Ok Marshall-heads!

JacksonShredHead

New member
So I play alder-bodied Jackson guitars and my last head had EL34's in it and my rig sounded really twangy and thin. I thought it was the combination of the tubes and bright guitar. I went to 6l6 amps and it sounded fine. I heard a marshall the other day and loved it......So my question is, what's your take on the TSL,DSL,JCM series? Has anyone ever seen this Twangy sound playing through alder body guitars or strats? I play mostly metal and 80's rock.
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

What BRAND was your last head, theres more to a head then the power tubes.

For the Marshalls, can't go wrong with a JCM (the dsl and tsl are jcm's too!) You need to look at how much gain you want, if you want shared EQ, how many channels etc. So tell me...what Marshall did you try and what do you want in an amp?
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

I've got a Jackson that i play through a TSL60. It sounds great. I would not call this amp twangy or thin at all. The distortion channels are both warm and thick, and the clean is pretty good. I would hazard a guess that you are playing one of the lower end Jacksons? If so stock pups in those are pretty weak.
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

What speakers were being used? Those are a big part of the equation that is often overlooked.

I've got an EL34 Marshall (JCM 900 MkIII) and it's far from twangy (when it's running anyway). The only time it sounds twangy is if I'm playing a Tele through it. ;) :D
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

I went to 6l6 amps and it sounded fine.....

Precisely why as incredibly awesome as your typical Jackson neck through is, I'd only buy one with a mahogany body. Even with fat pups, I never could get the tone I desired out of the two I owned way back when. Put a Floyd on it, and it's even worse. Very precise, but thin in the grand scheme of things with its scale length, typical bridge, and typical woods...its very focused in the high mids, and little else. Bolt on versions fare a little better for "fatter/punchier" sound.

A Marshall, by nature is a middy sounding amp. Think of it as the "SG" of amps. Some are fatter than others, some thinner. But in general its a middy amp, with slight emphasis on high mids. Its not a thundering low end monster generally, nor pristine in the highs either like a Fender. Those areas are compensated for in pickup/wood/speaker selection.

Now combine a relatively narrow frequency focused guitar like a typical neck-thru Jackson, and a narrowly focused amp like a typical Marshall run through a typical Marshall cab with V30s or C75s....and what you get is a very narrow and thin sound in the mix.

Thats just my experience and no disrespect is meant towards any Jackson owners.

that said... Amps like the TSL/DSL with the "bass" boosts engaged, are not a typical sounding marshall, and are more along the lines of a MESA with british flavor. So they likely will work much better with your guitar than say a Plexi/MF/JMP/800/900 series amp.
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

Precisely why as incredibly awesome as your typical Jackson neck through is, I'd only buy one with a mahogany body. Even with fat pups, I never could get the tone I desired out of the two I owned way back when. Put a Floyd on it, and it's even worse. Very precise, but thin in the grand scheme of things with its scale length, typical bridge, and typical woods...its very focused in the high mids, and little else. Bolt on versions fare a little better for "fatter/punchier" sound.

A Marshall, by nature is a middy sounding amp. Think of it as the "SG" of amps. Some are fatter than others, some thinner. But in general its a middy amp, with slight emphasis on high mids. Its not a thundering low end monster generally, nor pristine in the highs either like a Fender. Those areas are compensated for in pickup/wood/speaker selection.

Now combine a relatively narrow frequency focused guitar like a typical neck-thru Jackson, and a narrowly focused amp like a typical Marshall run through a typical Marshall cab with V30s or C75s....and what you get is a very narrow and thin sound in the mix.

Thats just my experience and no disrespect is meant towards any Jackson owners.

that said... Amps like the TSL/DSL with the "bass" boosts engaged, are not a typical sounding marshall, and are more along the lines of a MESA with british flavor. So they likely will work much better with your guitar than say a Plexi/MF/JMP/800/900 series amp.

Hi Jeff,great post buddy!
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

I think alder must just be twangy in general.

Even with an invader running into my 6505+ I still get a fair amount of twang, certantly not a bad thing in my opinion.
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

I think alder must just be twangy in general.

Even with an invader running into my 6505+ I still get a fair amount of twang, certantly not a bad thing in my opinion.

No not a bad thing per-se is right, but the twanginess is enhanced/more of a function of bolt on necks with long scale tho. My MIC Hamer Standard, while still not having the deep low end of mahogany or other woods, had alot less "twang" than a typical alder strat or Jackson neck through.

Hardly twangy here..especially at 1:37-ish alder body/maple neck. short scale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs0fub8bxIM
 
Re: Ok Marshall-heads!

Thanks guys......

The TSL 60 caught my eye, I wanted to check it out, I thought it would mesh well with my Soloist's............I guess I didn't exactly explain the full scale of my troubles with the old amp, it just couldn't be dialed-in. It had two sounds, Twang and Everything Compressed. I just didn't like it with my guitars. It was a JSX head.

I'm gonna go check out the TSL 60 head this week if I can find a local dealer!

Thanx again.
 
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