Getting Mesa sounds out of a JCM800?

[dalley]

I need to improvise here and record some guitar tracks with my Marshall JCM800 rig but the guitar player is in a "modern" hard rock band and uses a Mesa rig (which we do not have access to) ... is there any OD pedal you can recommend that could give the Marshall crunch a little kick in the rear? I need a more aggressive, modern type of distortion

or is it a lost cause?

 

[gcapel]

I would try some sort of eq in the effects loop. My mesa has a master eq before it goes to the power stage. That eq gives it the boldness and thickness.

Just somthing to try.

 

[dalley]

I would try some sort of eq in the effects loop. My mesa has a master eq before it goes to the power stage. That eq gives it the boldness and thickness.

Just somthing to try.

good point ... didn't think about EQ

that Marshall doesn't do the "scooped mids" thing so well, then again, it's not supposed to

 

[HangDawg]

I need to improvise here and record some guitar tracks with my Marshall JCM800 rig but the guitar player is in a "modern" hard rock band and uses a Mesa rig (which we do not have access to) ... is there any OD pedal you can recommend that could give the Marshall crunch a little kick in the rear? I need a more aggressive, modern type of distortion

or is it a lost cause?

Forget it. It'll never happen. I have a voodoo modded dual rectifier and there is no way any marshal will ever sound like this. Get a POD and run into the clean channel. That's the only way. Oh, PODs suck.

 

[tom18222]

Forget it. It'll never happen. I have a voodoo modded dual rectifier and there is no way any marshal will ever sound like this. Get a POD and run into the clean channel. That's the only way. Oh, PODs suck.

no, they don't i have one with an atomic amp and it sounds absolutley incredible.

 

[HangDawg]

no, they don't i have one with an atomic amp and it sounds absolutley incredible.

Sure, they sound Ok in your bedroom. Get them out live, and they sound like ass. Layer about 6 tracks of them and see how weak they'll sit in a mix. My guess is either you've never done either of the above or you don't know what a good guitar sound is. Probably both!

 

[rory]

First you need a PRS. Hook that up through your marshall. Get an SM57, and wrap a large piece of cardboard around it so that it funnels all the sound into it. That should get you close to the "mesa" sound.



I personally do not like the way they sound (if you couldn't tell)

 

[Thurgood]

Dude lighten up on the guy. The EQ. in the effects loop will help. Isn't it the general idea around here to provide constructive information? Or are you trying to start a POD's suck war. If so please take it to HCAF.

 

[tom18222]

Sure, they sound Ok in your bedroom. Get them out live, and they sound like ass. Layer about 6 tracks of them and see how weak they'll sit in a mix. My guess is either you've never done either of the above or you don't know what a good guitar sound is. Probably both!

no need to get hostile here. ive used it live, and it sounds terrific. do you even know what an atomic amp is? i assume not if youre saying things like that. that thing gets 5/5 every review its ever gotten. i know pods dont sound good through normal amps, thats why i got the atomic in the first place.

 

[amra]

I think amp modeler tracks can work really well texturally when blended with tracks from a mic'ed amp. I think you might get closer to that fizzy rectifier sound that way than with a JCM800.

Hang dawg, lets hear some of your guitar tracks. Anyone who's gonna talk down to someone like that must surely have some guitar tracks recorded that will make us bow down at your feet. Let's hear 'em.

 

[HangDawg]

no need to get hostile here. ive used it live, and it sounds terrific. do you even know what an atomic amp is? i assume not if youre saying things like that. that thing gets 5/5 every review its ever gotten. i know pods dont sound good through normal amps, thats why i got the atomic in the first place.

Then you are the only one who has ever got a decent sound out of a POD live. cause every one I've ever heard sounds like utter shit. Especially up against my boogie.

I think it's funny that now they have to make special amps to make your POD sound like a good amp. I mean seriously, what the fuck. Just buy a good amp to begin with.

 

[HangDawg]

I think amp modeler tracks can work really well texturally when blended with tracks from a mic'ed amp. I think you might get closer to that fizzy rectifier sound that way than with a JCM800.

Hang dawg, lets hear some of your guitar tracks. Anyone who's gonna talk down to someone like that must surely have some guitar tracks recorded that will make us bow down at your feet. Let's hear 'em.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=27595193

That's even before the head was modded. Had 10 year old preamp tubes in it.

 

[sile2001]

Then you are the only one who has ever got a decent sound out of a POD live. cause every one I've ever heard sounds like utter shit. Especially up against my boogie.

I think it's funny that now they have to make special amps to make your POD sound like a good amp. I mean seriously, what the fuck. Just buy a good amp to begin with.

That's funny, because Lincoln Brewster (who among many other things, co-wrote and recorded/toured for a project with Steve Perry) very frequently uses a POD for his live shows and pulls phenomenal tone out of it. He also used the POD for many tracks on his solo albums.

The problem isn't so much with the POD itself, but rather that most people who have one or have played one don't have a clue as to how to really use it.

 

[amra]

I call it how I see it, or hear it in this case, that's pretty decent guitar tone on those tracks...

I guess you can an opinion after all...hahah.

But seriously, you are only hurting yourself by closing your mind to the whole amp modeler thing.

 

[HangDawg]

I call it how I see it, or hear it in this case, that's pretty decent guitar tone on those tracks...

I guess you can an opinion after all...hahah.

But seriously, you are only hurting yourself by closing your mind to the whole amp modeler thing.

I haven't closed my mind. I have a J-Station. I thought it sounded good. Till I tried it at practice one day. No dice. Direct to PA system. No dice. Run through an amp. No dice. Then I tried tracking with it cause I figured it would save time. Doesn't work. I spent far more time dicking around with it to try and get something that worked and it never happened.

I have just as many tone options with the 2 amps I have, boogie and fender blues junior my strat/les paul/esp and a small modest selection of mics. It's quicker and it sounds better.

Hey if people want to do the POD, fine let them. They just can't be running around saying that it sounds as good as a real amp/mic. Cause it doesn't. I put up mine, now I want to hear POD boys magic modeler

 

[HangDawg]

That's funny, because Lincoln Brewster (who among many other things, co-wrote and recorded/toured for a project with Steve Perry) very frequently uses a POD for his live shows and pulls phenomenal tone out of it. He also used the POD for many tracks on his solo albums.

The problem isn't so much with the POD itself, but rather that most people who have one or have played one don't have a clue as to how to really use it.

His website says he uses a 1963 fender bassman head. Even if he did use one at one point, he would never list it on his gear page. Sure there's a lot of people who have used them. I would bet most decide not to make it part of their normal rig. And for every person who may use them on a regular basis, there's a thousand people who don't.

 

[jonnyc]

I call it how I see it, or hear it in this case, that's pretty decent guitar tone on those tracks...

I guess you can an opinion after all...hahah.

But seriously, you are only hurting yourself by closing your mind to the whole amp modeler thing.

No, he isn't. The world's greatest guitar players over the last 50+ years have had great success without that piece of shit POD. Give me tubes, hell give me solid state before a POD.

 

[HangDawg]

No, he isn't. The world's greatest guitar players over the last 50+ years have had great success without that piece of shit POD. Give me tubes, hell give me solid state before a POD.

I bet even the atomic amps that are made specifically to make the POD sound better, sound better without a POD hooked up to them.

 

[amra]

And some of the worlds greatest guitar players for the 50 years before that did it without TUBES...or any amplificiation at all. So what? Closing your mind to technology is just stupid, that's all I was getting at.

 

[tom18222]

I haven't closed my mind. I have a J-Station. I thought it sounded good. Till I tried it at practice one day. No dice. Direct to PA system. No dice. Run through an amp. No dice. Then I tried tracking with it cause I figured it would save time. Doesn't work. I spent far more time dicking around with it to try and get something that worked and it never happened.

I have just as many tone options with the 2 amps I have, boogie and fender blues junior my strat/les paul/esp and a small modest selection of mics. It's quicker and it sounds better.

Hey if people want to do the POD, fine let them. They just can't be running around saying that it sounds as good as a real amp/mic. Cause it doesn't. I put up mine, now I want to hear POD boys magic modeler

youre getting awefully angry over such a stupid thing. i'll mic my amp and put them up, give me a while. i dont why youre so angry, you just cant accept new technolory. im not saying its better than your mesa, i'm saying its different. so i'll post my sounds to "boogie boy" will shut his damn mouth.

i have selection of tones, not just one or two amps, i got 30 amps in one setup. not al of them sound good, but the mojority do. im not about them sounding like the actual model, i just want to make a nice sound.