The 1st time I ever heard a Marshall.

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suphuckers

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I wonder if this will start a conversation....

40 yrs ago, or whenever it was... The 1st time I ever heard a Marshall (and even before I knew what made that sound) I thought... ewww, I hope there's something better. There must be something better. I've only ever played a Marshall maybe 3x in my life. It's thin. It's noisy. IMO It has No Balls. It's like a noisy little scratchy sounding annoying little girl in the corner.

Growing up I always played Peavey's. Never once had a desire to play or buy a Marshall. Can't get my head around why anyone likes that sound. Now I find in my old(er) age, what I really want is a Soldano (or something in that direction).

Maybe a lot of people can't hear the nasty static overtones coming out of those amps? Don't much care for Celestion's either. Mostly I like EV's. Celestian's add even more of that noise.

Crazy to me how many people LOVE that sound though. That's what makes me SMH ;)
 
Marshalls sound like crap when you're right in front of them. You need at least 30 feet or so before the projected sound develops properly. It's like standing right in front of a pa speaker column. And, at least in my experience, they have to be played at pretty much full volume to get in "the zone."
 
Yeah I don't even like them at 30'. There are some recordings that it shows on paper were recorded with Marshall amp's (that I like), but I'm not buying it. They are/were either flat out lies, or they were highly modified amps. I've even gone as far as to look for clips of people that I REALLY like their playing, and try to find them playing Marshall's. In most cases, since I like the player, the sound is better, but it still sounds like junk to me. The same player, playing the same guitar, and the same riff's, with a different amp (Like a Peavey or a Soldano etc) == 1000x better. I just can't figure it out. That's why I made this post. People get **** in their heads (Like Marshall's are great) and you can't get that **** out. I've seen it with tubes and guitars and etc too. A lot of people seem to think that Warmoth Guitars are great. The guy I spoke with at Warmoth was a real ***, and their guitars are pretty much just overpriced off the shelf Fenders. There are sooo many MUCH better guitars out there. Tung-Sol tubes... Really? Yeah not so much. The list goes on and on. Now granted, I'll agree this is just my opinion, but the fact of the matter is... I'm just looking for the best ****. I pretty much don't give a flying fart who's name is on it.... Not sure the same can be said for most people. It's insanity I tell ya, Insanity ;) LoL
 
I did see Cream at the Fillmore East and, if I remember correctly, Clapton had two stacks but was playing out of only one, and sounded great. Who knows if the amp was stock or not.
I did stage crew work briefly, and remember the lead guitar player of Spooky Tooth, have his 50 watt 8 x 10" Marshall go up in flames. And, on stage, it sounded "thin and raspy."
It really amounts to what sounds best to you. More expensive doesn't always mean better. That's why I build a lot of my own stuff.
P.S. I seem to like open back cabinets over closed back (used to be called "infinite baffle") cabinets. You don't see many "ducted port" cabinets any more.
They tend to have a much fuller richer sound.
 
I have both open and closed back cabinets. I think I like having both. Stuff like that (...and most things) are "to each his own". I mean I really believe that, ...(and I certainly don't want everyone to use the same gear and sound the same) but some things I just don't get. I hear some things... and I gotta wonder... what human being thinks this sounds good? ...and why? I have 2 806 cabs that I use. Those are my mains. I have an open back 2x12 with Celestian's in it. That's the cab that finally made me realize that I don't care for Celestians. I mean it sounds OK, but compared to the 806's it's complete junk. I had Celestians all through the years. I didn't find (or more realistically couldn't afford) the EV's until more recently in life. I want to replace the Celestians with EV's, but I'll probably leave them in that open back Cab. I have a 15" in a closed back cab that I think needs the back taken off. You mentioned Clapton, and that brings up a point that I was trying to include earlier. Ive heard and read about lots of guys using "modified" Marshall's. Then at some point they ditch the Marshall for something else. I'll put money on it that (if Clapton played through a Marshall) it wasn't a stock (or even close to a stock) amp.
 
Of course, it's a long time ago, but what struck me that night was how he sounded like "the record" as far as tone, sustain, etc. I used to pay careful attention to where the guitar cables went, i.e. right to the amp input, or "around the back someplace" and then the input. I could remember him sweeping across the knobs to be sure they were wide open.
The Who were very similar as to "sounding like the Who" whenever you saw them. I remember Townsend, at the Fillmore, playing out of 3 Sunn tops, 5 or 6 cabinets with 15" JBLs and sounded just like you'd expect him to sound. Then, in Central Park, saw them again with a bunch of Sound City Amps. There's a lot to be said for the phrase "the sound is in your fingers" and I'd have to agree with it.
 
yeah well that goes back to what I was saying about going to look for clips from people that I really like to hear. Those were better, but the fingers only account for so much ;) It would be really interesting to be able to know for sure what that amp you saw Clapton play through really had in it.
 
Honestly, I would say at best, maybe another gain stage, but, the amp was turned all the way up. I've said many times before, nothing sounds like pushing the power section and speakers. I really shy away from all pre amp distortion and over drive but not pushing the output section. It's just not the same.
 
A lot of great Marshall delivered tones include various boosts (tube screamer, etc.)

Also it seems most famous/unique tones come from amps which are modified to some degree (IE: EVH.)

I like some of the modern amps quite a bit more than the earlier models.
 
For me, I could always dial in a Marshall to sound right as opposed to a Fender with a dirt box in front. I never vibe?d with Mesa either. I liked Marshalls, Orange and sometime Vox for dirt tones. I?ve always considered myself as a Marshall player, although, occasionally I?d trade up for a Fender for the clean sound but would always come back home to a Marshall.
Even now with MTS I gravitate to Marshall based modules. Just sounds right to me?
 
Yeah I dunno Marco. I've listened to a buncha your clips, and you do seem to get some good tones. I really haven't payed that much attention to how you're getting them tho. Maybe it's in your pups ;) I'll have to go back and look at some of those clips again. Matt gets some good tones too and I think he likes the Marshalls too. I've heard some of that static I hate so much in some of his stuff tho. Dunno about yours. I'll give it all a listen tomorrow. I'm glad some of you guys saw past my rant. ;)
 
Oregon said:
A lot of great Marshall delivered tones include various boosts (tube screamer, etc.)

Also it seems most famous/unique tones come from amps which are modified to some degree (IE: EVH.)

I like some of the modern amps quite a bit more than the earlier models.

I did hear a more modern Marshall recently that sounded a bit better, but I still really didn't like it, but I agree the more modern amp sounded better.
 
I imagine it has a lot to do with the music one listens to most. "Tone" is certainly a headgame in my book, and like your brain, changes frequently. Most of the Marshall lovers were raised on a steady diet of british rock and metal (and there are many photos of Jimmy Page, the world's top gear salemsan, using them), so naturally they gravitate to that el34 sound, much as blues players to the Fender 6l6, 6v6 sound. Same with the Celestion and Jensen speakers, which you know is a huge part of what you hear.

I definitely think that the more pristine amps, such as Hiwatt and Fender, have their place in music. It is simply the Marshall sound that is on my favorite records that evokes the emotions for me.

My primary amp is a custom job that relies heavily on the Marshall pedigree. In the room, it is pure heaven, but on the record I just did my band it is rather tame sounding. I imagine using an actual Marshall, with its faults, would do that wild animal sound better. Or maybe the name engineer we used didn't try that hard...he won't give up the stems so I am never gonna find out.
 
The first Gtr sound I remember entrancing me was when I was 5 years old. It was Sanatana soloing on television in '72. Go Boogie!

But the first Marshall tone I really heard and loved was Van Halen. Of course not every one sounded like Eddie (or from what I've heard blew up power tubes like he did.)

I wish I hadn't traded my Yamaha T100 in the early 90's but I wasn't aware of modding amps. It just needed some slight tweaking and I'd likely still have it. 13 Tubes, and some nice tone.
 
There is Good Marshall and bad Marshall.....
if it's the old Tube Marshalls....up to the 900 series...
Man, oh man...they are really good at High Volume Crunch. Almost like a drum kit..so percussive.
If you were raised on Zep and Halen and the British Rock scene (Bad Co, anyone??????).....if so....you got wood with the sound!
And thats why they rule.

GtrGeorge
 
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