Taming the Marshall SV20

NickB

Hi all, just bought the aforementioned amp and Christ on a bike it’s a loud little fecker. I can’t get it to break up on low mode without blowing the walls down. How do you tame yours and what the pros and cons of fx loop volume box vs an attenuator? Thank you

Yorkie

Have a look here, lots of wisdom and some practical options: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/226931/questions-on-low-wattage-valve-amps-marshall-class-5-origin-etc#latest

fretmeister

FX loop volume won’t get the power tubes driving.

Get a good attenuator.

paulnb57

@NickB ;;
I lusted for ages for a SV20,  then when I was able to do it, read the above link and decided to go with the SC20 which has Master volume as the SV was going to be too loud for home use….I want to use the amp overdrive/distortion rather than what I did previously, setting the Origin 20 clean and using pedals for drive

Anyroadup, I now have the SC20 and am not really happy with it at low volume, it goes almost tv quiet, but the tone disappears, It goes all trebly and weedy, if Im honest I hate it and preferred the Origin. In an effort to make it work Im waiting for an attenuator to arrive…I may end up using it like I did my Origin 20, clean, with pedals, which sort of defeats the object….
Cranked its glorious…utterly glorious, my neighbour two doors up though so too.
Ill be gutted if it ends up in the classifieds, but it just might, wish Id gone for the SV20 now!

davros

I have a Jet City Jettenuator (Harley Benton do a cheaper version) that I use with my SV20, works a treat, cuts a bit of the high end, but there's enough treble in the amp to compensate.

NickB

Thank you all for your advice! Much appreciated. 

Loobs

Ridiculous and kind of dishonest that Marshall market these amps as suitable for home use at all. 

Yorkie

One of the most eye-opening comments I read somewhere while looking for info on this was ‘valve amps are not really meant to be used at home’. Kind of a shocker having digested so much publicity on 0.1W amps and whatnot. But I saw the point the moment I turned my Class 5 on. Luckily I can get the light breakup I was after without disturbing anybody (see my last comment on the thread I have shared), but I can see how anyone looking for high gain would get extremely frustrated. 

Jon

Loobs

Marketing is marketing. That said, it all depends on your living situation. I couldn't play a Champ louder than 2 in my apartment. 

NickB

I primarily bought the amp to gig with, so on that aspect I am one happy bunny. However my main gripe is that, similar to the early Fender Hot Rod amps that the volume is either on or off. It's definitely not a home amp without an external device...I just wasn't expecting it to be quite so loud. 

timmypix

I've got an SV20 on my list once I've shifted my Victories, but I'm wary of this. However, I've got an SC20 and if ever I want to play it, I run it through a Two Notes Torpedo Live into speakers - the sound of it gunned, but at a manageable volume! I will probably pick up a Captor X at some point to try the home attenuation, but then I've still got the speakers option if that's not viable. Not gigging for the foreseeable but I hope to change that later in the year, otherwise I wouldn't bother with amps at all at this point.

Keiko

Sell it and get the Jubilee instead.

fretmeister

Loobs said:

Ridiculous and kind of dishonest that Marshall market these amps as suitable for home use at all. 

I disagree.
Not everyone wants a cranked sound.

The SC20 low input channel was a glorious clean sound at low volume.

The problem here is buyers who have no idea how loud a 5W valve amp can be.

paulnb57

fretmeister said:

Loobs said:

Ridiculous and kind of dishonest that Marshall market these amps as suitable for home use at all. 

I disagree.
Not everyone wants a cranked sound.

The SC20 low input channel was a glorious clean sound at low volume.

The problem here is buyers who have no idea how loud a 5W valve amp can be.

Wisdom!

Dave_Mc

Loobs said:

Ridiculous and kind of dishonest that Marshall market these amps as suitable for home use at all. 

Agreed. They're not the only ones- almost everyone does it. But it's really annoying. I don't share any walls with neighbours, but my own ears (and good sense) limit me to roughly the same setting (about 1!) on a master volume with a 5 watter as on a 100 watter...

fretmeister said:

Loobs said:

Ridiculous and kind of dishonest that Marshall market these amps as suitable for home use at all. 

I disagree.
Not everyone wants a cranked sound.

The SC20 low input channel was a glorious clean sound at low volume.

The problem here is buyers who have no idea how loud a 5W valve amp can be.

I disagree. Most of them are marketed as being crankable at home. You could argue that one of the main reasons that buyers don't know how loud a 5 watt valve amp is is that marketers have been lying to them for years.

If you don't want a cranked sound and only want cleans a 100 watter is just as usable at home (and is arguably a better idea!).

Plus marketing/advertising is a bit like a placebo- even when you know it's hokum, it still pretty much works. I know how loud a 5 or 20 watter can be, and when I read the advertising spiel I still have to catch myself and remind myself that it's not going to be any more crankable than anything I already have (i.e. won't be crankable).

monquixote

fretmeister said:

Loobs said:

Ridiculous and kind of dishonest that Marshall market these amps as suitable for home use at all. 

I disagree.
Not everyone wants a cranked sound.

The SC20 low input channel was a glorious clean sound at low volume.

The problem here is buyers who have no idea how loud a 5W valve amp can be.

Indeed

It's not Marshall's fault that people think they are going to get power amp distortion out of a giggable amp in a home setting

JohnPerry

davros said:

I have a Jet City Jettenuator (Harley Benton do a cheaper version) that I use with my SV20, works a treat, cuts a bit of the high end, but there's enough treble in the amp to compensate.

Exactly this. I have the Harley Benton and it works brilliantly at home volumes. The amp has a ton of top end which compensates for anything you lose using the attenuator

spirit7

I really don’t think Marshall Market this as anything other than a small Plexi do they?  Seems obvious that it’s going to be loud as hell un attenuated if you want amp distortion.  I recommend you flog it and grab a Bogner XTC 3534

BlueStrat

Even 5w is really loud, I was surprised myself at how brain bustingly loud my Mesa Express can be in 5w mode. 

Try an attenuator and run the amp on 11, I used the THD Hotplate

Dave_Mc

monquixote said:

Indeed

It's not Marshall's fault that people think they are going to get power amp distortion out of a giggable amp in a home setting

Sure it is. This is straight from the Marshall website (my bolding):

(Main page)

Classic Marshall reimagined. We’ve shrunk down some of our most famous amps so you can enjoy the iconic Marshall sounds at home or in the studio. With the ability to switch between 20W and 5W without the need for an attenuator, these amps perform well in any environment. The legendary tones of your heroes are at your fingertips - all you need to do is plug in and play.

There’s plenty of reasons why these amps have appeared on countless albums and stages since they were first released. The Studio series repackages the classics in a more portable format, so you can make the most of them in any scenario for many more years to come.

(SV20H page)

Why should touring artists have all the fun? With the SV20H you can harness the formidable tone of the 1959SLP at home or in the studio. Switch between 20W and 5W at the flick of a switch and let the defining sound of the plexi live on.

In true plexi style, the SV20H features four separate guitar inputs, two for each channel. This gives you the ability to choose between the brightness of the high treble channel, the roundness of the normal channel, or blend between the two with a patch cable. Add in the EQ and presence controls and you can take your sound from warm saturated blues to aggressive biting leads. The power reduction feature also makes it versatile enough for studio recording and home practice.

Tame the untameable

Everything you expect from the 1959SLP now available with power reduction technology, letting you shift through the gears from 20W to 5W. It’s also significantly smaller and lighter than it’s 100W counterpart, making travelling and touring a breeze.

(SV20C page)

The power of a Plexi in a new portable style. Now the legendary sound of the 1959SLP is yours for the taking, packaged in a 20W combo that you can enjoy at home or in the studio. It’s got the same vintage tones you know and love, just redesigned for the modern player.

Whether you’re looking for warm blues tones or punchy leads, the SV20C has all the same tonal options as the original 1959SLP. Choose between the high treble and normal channel, or find the perfect blend between the two using a patch cable. While its predecessor was built to get loud, the SV20C is equipped to handle those quieter environments with power reduction to 5W.

Almost everything there is very strongly implying, if not outright saying, that you can get classic cranked-up Marshall tones at home volumes.

birtner

Not tried at home volumes but I use a boss sd1 in front of mine and it sounds pretty glorious