Marshall 18 watter and clones

[JumpMarine]

I've been listening to MANY clips of various models and love the tones of all of them. Can someone fill me in as to how well they work in a band setting as far as volume. Give me all of the pro's and cons as there aren't any close by to try out.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

Our #1 LP's are Les Paul Goldtops with the Brobucker in the bridge. I'm thinking the same thing as you about these low wattage Marshall clones. My favorite is the 65amps London head, but there's some other good ones out there I have my eye on.

I know one thing...I'd only buy a head version, since I'd want to use it with Marshall or Bogner cabs. Half the tone is the cab, so the head just has to sound like a scaled down Superlead, at a reasonable volume. If you've ever owned a 100W Superlead, you know it's just insanely too loud for almost any situation.

[JumpMarine]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

LOL, great minds think alike! I've been thinking about this for quite a while and I keep coming back to not needing lots of amps for what I am doing. I just want super tone that can keep up with my drummer in practice. I like the idea of a head as well. Joe, have you ever played one with a band?

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

Ryan,

The 18 watters are killer sounding amps and you'd do just fine in a band setting but be warned with a humbucker your clean tone will suffer a bit...it's pretty hard to not overdrive an 18 watt amp. That said you'd have a killer natural OD tone!

[Scott_F]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

<--- trying to resist the shameless plug....

[Scott_F]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

You are not going to get a lot of clean headroom out of anything that low. I'm trying to squeeze out every ounce of clean headroom out of a 40 watt amp I'm building for Evan. Big old bad ass P90's (in my case A5 Antiquities) are just hotter than heck.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

I haven't played one in a band setting, since I'm fairly new to the idea of a dual EL-84 Marshall 18W clone. I think the best results would be to get the amp cranked, then rely on the guitar's volume for clean playing. Also, single coils or split humbuckers can always sound pretty clean, even on a cranked amp.

I really don't view 18W clones as being the best for heavy humbucker tones, since the bottom end can blat out too much. I think that's how to measure the quality of these amps....the ones with the tightest bottom end, which resembles EL-34s, are the ones that are the best.

[54stratlover]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

Hey Joneser....What about the new Bogner with 6v6s. The clips by Greg V sound pretty rightous. I know he plays a lot of the clips in dropped C, but the bottom end sounds pretty good.

On a side note.. there are a couple of guys here in town starting to design amps and pedals. One guy is an Electrical Engineer and the other is just a phenominal amp tech. The Electrical Engineer has been doing military contracts, and he is great at circuit design, and overall amp layout design. The amp tech has done work for the foo fighters, Eric johnson has one of his old fenders, and the list goes on. I have played 3 of their original amp designs, and one of their pedals. The amp I really liked was a low watt design that seemed similar to the Bogner Duende. Two Channels that can be blended. I am gonna approach them about designing one with a switchable power amp section. I am not even sure if it is a do-able thing, but after listening to clips of 6v6 amps, and el84 amps I like both of the sounds. Sooo.... I would like to have an amp that has a footswitchable power amp section with both el84 and 6v6. One were you don't have to switch tubes and rebias, they are already there and ready to go. This may not even be a rational thing to do, but one can always imagine. Lately I have been much more interested in amps, than guitars. I am interested in something different, and these guys already have three designs that are pretty impressive. After listening to clips of the Bogner, Mad Professor, VHT, and others I am getting the amp bug. I like the fact that some of the boutique amp builders seem to be taking the circuitry to a new level, taking the old designs and adding a new twist to them.

[kevlar3000]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

In my stash I have a few 20 watters and can say they match up perfectly with drums. In particular, my 69 Traynor Bassmate ( el84 version) is louder than a friends PV classic 50. I still have to attenuate that sucker, all of em, with a touch of a volume knob, clean up just Beautifully. Tis a trait of all of my non master heads. My latest amp is a mid 60s Realistic ( yes, radio shack) El84, 2 12AX7 combo. I have gone through that amp and just about have it to the land of spectacular. Paid less than 100.00 for a PTP that was loaded with Mullard 84s.... That amp is just about the perfact mar-vox voice. I now have it wired so I can plug it into a cab. It matches up with drums perfectly.

Another killer gem is a Silvertone 1483, A little louder at 22 watts, that beast gets raves every gig I do with it.

[JumpMarine]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

<--- trying to resist the shameless plug....

LOL! Plug away, I'm looking for all ideas Scott....

[JumpMarine]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

What do you have up in Spokane that's worth looking at gearwise? I'm about 3.5 hrs away.

Hey Joneser....What about the new Bogner with 6v6s. The clips by Greg V sound pretty rightous. I know he plays a lot of the clips in dropped C, but the bottom end sounds pretty good.

On a side note.. there are a couple of guys here in town starting to design amps and pedals. One guy is an Electrical Engineer and the other is just a phenominal amp tech. The Electrical Engineer has been doing military contracts, and he is great at circuit design, and overall amp layout design. The amp tech has done work for the foo fighters, Eric johnson has one of his old fenders, and the list goes on. I have played 3 of their original amp designs, and one of their pedals. The amp I really liked was a low watt design that seemed similar to the Bogner Duende. Two Channels that can be blended. I am gonna approach them about designing one with a switchable power amp section. I am not even sure if it is a do-able thing, but after listening to clips of 6v6 amps, and el84 amps I like both of the sounds. Sooo.... I would like to have an amp that has a footswitchable power amp section with both el84 and 6v6. One were you don't have to switch tubes and rebias, they are already there and ready to go. This may not even be a rational thing to do, but one can always imagine. Lately I have been much more interested in amps, than guitars. I am interested in something different, and these guys already have three designs that are pretty impressive. After listening to clips of the Bogner, Mad Professor, VHT, and others I am getting the amp bug. I like the fact that some of the boutique amp builders seem to be taking the circuitry to a new level, taking the old designs and adding a new twist to them.

[JeffB]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

ooo..I forgot to post these for ya yesterday Jump...


crank your speaks...these are the best 18watters's I've heard

linky1


linky2

[JumpMarine]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

You are not going to get a lot of clean headroom out of anything that low. I'm trying to squeeze out every ounce of clean headroom out of a 40 watt amp I'm building for Evan. Big old bad ass P90's (in my case A5 Antiquities) are just hotter than heck.

Oh, I know.....I'm not looking for cleans, but powertube distortion that I can control from the volume of my guitar.

[JumpMarine]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

Thanks Jeff! I already had the 1st one downloaded....simply awsome! That's one of the clips that really makes me want to get an 18 watter.

ooo..I forgot to post these for ya yesterday Jump...


crank your speaks...these are the best 18watters's I've heard

linky1


linky2

[JeffB]

Re: Marshall 18 watter and clones

Thanks Jeff! I already had the 1st one downloaded....simply awsome! That's one of the clips that really makes me want to get an 18 watter.

You are cetainly welcome!

Also kinda helps its a 58 Paula...

and Greg Martin




Love that "honk"..there's no sound remotely like a Honky Paula into a good Marshall.