My Favorite Marshall (as of FW 4) What's yours?

[sparkle]

Just got the FM9 and was “redoing” my presets… came across the Brit 20… it “nails” ac/dc…. It cleans up great also for cleaner sounds.. may bump my “vox” amp out of the clean spot

 

[skolacki]

Just got the FM9 and was “redoing” my presets… came across the Brit 20… it “nails” ac/dc…. It cleans up great also for cleaner sounds.. may bump my “vox” amp out of the clean spot

Mikko’s GOT IR sounds great with that amp.

 

[elvis]

SL and Studio 20

I use York greenback 412 IRs with them, either an out of the box mix, or I mix SM57 and R121 IRs. I find LT's cabs to be good, but not exactly what I want.

 

[macfly]

I've done a lot of exploring over the last month! After suggestions from this thread and experimenting with some of the Gift of Tone presets, my current Marshalls are
Brit Studio 20/Brit Silver tonestack > Factory 2 #575 4x12 Brit PR75 160 A1 ML
Brit 800 > Factory 2 #759 4x12 MAR-CB LYN 121 OH
These are made with an Edwards Les Paul Custom using Focal Alpha 65 Evo monitors and then an EV PXM-12MP wedge.
If anybody tries the presets, I'd be interested in your take...I'm coming to find that these Focal monitors have something going on in the mids that may have been messing with the sounds I was getting...thus checking it through the wedge.

Out 1 is eq'd for my IEM.
Out 2 is goes to FOH and the band

 

[elvis]

I've done a lot of exploring over the last month! After suggestions from this thread and experimenting with some of the Gift of Tone presets, my current Marshalls are
Brit Studio 20/Brit Silver tonestack > Factory 2 #575 4x12 Brit PR75 160 A1 ML
Brit 800 > Factory 2 #759 4x12 MAR-CB LYN 121 OH
These are made with an Edwards Les Paul Custom using Focal Alpha 65 Evo monitors and then an EV PXM-12MP wedge.
If anybody tries the presets, I'd be interested in your take...I'm coming to find that these Focal monitors have something going on in the mids that may have been messing with the sounds I was getting...thus checking it through the wedge.

Overall the presets are nice! I like how you use the Filter block for lead boost and mid-focus. I also notice that you have a bandpass in the cab block - I do this almost exactly the same.

Not my taste for tone - I find them a bit wooly, where I tend to use these amps for more mid-focus so that they cut in a mix. I'm sure many people would find my usage to be thin-sounding. My favorite tone is the 800 with the Timmy-Mid, which seems to drop some of the lows.

 

[macfly]

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the constructive perspective...I totally understand that tone is so very subjective. I find a lot of the 800 presets and, for example Leon's cab as well as most of the York stuff to be bright for me. I like it darker and I think "wooly" is a good descriptor for what I'm after. However, I have chased a few avenues to trim out a boomy bloom, especially in the Studio 20 preset, and have played with amp controls including bass and cut, the input frequency, graphic eq, speaker thump, SIP, and cab controls like low cut and slope. I also have a PEQ tweaking a little 160 hz and tried some shelving there too. The "Plexi" preset you auditioned is the closest I'd come to what I like, but I may have found a way to make some more subtle progress without sacrificing the things I like: I went into the cabinet and changed the preamp from "vintage" (which I felt was warming things up a little) to "exciter" and found it to trim a little of the boom out of it, and I still like the mids. Probably means the vintage was overkill. If you get a minute, go into the cab's preamp tab and switch from vintage to exciter and see if that brings my tastes closer to yours LOL. I'd suppose that differences in the speaker you're using, the volume you're playing at, and any number of other things, might account for some differences too. However, I think your perspective is very much in line with how others' presets sound to me...most are bright. For comparison's sake, of all the factory presets, the BE100 v3 is hands down my favorite.

 

[elvis]

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the constructive perspective...I totally understand that tone is so very subjective. I find a lot of the 800 presets and, for example Leon's cab as well as most of the York stuff to be bright for me. I like it darker and I think "wooly" is a good descriptor for what I'm after. However, I have chased a few avenues to trim out a boomy bloom, especially in the Studio 20 preset, and have played with amp controls including bass and cut, the input frequency, graphic eq, speaker thump, SIP, and cab controls like low cut and slope. I also have a PEQ tweaking a little 160 hz and tried some shelving there too. The "Plexi" preset you auditioned is the closest I'd come to what I like, but I may have found a way to make some more subtle progress without sacrificing the things I like: I went into the cabinet and changed the preamp from "vintage" (which I felt was warming things up a little) to "exciter" and found it to trim a little of the boom out of it, and I still like the mids. Probably means the vintage was overkill. If you get a minute, go into the cab's preamp tab and switch from vintage to exciter and see if that brings my tastes closer to yours LOL. I'd suppose that differences in the speaker you're using, the volume you're playing at, and any number of other things, might account for some differences too. However, I think your perspective is very much in line with how others' presets sound to me...most are bright. For comparison's sake, of all the factory presets, the BE100 v3 is hands down my favorite.

I fired it up and I didn't really find much difference with the exciter. I did notice that you have a single cab with R121 mic, which is lacking in mids. I generally run a 57+121 or 57+421. I added the 4x12 MAR-CB LYN 57 OH and it was right in my wheelhouse. With 2 mics you can adjust the relative level to get more of one or the other. You might try adding this cab and setting its level around -5dB or -6dB to get more mid-presence but keep the wool intact.

 

[macfly]

I fired it up and I didn't really find much difference with the exciter. I did notice that you have a single cab with R121 mic, which is lacking in mids. I generally run a 57+121 or 57+421. I added the 4x12 MAR-CB LYN 57 OH and it was right in my wheelhouse. With 2 mics you can adjust the relative level to get more of one or the other. You might try adding this cab and setting its level around -5dB or -6dB to get more mid-presence but keep the wool intact.

Thanks again! I will try that...I have read that the 57/121 combination is somewhat of an industry standard. Every time I try anything with a 57...both in the virtual and real worlds I have found it very harsh...In FAS-land do mess with the relative levels, but I do think I've been learning some things over the past month or so and perhaps training my ear, so I'll give it a legit listen. This one sounds perfect to me in both studio monitors and wedge, so I'm gonna keep it to A/B with the cab mix.

 

[elvis]

Here is my ever-evolving Plexi preset. I threw in the Lynch cabs and a filter block for leads. The cabs sound reasonably close to what I was already using. The Lynch cabs sound HUGE. I use Greenbacks, so more mid-focus.

You might check out what I did with the filter for mids around 300Hz as well.

 

[macfly]

Here is my ever-evolving Plexi preset. I threw in the Lynch cabs and a filter block for leads. The cabs sound reasonably close to what I was already using. The Lynch cabs sound HUGE. I use Greenbacks, so more mid-focus.

You might check out what I did with the filter for mids around 300Hz as well.

Wife's out of the house all day tomorrow, and I'd had a trip cancel, so I have LOTS of time...Looking forward to it! Thank you so much!

 

[elvis]

A couple Tweaks later...

Also, I am playing a PRS P245 for this session.

 

[macfly]

Here is my ever-evolving Plexi preset. I threw in the Lynch cabs and a filter block for leads. The cabs sound reasonably close to what I was already using. The Lynch cabs sound HUGE. I use Greenbacks, so more mid-focus.

You might check out what I did with the filter for mids around 300Hz as well.

It sounds amazing with my LPC in the IEM...I hope it'll sound this good in my speakers!

 

[macfly]

@elvis THANK YOU! I think you've helped me figure out what was nagging me about my amp sounds. Pretty sure my studio monitors are the problem--there was a weird midrange thing going on. Your preset sounded good in my IEM and that usually means it'll sound jacked up in the wedge and monitors. It didn't. It sounded great in the wedge and ok in the monitors. I added a little depth, but not much. I looked at what you'd done in the preset you shared...applied some of that to my other presets (mostly its about cabs and midrange..even have a couple with 57s) and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Can't wait to gig...I have one with each band this weekend so it'll be perfect. I can't thank you enough for downloading my preset and offering advice...I think its taken me to another level!

 

[Jipps0525]

I’m just curiou

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the constructive perspective...I totally understand that tone is so very subjective. I find a lot of the 800 presets and, for example Leon's cab as well as most of the York stuff to be bright for me. I like it darker and I think "wooly" is a good descriptor for what I'm after. However, I have chased a few avenues to trim out a boomy bloom, especially in the Studio 20 preset, and have played with amp controls including bass and cut, the input frequency, graphic eq, speaker thump, SIP, and cab controls like low cut and slope. I also have a PEQ tweaking a little 160 hz and tried some shelving there too. The "Plexi" preset you auditioned is the closest I'd come to what I like, but I may have found a way to make some more subtle progress without sacrificing the things I like: I went into the cabinet and changed the preamp from "vintage" (which I felt was warming things up a little) to "exciter" and found it to trim a little of the boom out of it, and I still like the mids. Probably means the vintage was overkill. If you get a minute, go into the cab's preamp tab and switch from vintage to exciter and see if that brings my tastes closer to yours LOL. I'd suppose that differences in the speaker you're using, the volume you're playing at, and any number of other things, might account for some differences too. However, I think your perspective is very much in line with how others' presets sound to me...most are bright. For comparison's sake, of all the factory presets, the BE100 v3 is hands down my favorite.

I’m just curious but when it comes to tone talk what exactly is bright and dark? I’ve been playing a pretty long time and I think I understand what they’re supposed to mean but when I really try to think about it, I lose my thought. Which famous players have bright tone? Which have dark?

 

[macfly]

To your point, of course its just an imperfect way to talk about sounds, and it is subjective. Dark to me might be bright to you. And then we can talk about tight and loose and wooly and jangly and warm and muddy and fat and ice-picky...

To me Jimi's tone was brighter than Stevie's, but that depends on the song too. I think Malcolm tended to sound darker than Angus, and both of them were darker sounding than the first two. I think Page's tone was darker than Townsends. Silverface Twins are brighter than Tweeds. JCM800s from 80-83 are a little darker/warmer than the late 80s. EVH's earlier brown sound had perfect mids. Humbuckers and Drop C through a Mesa is darker than a vintage Tele in standard tuning through a Twin.

But you may disagree...

 

[LCW]

Have not tried all the Marshalls but really like the JTM (JM) 45. Boosting it with a RAT. I get some nice Kill Em All tones!

 

[macfly]

Have not tried all the Marshalls but really like the JTM (JM) 45. Boosting it with a RAT. I get some nice Kill Em All tones!

I do too. I now have four versions of my "kitchen sink" preset with Marshalls...started with the Studio 20 as the gainy and solo scenes and a JTM45 for the clean and early breakup sounds. I made similar presets with an SLP and JCM800, then realized I needed to make a JTM45 preset.

 

[Jtroop]

Sign me up for this thread! New to Fractal here and still exploring my FM9T, but good Lord!.... I love Marshalls. I am trying to get the JVM Orange and Red that he is getting in the vid below. He doesn't show which cabs he used or the amp settings. What amp settings and more importantly, which cabs should I try to get this JVM tone? Amp settings I can play with (unless it is some of these deep dive tweaks, to which I'm trying to learn).

Looks like the video isn't available when posted in the thread. Search YouTube for
The ULTIMATE Marshall Preset!! Fractal Audio FM9

 

[Jipps0525]

To your point, of course its just an imperfect way to talk about sounds, and it is subjective. Dark to me might be bright to you. And then we can talk about tight and loose and wooly and jangly and warm and muddy and fat and ice-picky...

To me Jimi's tone was brighter than Stevie's, but that depends on the song too. I think Malcolm tended to sound darker than Angus, and both of them were darker sounding than the first two. I think Page's tone was darker than Townsends. Silverface Twins are brighter than Tweeds. JCM800s from 80-83 are a little darker/warmer than the late 80s. EVH's earlier brown sound had perfect mids. Humbuckers and Drop C through a Mesa is darker than a vintage Tele in standard tuning through a Twin.

But you may disagree...

I understand ultimately it’s subjective. But I’m just trying to get a better understanding. How about Slash, does he have a bright or dark tone?

 

[Dave Merrill]

I understand ultimately it’s subjective. But I’m just trying to get a better understanding. How about Slash, does he have a bright or dark tone?

I don't think those words have exact meanings. They're more useful as relative descriptions -- a tele through a twin is brightER than a Les Paul through a bass amp.