Marshalls sound bad

D

Deadlifts_n_Riffs

Member
Got an odd thing here.

all the high gain Marshall models (J800, JVM, FAS Hot Rod) sound really dark and fuzzy. Almost like a fuzz pedal is running in the front end.

Can’t seem to dial out the boom and fuzz without turning the lows down to where it sounds like a transistor radio.

I don’t believe my pickups are clipping the input too much (pick attack gets red but otherwise it’s under) so am I missing something?
 
Post a preset, it'll help others to assess what may be going on.

It would also help by providing info on your listening equipment/environment
 
Deadlifts_n_Riffs said:
Got an odd thing here.

all the high gain Marshall models (J800, JVM, FAS Hot Rod) sound really dark and fuzzy. Almost like a fuzz pedal is running in the front end.

Can’t seem to dial out the boom and fuzz without turning the lows down to where it sounds like a transistor radio.

I don’t believe my pickups are clipping the input too much (pick attack gets red but otherwise it’s under) so am I missing something?
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You're asking us to guess how your presets and system are configured. Attach a preset and the system config backup to your question so we can all work from the same information.
 
Check out Eric Johnson's rig 2018 rundown. He has presence on 0, bass on 3, middle a little over 2, treble on 0, and both volumes jumped on 10 on one Marshall; and presence on 0, bass on 4, middle on 2, treble on 0, and both volumes on 10 on the other Marshall. I usually have the bass between 0 and 4 on Marshalls.

Try different cab choices. You can also cut the lows and highs in the cab block itself. Make sure nothing is clipping anywhere in your gain staging.

 
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IRs are indeed important. And you can add low cuts in any of a dozen different ways and locations.

But on MV amps like the high gain Marshalls, try turning down the MV a lot, like all the way down. You'll hear the bloat clear up. Add just enough back to get however much low end you need.

I find I'm running MV very low on almost everything now.
 
trancegodz said:
Check out Eric Johnson's rig 2018 rundown. He has presence on 0, bass on 3, middle a little over 2, treble on 0, and both volumes jumped on 10 on one Marshall; and presence on 0, bass on 4, middle on 2, treble on 0, and both volumes on 10 on the other Marshall. I usually have the bass between 0 and 4 on Marshalls.

Try different cab choices. You can also cut the lows and highs in the cab block itself. Make sure nothing is clipping anywhere in your gain staging.

Click to expand...


Marshalls at the Axe-FX sound good without the need to copy Eric Johnson's settings.

The OP must post his preset and a description of all his system. Otherwise we are guessing in vain.
 
Yes, agree, you shouldn't need to dial in Eric Johnson or do too much tweaking. The Marshall models sound good on mine just pulling up the factory preset settings. The new scenes on some of these are really great.
 
trancegodz said:
He has presence on 0, bass on 3, middle a little over 2, treble on 0, and both volumes jumped on 10 on one Marshall; and presence on 0, bass on 4, middle on 2, treble on 0, and both volumes on 10 on the other Marshall. I usually have the bass between 0 and 4 on Marshalls.
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… and remember that the knobs on amps don’t directly correlate with the knobs on a modeler unless we’re talking about 0 or 10. Ears over eyes.
 
I've also heard people complain that Marshall's sound bad for years on different forums. But they're still one of the most popular amp makers in the world so someone must like them.



But yes, a preset and some extra info on your setup will help. Likely a config or setup issue somewhere.
 
JWDubois said:
IRs are indeed important. And you can add low cuts in any of a dozen different ways and locations.

But on MV amps like the high gain Marshalls, try turning down the MV a lot, like all the way down. You'll hear the bloat clear up. Add just enough back to get however much low end you need.

I find I'm running MV very low on almost everything now.
Click to expand...

Yup. Headrooom is crucial. I like the added dynamics that lower MV settings
bring to the table, too.
 
Man, the Marshalls are bright even w my hamburger 🍔 PUs. In fact it’s really quite nice to have the volume knob on the guitar works so well with the updated amp modeling. Even at mostly stock settings I can roll back the volume to 5-6 or so and get a wide variety of tones between there and 10; super.

Is your volume knob up? Probably… but just asking
 
Piing said:
Marshalls at the Axe-FX sound good without the need to copy Eric Johnson's settings.
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I totally agree. I don't use his settings. Not a bad place to start though as most people think Eric has a good sound.

The OP was complaining about boom. I just wanted to point out that Eric has his bass set on 3 or 4. I usually set the bass on Marshalls in the Axe FX somewhere between 0 and 4 myself.

I suggest to the OP to try different IR's until he finds one that sounds good to him with the guitar he uses. No problem with boom at all if you choose the right cab. The right cab makes all the difference.
 
I find the 1959SLP Normal and Plexi channels extremely dark at stock settings but I figure that's the way they are irl - the more modern marshalls are on the bright side to my ear.
 
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