The New Tone Thread

OK guys, I'm at the fuckin beach, first time here in 24 years....got here about 6 this morning, & I'm having a blast...thought we were gonna have a hurricane tomorrow/Thursday, but I think its gonna miss us. I'm at Myrtle Beach, SC...

Here's my official review of the new gear I bought:

DSL100H & 1960A cab:
Clean channel is really clean & sparkly sounding, kinda Fender-y, but will break up slightly with the gain dimed....

Green crunch channel is my favorite so far....enough gain on tap to play most of the rock stuff id want, but will clean up with lighter playing/picking.....love the green crunch channel...

OD1: Great for hair metal stuff, & has enough gain for lead work....The red channel can be a little thin sounding compared to the green, but dialing the eq in differently helps....

OD2: Even more gain than OD1, more than even I'd ever need, but its nice to know its there if I ever wanna use it......

The only thing I don't like about the amp is the shared eq, but for what I do, its a non-issue really...

Very well built & has more power than I'd ever need, even on the 50 watt setting.....

The built-in reverb actually sounds pretty good, & has seperate knobs for green/red channels...

The presence & resonance knobs are great, especially the presence, that makes a huge difference in the overall clarity of the amp....

There is a slight difference in the sound & feel when switching between the 50 & 100 watt modes. The amp kinda gets smoother & spongier feeling, especially the high end in the 50w mode...

The speakers in my cab are well broken-in, & while there are some tears/rips in the tolex, was a good buy IMO for $300.......

All in all, more than happy with the new amp & cab....

Bogner Ecstasy Red pedal:
Lovin' this pedal almost as much as the new amp...very amp-like feel & touch response...the variac switch gives it a spongier feel, & the eq switches/knobs all make a difference in the tone....this pedal actually gives me another channel on my amp, & the boost works great....the boost would be good for live use, as you can dial in how much volume & gain kicks in.....great pedal, a little expensive, but a great sounding pedal.....

I now see & hear the DSL1 does sound like it's big brothers, but can't compete at all with 'em.....

I'll try to upload/post some towns Sunday, but can't promise, as my life is a fuckin' rollercoaster at times....things are a lot better, but its still gonna take some time to get everything lined out.....I've had to start completely over, but I'll make it....

Love the new gear, had the amp on 7 a couple days ago, & its a glorious thing.....lol...
 
MMM,
Yeah he addressed phase abou 2/3 way through his reply to my previous post:
"The center/edge combo seems to me to sound more like what I hear in my ears. In my little experiments, it's better than any other multi mic combination. You get the whole speaker sound, not just one sliver of it. Clarity and thickness all at once. They just gotta be in phase or it sounds like shit. I find that the edge mic needs to be backed off ever so slightly. I think it's because the shape of the speaker puts the edge closer to the grill than the center. That edge mic gets slammed a tiny bit sooner than the center mic."
 
Well guys, I'm back home....to the real world....LOL....Drove for about 8 hours today, & I'm pretty much beat....Had a blast though...

Gonna record some clips tomorrow, & I'll post 'em up sometime tomorrow evening....

Saw some nice gear in some of the pawn shops, one thing I know Greg would've liked was a Ludwig Black Beauty snare....price was....$5,000.....LOL....Everything down there was riduculously high in their prices, but, kinda what I expected being a tourist attraction....Almost bought an Ibanez RG like the one I already have, but resisted the GAS.....LOL....

See you guys sometime tomorrow...
 
Lol. 5 G for a snare is super stupid. Did Bonham own it at one time? That's about the only way I could see 5 grand being reasonable for a snare. Black Beauty's are nice, but not 5 grand nice.


Lets see some pics and hear some clips of your new shit!
 
Ok dude, I actually still don't have 'net acess where I stay most of the time, I'm still at the new girlfriend's place, but I'm about to head out the door to go home where my gear is....Only problem is I don't have 'net acess, but, I do have some family that I'm sure would let me use their 'net....Got a laptop this week, so I can go mobile if needed (my other computer is a desktop)....

So in short, gimme a little while to take some pics & record some clips, then I'll upload 'em....I do love the new gear though dude, it kicks ass....I'd go batshit fuckin' crazy with a JVM, because the DSL is killer IMO....LOL...

Gotta run, got shit to take care of before going back to work tomorrow....:(
 
Ok guys, didn't get to use my sister's computer, so, I copied the tones to my phone, & I'm at the fucking library uploading 'em....LOL.....This computer is doing the same thing my nephew's is, I can't separate my sentences/paragraphs, so it's gonna be a jumbled up fuckin' mess, but, I'm posting some toans...LOL...No pics today, I'll get some uploaded in a day or two....
 
Clean Greenback

Crunch Greenback

OD1 Greenback

OD2 Greenback

Bogner Red Greenback

Clean V30

Crunch V30

OD1 V30

OD2 V30

Bogner Red V30

Signal chain:

LP (bridge p'up) > Bogner Red pedal > DSL 100 > V30/Greenback > '57

Amp/pedal settings:

Bogner:
Variac: On
Mode: Full
Pre-eq: b1
Structure: 20th
Volume: 6
Treble: 7
Mid: 3-4
Bass: 5
Gain: 6-7

DSL 100:
50w mode
Resonance: 7
Presence: 7
Bass: 6
Mid: 4
Treble: 7

Green Clean
Volume: 2
Gain: 10

On the first part of both clean tones, I used the coil tap, then switched to humbucker (bridge p'up)...

The only time the Bogner pedal is on is in the "Bogner" clips, in all the others, it's bypassed...Really cool pedal, like it a lot, to me, it sounds really good....


I tried to get the same mic position on both speakers, & it's pretty close, but it's impossible to actually get it exactly right of course....I did use the exact same amp/pedal settings though, just swapped speakers out in the ISO cab....

Used the ISO cab so I could try out the V30 & Greenback, so I switched to 50w mode to keep from fucking my speakers up, & kept the volume pretty low, but I think they turned out pretty good...The ISO cab does a pretty good job even with the 100w amp, so, I've still got low-noise options for late night jamming/recording, which is a plus, can't crank the new amp late at night....

Gotta run, back to work today, & probably won't be able to check back in until tomorrow, but give these a listen & lemme know what you guys think....
 
Fuck dude, all of those sound pretty great. I'm not crazy about the pedal clips, they sound mid scooped, but the rest sound really good to me.
 
Hey I liked these. I especially liked the first two: Clean Greenback and Crunch Greenback. Really nice clean sound and gritty crunch sound. The others were very good too. The first two were my favorites tho.
 
Thanks guys,
I've finally figured out with the new amp, it doesn't need to be cranked to sound good....it's all about headroom being there if needed....The older Marshalls like the Plexi needs to be cranked to get "that" sound, but, the DSL sounds good even at low volume...Love this amp guys, simply love it...

Greg: Thanks Greg...The Bogner clip is a little too scooped, as the eq controls are pretty sensitive, & I had the mids backed off to around 3-4....All the eq knobs on that pedal have a pretty wide range, & you can actually tell a difference with just the slightest turn of the knobs....Great little pedal IMO....A little expensive, but still a really good sounding pedal....

TripleM: Thanks man, I like the Green Crunch on the DSL100, but OD1 with the gain backed off is pretty good too....

So, I'm happy with my setup for now, LOL, got a new od pedal to go with the Boss SD-1, so the next thing(s) I'm gonna get are some effects pedals....I almost bought an EVH Phaser at the beach, probably should've as I could've got it for like $70, but passed hoping to find something else which didn't happen...Probably get a chorus, phase, delay, & possibly a flanger....I'm also wanting some different od pedals (like the Carl Martin Plexitone...), but will most likely want/need to try any of these out before I buy 'em....

Thanks again guys, loving the new setup, I can go stupid loud if I want with the 4x12, or almost silent with the ISO cab...I've noticed the DSL100 has a lot more tonal range than the 1w version, the DSL-1 sounds muffled & weak with the same settings as the DSL100, but, I suppose that's because the big amp pushes the speakers like they were intended, instead of just "tickling" 'em with the 1 watter....Not getting rid of the little amps, but they're collecting dust....LOL...
 
I picked up my girlfriend and son from the airport today. I said to her, I think I need a bigger amp (having been tracking yesterday, then hearing Greg's awesome plexi tone). Her response was 'will it fit int the new house?' (We're moving in a couple of months). So that's basically a green light, right?!

So I go on Gumtree (like Craigslist, but not stupidly overpriced) and see these: -

Vintage Marshall 1981 JCM 800 100w head w/ Brownface 1960 4x12 angle cab, £750 ono. | Currie | Gumtree

Marshall 1959SLP 100W Plexi Head REISSUE | Belfast, County Antrim | Gumtree

I was thinking I might get away with 50W through my 2x12 in its isobox, or maybe stick 2 g12t75 or whatever they're called in for a 100W amp? I just don't know how loud it will be even in the isobox.

Anyway, any thoughts or opinions?
 
Jonny: FWIW, I've been using my 100w DSL with my ISO cab, a single speaker....I've even been using it with my 25w Greenback speaker, but, I've had it on the 50w mode, & keeping the volume pretty low so I don't fry the speaker....As far as noise, it's actually about as quiet as the 1w amp cranked.....


And here's a couple tones for you guys, going for the VH thing again, of course I know it' waaay off, as this was just quick-n-diry, spur of the moment thing....


DSL VH attempt

Ibanez RG (Custom Custom p'up) > DSL 100 > V30 > '57

OD 1
Resonance: 6
Presence: 10
Bass: 6
Middle: 5
Treble: 8
Volume: 3
Gain: 8


Bogner Red VH attempt

Ibanez RG (CC p'up) > Bogner Red pedal > DSL 100 > V30 > '57

Clean chanel
Resonance: 5
Presence: 10
Bass: 5
Middle: 2
Treble: 8
Volume: 4
Gain: 7

Bogner pedal:
Variac: on
Mode: full
Pre-eq : b1
Structure: 20th
Volume: 8
Treble: 6
Middle: 5
Bass: 3
Gain: 10

FWIW, I added all the effects in the daw....reverb, delay, & some phase, and of course, I know I'm way off, but, just having fun with the new gear....Lemme know what you guys think....Love the new amp & pedal btw....
 
Posting from my phone so gotta keep it brief:
The 1987 is Hella loud with no master vol. But it is plexi tone.
The 1959 will blow an isocab to pieces. Pass unless you have a 4x12.

The 1981 JCM800 is holy grail awesomeness and it will go well with a 2x12. Buy it now. Right now.
 
Thanks for the info, Miner - maybe I can make the isobox work with a bigger amp.

Greg, thanks for checking in - I had a feeling you'd like the JCM800! I don't think I can deal with 100W. How does the master volume affect the tone on that amp (I think it has a master volume, right?). I'm thinking I could get a 1987x and play it into a single V30 or g12t75 (sp?) built into an inner box for my isobox. Equally, though, I could run the JCM800 into my isoboxed 2x12.

The jcm is right up near Edinburgh, so not sure I can make that work anyway. Don't know where I'd put the 4x12 it comes with, either. It's a great price for both.

I've read a little about the Dr. Z brake thingy, any experience of these vs ppimv?

And great tones, by the way, Miner - you sure can play!
 
The 1987/1959 amps are rated before clipping. When you get em crunchy they go above and beyond their wattage rating. It's been said that a 1959 at full power can actually kick out 170 watts or more.

The problem with the non master Marshalls is they simply can't be turned down. They give you all they got as soon as you turn it on. Sounds awesome as shit, instantly loud as fucking hell. You need an attenuator or ppimv to tame these things. My 1959 has a ppimv. I record it full power but use the ppimv live because it will drown out everything.

The 800 is a master vol amp that can also blow down walls but it can be tamed somewhat. It's master vol will let it get down to bedroom levels but it ain't good like that. Those amps like to be loud just like it's non mv cousins. The 800s goodness happens with the power section roaring. Anything less than around 5 on the master vol affects it's balls. And 5 is really pretty loud.

If you want a big power marshall that can be tamed and hold its tone you really need a modern model that gets its goods from the preamp like a DSL or JVM.
 
Oh btw, I'm not sure the Dr Z air brake can handle the power of a 1987/1959. They're usually used with smaller stuff. I'm not 100% on that though. Research it.

Bottom line....I think the 800 would be your best bet for vintage Marshall tone that's safest for a 2x12 in an isocab. If you can find a 50w 800 (2204) that would be ideal. Even the later horizontal input 2204s are good. They didn't get the changes in the mid 80s the 100w version did.
 
Thanks Greg!

Yeah, I know you should have double the amp power available in the speakers as as the tone breaks up it pumps out more power, that's why I was talking about putting the 50W 1987x into a 75W speaker, and not having it at full volume in case I blow it up. A guy on another forum (I forget which) was talking about how he uses a 1987x into a 2x12 with G12H30s, so only 60W - he says he's played into this for years with no problem. The reason I'm interested in putting it into a single speaker is so I can mount it into an inner box in my current isobox to increase the isolation (I think this is how Miner runs his isobox). I suspect, though, that a lot of the tone comes from the size of the 4x12 cab.

After I listened to your ACDC cover with Rami, I'm totally leaning towards a plexi. Maybe I just need to work more on the gear I have, though - I am getting decent tones recorded, so I'll probably end up sticking with what I have for now.

But then, what about this: -

Marshall JCM800 4010 1x12 Combo Amp - Vintage 2204 Vertical Input 1984 Amplifier | eBay

It's a 50W JCM800 2204 vertical input combo - I'd plug it into my 2x12, though, or use the G12T-75 in an inner isobox as described above.
 
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