Do you know how aggressive a fully cranked vintage Plexi can get? Here you go!

[LPman]

I like to play mellower stuff these days but curiosity got me whether I'm able to squeeze some really aggressive stuff out of a rig as old-school as it gets: 1969 JMP 50 + '74 checkerboard cab with 6402 cone Greenbacks + R9 Les Paul with low output Burstbuckers.

I cranked the hell out of the old beast. I tried to steadily secure my camera but you can see it's still shaking from the sheer volume and things are just flying off from the top of the amp into oblivion, haha.

It's still not the max saturation the amp is capable of but if I turn it any higher it won't get any louder just muddier. This is about the sweet spot. The amp measures at about 65 W at this saturation point and pushing that amount of power through a 4x12 with 98db Greenbacks is a fairly earth-shattering experience.

The thing I really like about the amp and the Les Paul (with 50s wiring) is that I can go from metal to jangly clean with just rolling back the vol pots as you can hear it at the very end of the clip.

 

[jeffb]

Somewhere some metal doodz are calling this a low to moderate gain smooth overdrive tone.

Sounds great to me but I'd probably want to goose that with something (or run a Dimarzio Super D instead of PAF types) for the style you going with here.

 

[GustHFS]

Best of all, it's when all that hot juice is breaked only by the pot's resistance. It's like keeping a crazy horse tamed at bay just by pulling on the reins. Trippy thing to say the least.

Gust

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

I like it , but I would also boost it

 

[jeffp]

smokin!

 

[marshallmellowed]

Pretty sure the point of his video was to show what the amp can do "without" pedals. I say, Good job!

 

[GustHFS]

I also missed a high-powered, ceramic magnet pickup like a DM Super Distortion on the bridge, but that didn't detract from the demo, it was crazy and exciting anyway.

Gust

 

[scozz]

Here’s a different take on the same subject. Skip to 6:00 for playing channel 2,… 7:20 for channel 1.

 

[Springfield Scooter]

Sounds great for an old, expensive Marshal Plexi!
A Ceriatone Yeti or Chupa is a copy of a Hot Rodded Marshall Plexi, and sounds similar at about 3 or 4 (out of 10) on Ceriatones gain dial, with room for so much more!
But then again, there is something nostalgical about a maxed out Marshall !
Rock on!

 

[playloud]

Is the amp stock? It sounds surprisingly scooped to me (may just be settings/other variables)

 

[79 2203]

Is the amp stock? It sounds surprisingly scooped to me (may just be settings/other variables)

Yeah I’ve always thought LPman’s clips have a slight scoop to them. He consistently puts out some of my fave sounding ‘Tele on steroids’ LP clips and I sometimes wish my P90 loaded LP Special into 71 1987/68 Pulsonic G12M halfstack had some of that clear stringy-ness he gets.
Of course there could be other factors involved like the room itself.

 

[V-man]

I have the 8-headed hydra of Plexis, a 1959RR with Hot Mods Mr. Scary and pedals. This gives me:

- Ch1, Straight 1959 with volume
- Ch2, Cascade Gain with volume
- Ch1, with Hot Mods Mr. Scary (all-tube)
- Ch2, Cascade Gain with Mr. Scary (all-tube)
- Ch1, Straight 1959 with pedals (OD, Boost, Fuzz, Dist.)
- Ch2, Cascade Gain with pedals
- Ch1, with Mr. Scary + pedal boost
- Ch2, Cascade Gain with Mr. Scary + pedal boost

7 of these forms are arguably out of the scope of the OP’s intended thread, but I daresay that even straight in, there is more aggression on tap than that, IME.

Nice video and playing, regardless.

 

[Georgiatec]

I was playing my 1987S in the studio last night. To be honest I can't stand to be in the same room with it, it's that loud. I had it jumpered with bright on 8 and normal on 4.5, no attenuation. The cab I was using was a 1960 with a mix of V30's and 65w Creambacks in an X pattern, so not the ideal. I also tried a 2 x 12 with Alnico Golds in.
Played my Ori20 and SV20 through the same cabs afterwards and had to check to make sure they were both in 20w mode. Jeepers, that 1987S was LOUD guys.

 

[Tatzmann]

Is the amp stock? It sounds surprisingly scooped to me (may just be settings/other variables)

No, the preamp is wired 2204 style. He seems to leave this info out sometimes, idk why.

As an experiment i'd rewire it as NMV, crank it up more and bring down the volume via decent attenuator to the "2204" level played here to compare.

 

[V-man]

I was playing my 1987S in the studio last night. To be honest I can't stand to be in the same room with it, it's that loud. I had it jumpered with bright on 8 and normal on 4.5, no attenuation. The cab I was using was a 1960 with a mix of V30's and 65w Creambacks in an X pattern, so not the ideal. I also tried a 2 x 12 with Alnico Golds in.
Played my Ori20 and SV20 through the same cabs afterwards and had to check to make sure they were both in 20w mode. Jeepers, that 1987S was LOUD guys.

you got that right. That little feedback dance he does 3:00-3:10 is and sounds pretty cool, but you stand that close to mine past 4 trying to do anything controlled and sustainy?!

Ever hear ppl say ”Marshalls just have that ‘kerrang’?” Kerrang-Schmarang… you know what mine says within 5-10 paces of the amp? “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS ROOM BEFORE I RIP OFF YOUR FUCKING SHIRT AND SHIT IN ONE EAR TIL IT COMES SCREAMING OUT THE OTHER ONE!!! WOOOOOO WOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

 

[Maxbrothman]

I like to play mellower stuff these days but curiosity got me whether I'm able to squeeze some really aggressive stuff out of a rig as old-school as it gets: 1969 JMP 50 + '74 checkerboard cab with 6402 cone Greenbacks + R9 Les Paul with low output Burstbuckers.

I cranked the hell out of the old beast. I tried to steadily secure my camera but you can see it's still shaking from the sheer volume and things are just flying off from the top of the amp into oblivion, haha.

It's still not the max saturation the amp is capable of but if I turn it any higher it won't get any louder just muddier. This is about the sweet spot. The amp measures at about 65 W at this saturation point and pushing that amount of power through a 4x12 with 98db Greenbacks is a fairly earth-shattering experience.

The thing I really like about the amp and the Les Paul (with 50s wiring) is that I can go from metal to jangly clean with just rolling back the vol pots as you can hear it at the very end of the clip.

Most complaints about Marshall are indeed solved with volume. Therein is the rub. Your physical comfort is exchanged for tone. That is the trade-off.

 

[79 2203]

I just wanna know how anyone can sit that close to a cranked 1987 ??

 

[Maxbrothman]

I just wanna know how anyone can sit that close to a cranked 1987 ??

Honestly I have never seen a video of anyone playing them that loud and not look like they are undergoing deep sea diving decompression.

 

[jeffb]

Pretty sure the point of his video was to show what the amp can do "without" pedals. I say, Good job!

Certainly. My point was that it's not that aggressive even among its peers. Loud,, yes..but not very aggressive. It's got a lot of that squishy overly compressed tonality all old marshalls get when jacked up through old g12ms (pushed a bit too much). It's a great tone, but sounds out of place here considering what he was playing/going for.

 

[V-man]

I just wanna know how anyone can sit that close to a cranked 1987 ??

Whatever it is @Tatzmann knows suggests that is not setup as a stock 1987 circuit, which calls into question how much volume is actually cranking out for that clip. The mellower controllable feedback at that distance suggest to me that the plexi cranked volume is missing