half of a Marshall's tone is...

JeffB

JeffB

Let it B
in the speakers/cab...

I did some amp window shopping this weekend and all I will say is, anyone who thinks a Marshall MG100 head sounds like utter crap needs to run it through a 1960 cab with V30s. The clean channel is still a little stale, but the gain channel (both modes) improves by a hella-significant amount. It wasn't super warm like a tube version, but it sure was not tinny, thin, and buzzy like it is through the MG cab. From talking volumes up to "def gonna get a stop-by from the cops it sounded tight and thick, and dare I say..."brown"
Even the scoopy stuff sounded pretty decent (as decent as it can sound that is :laugh2: )

I can see laying down minimal cash for a used MG50 combo , and dropping a V30 in the closed back for a nice crunchy bedroom/small gig amp (granted I know its not as good a full 4x12, but..for those on a budget/bedroom players)
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

Call me crazy, but I think the MG series sounds a hell of a lot better than the AVT series.
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

cheaper Marshall heads aside, your theory holds true...i've plugged my Bassman head into my friend's Marshall halfstack (i'm pretty sure it was a 1969A, slant cab that came with the JCM800) and it adopted a lot of the thick midrange and crunch Marshalls are known for. I've really been considering the importance of a good cab and speakers since that day...kinda makin me wanna get a li'l Orange 4x12.

-X
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

The best sounding SS amp I ever plugged in to a 4x12 with good speakers is the Lead 12 I have now. The thing actually keeps up in a band setting. Not too shabby for 12 watts. :D
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

krankguitarist said:
Call me crazy, but I think the MG series sounds a hell of a lot better than the AVT series.
Click to expand...

You ain't crazy Bro. I have an MG50 combo, and it sounds loads better than the AVTs I have played. I have played a Clapton Strat, a top class PRS guitar, and a SD-equipped Schecter into an AVT one day and I couldn't get a useable tone out of it. It sounded thin and buzzy no matter what I did. I changed the cable and everything, even tried a different amp (same model).

I'm not actually finding my MG all that bad right now. Granted, I do play clean more often that not these days, and it does cleans really well. But take the guitars volume down to maybe 5 or 6, add a touch of either chorus or delay and even distorted it sounds nice. A little chorus makes a guitar sound nice and thick distorted.
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

A 4X12 is definatley THEE other half in the Marshall equation. I had my DSL 50 head going thru a 1X12 before I got my 1960BV cab, and once I plugged into the BV....there it was!! There other half!
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

Robbiedbee said:
You ain't crazy Bro. I have an MG50 combo, and it sounds loads better than the AVTs I have played. I have played a Clapton Strat, a top class PRS guitar, and a SD-equipped Schecter into an AVT one day and I couldn't get a useable tone out of it. It sounded thin and buzzy no matter what I did. I changed the cable and everything, even tried a different amp (same model).

I'm not actually finding my MG all that bad right now. Granted, I do play clean more often that not these days, and it does cleans really well. But take the guitars volume down to maybe 5 or 6, add a touch of either chorus or delay and even distorted it sounds nice. A little chorus makes a guitar sound nice and thick distorted.
Click to expand...

You're all crazy. :laugh2:

The AVT is not a bad sounding amp. The 2X12 version at least.
Both are not my favorite choices but the bigger AVT models o get some good distorted tones.
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

There's a reason the Vintage 30 is the most popular speaker for 'rock amps.'
No matter what other speaker comes down the pipeline, I still gravitate toward those.

Cabinets/speakers have a HUGE amount to do with the overall tone. Some have asked me why I use a Valvetronix head at home, when I have a Bogner, Matchless, and other nice amps sitting right next to it. The reason is that it's plugged into a Bogner 2-12!!! I go into stores and plug into Valvetronix combos, and the sound straight up sucks compared to what I'm used to....the modeling head into the Bogner Vin 30 cab.

On the flipside, I've put my Bogner head on top of crappy cabs that they have in rehearsal rooms, and was shocked at the difference between some Crate or Line 6 cab and my good cabs at home.
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

A couple of years ago, the two guitar players in my band both got H&K Vortex half stacks. I had no problem with the sound out of those amps, but when I brought my Marshall head and ran it through those cabs- there was a whole lotta ass coming out the speakers. It sounded bad. The cabs themselves were so light you could pick them up with one arm- as opposed to my 60 or so pound Marshall cab...
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

Gearjoneser said:
Cabinets/speakers have a HUGE amount to do with the overall tone. Some have asked me why I use a Valvetronix head at home, when I have a Bogner, Matchless, and other nice amps sitting right next to it. The reason is that it's plugged into a Bogner 2-12!!! I go into stores and plug into Valvetronix combos, and the sound straight up sucks compared to what I'm used to....the modeling head into the Bogner Vin 30
Click to expand...


And sort of the flip side to that, I plugged my Line 6 Flextone into my new 4x12 (H30/V30 Hellatones), and it sounded really really cool.
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

If it was up to me, there would be a Cabinet forum. I gave up trying to get folks to talk cabinets. I was surprised you got this responce, but I guess its cause its about Marshall. Maybe cause vintage cabinets are still undervalued, and you can get new , well made cabs. at a fairly good cost. When the wood ages on a old Marshall cabinet, it also mellows out the sound of a good set of speakers-just like a vintage guitar-VERY underrated.I have a million questions about cabinets but gave up trying to find any interest.
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

Gearjoneser said:
Did you get your Splawn halfstack yet? Is that the cab you're talking about?
Click to expand...

Yep, it's all in my little tiny house :laugh2:

I got a Splawn 50W head, but decided to go with an Avatar 4x12 since $$ were tight towards the end there. I really like the both of them. Time will tell if I should've gone with a Splawn 2x12 over the Avatar 4x12, and I still ponder that daily - still the Avatar 4x12 was a couple hundy less than the 2x12 and I was sort of on a budget, and it just looks friggin cool. I will say something, the Hellatone G12H30s and V30s (they call them something different) sure do sound smoooooth together (to me). Of course, this is my first real rig, so perhaps I'm not the best person to get tone tips from, and I'm still getting accustomed to the BIG amp compared to my modeler. Alls I can say at this point is that everything I heard about each item seems to be true. The Splawn covers all kinds of Marshall turf and covers it well (and really in itself is a great bang for the buck - Brand new lifetime warranty - 3 heads in one for the most part for basically the same price as a new Marshall or 20 year old JCM - cheaper than a Mesa), it is a beautiful head, so well built and so well detailed, and even smells nice - while the Avatar is a great bang vs buck and works well for me. One word of note however, the Splawn wants to be played LOUD.

But back to the point, while waiting for the head to be built, I was running my Line 6 through the 4x12. I thought it sounded great and would have probably been happy right there.

So Joe, next time you're in town visiting your Mom, look me up. We'll take this sucker down to my office in downtown 'Couv' and you can give it a proper test-drive.
 
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Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

Funny thing was that later that same day at a different music store there was a couple of younger guys playing the same head through the cheap MG cab and it was like a totally different amp...in a bad way.

This is something I've known for quite some time (speaks/cab make the diff). But I had not had the luxury of hearing the MG100 through a real cab before (though I've heard a combo with an upgraded speaker a couple years back and it sounded pretty nice too).

I was amazed at just how good that head sounds (again, on the gain channels, the clean channel was still very ho-hum..then again I hate SS cleans except for the Roland JC anyway).

Its no 1987 or Bogner or Splawn for sure, but I always see folks asking for a "cheap" decent sounding (half)stack...so buy yourself the MG100 head....and then shop aorund for a used cab with decent speakers. Maybe a 2x12 1936 with 75s. Or a MESA 2x12 w/ V30s or something like that.

I'd stay away from the Peavey Windsor or VK cabs, BTW..they were absolutely horrible and not much better than the MG cab. Bigger sounding, but more muffled/blanket effect.
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

..having been down this road many times, I will just offer my .02

I'm one of the very few that will still stand by my G12T-75 loaded 412.
My 212 loaded with the same speakers doesn't hold a candle running at 8 ohms. Learning to control the amps response via pick attack and guitar volume control settings is borderline a lost art...

Choose what you like, but learn to maximize its "effectiveness" for your particular application..

Jeff Seal
 
Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

i have an MGDFX50

and an AVTH50...

and well...

uh lol

the AVT is has alot of "sizzle"

not good sizzle.

not SRV sizzle.

a roach and a lizard wresteling on a frying pan kind of sizzle.

th MG has more usable tones.
 
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Re: half of a Marshall's tone is...

i honestly think this is why i kept my marshall mg head for so long...i was playing through a jcm900 2x12. it gave it nuts! it gave it tone! i sounded like a marshall should...especially the crunch channel on channel 1. i LOVED that channel...but, when youre in a band that plays more along the lines of metal, well, channel one crunch dont cut it so well, lol.





oh yeah, and that head im talkin about is for sale. pm me if you're interested. mg100 watt head....
 
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