Have you found “your” amp in the FM3?

la noise said:
Nice to see all the Marshall and Marshall flavoured love in this thread. No idea why
those amps became the iconic forces in music that they did. ;)
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Being a proud owner of two JCM800 half stacks loaded with EVM12Ls since mid 90's I completely understand why they are so iconic, they just sound soooo gooood... imo...
 
FAS Modern III. I never gave any of the FAS models a chance on my Ultra or my II, but then I saw a thread post raving about how good they were. So I fired up the FM3 and tried the Modern III and wow it did not disappoint.

Das Metall and Deliverance are also up there. For cleans: always the Jazz Chorus.
 
I've been living and breathing on a preset I built around the USA Lead Mid Gain for like 3 weeks now. Haven't needed anything else and it plays well with all of my "metal" guitars.

For bluesy stuff I looove the Dirty Shirley. Haven't found "the one" for cleans yet, and I'm sure the high gain favorite will change eventually.
 
Shiva Clean for cleans.

5150 50W Blue for rhythm (sometimes I push with a FAS boost in the preamp section when playing a combination of rhythm and lead lines). Red channel is great when I want that next level of gain.

SLO 100 for leads and when I want an absolutely massive sound.

Plenty of other great models that I play around with, like the Friedman’s, 1959 SLPs, several of the FAS models, Uberschall, Archon, JP2C, etc..

No shortage of options for sure, but the first 3 (4 if you count the 5150 Red) are my go-to’s :)
 
Just too many great flavors to choose a single amp. I like to live on the edge of breakup with a good pedal and boost for juice. I think if I had to choose just one it would be the Deluxe Reverb with York Audio IRs. Takes so many different drive pedals well and can really roar if you give it enough juice. That said - depending on the day I go to any of the following:

Very Clean - A mixture of recommended stock cabs works great with these models. I like a 1x12 of some sort thrown in the mix to focus the mids and keep the woof to a minimum.
  • Bandmaster
  • Bogner Shiva
  • Carol Ann Triptik Clean

Edge of Breakup to Crunch - respective cabs vary, but I love YA Matchless and Deluxe Reverb cabs or the Ownhammer MRBW 4x12 for the JTM-style amps.
  • Deluxe Verb Vibrato
  • Princeton Reverb
  • AC20 EF86
  • DC30 EF86
  • 59 Bassman
  • Carol Ann OD2
  • JTM45
  • Dirty Shirley
High Gain - Love the YA Friedman 4x12 cab mixed with the Ownhammer MRBW 4x12 for these. I find all of these benefit from a good dose of low cut and aggressive high cut in the cab block to tame the fizziness.
  • Cornfed 50
  • IIC++
  • Atomica High
  • Tucana Lead
 
FPFL said:
The IR is more of the sound than the amp for me. With the right IR or two I can dial in a lot of amps to "my sound".
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Couldn't agree more. It's a lesson I learned this past year, but wish I learned 5 years ago when I got my first FAS product.

I actually tend to leave amps at stock settings (except for extreme cases like a IIC+), find the right IR to get the sound I like (often a stereo blend of 5153 57 and 121) and make slight EQ adjustments from there.
 
I would describe it this over-simple way... the amp gives you most of the feel, the cab is most of the sound.
They interact with each other so 1+1 does equal 2.5 in this case, but that is the last mile concern, for once you've gotten both in the ballpark.
 
I'm finding new things I like just about any time I decide to dive in and tone search. What I'm loving currently: Fryette D60 less set with the master cranked and the gain knobs low for an amazing clean sound. The more channel is great too, especially with an Eternal Love drive in front as a boost. It gets a great metal rhythm tone.

6CA7 Plexi 50W is also a gem. With an HSS strat I can go from clear, glassy clean to a very nice lead sound with a pickup change and some volume knob manipulation. I played an entire set yesterday using only that model. Two of my band mates independently approached me to tell me they loved the sounds I was getting.
 
Mine tend to change depending on the week. Initially I was all about the Friedmans and then I was onto the Mesa's, occasionally I have a Diezel week. Lately it's been the 6160 block letter because it's just such a tried and true classic for the chugs. Though I find myself missing the MKIV grind a bit.

This is precisely why I wanted the AxeFX. I can never just pick one amp and be satisfied for longer than a few hours. Once I've gotten one tone, I'm ready to move onto the next one.
 
I could live permanently on any of the tried and true Marshall amp models. The
way they can go from clean to mean (often with a boost in front) lets me relax,
kick back, and enjoy the ride, while not having to toe-tap and do the footswitch shuffle.

I don't have to, but I could. :)
 
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