The Tone Thread

[Minerman]

Was just thinking that at 30W it might be marginally more usable to people that don't have a dungeon to put their cab in... although 30W won't exactly be quiet will it.

30 watts can be pretty loud. Marshall themselves have made low-to-medium watt "Plexi" type amps for decades. No one knows about them though.

That Laney looks cool, & I like that it has EL34's, but it's as expensive as a new Mini Jubilee...If I was gonna drop $1200 on an amp, I'd go with something from Ceriatone myself, but that's just me...

I've looked at the 2061x a bunch of times (if that's the amp you're referring to that no one knows about), but I keep going back/forth with my EL84 amp, so I just dunno...I'm sure it'd sound great, but the price on a Marshall version is expensive...Ceriatone's clone is probably just as good for a lot less $$$...

[JD01]

Was just thinking that at 30W it might be marginally more usable to people that don't have a dungeon to put their cab in... although 30W won't exactly be quiet will it.

30 watts can be pretty loud. Marshall themselves have made low-to-medium watt "Plexi" type amps for decades. No one knows about them though.

I was surprised by how loud 1W and 5W were recently. When I had the amp on 20W mode at about half volume it was unusable in my room - just too loud! Not had it wide open on 40W yet, although I will at some point when I've changed rooms. I used to have the Blackstar at about 1/2 volume all the time and it was no where near this loud and that was supposedly 20W

[Greg_L]

That Laney looks cool, & I like that it has EL34's, but it's as expensive as a new Mini Jubilee...If I was gonna drop $1200 on an amp, I'd go with something from Ceriatone myself, but that's just me...

I've looked at the 2061x a bunch of times (if that's the amp you're referring to that no one knows about), but I keep going back/forth with my EL84 amp, so I just dunno...I'm sure it'd sound great, but the price on a Marshall version is expensive...Ceriatone's clone is probably just as good for a lot less $$$...

The 2061 and 1974 (and the clones) are both very nice low-watt "Plexi" type amps that sound fantastic. They don't do "high gain" though...and they don't have the massive iron to push big cabs into big noises. That's really what it's all about IMO. Everyone wants Plexi sound without the mass and volume of a Plexi amp, but those big honking transformers and huge volume are the "Plexi sound". There's really no other way around it for that type of sound. The preamps are nothing special. You can build a Plexi preamp circuit into anything. The magic happens on the power side.

[Greg_L]

I was surprised by how loud 1W and 5W were recently. When I had the amp on 20W mode at about half volume it was unusable in my room - just too loud! Not had it wide open on 40W yet, although I will at some point when I've changed rooms. I used to have the Blackstar at about 1/2 volume all the time and it was no where near this loud and that was supposedly 20W

All that shit depends on a lot of things, not the least of which being how they rate the power output. It's all misleading, kind of like car engines. Over here both Ford and Chevy made "5 liter engines". One was 302 cubic inches, one was 305 cubic inches, some Buick/Olds/Pontiac oddballs were 307 cubic inches. All basically the same size, roughly the same liter displacement, all performed way differently. The Ford 302 was a great little engine. The Chevy 305 was solid and dependable but a real turd when it came to performance, and the B/O/P 307s were laughable. But they're all the same size. Amps are the same way. "20 watts" is not really 20 watts across the board. I'm not sure that there is a standard method of publishing an amp's output wattage. Clean headroom and how/where they measure that 20 watts changes the perceived loudness of the amp. And when the power sections start saturating and distorting, the output can be even higher in some cases. Often, the wattage rating is at max clean signal output. Max clean. No clipping of the output signal. Get that thing distorting and all bets are off. A "100w Plexi" with 6550s or KT88s is capable of roughly a comparative 130-150 watts when fully cranked. Many 100w 4x25 watt Greenback cabs have ended their lives on the business end of a cranked Plexi.

And to add to that, the efficiency of speakers plays a HUGE role with the perceived loudness of an amp. With the same amp, a Vintage 30 cab is way louder than a Greenback cab simply because the V30s are more efficient speakers. I used to have an 18 watt Diamond amp and 2x12 V30 cab that could easily perform unmic'd in a live band setting. A 22w 1x12 Fender combo would disappear in that same scenario.

[Minerman]

I was surprised by how loud 1W and 5W were recently. When I had the amp on 20W mode at about half volume it was unusable in my room - just too loud! Not had it wide open on 40W yet, although I will at some point when I've changed rooms. I used to have the Blackstar at about 1/2 volume all the time and it was no where near this loud and that was supposedly 20W

Yes, even a 1w amp can be loud, but like Greg mentioned, there are a lot of different factors, like speaker sensitivity...Cranked all the way, the 1w DSL I had was almost the same loudness as what I normally recorded with the Chupacabra through my 4x12...

If you're saying 20w mode at "5" is unusable, I'm assuming because of the noise, & I get that, I really do...While I don't know about your amp, all the amps I've used recording sound their best wound up in full power mode, except for the Chupa...In the hot-rodded modes the wattage wasn't supposed to change, & the volume dropped a lot, but it had "that" sound...Just guessing, the general loudness zone where your amp was in 20w mode at "5" is probably about the same loudness I've recorded the biggest part of my tones I think are good...But it is fuckin' loud, there are ways to get pretty much there by using attenuators/ISO cabs/etc, but there's always a compromise, which means it might be really close, but it's still not the same thing...

But, whatever volume you're recording your cab/mic at with the new amp works dude, nothing wrong with 'em at all, matter of fact, they're stellar tones IMHO...

The 2061 and 1974 (and the clones) are both very nice low-watt "Plexi" type amps that sound fantastic. They don't do "high gain" though...and they don't have the massive iron to push big cabs into big noises. That's really what it's all about IMO. Everyone wants Plexi sound without the mass and volume of a Plexi amp, but those big honking transformers and huge volume are the "Plexi sound". There's really no other way around it for that type of sound. The preamps are nothing special. You can build a Plexi preamp circuit into anything. The magic happens on the power side.

+1 on the big iron dude, I know from experience that's the shizzle...I know I'm a "little amp" guy right now, but hopefully someday I'll be able to have another big amp or two...My little amps are ok, in fact they're both good amps, but it's just not the same...

[JD01]

Yeah, it's just too loud for the room/house. Shit starts shaking and stuff! And I dont have suitable ear protection either

[Minerman]

Well here we go with the new Marshall Origin amps...The tone in this video is ok, nothing spectacular, but it does seem to have an old-school vibe & sound...But it also sounded pretty bass-heavy, which could be any number of things...

I dunno if these amps would have enough gain on tap for some of the stuff I play...Toward the end you can see the amp's settings (looked like everything was on "5" except the gain & master volume), & the gain was dimed, but not sure if the boost was engaged...If the boost was on, I'd have to think long & hard before I bought one...

I'm a "little amp" guy right now, I really like the cute little amp heads I have & the Origin would fall into the same slot...

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ONqxXhbzM[/BBvideo]

Gonna have to hear some more clips of these amps, but I'm really not impressed with it's tone in this video...

[Greg_L]

Looks like he had both pickups on, so that might explain the tubbiness.

Sounds okay. Typical blues crunch kind of thing.

[ocnor]

Gonna have to hear some more clips of these amps, but I'm really not impressed with it's tone in this video...

I've heard more than enough. That amp sounds like

[Minerman]

Looks like he had both pickups on, so that might explain the tubbiness.

Sounds okay. Typical blues crunch kind of thing.

Yeah, sounds ok is exactly what popped into my head too...Might be a pedal platform amp, I've got a couple dirt pedals on "my list", but I'm gonna have to hear a bunch more clips of those amps...The local music shop about 45 minutes from here may carry those, they've got some kind of deal with Marshall...

Gonna have to hear some more clips of these amps, but I'm really not impressed with it's tone in this video...

I've heard more than enough. That amp sounds like

Well it's not terrible, but it's definitely not spectacular either...Eventually there will be more clips that will reveal what's what with 'em...The German YT channel Sessions will put it through it's paces whenever they get one to demo...I can't understand a fuckin' word that guy says, but most of his reviews/tone clips are pretty good...

[Greg_L]

Yeah, sounds ok is exactly what popped into my head too...Might be a pedal platform amp, I've got a couple dirt pedals on "my list", but I'm gonna have to hear a bunch more clips of those amps...The local music shop about 45 minutes from here may carry those, they've got some kind of deal with Marshall...

From all the "reviews" I've heard of that amp, I think your Jubilee is way better.

[Minerman]

From all the "reviews" I've heard of that amp, I think your Jubilee is way better.

It's starting to look that way dude, I'd like to give these new amps a fair shot though...

I gotta admit, while it's still a little amp & could never keep up with big iron amps, my Mini Jube sounds pretty good for a little amp, or I think so anyway...

[JD01]

I think the mini-jube is a fucking great amp. It made my list of top 3 amps for under 1000 quid when I was shopping last month.

[ocnor]

From all the "reviews" I've heard of that amp, I think your Jubilee is way better.

It's starting to look that way dude, I'd like to give these new amps a fair shot though...

I gotta admit, while it's still a little amp & could never keep up with big iron amps, my Mini Jube sounds pretty good for a little amp, or I think so anyway...

For a little amp it sounds pretty damn good.

[Minerman]

Here's a much better demo of the 20w Origin...This is the combo with a 10" speaker, but he does engage the boost around 2:07 or so...It's got more gain on tap than the other video because the dude didn't engage the boost...I would definitely need a pedal hitting the front end to get into the Chupa's gain levels, but that's not a big deal for me, because I'm eventually gonna buy a couple dirt pedals even if I don't buy one of these amps anyway...He also cycles through the different power settings, & it definitely cuts the loudness...$550 for the 20w or $650 for the 50w is pretty reasonable IMO...

This is a much better sounding demo, but I'm still not 100% sold on it, I need to hear the 50w through a proper cab, so maybe there is hope for these new amps...

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVxOnk7nIIY[/BBvideo]

[ocnor]

It's a better demo but the amp still sounds like ass.

[Minerman]

It's a better demo but the amp still sounds like ass.

I don't think it's terrible man, but I'm still on the fence about 'em...

This ain't my clip, but it's supposed to be a Ceriatone 2202 > G12M > cheap condenser & V30 > '57...Supposedly no post EQ or compression on the guitar track, just straight in...



I think this sounds pretty good, the 2202 was what I was gonna buy when I ran across the used Mini Jubilee I have now...This has sparked my interest in the 2202 again...The 6V6 power tubes are what I'm not sure about, but I do know Ceriatone makes killer amps, so the little 20w JCM clone might be great too...

[Greg_L]

I'm less and less impressed with the Origin with the more reviews I hear. It's not a good "hot" amp. It's fine for bluesy crunch. But it's higher gain sound is kind of ass.

[muttley]

I'm less and less impressed with the Origin with the more reviews I hear. It's not a good "hot" amp. It's fine for bluesy crunch. But it's higher gain sound is kind of ass.

Thats what all the Fender stuff is and why if you want that get Fender... and why they are my go to... Horses for courses..

[Greg_L]

Thats what all the Fender stuff is and why if you want that get Fender... and why they are my go to... Horses for courses..

There are some Marshalls that do the bluesy crunch thing really well. Not surprisingly, their guts are pretty much Fender Bassmans.