Dude, you said "The moral of the story... Fender and Marshall should stick to being Fender and Marshall. They don't really seem to know how to do both very well. Just focus on doing what they do best, and trying to bring costs down to get the guy with a smaller wallet into some quality tone. Guys like Reinhold Bogner and Dave Friedman are much better at doing both (though of course, it generally costs you lots more)." That makes it sound like unless Marshall of Fender is doing the proverbial Marshall or Fender thing, then they're not that good. I never said that you said they weren't badass, but the implication is there in your statement.
Then in this latest quote, you're wrong on a few points. First of all, who says Marshalls don't do cleans very well? Have you ever heard a JVM, DSL, Astoria, or 2555x? All of those cleans are at least very good or awesome. No, nothing like Fender cleans, but that doesn't mean their cleans suck. Then you said that you disagree that plexis are clean. I never said plexis are clean, but throughout the history of Marshall, a great many clean and cleanish tones have been output by Marshall plexis. Have you ever played a 100w plexi? I tell you it takes some volume to get breakup out of one, so there's enough clean headroom to keep up with a 20 or 30 watt tube head before it starts to get hard to clean up. SRV was a pretty clean player and he used plexis. Even that country dude Keith Urban uses plexis for clean tones. Try playing a 50w 1987x at home and see how much your walls shake before you get some breakup, then tell me you "disagree completely."
Look I don't want to start an argument with you here, but I'm generally very knowledgeable and accurate. The problem is that you're making statements that either imply something inaccurate or state something wrong. I OWN a plexi right now, plus a Friedman Smallbox, Plus a Fender Princeton, and a few other amps. If I didn't at least have first-hand experience with something, then I don't talk about it.
Anyway, let's bring this back to a more amicable state. I agree with you on one big thing though, the reissues are great. I won't say that Friedman and Bogner do it better because Marshall has tremendous magic, but they give people more of what they want than Marshall does. Marshall just makes their production stuff and that's it... well, let me backtrack on that just a little. Reinhold Bogner is a genius. He's on a whole other level than everyone else. Him and Peter Diezel are the best modern amp builders in my opinion. I like the hold George Metropoulos in very high regard as well as Dave Friedman when it comes to the Marshall thing, but anyway, have you compared the vintage stuff to the reissues? If so, what did you think? Personally, if played through the same cab, I like the reissues better - including the 2555x.
