Yes, this is a Marshall thread!

[ITburst]

I am a Gibson Les Paul guy. My go to guitar. But I also own a Fender Strat. When I bought my American Pro II I wanted an amp to "match" my Strat. At the time I only had a Katana so I wanted something Fender-y sounding. Enter the Fender Tone Master, a SS amp. Nice....for a while. [It was also around the same time I bought my DSL20HR and cab, but more on that later]
I soon realized I wanted tubes for my Strat as the Tone Master just did not do the break up thing like tubes do [spoiled by my Marshall at this point] so I traded it away for a Vox AC15C1. Ah...tubes again. Nice...for a while!! But no? Try as I might I still could not find that something...that sound I crave. I started to not play the Strat anymore thinking I really did not like the sound of the guitar. I rarely played it, favoring my growing collection of Gibson LP's.

So two weeks ago I unplugged my LP from the DSL20 where it might as well be hard wired into, and tried my Strat. I played....and played some more ....and went away. Then played some more. That's it. That's what I was missing. The guitar is sweet, it was the amplification ! It simply needed a Marshall to bring it to life.

I sold my Vox for only a few dollars less than what I paid for it and the cash will go towards swapping out the Seventy/80's in my MX212 Slant cab for some Creambacks or Greenbacks, still undecided on which.

The moral of my story is Marshall rules. I'm happy with my Strat once again. And nothing beats a LP into a Marshall, IMHO.

 

[Seven]

Both the Strat and the Les Paul sound glorious into a Marshall tube/valve amp. Once I have an amp set, I usually don't change the settings and instead use a good compressor pedal with a Single Coil toggle switch. Sometimes a boost, just to warm up the Strat a bit. This is the easiest way for me to swap guitars and not screw with the amps.

My go to is a Strat, mainly because it's lighter and also for individual note clarity. Being slumped over a heavy mahogany Les Paul eventually takes its toll. Strats are more wieldy.

I try not to copy other guitar players but let's face it, a Strat into good Marshall gets us into the Ritchie Blackmore zone and a Les Paul gets us in the Jimmy Page zone. Of course there are other historic player that have amazing tone using these combinations, but for me, these two are my reference tones.

Vox tones fascinate me, but it's never been my thing. I try to keep an open mind about what works with what and not get too set in my ways.

 

[Timo V]

Yep, we are what we are. I own and have serviced many great amps, but i always return to Marshall. My inner caveman resonates with Marshall grind!

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Strats, Gibson LP’s , SG’s, and V’s
All into Marshall amps..
And I would not have it any other way..

Mitch

 

[79 2203]

Both the Strat and the Les Paul sound glorious into a Marshall tube/valve amp. Once I have an amp set, I usually don't change the settings and instead use a good compressor pedal with a Single Coil toggle switch. Sometimes a boost, just to warm up the Strat a bit. This is the easiest way for me to swap guitars and not screw with the amps.

My go to is a Strat, mainly because it's lighter and also for individual note clarity. Being slumped over a heavy mahogany Les Paul eventually takes its toll. Strats are more wieldy.

I try not to copy other guitar players but let's face it, a Strat into good Marshall gets us into the Ritchie Blackmore zone and a Les Paul gets us in the Jimmy Page zone. Of course there are other historic player that have amazing tone using these combinations, but for me, these two are my reference tones.

Vox tones fascinate me, but it's never been my thing. I try to keep an open mind about what works with what and not get too set in my ways.

Yeah Page is among my faves but Blackmores early 70’s live sound(Made In Japan/Live at Longbeach 71/ live on German TV video) is my all time fave Strat tone. The way he flips between that sweet, vocal, singing neck pickup to the bitey, chewy bridge is just magic to my ears. And deceptively clean too.

I only have one guitar at the moment, a 2019 singlecut LP Special with P90’s and wraparound, and IMO it’s a great compromise between a LP Standard wth humbuckers and a Strat with single coils. Lightweight, good note clarity, great dynamics, and cleans up with the guitar vol beautifully. But still has much of the LP Standard punch and weight to high notes.

 

[Deftone]

I would suggest that Marshall is the sound of Rock. We all grew up listening to Marshall's on records, tapes, CD's and even the radio so that tone is what we think of when we think of Rock Music.

 

[Maxbrothman]

When you play a range of different amps and experience dialing in tones, I think this is a massive help in determining where your amp sits in a mental chart of tones. What you learn playing other stuff can transfer, and overall I think it is much more of a sound engineering learning curve that everyone eventually needs to get what electric guitar is partially about.

 

[scozz]

Sound like a familiar road traveled by many Rock guitarists!

What will really make a difference imo, is getting rid of those 70/80s in your cab! Yes, put in Greenbacks or Creambacks, or even better one of each.

The sensitivity difference between the two speakers is only 1 db, and they sound great together. They sound different enough from each other that they compliment each other.

Just put the Greenback, + 1db, in the bottom position, and the Creamback in the top. That’ll even out the 1db difference to be completely unnoticeable.

I use two 1-12 cabs with my 20 watt SC head, bottom cab has a Greenback and the top cab has a Creamback. They sound great, very Marshally! Lol.

Sorry for the gianormous pic, it’s either that or a tiny one,…

 

[Cal Nevari]

I am a Gibson Les Paul guy. My go to guitar. But I also own a Fender Strat. When I bought my American Pro II I wanted an amp to "match" my Strat. At the time I only had a Katana so I wanted something Fender-y sounding. Enter the Fender Tone Master, a SS amp. Nice....for a while. [It was also around the same time I bought my DSL20HR and cab, but more on that later]
I soon realized I wanted tubes for my Strat as the Tone Master just did not do the break up thing like tubes do [spoiled by my Marshall at this point] so I traded it away for a Vox AC15C1. Ah...tubes again. Nice...for a while!! But no? Try as I might I still could not find that something...that sound I crave. I started to not play the Strat anymore thinking I really did not like the sound of the guitar. I rarely played it, favoring my growing collection of Gibson LP's.

So two weeks ago I unplugged my LP from the DSL20 where it might as well be hard wired into, and tried my Strat. I played....and played some more ....and went away. Then played some more. That's it. That's what I was missing. The guitar is sweet, it was the amplification ! It simply needed a Marshall to bring it to life.

I sold my Vox for only a few dollars less than what I paid for it and the cash will go towards swapping out the Seventy/80's in my MX212 Slant cab for some Creambacks or Greenbacks, still undecided on which.

The moral of my story is Marshall rules. I'm happy with my Strat once again. And nothing beats a LP into a Marshall, IMHO.

Couldn’t agree more. LP + Marshall = perfection. Any other guitar + Marshall = near perfection!

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I've found several amps that are perfection for a certain tone. Some are Marshalls, some are not.
But as for strats, I've tried to like them, I've owned seven of them, and I've sold them all, never being able to make them work for me.

Nothing got closer to making me happy with a strat than when I plugged it into an original Superlead. But even that wasn't enough to cause me to bond with the setup. The Superlead stays, the strats always go.

For me it's a Les Paul or at least another Gibson with humbuckers, or something in that category, with a Marshall that gets THAT legendary tone

 

[dro]

I would suggest that Marshall is the sound of Rock. We all grew up listening to Marshall's on records, tapes, CD's and even the radio so that tone is what we think of when we think of Rock Music.

Yes we did. Growing up in the 60's and 70's.
The Marshals we were listening to were recorded at ear splitting volumes.
Whether Marshall, Vox Fender Orange, even Supro and Gibson.
Built in England and U.S.
Not only were the cranked to get those glorious tubes cooking.
There was also an interaction with the guitar in the same room as a cranked speaker.
And I'm sorry but, that's the only way to get THAT sound.
So, buy all your pedals, parts, and attenuators, and try to get that sound out of cell phone volumes.
For my money, I chose the real deal. and crank it.
I remember the phrase. If it's too loud, you're too fucking old.
Today, it's the kids who think volume is a bad thing.
You don't know what you missed.

 

[ITburst]

Yes we did. Growing up in the 60's and 70's.
The Marshals we were listening to were recorded at ear splitting volumes.
Whether Marshall, Vox Fender Orange, even Supro and Gibson.
Built in England and U.S.
Not only were the cranked to get those glorious tubes cooking.
There was also an interaction with the guitar in the same room as a cranked speaker.
And I'm sorry but, that's the only way to get THAT sound.
So, buy all your pedals, parts, and attenuators, and try to get that sound out of cell phone volumes.
For my money, I chose the real deal. and crank it.
I remember the phrase. If it's too loud, you're too fucking old.
Today, it's the kids who think volume is a bad thing.
You don't know what you missed.
View attachment 124925

It’s the kids who think volume is a bad thing?

I don’t know about that statement. I keep seeing interviews with the old rockers who can only wish they had their hearing back. I for one want to avoid loosing my hearing so I can at least hear my cell phone volume of an amp.

Now, back to my pedals and parts and things.

 

[Crikey]

I am a Gibson Les Paul guy. My go to guitar. But I also own a Fender Strat. When I bought my American Pro II I wanted an amp to "match" my Strat. At the time I only had a Katana so I wanted something Fender-y sounding. Enter the Fender Tone Master, a SS amp. Nice....for a while. [It was also around the same time I bought my DSL20HR and cab, but more on that later]
I soon realized I wanted tubes for my Strat as the Tone Master just did not do the break up thing like tubes do [spoiled by my Marshall at this point] so I traded it away for a Vox AC15C1. Ah...tubes again. Nice...for a while!! But no? Try as I might I still could not find that something...that sound I crave. I started to not play the Strat anymore thinking I really did not like the sound of the guitar. I rarely played it, favoring my growing collection of Gibson LP's.

So two weeks ago I unplugged my LP from the DSL20 where it might as well be hard wired into, and tried my Strat. I played....and played some more ....and went away. Then played some more. That's it. That's what I was missing. The guitar is sweet, it was the amplification ! It simply needed a Marshall to bring it to life.

I sold my Vox for only a few dollars less than what I paid for it and the cash will go towards swapping out the Seventy/80's in my MX212 Slant cab for some Creambacks or Greenbacks, still undecided on which.

The moral of my story is Marshall rules. I'm happy with my Strat once again. And nothing beats a LP into a Marshall, IMHO.

Yep. I experienced similar. Traded a Budda super drive for my Jcm 900 and every guitar i played through 900, the amp gave them new life. Especially the single coils and gretsch style pups.

 

[GIBSON67]

I am amazed at my newly acquired DSL100H and the heavy tones I get from my SSS Classic 50's Strat! Marshall for Strats, damn right!

 

[dro]

It’s the kids who think volume is a bad thing?

I don’t know about that statement. I keep seeing interviews with the old rockers who can only wish they had their hearing back. I for one want to avoid loosing my hearing so I can at least hear my cell phone volume of an amp.

Now, back to my pedals and parts and things.

Yeah I wish I had my hearing back like it used to be.
But I wouldn't trade the experience of being on a live stage, enveloped in the stage volume.
Times were different back then. Cell phones didn't exist. Only in comic books, and on Star Trek.
Cell phones haven't been around that long. Back in the day. The medium was 6" Leather covered radios.
People couldn't wait to get away from those weak, over compressed tunes that would emanate from such a small unit. And the ear pieces? I had more ear infections from those damn things when I was a kid.
Nobody even thought about sanitizing them.
Stereos got bigger. Moving more air. Moving air is key.
Maybe could've been smart enough to wear ear plugs. Playing live. But that would defeat the purpose.
Jim Marshall was known as The Father Of Loud. Not the father of attenuated.

Biggest regrets are things I didn't do.


If I want to do a quiet gig, it's with acoustic.
And even that's pretty loud.

 

[ITburst]

Todays youth think iTunes music is high quality. I’ll pass on all that overly compressed Bluetooth transmitted crap. Give me my Rega P3, NAD separates and Monitor Audio S10’s any day of the week.

 

[TheLoudness!!]

Yeah I wish I had my hearing back like it used to be.
But I wouldn't trade the experience of being on a live stage, enveloped in the stage volume.
Times were different back then. Cell phones didn't exist. Only in comic books, and on Star Trek.
Cell phones haven't been around that long. Back in the day. The medium was 6" Leather covered radios.
People couldn't wait to get away from those weak, over compressed tunes that would emanate from such a small unit. And the ear pieces? I had more ear infections from those damn things when I was a kid.
Nobody even thought about sanitizing them.
Stereos got bigger. Moving more air. Moving air is key.
Maybe could've been smart enough to wear ear plugs. Playing live. But that would defeat the purpose.
Jim Marshall was known as The Father Of Loud. Not the father of attenuated.

Biggest regrets are things I didn't do.

View attachment 124970
If I want to do a quiet gig, it's with acoustic.
And even that's pretty loud.

Nice. I love the Gibson flat top!

 

[Old Punker]

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Such a true caption !!

 

[Old Punker]

It’s the kids who think volume is a bad thing?

I don’t know about that statement. I keep seeing interviews with the old rockers who can only wish they had their hearing back. I for one want to avoid loosing my hearing so I can at least hear my cell phone volume of an amp.

Now, back to my pedals and parts and things.

As I sit here reading this my ears are ringing like hell. Although those cranked Marshalls of my younger years were glorious, I can't afford to make my hearing any worse either.
I have to keep it below the level where I will definitely do more damage (<= 90 dB for 2 hrs practice). I also have no problem with using pedals or other devices that will give me a good rock tone at less than ear bleeding volume.