Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

[Lewguitar]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Generally, there are two big diffs: Boogies, such as the Mark I, use the tone stack of a blackface Fender (.1 and .047 caps) and that gives them less bass and less mids than the Marshall which usually has a pair of .02 caps in the tone stack.

The other big diff is that the Marshall has what's called a "cathode follower" as part of it's preamp design and it is the cathode follower that is responsible for the CRUNCH we all associate with a Marshall Plexi.

The Boogies, such as the Mark I, do not have a cathode follower circuit and they do not crunch like a Marshall.

The Boogies sound like a souped up Blackface 60's Fender and the Marshalls sound like a souped up Tweed '59 Fender Bassman.

Lew

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Marshalls are tighter,brighter in the mids and highs to me....Boogies,especially the recto series,is looser in the lows,darker sounding,doesn't cut like a Marshall,and I found the preamp to be way too buzzy sounding to me...I owned a Tremoverb head and I sold it for these reasons...It's hard to beat an old NMV Marshall for Classic Rock grind,but it has to be either the (1959/1987)models or the 2203/2204 800 series for my tastes...I just don't find the Mesa Boogie tones to be tight though? Great singing lead tones,but I still prefer a great sounding crunchy Marshall over the Mesa sound...

John

 

[JeffB]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

:laugh2:

I sure wish that was me playing on that clip folks , but it is not. A fellow over on HC sent me a link to those clips. I don't know the name but that was this fellows guitar teacher.

Anyhoo, it's a Boogie MKIV. You should hear his recto clips..you'd never know it was recto.


Speaking of...I'm off to guitar center :laugh2:

 

[some_dude]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

I agree, except that I find the Mesas to usually have the looser, Flabbier bass, wheras the Marshalls tend to sound more defined to me........

Although knowing how the bass control on most Mesas works It could VERY well just be that most people aren´t willing to spend the time to dial it in correctly

+1. I've never considered my Recto to be particularily tight.....and I rather like how saggy it gets as the gain goes up.

But, Mesa's just seem to love having an EQ in their loop, and I was truely surprised at how tight I could get that amp to sound through creative use of an EQ and turning the bass knob down to 3 or 4.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

As an example


HERE is a typical MESA-like lead sound. Not recto but classic Boogie.

For a Marshall sound jes turn on the radio to any classic rock station Think Aerosmith, Early Van Halen, Hendrix 's purple haze, etc.

Do you know the title of the song or is it an idea of your own?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

When I think of Boogies I think of Carlos Santana!

When I think of Marshalls I think of EVH, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, etc.

Lew

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

When I think of Boogies I think of Carlos Santana!

When I think of Marshalls I think of EVH, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, etc.

Lew

Yep...Carlos Santana,Doobie Brothers,The guy from BeBop Deluxe had great old Boogie Tones also...

When I think Marshalls,it's.....Page,Beck,Duane and Betts,EVH,Clapton(Cream,Mayall era) AC/DC(Great tones)...Bad Company,Free...With Hendrix,it's all about the added effects he used,and not a stock cranked Marshall tone that I associate with these other players..

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

If I had the cash to buy one or the other, I would buy Mesa Boogie. Mesa Boogie is just fun to say! And they sound great too! OR perhaps I would buy both and alternate between 'em.

 

[zonniewiw]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

I play marshall

jmp 1
TC G-force
9200

And I like it a lot

I had to play a mesa several times (studio and stage)

Triaxis
Mesa end (I don´t know the type anymore , the big heavy one)

And the sound is great but my opinion is that if you play different types of music , you have more luck with marshall because the biggest (rock) songs are played with marshall , the boogie sounds good for a few songs (santana,...) but not for the most off them .

If I had the money (and the place) I would go for the 2 , but I would use the marshall more .

If I really could have my own sound I would go for a Brunetti , I had one in the studio a few weeks ago , and this thing really rocked

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Pretty much everything is a copy of the Fender/Marshall circuit anyway..The Boogie was a high gain Fender with cascaded preamp tube stages...

I'm a Fender/Marshall guy,but I have a Cyber Twin and a Vox Valvetronix and I Keep my mind open for whatever I think sounds good..

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Generally, there are two big diffs: Boogies, such as the Mark I, use the tone stack of a blackface Fender (.1 and .047 caps) and that gives them less bass and less mids than the Marshall which usually has a pair of .02 caps in the tone stack.

The other big diff is that the Marshall has what's called a "cathode follower" as part of it's preamp design and it is the cathode follower that is responsible for the CRUNCH we all associate with a Marshall Plexi.

The Boogies, such as the Mark I, do not have a cathode follower circuit and they do not crunch like a Marshall.

The Boogies sound like a souped up Blackface 60's Fender and the Marshalls sound like a souped up Tweed '59 Fender Bassman.

Lew

WOW :saeek: Cool, clear explanation by Lew as ever. It pretty much sums it all up with a few sentences. :smoker:

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

THANK YOU TO ALL! I CURRENTLY HAVE A MARSHALL AVT50 COMBO AMP. IT'S GOOD BUT I THINK THAT I COULD USE MORE BASS BECAUSE IM INTO SOME METAL AND PUNK ROCK. BUT THEN AGAIN MAYBE I NEED TO GET A "BETTER" MARSHALL. MAYBE A FULL TUBE MODEL. IT'S GOING TO BE A TOUGH CHOSE FOR ME WHEN THE TIME COMES FOR A NEW AMP. :blackeye:

THANKS AGAIN AND KEEP POSTING!

OH BTW, I PLAY MOSTLY RYTHEM GUITAR WITH SOME ADDED "SPLASHES" OF LEAD HERE AND THERE :laugh2:

We can hear you fine, no need to shout

 

[drp555]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

:laugh2:

I sure wish that was me playing on that clip folks , but it is not. A fellow over on HC sent me a link to those clips. I don't know the name but that was this fellows guitar teacher.

Anyhoo, it's a Boogie MKIV. You should hear his recto clips..you'd never know it was recto.


Speaking of...I'm off to guitar center :laugh2:

A while back, in another thread, you posted the link to the HC thread and it has a link to that guy's webpage with clips of his single rec and mark IV...and I put it my favorites! well here's the link for everyone who's asked about that clip
link

 

[MDS]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

I think I said this in another thread about Mesa's: The EQ works a lot differently than the Marshal and Fender EQs people are used to. The interaction of the controls is much different and it takes some getting used to how it works. In my opinion the Mesa design is far more flexible than the more tradional EQ circuit. If you decide to go with a Mesa I highly recommend a model with the graphic EQ. It really increases the control you have over the one and is a very nicely designed EQ.

I also want to say that in an ideal world I'd love to have both. My Mesa's met my needs very well, and I'm pretty confident that a Marshall wouldn't have worked as well as a Jazz, Surf, Funk, or Country amp(I've never liked Marshal cleans), but I do really wish I had one. When it is time for Marshall tone they are a great thing. My interest/need in getting a more Marshally sound is what led me to the Tone Bone. It does a fantastic job of pulling off that world of tone color.

Mike

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Pretty much everything is a copy of the Fender/Marshall circuit anyway..The Boogie was a high gain Fender with cascaded preamp tube stages...

I'm a Fender/Marshall guy,but I have a Cyber Twin and a Vox Valvetronix and I Keep my mind open for whatever I think sounds good..

The original Marshall was a copy of the Fender Bassman circuit, so I guess you could say that pretty much everything is a copy of a Fender

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

The original Marshall was a copy of the Fender Bassman circuit, so I guess you could say that pretty much everything is a copy of a Fender

The Marshall circuit at least evolved though,but the Fender circuits were copies of old Western Electric circuits...Everything is a copy of something else it seems...LOL The JTM 45 was a copy of the original 59 Tweed Bassman 5FA circuit..

 

[BigBazz]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Im more of a Marshall person, mesa's are largely overpriced and dont really offer any better tone, just different tone, give me a marshall any day.

 

[Naps]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Im more of a Marshall person, mesa's are largely overpriced and dont really offer any better tone, just different tone, give me a marshall any day.

I don't know. Mesa's prices aren't as high as people think. Compare a JCM 800 2203x from musician's friend (at $1999.00) to a dual recot ($1599.00) or a TSL 100 head ($1749.00) to a Tripple Recto ($1699.00) OR a TSL 60 ($1399.00) to a F-100 ($1149.00) ECT.

Check them out -
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=250
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search?b=1002&sc=price&so=desc&page=2

 

[BigBazz]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

I don't know. Mesa's prices aren't as high as people think. Compare a JCM 800 2203x from musician's friend (at $1999.00) to a dual recot ($1599.00) or a TSL 100 head ($1749.00) to a Tripple Recto ($1699.00) OR a TSL 60 ($1399.00) to a F-100 ($1149.00) ECT.

Check them out -
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=250
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search?b=1002&sc=price&so=desc&page=2

i live in wales, which is In britain, here £1800 for a dual rectifier is cheap
£620 for a Marshall Tsl100 head is cheap

* those prices by about 1.69 and you get the equivelant price in dollars

Mesa dual rect = $3042
Marshall Tsl100 = $1047

different country, different prices, here its definutly not worth it buying a mesa, i payed £800 for my peavey 5150 with a cab, and that was second hand, what would you pay in the states, not much i guess since its an american made amp.

 

[boonhogganbeck]

Re: Mesa Boogie verses Marshall

Generally, there are two big diffs: Boogies, such as the Mark I, use the tone stack of a blackface Fender (.1 and .047 caps) and that gives them less bass and less mids than the Marshall which usually has a pair of .02 caps in the tone stack.

The other big diff is that the Marshall has what's called a "cathode follower" as part of it's preamp design and it is the cathode follower that is responsible for the CRUNCH we all associate with a Marshall Plexi.

The Boogies, such as the Mark I, do not have a cathode follower circuit and they do not crunch like a Marshall.

The Boogies sound like a souped up Blackface 60's Fender and the Marshalls sound like a souped up Tweed '59 Fender Bassman.

Lew

Lew, that's an interesting thing about the tone stacks. Have you read the interview with Randall Smith about the development of the F-50? He talks about the clean channel tone stack being very similar to the tone stack from black face Fenders, while the lead channel tone stack is more like that of a 59 Bassman. He says he prefers them because they are just musically right, in his opinion. I 've messed around with the F-50 and I do think you can get some marshally sounds from it. It helped to read the owners manual and learn how the EQ works.