Anyone ever used a marshall mode four?

hugbot

I remember the reception when Marshall came out with a new flagship solid state amp was frosty, to say the least.

How is it though, actually? It can be found for very cheap these days.

fastboy

I heard a local band use one several years ago, sounded absolutely fine to me and cut through the mix no problems on clean and crunch although a tad fizzy on the high gain so it might depend on your application for it. 

not_the_dj

IIRC @ICBM will tell you it'll catch fire ;-)

ICBM

not_the_dj said:

IIRC @ICBM will tell you it'll catch fire ;-)

Yes, repeatedly. (Both the telling and the catching fire .)

Utter crap. Probably the worst amp Marshall have ever made, certainly in the modern era. Avoid with extreme prejudice...

Basically it's a glorified Valvestate AVT with four of the horrendously unreliable fan-cooled power modules from the AVT100 in it, which multiplies by four the already high chance of the smoke coming out.

They're so bad I will not even accept them for repair, for any fault.

fretmeister

I thought they sounded fine - but apparently the reliability is a bit pants.

samzadgan

i remember watching a vid with Alex Skolnick saying he loved them and used them for years.

i guess reliability for him is less of an issue as he could just buy a bunch of them and swap them out when they catch fire...?

Drew_TNBD

Bag of shite amp. The cabs are great though.

Moe_Zambeek

I liked the cabs. Big warm thumpy cleans...

not_the_dj

samzadgan said:

i remember watching a vid with Alex Skolnick saying he loved them and used them for years.

i guess reliability for him is less of an issue as he could just buy a bunch of them and swap them out when they catch fire...?

This one?

samzadgan

@not_the_dj yeah thats the one. I guess its also to do with his playing...

shaunm

I had one for years, I found the tone fizzy and bland. Really they are Nu metal amps, if you play that then it's an option but mine did overheat.

If you play anything else don't buy it

ICBM

The cabs are good, yes - the closest thing Marshall do to a Mesa or Bogner-type 'oversized' 4x12", great for heavier tones and big dynamic cleans as Moe said. It's a shame they dropped it when they discontinued the amps.

shaunm

What speakers were in those cabs?

randomhandclaps

There are clearly a lot of haters out there but my mate Pete uses one, just for jamming in his man shed mind, but he seems happy -

http://halcyonrecords.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/FIRE.jpg

ICBM

shaunm said:

What speakers were in those cabs?

G12K-100s I think.

Sassafras

Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll with a bit of arson thrown in for good measure.

samzadgan

ICBM said:

shaunm said:

What speakers were in those cabs?

G12K-100s I think.

so...i thought those speakers were really neutral (i hate using that word :sigh:). From what i've been told Hot100's allow the tone of the amp to come through...so if people think the cabs sounded good with the amp, doesnt that mean the amp sounded good...

hugbot

I dunno, I dont think theres really such thing as a "neutral" guitar speaker and if there is it would sound pretty bad.

ICBM

samzadgan said:

ICBM said:

shaunm said:

What speakers were in those cabs?

G12K-100s I think.

so...i thought those speakers were really neutral (i hate using that word :sigh:). From what i've been told Hot100's allow the tone of the amp to come through…

These are not Hot 100s, if that's what you meant - the Hot 100 is a G12T-100, which has a smaller magnet and sounds a bit like a Greenback. G12K-100s are sometimes said to be neutral, but really they are quite even and balanced-sounding - a bold, powerful sound. They're not middy like a V30, or hollow like a G12T-75, or 'furry' like a Greenback… and they're also bigger-sounding and clearer than a Hot 100.

samzadgan said:

...so if people think the cabs sounded good with the amp, doesnt that mean the amp sounded good…

No, it means an oversized ply cabinet with four very beefy-sounding speakers sounds good.

The amp is not only built like an AVT, it sounds quite like one. (Unsurprisingly.) Boomy-sounding and a bit hollow, with a buzzy top end. As already said they don't sound too bad if you want a scooped nu-metal type sound, but not great for anything else. The sound is the least of its problems anyway.

samzadgan

ICBM said:

samzadgan said:

ICBM said:

shaunm said:

What speakers were in those cabs?

G12K-100s I think.

so...i thought those speakers were really neutral (i hate using that word :sigh:). From what i've been told Hot100's allow the tone of the amp to come through…

These are not Hot 100s, if that's what you meant - the Hot 100 is a G12T-100, which has a smaller magnet and sounds a bit like a Greenback. G12K-100s are sometimes said to be neutral, but really they are quite even and balanced-sounding - a bold, powerful sound. They're not middy like a V30, or hollow like a G12T-75, or 'furry' like a Greenback… and they're also bigger-sounding and clearer than a Hot 100.

samzadgan said:

...so if people think the cabs sounded good with the amp, doesnt that mean the amp sounded good…

No, it means an oversized ply cabinet with four very beefy-sounding speakers sounds good.

The amp is not only built like an AVT, it sounds quite like one. (Unsurprisingly.) Boomy-sounding and a bit hollow, with a buzzy top end. As already said they don't sound too bad if you want a scooped nu-metal type sound, but not great for anything else. The sound is the least of its problems anyway.

thank you for ripping my whole argument apart...and i like how you addressed each part seperately...didnt just put the knife in, but you made you sure you gave it a good twist!!

obvioulsy joking...I now have a bit more knowledge than i did before i read your post.

hugbot

Nu metal was a dark time.