriatone sounds frigging awesome though doesn't it? turbo overdrive also sounds great.
 
I usually boost with a blue MXR 6-band I have laying around or a Tubescreamer kit from General Guitar Gadgets.

A couple of years ago, the orchestra teacher at the school I taught at gave me a box of old pedals from his gigging days to sell on eBay for him. Tried a bunch as boosts through my Super Lead. Had a vintage Distortion+ (was okay), a T.C. Electronics Booster+/Line Driver/Distortion (Never played one before, sounded fantastic), but the real surprise was how great a regular block logo Dyna Comp sounded.

Love the TS-5 suggestion earlier. Personally, I wouldn't spend more than $100 for a boost pedal.
 
Jet City Afterburner. OD and Boost in one pedal. $80, sounds better than my Bad Monkey or DS-1.
 
I own a ton of OD's....including many high dollar boutiques. For a Marshall voiced amp, I have found nothing better than my MXR GT-OD with the internal switch moved to the "non-stock" position. Supposedly, this changes it to the ZW-44 circuit. However, I also have a ZW-44 and the GT has less noise and low end loss.
 
Get a suhr koko boost, thank me later! Little pricey but totally worth it
 
The list of overdrives and rack gear I've shoved in the face of my stick '79 JMP over the years is far too long to type. That said my favorite things have been the TC Nova Drive which is great since it's OD, Distortion and OD + Distortion in various combos so it leads to lots of tonal variation from one pedal and way more gain (if needed) than any single OD pedal. MXR GT-OD (or the Classic Overdrive version which is the same pedal rehoused for GC) is also great. MXR M77 Badass Overdrive, just got this one and so far I like it. Being able to tweak the 100Hz bottom end on the M77 is a nice feature.
 
@Kapo....Polenton
Check the Rodenberg 728NG (a bit more vintage vibe, with quite a lot of Gain), still my favorite, has a hint of tubescreamer, even more gain than Xotic RC, OCD available
The Lehan Labs 2CH: (more Gain, flatter in the Midrange, very tasty modern Marshall with balls, little more aggressive without harshness)
Baldringer Dual Drive: an improved highly configural ocd kind of sound much more gain, less flappy, very transparent, cool features, kicks the ocds ass, it is actually the most neutral, clear pedal I tried, more usable gain than the Rodenberg
Fulltone OCD 4: (neutral sounding like Baldringer, less gain than above mentioned, more gain quite=>muddy, flabby, a bit neutral and less full sounding then all above mentioned

My list for improving my Marshall and getting more gain for vintage sound clearly TM Boost from Cornell
1 Rodenberg
1b Suhr Koko Boost
2 Baldringer Dual Drive Red Enclosure
2 Lehan Labs
3 Analogman KOT 4 (is a little more boxy than the above mentioned, was designed for Fenders Amps, less gain than all above mentioned.

IMHO: The Analogman Kot 4 is for Fender Amps (improving a tubescreamer midrangy sound! YOU NEED THIS WITH FENDERS) what the Baldringer Dual Drive is for Marshalls (getting much Gain with pedals without altering behavior and retain playability and not getting muddy; very transparent, very dynamic, probably kings in their classes.

The Rodenberg is something in between the two, a little more TS but more open than the KOT 4, less gain and less neutral than the Baldringer Dual Drive and more midrange.

I will make a thread of my own shortly with sound files comparing my favorites.

To the original poster:
I would try a Tonebender JMI MKII, a Treble Booster (Cornell TM Boost/or boxey midrangy Divided by 13, and a Fuzz Analogman NKT side by side, they all differ and have there virtues, I certainly prefer Germanium in all of them

Played a few hours:
Checked again the Suhr Koko Boost, right now my favorit booster, does not add harshness and retains the bass, will check furthermore...

So right now favorite Rodenberg 808 side and Suhr koko for boosting, will try it a few day more, the Rodenberg Boost does affect the bass of the original way to a certain degree, the Suhr is more natural....

Greetings
Kai
 
Chubtone":396eqt6c said:
RockNRun":396eqt6c said:
What I'm curious about is where do the majority of Marshall owners place their boost pedals...up front, or in the loop (specifically for lead tone gassing)? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Always in the front.
Click to expand...
Damn...you can say that again. Can't believe I never bothered trying it before...maybe never seeing dudes "swear by it" already told me what I needed to know. But anyway, WTH, this weekend for a goof I tried both of my drive pedals (Jetter Red Shift and OCD v4) in the loops of both my amps and set them for 100% clean boost. They made the amps sound like a dark, mushy mess. Bleh. No thanks! They sound so much better up front. No need to experiment with that again, lol.
 
Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive in front, MXR10-ban eq in the loop. Sparkle Drive adds a little hair, and MXR boosts solos. Works well in front of my MARSHA and my '79 JMP.....
 
Ach, I use(d) the basic Boss SD-1, Digitech Bad Monkey or MXR ZW-44 in front of my Marshall.Which one, depending on my mood really. I think the MXR had the longest run in my board.
 
Koko
Marshall Guv'nor (80's version)
Boss GE-10
Boss GE-7
TS808 (really wish I would have kept that one)
SD-1 (Keeley modded- not bad but didn't like it as much as the others)
 
Rash":2zulvtg8 said:
1. Rodenberg 728NG.....
Click to expand...
Do you have any clips of your Marshall boosted with this pedal? Sounds pretty interesting.
 
What i really want is an 80's guvnor' to be honest but the price they go for and the uncertainty of their condition leaves me less inspired.
 
Here a proof, missing the Baldringer Dual Drive and the Cornell TM Boost (both in another space)

Will certainly make sound files, speaker used scumback M75 (65 Watt), 76 non cascaded Marshall, SED winged =C= el34, white Mullard UK Blackburn first gain stage, Strat with HBSC Doublebucker Dommenget (Alnico) and Kloppmann 60ties SC Alnico 5

from left to right:Analogman KOT 4 normal edition, no high gain!, Rodenberg 728NG, Zvex 2* Super Hard On Double Pedal (Super Duper), Analogman Sun Face NKT 275 Fuzz first edition, old Boss DS1 Japan, Keeler Pull, Lehan Labs CH2, Divided by 13 Treble Booster, JMI MKII Tonebender with Mullard, OCD 4, Suhr Kokoboost, Cioks power supply

Hopefully will make soundfiles this week! You could check the 808 pedal from Rodenberg, cheaper missing the boost side.
Thinking of getting only the Rodenberg single Pedal 808 and the Suhr Iso Boost, but will try a bit more.....perhaps keeping both the Rodenberg 728 and Suhr Koko...

Also will keep the Keeler Pull, incredible pedal for shimmering Tom Petty sounds, imho not so interesting for marshalls, sound killer, heard it sounds (from a reliable person) close to a klon without the mid boost of the klon.

The Leehan Labs is also very cool, a bit more modern, but without cheesy harshness of certain pedals.

Kai
 

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