Getting at my 2205 sound

grandinq

grandinq

Power User
So the other day I was pondering selling my Marshall JCM 800 2205 head. I haven't used it in years, and even then I had been using it only as a power amp for my Pods. I originally got the Axe just for recording, but it sounds so amazing I've been trying to figure out how to make it into my live rig as well. Since the good FRFR speakers are expensive, that's why I was thinking about selling the 2205 head.

I plugged straight into the head and my 1960a cab the other day to see if it still worked in case I do sell it. Needless to say within a few minutes of tweaking I was reminded of its great sound. I then thought about the Brit 800 sounds I had been creating on the Axe. I liked them, but now I wanted to see if I could get something close to my Marshall sound that I had used over the years.

For my first step in creating a patch I turned off the Bright Switch. That muddied things up a bit, and even though I didn't want the tone as bright as when the Bright Switch is on, I needed some more brightness. What worked for me the most was finding a cab that came close, and then adjusting the Hi Cut on the cab. Some GEQ boost at 2k and 4k helped, and then for me the final touch was adding more Dynamic Presence.

It felt like it took awhile, but it was probably 20 minutes. I did two attempts, one with Amp and Cab X, another with Amp and Cab Y. The Y pair sounded the most like the real deal to me.

I am sure that for all the veteran users, there was nothing new here. It's just been such an amazing adventure I wanted to share it.

I added the patch to AxeChange. It's called 800 my 2205 in Y.

I tried to upload it here but got an error message.

I also wanted to add a Soundcloud link but I can't. This is only the 4th time I've created a thread, so perhaps that is the reason?
 
Thank for sharing.

I haven't done an A/B with my JCM800 in a while. Will be cool to try out your preset.

Do you know what speakers are in your 1960a?
 
Thx man !


I have a 2205 as well which started gathering dust when I got my Splawn QR which started gathering dust when I got my Fractal.


In 2012.


Now they are gathering dust next to a Mesa Triple Recto.
 
You know what you could have done ws changed the bright cap value to get it brighter but not as bright as the default one. If there is one thing the Ax and Axe have it is options
 
+1. Lower bright cap values will pass less treble compared to higher values. The Bright control (knob not switch) also works well to add or reduce overall brightness too.
 
Interesting to compare real amps with the AFX; I did the same A/B experiments as you did with my Marshall 2204 -> 4x12 and my Orange Rocker 30 -> 4x12 and got the AFX to pretty much clone them. Great thread and doing that is a fun adventure for sure.

I retubed/rebiased one of my 2204's (I have a head and a combo) a couple of years ago and haven't turned them on since. Can get a sweet Marshall 70s/80s sound out of the Fractal so I've not felt the need to revisit them. They have sentimental value for me so it would be hard to sell them (bought the 20th Anniversary stack brand new in 1983 and that was the amp I used for decades).
 
Gregmang said:
Thx man !


I have a 2205 as well which started gathering dust when I got my Splawn QR which started gathering dust when I got my Fractal.


In 2012.


Now they are gathering dust next to a Mesa Triple Recto.
Click to expand...

Interesting about gathering dust. That's the reason I thought about selling the 2205 and getting a Friedman ASM 12.

I notice, though, that though your amps are gathering dust, you still have them. What is it about the real amps that it is hard to let them go? I can't imagine changing up my rig to just be the 2205. So why do I keep it? Aesthetically, it's beautiful to look at, but I have it and the cab covered up, so it can't be that. Is it this nagging feeling that I might need it someday? Is it the fact that I bought it 25 years ago and just can't let go of something I've had that long?
 
Sentimental reasons and aesthetics - just like you.


I know it's ridiculous but.....


Fired up the Splawn recently and loved it but quickly quickly felt limited....
 
The 2205 actually has a solidstate diode as part of its distortion circuit. You could turn on the saturation switch (to auth) to get the same kind of solid state meets tube drive.

I also had a 2205 and a 1960 cab way back when. I switched the speakers in the cab to G12H30 Anniversary. Sounded much better IMO. But I loved the amp. The drive sounds were sooooo organic and the cleans were just wonderful.

Actually the Brit Silver is more akin to the 2205 than the brit 800. The brit 800 is based on the Marshall 2204, which is a completely different circuit (basically a Super Lead with more gain and an added master volume), so you might be able to come real close with the Brit Silver.
 
I agree a million times - I never like the G12M25's (except that there are quite a few IRs of the G12M speakers that I actually like - Go figure)
 
Stratoblaster said:
Interesting to compare real amps with the AFX; I did the same A/B experiments as you did with my Marshall 2204 -> 4x12 and my Orange Rocker 30 -> 4x12 and got the AFX to pretty much clone them. Great thread and doing that is a fun adventure for sure.
Click to expand...

Would you mind sharing your Rocker 30 preset, or at least sharing what model you used as a starting point? I have a R30 combo, great amp, and have tried to get close to its sound with both the RV50 model and various marshalls, but not close enough to claim to have cloned it.
 
Smittefar said:
The 2205 actually has a solidstate diode as part of its distortion circuit. You could turn on the saturation switch (to auth) to get the same kind of solid state meets tube drive.

I also had a 2205 and a 1960 cab way back when. I switched the speakers in the cab to G12H30 Anniversary. Sounded much better IMO. But I loved the amp. The drive sounds were sooooo organic and the cleans were just wonderful.

Actually the Brit Silver is more akin to the 2205 than the brit 800. The brit 800 is based on the Marshall 2204, which is a completely different circuit (basically a Super Lead with more gain and an added master volume), so you might be able to come real close with the Brit Silver.
Click to expand...
I will give this a try today!
 
HiveMind said:
Would you mind sharing your Rocker 30 preset, or at least sharing what model you used as a starting point? I have a R30 combo, great amp, and have tried to get close to its sound with both the RV50 model and various marshalls, but not close enough to claim to have cloned it.
Click to expand...

I did that several versions of firmware ago and don't have the preset anymore, but when I want to cop the vibe of the Rocker 30 I start out with the RV50 model. I dial the Input Trim down, play with the Negative Feedback and the power amp advanced parameters to bring it into more of a cathode bias power amp running closer to Class A operation; I'm pretty sure the RV30 is a cathode biased amp vs a fixed bias amp like the RV50.

This link talks about the cathode bias parameters:

http://wiki.fractalaudio.com/axefx2/index.php?title=AMP_block_parameters#TUBE_BIAS
 
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