Can a Marshall be non-British

O

Osensei

New member
Well my favorite tones have always been in the Fender, Mesa Boogie Mark I thru Mark IV flavors! However, my little solid state Marshall practice amp gives me all the tonal variety I need based on my taste! To be honest, if it were a full sized gig worthy amp I would be satisfied with it tone wise.

Nevertheless, Marshall is type cast as a British voiced amp! Yet in spite of that fact, a number of artists have used them in the past to achieve tones that are atypical of that British thing. Artists of note include Alan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson, Greg Howe and Orianthi (female Santana protege', formerly guitarist for the late Michael Jackson).

So what is the verdict? Can Marshall do the non-British thing well enough to satisfy a 6L6, Boogie, Fender or Dumble lover?
 
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Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Yes. Tubes, speakers and a decent pedal will get you in the ball park..but it's also in the fingers and the guitar your playing. Like trying to make a Les Paul sound like a strat.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

There are tube conversion kits out there too. I haven't felt the need for one, but if you wanted to convert your EL34 Marshall to a 6l6 or a KT88 it's possible.

And you can absolutely make a Les sound like a strat. ;)
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

I'm getting lazy at my old age and just went down the Boogie road. Should have done it 20 years ago. MKIV + 6V6 tubes! I'm in love with the R2 sound (which is kind of JTM-45ish), though I prefer R1 on the #2 and #4 positions on a Strat.

But - setup properly Marshall can do excellent cleans, but won't exactly satisfy a Fender lover. It's just a different kind of clean, but you can do a lot with an EQ pedal.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

6l6 should just be a drop in with a rebias on a Marshall, might have to change the bias range resistors. Same thing with the KT88, though watch the current on the heaters.

There's going to be an impedance mismatch - which is in most cases safe and can be compensated for with adjusting the impedance switch.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Think of Jcm 900's.....I think theres one or two models that came with 6l6's....I was playing it at my friends house one time and really dug the tone, just kinda prefer 6l6's without knowing it!
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Maybe, but why bother? There's plenty of Boogies, Fenders, and Dumble clones around.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Osensei said:
Well my favorite tones have always been in the Fender, Mesa Boogie Mark I thru Mark IV flavors! However, my little solid state Marshall practice amp gives me all the tonal variety I need based on my taste!
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I have one of those little Kerry King Marshall MG10s and a Boogie Mk2 and have had several Marshalls in the past, 800, 900, 600, etc. The Boogie sounds nothing like the Marshalls ever did.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Can a Marshall be non-British? Well not unless it's made somewhere other than Britain!

But in terms of tone? Sure!

When Roy Orbison toured the UK in the 60's he loved the Marshall amps so much he brought a bunch of them back to the US. I'm sure Roy didn't sound like Eric Clapton when he played through them.

IMO, it's all about attitude and style.

Buddy Guy played through Marshalls for many years prior to getting the Fender endorsement. Buddy always sounded just like the superb and classic American bluesman Buddy is when he played through his Marshalls.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Lewguitar said:
Can a Marshall be non-British? Well not unless it's made somewhere other than Britain!

But in terms of tone? Sure!

When Roy Orbison toured the UK in the 60's he loved the Marshall amps so much he brought a bunch of them back to the US. I'm sure Roy didn't sound like Eric Clapton when he played through them.

IMO, it's all about attitude and style.

Buddy Guy played through Marshalls for many years prior to getting the Fender endorsement. Buddy always sounded just like the superb and classic American bluesman Buddy is when he played through his Marshalls.
Click to expand...

this guy knows where its at.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

I've gotten reasonable cleans out of Marshalls as long as they were older models (pre 80's)...but they weren't BF/tweed/Sunn/Hiwatt kinda cleans.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

I really like Marshall "cleans."

I can't describe it.

Here is a bad example, because it's just a Marshall model on a Valvetronix, but the sound is unmistakably "Marshall," and it sounds awesome
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

I love the Marshall clean sound. It's thick and midrangey, just how I'd like it for jazzy stuff with a Les Paul (with apologies to Al Di Meola). Playing with a 1960A helps open it up a little.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

The early Marshall's were pretty much a Fender Bassman with components that were common in Europe. Eventually they gained their own character.
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Pardon me, but isnt the voicing of the amp in the pre-amp, not in the power tubes?
 
Re: Can a Marshall be non-British

Dr.Mavashi said:
Pardon me, but isnt the voicing of the amp in the pre-amp, not in the power tubes?
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People talk like it's in the power tubes, but then most of them never play their amps loud enough to distort the power tubes -- instead judging the amp based on what the preamp section is doing. I rely completely on preamp distortion, but at least I don't go on about the difference in power tubes.
 
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