Ideal Marshall tone?

[jimijames]

I know there's no "best" marshall tone, but what do you prefer? Can be for anything from classic rock to death metal to jazz. I've played 18w versions of the plexi circuit and the 1974x circuit (which was originally an 18w anyway), and I think I like the plexi better, even though it may be a little more "scooped" sounding. It could also be the speaker, I don't know.

But I can't help but be curious about the higher wattage versions. Specifically the 50w 1987x, the 100w 1959 model, the 50w and 100w JCM800 amps, the super leads, etc etc. I've heard good things about the jubilee as well and I believe slash uses one (I could be mistaken).

What sound do you hear in your head when you think marshall?

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

I think the perfect Marshall for me is the 2204. The 1978 to 1980 master volume Marshalls were badass. Im talking pre JCM800, with vertical inputs and rocker switches in the JMP head cabinet. I sold one to pay for a motorcycle when I was 17 and stupid. I'll never forgive myself because they go for more than double what I paid for it now. I had it converted to EL34s and redid the filter caps and everything. It was really the ultimate rock amp.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?



Whatever Ritchie was using at this concert.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

My favorites are JTM 45, 1959 Plexi, JMP 100, Super Bass, JCM 800 single channel, Jubilee, and 2061 20W.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

My favorite Marshall tones don't come from a Marshall, they come from my Splawn.

 

[Giye Lacras]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

JCM 800 + Gibson or Hammer

 

[JBG]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

For me it's always been the JTM-45, then the JTM-45/100.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

Splawn Quickrod
Bogner Ecstasy 101B
Friedman Brown Eye
Germino
etc...

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

I know there's no "best" marshall tone, but what do you prefer?

What sound do you hear in your head when you think marshall?

For me, the "PERFECT" Marshall-tone is a 'vintage'/real 60's JTM45 through a Greenback loaded cab !

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

Blows me away every time..

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

That clip of Ritchie Blackmore/Rainbow is a great example of his best tone.

He used a Treble Booster (bright) into an AIWA tape machine he claims was better than one made for guitar (warmer), into a 200W Marshall Major (loud, pure, and huge). That was the formula.
Probably stock strat pickups as well.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

Yeah! Ritchie had a great sound. I know he was was doing some funky stuff with that treble booster/tape machine. Such a great sound. Especially at 6:10 on... drools....

 

[VHTJay]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

My ideal/favourite Marshall tone would be the jcm 800 2203. I owned then 2203 as well as the 2210 and both were really cool, albeit a bit different. No need to pick up another though; channel 2A on my Triamp can nail the 2203 tone.

Favourite Marshall style tone PERIOD: Cornford MK50 2 and the blue channel on the Bogner Ecstasy 101B. I will also say, that while many players in the 80's switched to the Soldano SLO, I don't really associate its tone as "Marshally." Different beast....much more hi-fi sounding.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

50w NMV heads..60s Plexis and early to mid 70s metalfaces. With 25 and 30w greenbacks..Those are my defining tones.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

For dirt: JCM900 SL-X 50 watt head
- I wish I had the scratch to buy the KISS one when Joe alerted me to it!!!!!

For clean: DSL 401 - I serious love this clean sound

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

Growing up listening to Van Halen, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and everyone else who made Marshall famous in the 60s/70s/early 80s, I was quite pleased to finally acquire a JCM800 head last July and get super-close to nailing the tones I grew up listening to (if only I had a Gibson around here instead of all these Jacksons :lol: )

I know they all used different Marshalls - from Plexis to Bluesbreakers to 50 to 100w - but as I learned to listen to the sound rather than the song, I could pick out who was using Marshalls, and who wasn't.

I was playing along to the live versions of Victim Of Changes, Tyrant, and Diamonds and Rust from the Living After Midnight CD, and the tones were scary close to my 800.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

A Jubilee has been my main Marshall for more than 20 years now. When I play other amps and come back to the Jubilee I realize once again just how good Jubilees are. Forget about the theory of LEDs vs more cascaded pre amp tubes and what not- it just sounds great. The great thing about the Jubilee is that it does not need to be too loud to deliver the goods. It's not a pedal platform if that's your thing, though.

I also have a Metro JTM45 currently set up close to JTM50 specs. The big, swirling, clean up to light overdrive with a single coil or a PAF is just so sweet. I liked the idea of a 30 watt plexi with a tube rectifier, which is why I went with the JTM45 instead of the tight solid state rectifier 50 watt circuit. The 50 watt circuit has more gain and a different tone stack and a split cathode, but is almost as loud as a 100 watter. I like the JTM45 with EL34s better than with KT-66s. Up loud, the KT-66s deliver early Cream tone, however. I've also toyed with the idea of going to split cathode and changing the slope resistor for more gain but havn't done it yet. A plexi is fun because you can fine tune it with resistors and caps and tubes and bias in several combinations.

 

[VanDerchuck]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

I built a plexi-ish beast. Stumbled upon something I really like while experimenting. The front end is a plexi with one input into both sides, a dual volume pot that works simultaneously, and the bright cap snipped. The back end is mostly Trainwreck. Great sound. Fantastic sound. Just needs tube driven reverb.

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

JCM 800s all the way

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Ideal Marshall tone?

Cranked JTM 45 or the 1987/1959 NMV series Marshalls...