Your favorite non-Marshall Marshall

TopHat Emplexador. Covered everything from JTM45 to 1987 to 2204 tones. Build quality is meticulous, with terminal strips instead of turretboards or eyeletboards. My old one had Pacific trannies. Years ago, I went through a ton of vintage Marshall’s (not nearly as many as some of the members here) and the only Marshall I had that sounded better to my ears than the Emplexador was a ‘69 1986 spec.

Cons: Lousy resale value. A good, but not great master volume. Very few of them have effects loops, as the builder isn’t a fan.
 
My CAE modded Marshalls take the cake. Crunch mod and SE Lead mod on my 2203 and 1959. Crystal clear punch and note definition from the crunch, and big heavy aggressive high gain thump from the SE. blended together, they sound perfect for anything sub destined metal, but individually the crunch mod shines for vintage tones, and the SE for 80’s hard rock/hair, 90’s alternative, and 2000’s pop punk.
 
1. Headfirst Atla
2. Monomyth Skeleton Key
3. Ceriatone(plexi, 800, molecular)
4. Splawn.

Monomyth was #1 for awhile with me. The atla's flexibility puts it at the top spot now. I do want another Monomyth at some point.

Ceriatone just makes cool amps. I avoided them for a bit due to horror stories from 15 years ago about their transformers. Then I found out their shit is as good or better than most amps that I tried instead. I have a 100 watt Plexi now that I'm selling to pay some bills since the atla can do plexi type tones. If I can hustle to keep it I'm going to. Really cool amp. The molecular is pretty cool too as was their 2204.

I would also like to get another Quick Rod one of these days.
 
My Engl Artist Edition E651

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Going with what I own….Mesa Stiletto Deuce 2, Laney 80’s 6 knob pro tube, Orange Brent Hinds Terror, Mesa LSS (when cranked up on CH 1, more so on 5 watt setting), Mesa MK V, edge setting, using 34’s and CH 1 clean cranked up.
 
Mine’s an MCII inspired Headfirst that Jason kindly built for me a few years ago. It’s a mean sounding beast. The Alta 100 sounds killer and I’ll probably get one when the finances allow….
 
My fav would have to be the Morris Perpelxd. But I have not tried all the other great ones though. Germino has always been one that I have been interested in. A Wizard of course but they are crazy high and crazy loud ha
 
There are so many out there it's crazy. I do get GAS for sure. I'd have to get into a major flipping mode to satisfy the itch. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I'm just not a place in time where I can/want to do that. For me, the hassle is not worth the pay off. That, and I'm going to have to downsize anyway in the coming years. Therefore, I will remain content with my Splawn. I'm more of metal guy, so with the right tubes, boost, and set up I can get what I want out of her. And I can easily dial things back by just going to Gear 1 and using boost/guitar volume without even touching dials on the amp. It is pretty set and forget, which I like. Treble on 0. Always.
 
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