Opinions: Fender (or Fender style amp) to pair with a Marshall

[RockinProf]

Hi all,

After getting the pedalboard just right (for what I like), tweaking the guitars and giving the Marshall NOS tubes I've got a killer small venue/band rehearsal rig. At the same time, pushing less than 20 watts (I bias amps a bit cool to get some sag) I have room for a bit more volume and potentially tonal complexity.

Thinking of adding a Fender (or Fender style) 6V6 amp to the rig, running them in parallel after my Boogie Clearlink. Ideally the amp would be two foot switchable channels. Moderate gain player so nothing too over the top. 1X12 combo as I often don't have room for anything bigger and 10's aeren't for me. Thoughts and or experience on an amp that meets these criteria that would play nice with a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 201? Wondering about a 22 watt supersonic with a speaker swap to a ~30 watt Jensen.

Thanks!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Opinions: Fender (or Fender style amp) to pair with a Marshall

running amps cool usually keeps them tighter/dryer. if you want channel switching the ss is your option. its a great amp if you want fendery cleans and a hot gain channel. i would advise against getting a jensen speaker. if you want a vintage jensen type tone, weber speakers is a good option. the 12a150t is one of my favorites but there are many good options

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Opinions: Fender (or Fender style amp) to pair with a Marshall

I have a supersonic and have run it parallel with a marshall haze 40 I have on indefinite loan from family.
It's great amp the ss22, cleans with a little edge at volume, it is not crystal clean at loud (rock gig) volumes with my tubes and speaker.
the fat mode is great as it takes out the bright cap that is normally on, adds a little bass and mids, so it's easy to get different pickups and pedals to work well with the amp between the two, or use the fat mode as a lead boost.
The gain channel is really versatile. gain 1 basically controls overdrive on the first section tube section which is a classic fender 1st section but then gain 2 is a second cascaded tube section. gain 1 has the bright edgy harmonics you associate with a deluxe reverb. gain 2 adds warmth and sustain and compression. Running gain 2 off lets it basically mirror the first channel with a little less bass and a little compression. But you can take it up to do heavy blues and classic metal very easily. The Mids knob on about 2.5 balances out with the first channel but if you dime the mids it gets a little more gain and a tweedy character, so you can do an impression of a lot of fender tones.



Stuff I don't like...
Older ones had QC issues so be careful of used ones.
Can be a little noisy. there's a lot of components and tubes in the amp and it adds up to a little white noise in mine, and a lot in some other people's SS. It's not something that bothers me while playing loud but with the gain cranked at lower levels it's a little louder hiss than some really nice amps.
The reverb is dark and really long decay. The reverb knob is less sensitive than on a deluxe reverb but not as sproinggy.
Pilot light is a special red LED and I can't swap colors lololol.
Comes stock with JJ power tubes which I think have a darker louder bolder sound that breaks up harshly compared to smaller more traditional 6v6. some like the extended bass response, I found the deluxe reverb style amp has plenty of bass as is.
Stock speaker is surprisingly OK. Farts a little, has some bass not too much, a little cardboardy in the mids. Highs not piercing like those c12k speakers they had on the DRRI. but you don't need to rush to change it. It is nothing special but is certainly passable for most things.
I put an eminence in mine, the british one with the knob on the back for attenuation, cuz I mostly play at home or in small rooms for friends/family.


Other than that this is a sweet amp. The gain channel is so distinctly fender in a way that doesn't suck like so many fender gain channels, and the vintage channel basically is a deluxe reverb "vibrato channel" with trem disconnect and diode rectifiers.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Opinions: Fender (or Fender style amp) to pair with a Marshall

I've run a twin reverb and a jtm Marshall together using a radial twin city active ABY pedal. Massive sound.
Totally impractical but for that gig we didn't have a bass player and it was a lot of fun for a once off out of necessity.
I think out in the trenches of doing gigs, more than one amp is just too much to lug and pisses off the sound e engineer. I would recommend getting one amp that does what you need on it's own.
If your jcm2000 doesn't cut it for you but you like the Marshall sound have a look for something in the jtm vein. I've done a lot of gigs with a jtm clone running through a chunky 1x12 combo. A big sounding chunky speaker like a g12h cream back will give you a lot more beef in the lows and tonal complexity than you will ever get out of a modern high gain pcb amp like you are using now, regardless of your NOS tubes. Perhaps a good place to start though rather than investing in a whole new rig would be to try a 12H Ccreamback in your current amp and see the difference it makes.

 

[Securb]

Re: Opinions: Fender (or Fender style amp) to pair with a Marshall

The Marshall JCM 2000 DSL has the Nashville Clean channel which is a Fender clone. You have the Fender built right into that amp. No need to drag around extra gear.