What is your favorite amp block for classic Marshall plexi?

Have you guys watched this? Great Marshall stuff! Shows his rig and settings and discusses his studio amps and how they bias them.
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/24660-rig-rundown-acdc

OK, so i see that Angus is plugged into the top left input (I), with associated pot trimmed to 5 and no input to right input (II) and has the associated pot trimmed to full on. So, how should we set the AXE-FX amp re: treble dive, normal drive, and their reletive levels to aproximate the same? There's always a little bleed between channels in the real marshalls, so the (II) input volume knob does respond even though there is nothing plugged into (II), but will the AXE have that bleed too? Either way, anyone know what levels will approximate this setup using the AFX?
 
To op:

100 W Plexi hi
Cab 103, or 54, or any number of others.
Lower bass to 2-3 (will be a little thin/bright but we'll adjust that in a sec)
Raise treble, middle --> I have usually around 6
Presence somewhere between 4-7ish

Set Input to where you hear the amount of high-end stringy-ness that you want. This will be set lower depending on how dark your pups are. Don't worry about the amount of gain, just the clarity of the strings, the articulation of your pick and fingers.

Now use input trim to adjust the amount of dirt you want.

Now, there are a couple addl things to tweak.

Lower Transformer Match to .6-.7 range to open it up a bit. This will also brighten things a bit so you may have to compensate a bit.

Adjust dynamic depth to get some bass response back, but not too much. Just get in the ballpark.

If you like, add a smidge of proximity in the cab block to bring in a little thump (I keep it low 1.5-2.5 depending).

This should get you a range of great Marshall tones.

Regarding cabs, there's a ton to choose from in the included cabs. 102, 103,104, 54, 55, the awesome fractal cab with the 160 on it, and most of the greenback cabs work great. I also like a lot of the new Celestion IRs of their greenbacks and creambacks.

This should give you a baseline from which to adjust depending on guitar/pups/taste/style.

I believe I've read that Angus used JTM's on Back In Black and earlier AC/DC, but I've never had much success getting that kind of sound from the JTM model. I need more time with it.
 
I haven't decided on a favorite yet so thank you all for your suggestions; should be interesting to explore some of the options mentioned here. I tend to go Plexi 50W Treble for cutting into a mix, however I was goofing on the 100 Watt Plexi (#87?) from the latest FAS patches yesterday and having loads of fun. This box is constantly impressive; current beta is sounding killer.
 
6550 or a Jumpered Plexi (I prefer the 50 over the 100), you get two drives and you can mix them to your own liking. Both about 7 should be a good place to start, then dial away... And as always, choose your cab wisely ;)
 
i stumbled on a really nice thin lizzy tone (jailbreak era)

use the 6550 50w and turn the bright switch off
drive to about 5-6
bass to 4
mid to 10
treb to 10
pres to 10

run it into a stereo cab with tv mix #1 and the plexi cab from the larry mitchell sessions (this cab is so vintage sounding!)

it's the closest i've ever gotten, but it doesn't have the incredible almost square wave breakup on the tail of chords, like you can hear on the intro to boys are back in town. anybody know what i can tweak to get that?
 
i stumbled on a really nice thin lizzy tone (jailbreak era)

use the 6550 50w and turn the bright switch off
drive to about 5-6
bass to 4
mid to 10
treb to 10
pres to 10

run it into a stereo cab with tv mix #1 and the plexi cab from the larry mitchell sessions (this cab is so vintage sounding!)

it's the closest i've ever gotten, but it doesn't have the incredible almost square wave breakup on the tail of chords, like you can hear on the intro to boys are back in town. anybody know what i can tweak to get that?
Thank you for sharing (T- Lizz. is one of my all time favorite bands), good question about the tail of the note/chord. I'd like to know that myself.
 
i stumbled on a really nice thin lizzy tone (jailbreak era)

use the 6550 50w and turn the bright switch off
drive to about 5-6
bass to 4
mid to 10
treb to 10
pres to 10

run it into a stereo cab with tv mix #1 and the plexi cab from the larry mitchell sessions (this cab is so vintage sounding!)

it's the closest i've ever gotten, but it doesn't have the incredible almost square wave breakup on the tail of chords, like you can hear on the intro to boys are back in town. anybody know what i can tweak to get that?

Speaker Drive maybe. Or perhaps they were saturating the tape a bit.
 
You guys inspire creativity - I paired the 6550 with the 100W Plexi (#87 FAS preset), and mixed -75L 6550 and 75R 100W per amp for a great stereo preset. It worked far better than I expected. (I'm not sure what I expected, but it sounds GREAT!) Using PRS 57/08 humbuckers.

Will have to try the single coils today and see how well they work.

Drives are currently the TS9 and Ruckus (x/y) but not settled in yet for sure on the "right" combo. Sure is a blast dialing in that patch; headed back to it shortly to make sure I wasn't delusional or something ;) Must also say it sounds so good without drives.
 
Drives are currently the TS9 and Ruckus (x/y) but not settled in yet for sure on the "right" combo. Sure is a blast dialing in that patch; headed back to it shortly to make sure I wasn't delusional or something ;) Must also say it sounds so good without drives.

Try FAS boost and Timothy models. Both play very nicely with any plexi flavored amp.

Read the Wiki below for details on the Timothy controls because they are a little counter-intuitive.

http://wiki.fractalaudio.com/axefx2...8based_on_Timmy_overdrive_by_Paul_Cochrane.29
 
i stumbled on a really nice thin lizzy tone (jailbreak era)

use the 6550 50w and turn the bright switch off
drive to about 5-6
bass to 4
mid to 10
treb to 10
pres to 10

run it into a stereo cab with tv mix #1 and the plexi cab from the larry mitchell sessions (this cab is so vintage sounding!)

it's the closest i've ever gotten, but it doesn't have the incredible almost square wave breakup on the tail of chords, like you can hear on the intro to boys are back in town. anybody know what i can tweak to get that?


on review, i ended up dropping the mid to 5 and the treble to 7.5
the pres control seems to do very little, btw?

i wonder if the quality of the distortion is not amp related (cliff would know), it might be due to an old colorsound booster, which i know they used sometimes?
 
All the varying suggestions here really shouldn't come as a surprise given that most amps trace their pedigree back to the Twin and... the Plexi.
 
OK, so i see that Angus is plugged into the top left input (I), with associated pot trimmed to 5 and no input to right input (II) and has the associated pot trimmed to full on. So, how should we set the AXE-FX amp re: treble dive, normal drive, and their reletive levels to aproximate the same? There's always a little bleed between channels in the real marshalls, so the (II) input volume knob does respond even though there is nothing plugged into (II), but will the AXE have that bleed too? Either way, anyone know what levels will approximate this setup using the AFX?

The AXE does not model this bleeding you're talking about. However, I just saw the schematics, and I doubt there is bleeding at the input because the jack is grounded when not in use. So basically the unused channel's volume would act as a filter. My guess is that turning the knob all the way up would make it sound darker... So maybe just some post preamp EQing would do?

Please someone correct the garbage I just typed.
 
The AXE does not model this bleeding you're talking about. However, I just saw the schematics, and I doubt there is bleeding at the input because the jack is grounded when not in use. So basically the unused channel's volume would act as a filter. My guess is that turning the knob all the way up would make it sound darker... So maybe just some post preamp EQing would do?

Please someone correct the garbage I just typed.

Ya, i checked a number of four input Marshall circuits and they all have different bleed paths and component values that interact between channels. It would be nice to know how to model such bleed. It's probably going to have a different tone than a blend of pure Chan 1 plus a bit of pure Chan 2, but i don't know if that's significant.
 
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