Marshalls: educate me

dindude

If you can get a vintage style one and be in a place that you can turn it up to patent pending volumes, they sound great.

Otherwise they just don't.

IMO, YMMV, etc etc.

crunchman

nick79 said:

crunchman said:

I'm not sure there are any two channel amps that genuinely sound good on both channels though.

Mesa Boogie manage it, but you do pay the extra £££ for it

I've not played any of the more recent Mesa Boogie models but the ones I tried 12 or 15 years (before I got my Lazy J and fixed my amp GAS) were distinctly underwhelming.  I wouldn't say they sounded good on either channel, let alone both.

Voxman

Mesa Boogie are generally not amps that I like but I did quite like a lonestar combo that I played some years back.  

professorben

crunchman said:

nick79 said:

crunchman said:

I'm not sure there are any two channel amps that genuinely sound good on both channels though.

Mesa Boogie manage it, but you do pay the extra £££ for it

I've not played any of the more recent Mesa Boogie models but the ones I tried 12 or 15 years (before I got my Lazy J and fixed my amp GAS) were distinctly underwhelming.  I wouldn't say they sounded good on either channel, let alone both.

I'd say exactly the same about any Fender or tweedy clone thereof (LazyJ, Victoria, Cornell etc)

Now I know enough to realise it's just that I don't like them, rather than that they are bad amps. 

FelineGuitars

What is the Mesa Stiletto like as a Marshall wannabe?

Winny_Pooh

If you want channel switching & effects loops from a Marshall then don't buy a Marshall

ThePrettyDamned

Just get a jtm45 and thank me later. 

Bloody excellent things. Handsome looking, too. No channel switching though. 

JohnPerry

get a Carr Slant.

Blackface Deluxe clean channel, Marshall-flavoured dirt channel. Best two-channel amp I know of and beautifully made

BintyTwanger77

JohnPerry said:

get a Carr Slant.

Blackface Deluxe clean channel, Marshall-flavoured dirt channel. Best two-channel amp I know of and beautifully made

Woah, they look magnificent but just short of £3k is beyond my budget, sadly.

Voxman

ThePrettyDamned said:

Just get a jtm45 and thank me later. 

Bloody excellent things. Handsome looking, too. No channel switching though. 

I do like JTM45's - used to have one, really nice chimey cleans, and it sounded great when cranked up BUT you really have to crank it up to get that great classic crunch - & its not a high gain amp.  I jumped the channels on mine.  But they are very much a gigging amp and a 'one-trick pony', they have no master volume, no reverb, and no channel switching which limits their versatility.   So, depends on the type of music you play and where and how loud you play.  It's a very 'niche' type amp, but its lack of flexibility is why I changed it for a two channel amp with a master volume.  

JohnPerry

BintyTwanger77 said:

JohnPerry said:

get a Carr Slant.

Blackface Deluxe clean channel, Marshall-flavoured dirt channel. Best two-channel amp I know of and beautifully made

Woah, they look magnificent but just short of £3k is beyond my budget, sadly.

Half that used. There was one in the classifieds the other day. 

Sold mine for £1500

longi

See if you could pick up a used MJW, there's probably a fair amount of 2 channel Marshall/Fender Bf builds that he's made. If you're not in a rush one will probably turn up sooner or later. 

BintyTwanger77

longi said:

See if you could pick up a used MJW, there's probably a fair amount of 2 channel Marshall/Fender Bf builds that he's made. If you're not in a rush one will probably turn up sooner or later. 

Looking at the MJW website, really like the look of the Twin. Do they do a combo version or just as a head?

andyoz

Aidanspaghetti said:

crunchman said:

I'm not sure there are any two channel amps that genuinely sound good on both channels though.

I think you are better off with a good clean channel (Fender Blackface or otherwise) and pedals for dirt.

Friedman Smallbox.
No doubt about it

Agreed..

Lew

FelineGuitars said:

What is the Mesa Stiletto like as a Marshall wannabe?

@FelineGuitars I wasn't impressed by the one I played. Thought it was overly slim on the bass. I found it best with the gain really low which is what I'd do anyway but the high gain on it was pretty useless. I've never played a Boogie I like, so... 

shaunm

BintyTwanger77 said:

longi said:

See if you could pick up a used MJW, there's probably a fair amount of 2 channel Marshall/Fender Bf builds that he's made. If you're not in a rush one will probably turn up sooner or later. 

Looking at the MJW website, really like the look of the Twin. Do they do a combo version or just as a head?

Hopefully he will be making them again but MJW is having a little break. 

TimmyO

BintyTwanger77 said:

Up to now, I have pretty much stubbornly stuck to BF Fender amps, for the cleans and using pedals for filth, and I pretty much know the square root of bugger all about Marshalls, the best models, the ones to avoid, which one has the best clean channel, how they are with mod/delays/reverb, etc.

For my own use, I'm interested in learning about combos, two channels (clean & gain/lead, footswitchable), preferably with an effects loop and possibly with reverb (not essential). Ultimately I would be interested in the one model overall with the best clean and dirt channels, but I appreciate that this is asking the obvious, that tastes will vary, and that looking for this could be a bit of a quest for the holy grail of amps. Grateful for your views. Thanks, all.

My view is get a one channel Marshall and boost it when you need to. 

Clean channel (technically the 'low input' to the one channel - don't get a 2 ch one) on the 800 (original or reissue) is fab - and responds to drive pedals brilliantly. Or late 70s JMP (I had the 2x12 combo - there was one for sale here recently) 

Or get a Bluesbreaker / JTM45 

TimmyO

Winny_Pooh said:

If you want channel switching & effects loops from a Marshall then don't buy a Marshall

I wis'd but the JCM800 reissue has a great loop 

FelineGuitars

Marshall need to make an amp that is basically like a better version of the 2210 or 2205 JCM split channel with 2 independent channels and a boost facility on the lead channel. Add a great FX loop, reverb and maybe a couple of modern touches like Laney did on their Ironheart to aid direct to computer interface or mixing desk, and maybe a re-amping facility and they would have a killer amp in my opinion.

Or take a leaf from Mesa and do a total Marshall like they did the Mesa MK5 (some might argue they did with the JVM410)

Voxman

Winny_Pooh said:

If you want channel switching & effects loops from a Marshall then don't buy a Marshall

?? - Why not?