can you recommend a small amp that does clean well?
- Thread starter Nola
- Start date
pikingrin
what is this?
For all these clips I used an American Fender strat, ash body with maple neck/fretboard, that's loaded with Texas Special single coils. 15ft cable directly into each amp, no pedals, and I used an Audix i5 on axis usually around 1" off the edge of the speaker. The i5 went through the stock preamps on my interface (in sig).
I would say that there are 2 reasons most of these don't sound "amazing" and, on the contrary, a little muffled. For one, I had all the amp EQ settings right in the middle, flat as can be. The only amp I didn't have that option with is the Vox AC15 plugged into the Normal channel; it's got an EQ section but it only comes into play when you plug into the top boost input. So, the amp EQ settings probably play a little into the muffled sounding clips. The other reason is that I didn't spend a whole lot of time with mic placement. I could have spent time dialing in the clean tones more and getting the mic placement just perfect, and I probably should have, but for the quick examples I was trying to get up...well, it would have taken more time than I had available.
Does your DSL40C have the Creamback speaker in it?
Nola
Well-known member
okay no problem, jdod.
it's in the shop having the 2 prong changed out but once i get it back i will.
Nola
Well-known member
it's early 60s. i think '61.
it sounded better than any amp i ever heard in my life so i just decided to take the plunge. i used to own a 60s blackface years ago but this brown face sounded so much better. i hope i can bring the sound out in a recording for you.
Negative. Stock seventy/80. It's not terrible, though I have thought about replacing it with a Creamback. I haven't done it mainly because the amp's not getting a lot of play right now, as my small amps and Fenders have been working better in the music I've been doing lately. But the wheels will turn as they always do. When I get infatuated with that Marshall combo again, I'll probably make the switch.
Nola
Well-known member
That amp sounded really good, Robus. If you own that amp you should play it, imo!
When did Marshall start making that amp?
I will use it again. I actually recorded some tracks on the DSL40c for my latest song, alongside a couple of other amps. It lost out to the Fender Hotrod Deluxe in the shoot-out to determine what worked best in this particular mix. It's a nice sounding amp, just the odd-man-out for me at the moment. I'm using more clean tones in the recent songs. The Marshall's clean isn't bad, but it's no Fender. Its forte is the crunch tone. When I get around to doing rock and roll songs again, the Marshall will have its day.
I think it's a fairly recent amp from Marshall. I bought mine in late 2012, about the time I first heard of them. They are made in Vietnam.
I think it's a fairly recent amp from Marshall. I bought mine in late 2012, about the time I first heard of them. They are made in Vietnam.
I wanted to revive your thread Nola. I hope we can keep it going and post some tones here.
Here are a couple of contributions. Either Pikin or Tadpui asked about comparing the Fender Hotrod Deluxe and Deluxe Reverb '65 Reissue. I've had both those amps for many years. I bought the HRD as my first Fender amp in the late 1990s. I wanted the Deluxe Reissue but it was too much of a stretch for the money. I should have waited and bought the Deluxe. I bought the Deluxe new in the early 2000s.
Here are some clips to show what the two amps sound like. The guitar in both is a Fender Telecaster.
Whenever I post tones in this thread, here's the way I'm going to do it: One run through with the guitar only, then another run through in the song mix.
Here's the Deluxe Reverb. The second tele in the song mix is also the Deluxe.
Tremolo channel input 1. Volume 7, bass 6, treble 5, reverb 2. SM57 on axis touching the grill cloth, just outside the dustcap.
Here's the Hot Rod Deluxe.
Clean channel. I can't remember the exact settings. The amp was turned up loud, maybe 6. The SM57 was on axis, midway between the dustcap and the rim, about an inch back from the grill cloth. I recorded the delay.
How does the Hot Rod stack up?
Here are a couple of contributions. Either Pikin or Tadpui asked about comparing the Fender Hotrod Deluxe and Deluxe Reverb '65 Reissue. I've had both those amps for many years. I bought the HRD as my first Fender amp in the late 1990s. I wanted the Deluxe Reissue but it was too much of a stretch for the money. I should have waited and bought the Deluxe. I bought the Deluxe new in the early 2000s.
Here are some clips to show what the two amps sound like. The guitar in both is a Fender Telecaster.
Whenever I post tones in this thread, here's the way I'm going to do it: One run through with the guitar only, then another run through in the song mix.
Here's the Deluxe Reverb. The second tele in the song mix is also the Deluxe.
Tremolo channel input 1. Volume 7, bass 6, treble 5, reverb 2. SM57 on axis touching the grill cloth, just outside the dustcap.
Here's the Hot Rod Deluxe.
Clean channel. I can't remember the exact settings. The amp was turned up loud, maybe 6. The SM57 was on axis, midway between the dustcap and the rim, about an inch back from the grill cloth. I recorded the delay.
How does the Hot Rod stack up?
Last edited:
Thanks Nola. The HRD was doing more of a pure clean part in that clip. Also, I recorded the delay on the HRD. The Deluxe was recorded dry except for a touch of spring reverb. However--did you notice that clumsy edit toward the end of the part where the guitar plays solo on the Deluxe clip? The final few seconds are a different take where I did print some delay.
Nola
Well-known member
I didn't notice it, Robus, but I don't really pay close attention to things like that unless they're really obvious and detract/pull my ear [in a bad way], and this one didn't.
Nola
Well-known member
The silverface champs always sound "spikey" to me. I know that's an odd word for it. I don't know how to describe it. But it's mostly the smaller silverfaces. When you get into large ones like the bandmaster or bassman they can sound really good.
Last edited:
jimistone
long standing member
If I wanted an amp for clean tones and had 1200 bucks to spend...
No doubt I would buy a used Fender Super Reverb with 4 10" speakers.
Most Amps will do a lot of things, but are truly outstanding on one thing.
The one thing the super reverb is outstanding on is stellar clean tones.
It really doesn't get any better than a strat into super reverb in terms of chimey glassy awesome clean tone.
For crunchy rock stuff it's not so good. That would be Marshalls area of awesomeness.
No doubt I would buy a used Fender Super Reverb with 4 10" speakers.
Most Amps will do a lot of things, but are truly outstanding on one thing.
The one thing the super reverb is outstanding on is stellar clean tones.
It really doesn't get any better than a strat into super reverb in terms of chimey glassy awesome clean tone.
For crunchy rock stuff it's not so good. That would be Marshalls area of awesomeness.
Nola
Well-known member
I agree but I couldn't run 4x10 in an apartment, even at lower volume, so I settled on an old brown Princeton, which comes close and also breaks up nicely.
The amp is getting a 3 pronger on it so I won't have it back until about a week, but I will post some samples. I think the brown amps are really cool. i owned blackface and my buddy has a silver and i like the brown the best by far.
Here's the Marshall DSL40c doing a clean rhythm, or trying. I overdubbed the same backing track I used for the Deluxe Reverb demo above. Same American Standard Tele with ash body and maple neck, a very bright-sounding guitar.
I'm using the full power mode (40 watts), clean channel, no crunch mode, master volume dimed, gain on about 6, bass 6, mid 5, treble 4, presence 6, resonance 0, reverb 0. The SM57 is on axis, just outside the dust cap, about half an inch from the grill cloth. I tracked some delay as it sounded pretty plain by itself.
The lead on the right during the mix part is the same guitar and amp. I engaged the crunch mode, dialed the mids up to 6-7, the bass back to about 5, and otherwise left it the same.
It was loud. As always, I was playing in another room with two closed doors between me and the beast, monitoring at a comfortable level through my studio monitors.
It's not a terrible clean tone. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I could see using the rhythm track in a song if the performance were good (rather sloppy in fact). I'd need to play around more to figure out the best settings. Right away, I'd move that mic another inch or two outward from the dust cap. The lead Tele sound, nah.
I'm using the full power mode (40 watts), clean channel, no crunch mode, master volume dimed, gain on about 6, bass 6, mid 5, treble 4, presence 6, resonance 0, reverb 0. The SM57 is on axis, just outside the dust cap, about half an inch from the grill cloth. I tracked some delay as it sounded pretty plain by itself.
The lead on the right during the mix part is the same guitar and amp. I engaged the crunch mode, dialed the mids up to 6-7, the bass back to about 5, and otherwise left it the same.
It was loud. As always, I was playing in another room with two closed doors between me and the beast, monitoring at a comfortable level through my studio monitors.
It's not a terrible clean tone. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I could see using the rhythm track in a song if the performance were good (rather sloppy in fact). I'd need to play around more to figure out the best settings. Right away, I'd move that mic another inch or two outward from the dust cap. The lead Tele sound, nah.
Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 18, Reddi demo
The Reddi speaker emulation is a useful feature on this amp, and the reason why I use it more often than any of my other amps. It's great for working out guitar parts late at night when miking a speaker is out. Usually I re-record those parts when I can make some noise. Once and a while the emulation makes it into a final mix.
Here's what it sounds like. The guitar is a Fender Strat on the bridge pickup, a Duncan Antiquity II Surf. It is recorded direct out from the amp, through an ART Pro VLA II compressor, to the audio interface. A TC Electronic Flashback delay is in the loop.
The rhythm part uses the clean channel. The lead is the drive channel. Last is both guitars in the song mix, rhythm on the left, lead on the right.
The Reddi speaker emulation is a useful feature on this amp, and the reason why I use it more often than any of my other amps. It's great for working out guitar parts late at night when miking a speaker is out. Usually I re-record those parts when I can make some noise. Once and a while the emulation makes it into a final mix.
Here's what it sounds like. The guitar is a Fender Strat on the bridge pickup, a Duncan Antiquity II Surf. It is recorded direct out from the amp, through an ART Pro VLA II compressor, to the audio interface. A TC Electronic Flashback delay is in the loop.
The rhythm part uses the clean channel. The lead is the drive channel. Last is both guitars in the song mix, rhythm on the left, lead on the right.