Dialling in the Marshalls

2112

Axe-Master
Next in line for a series of amp tutorials is the mighty Marshall range. Since we have so many to choose from, I've broken these up into 4 parts that i'll be releasing over the next week or so.

I grew up on Marshall amps so a lot of these tips and tricks will seem obvious, but if you haven't had much experience with Marshalls in the real world then I hope these videos can help you dial them in to your taste. I did a video a few months back with my JTM45 head that went over well, so it felt like a good amp to start with on the III.

Furthermore, if you haven't read the amazing amp guide by @yek, do it! Hopefully this can serve as an audio/visual supplement to what he's put together in the guide.





 
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Will watch the video later today, but would love a tutorial on getting more power amp crunch than preamp crunch. When I play through my 1987X reissue - it gets more of a crunchy sound than a fizzy sound. I run the Master at 10 and lower the gain to under 4 but still cannot get that grind. I've come close in the past when A/Bing with my old AXEII [Mark1] going through a CLR, Atomic 50, or ASM12.

I do have to admit that the AXE3 combined with Austin's patches have blown me away - and this is a Fractal owner since 2008. Cliff and C0 really have made a magical box. Last night I went through the stock presets and they sounded significantly better than the Axe2 similar patches. I have no idea where Cliff & Co can go from here. It is like Fender making the original Bassman and Marshall making the JTM/Plexi - nailed it.
 
Furthermore, if you haven't read the amazing amp guide by @yek, do it! Hopefully this can serve as an audio/visual supplement to what he's put together in the guide.

I’m on Zanzibar at the moment and have taken a printed copy of the guide with me, meaning to read through it now and then and mark sections in need of an update. So far I haven’t even made it to page 2. :)
 
Leon..... I really don't like you right now. I'm at work and watching this video during lunch and it's making me want to go home and fire up my Axe-III and play so bad I can't concentrate on my work!!

Great videos as usual. I learn SO much from you. Greatly appreciate it!
 
Sounds great, i think Output EQ set to Passive in amp block is a great tool for mix ready tones. Most of the time when we hear the guitars isolated, tones that sound good have a hard time cutting through the mix.

How often is this the case: you bring the tracks for mixing, and engineer cuts lows, highs and add mids to your guitar.

This is how i set the passive eq most of the time: Lows and Highs all the way down (though if you already use the Low and HiCut in Cab block, effect of this setting is almost nothing to subtle) and add somewhere around 1dB to Mids and High Mids. The part with the Mids is the trick for me to cut through on stage or in studio.

5 Band passive EQ rules and its super musical.

note: lately i start seeing the amp tone controls more and more as a tool to get the right break up, distortion, compression from amp (i am mostly talking about non master volume amps and hiwatt).
and the real tone shaping, i do with the EQ in amp block or with other tools (filter, parametric or graph eq) after the Cab block.
 
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Oh yes! Thank you for the "ML Legends" shoutout. I loved the sounds you got out of that IR. Did you get to try the different speakers as well? Thinking about this series just makes me think... H55 for Jimi tones... M75 for AC/DC... H75 for Black Sabbath etc. :)

Sorry for the promo here but those IR's that Leon mentioned just got released and if you're interested you can read more here: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...ck-ml-legends-is-out-now.143500/#post-1698259
 
Heck yeah, plexis-for-cleans bro!

I've thought for a long time there is no more perfect slightly broken up clean/blues tone you'll get than with a good plexi. Not even Fenders can touch them for that kind of sound.
 
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I’m on Zanzibar at the moment and have taken a printed copy of the guide with me, meaning to read through it now and then and mark sections in need of an update. So far I haven’t even made it to page 2. :)
OMG .... I'm so disappointed in you

FFS ..... it's Zanzibar ..... enjoy it to the full and put that printout in your suitcase until you get home.
 
Thanks again Leon!

I like the AC/DC bit, so many folks give it too much gain. Nice *chunk*. The treble booster was inspired.

I did find a nice lane for some of the middle gain tones. Sheryl Crow's 'First Cut..' played nicely on that.

These are hugely appreciated! (From an admittedly Marshall devotee.)

Ron

(If you know your Perth celebrity's...I actually used to dip tobacco with Luc Longley back at UNM...in the day...coming from Scotch College? Don't know why that stuck in my head.)
 
Thanks again Leon!

I like the AC/DC bit, so many folks give it too much gain. Nice *chunk*. The treble booster was inspired.

I did find a nice lane for some of the middle gain tones. Sheryl Crow's 'First Cut..' played nicely on that.

These are hugely appreciated! (From an admittedly Marshall devotee.)

Ron

(If you know your Perth celebrity's...I actually used to dip tobacco with Luc Longley back at UNM...in the day...coming from Scotch College? Don't know why that stuck in my head.)

Luc is a local legend, pretty much synonymous with Basketball here. I think he's the national coach now small world hey!
 
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