Mark IV Marshall JCM800 -esque tone

[Mantis]

I was looking for a nice tone on my Mark IV hardwood 1x12 combo.

But then this happened...
I have an old Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks.
So I connected the Marshall cab and this is what I came up with:
(lead channel only)

Lead gain: 4, pull fat
Lead treble: 9.5
lead bass: 1.5
Lead mid: 3
Lead drive: 9, bright in
Presence: 7, pull shift

with the EQ as follows:
80Hz: just under top horizontal line
240 Hz: just above middle horizontal line
750 Hz: about halfway between bottom and mid horizontal line
2200 Hz: Just above bottom horizontal line
6600 Hz: between the 750Hz and 2200 Hz level

I disconnected the EV speaker, as I liked the rock tone of the Greenbacks more.
Just try it out.
And tell me: should I buy a Marshall or what is wrong with me??

But really: what am I doing here: the treble is all the way up, so bass and middle don't do very much anymore. Tone circuit is in fact replaced by the 5way EQ, post gain stages. Very Marshall-esque.

It's a very nice tone.
And no matter what I do I always find myself looking for very similar tones. So SHOULD I just buy a Marshall??

 

[lyman]

sounds like you're enjoying the tones you're getting from the mark, why not keep it? it's a more versatile amp than a lot of marshalls, not a knock on them as they may do one thing but they do it great! if you want the mesa tones, stick with the combo and then hook up the greenback cab for when you want to get your marshall on!

 

[Mantis]

I guess you're right about that...
At least I can get some good tone out of it.

But then again, while it sounds great with the 4x12, lugging around a big box is one thing, lugging around a big box + a small combo (that happens to weigh almost as much as the big box anyway) is another.

Maybe a Mark IV head would be better for me...
Hm.

Another remark: the setting of the 5way EQ is kinda specific, and doesn't sound so good with the rhythm channels. I prefer a standard smiley setting for clean and crunch.
Maybe a Quad + 2:90 or 50/50 would work for me?
The Quad has 2 graphic EQ's. I could use both settings for dedicated channels.
How far off is the sound of a Quad + 2:90 as compared to a Mark IV?

 

[Mr_You]

Yes, if you want true Marshall tone, check out the JVM 410H. I still gotta dump these fizzy chinese tubes though.

Oh also, you can find it for near $1300 on the used market. Keep your Mark IV till you're decided.

 

[Mantis]

aha! You HAVE a JVM...
Are you happy with it?

 

[Mr_You]

Yeah its kinda addictive. But I wouldn't doubt if I say that about most well made tube amps.

I mainly use it like such with the EQs around 12:00 except for OD2:

Clean Green
Crunch Red w/ Gain at 3:00 = My "plexi" tone.
OD1 Orange w/ Gain at 10:00 = My "jcm800" tone.
OD2 Red w/ Gain at 10:00 and mids cranked = My "modern Marshall" tone.

I'm switching between rhythm and lead volumes using Masters 1 and 2.
I use my volume knob here and there and found a cool fuzzbox-like tone from my guitars tone knob on 0 using my OD2 tone.

I've never been a fan of the stock chinese preamp tubes manufacturers use these days (great for nu-metal tone), so most amps are sounding fizzy from the factory, but the JVM does come with SED Winged C EL34s which are considered some of the best today.

 

[deftone82]

It's been awhile since this got posted! I just recently bumped in to this!

I was wondering which guitar you (TS) play and which pups in it?
And I would like to know how the 4x12 greenbacks sounds in comparison with the combo's speaker? Is it completely different or somewhat alike?

Next to that, which tubes have you got installed? And what about power: full/tweed, triode/pentode and simul or A-class?

thank a lot for the info!

cheers

 

[Mantis]

Hey...
It's been a while since this got posted.

In the mean time, I replaced the Mark IV with a Quad + Simil 395.
With the 4x12 Greenbacks.
best setup I EVER had.
It works for me. I can use the 2 different 5-way eq's for clean >< lead tone sahping.
I get a perfect shimmering warm clean tone from the Rhythm1, Lead 1 is like a fender on speed.
Rhythm 2 is brown Marshall crunch (ACDC) and Lead two sounds essentially the same, but with a lot more gain.

The 4x12 Greenbacks sound considerably different.
More rock.
Huge. Think Warmth in stead of definition versus the EV.
And a bit more compressed.

I use one half of the 395 in Class A, the other in simul.
One side is a bit brighter than the other... nice stereo.

 

[deftone82]

That's a serious setup! I think it's a little to big for me since I don't do any stagework (yet!!).

I'm planning changing some stuff on my current setup, but I don't know where to start...pups, external speaker, pedal.

ps: what guitar do you play and what style of music?

thank you!

 

[Mantis]

I used to play a PRS Custom.
great combination with a Boogie...

But now I mostly play a Les Paul and a gretsch Country Club.
The Gretsch: because I'm playing in a Rockabilly band lately.
A lot of fun!
The PRS was more allround.
But for Classic rock, nothing beats the Les Paul.
I used to play classic rock, blues and some jazz.

I wouldn't go for this big setup if I didn't have a combo too for smaller gigs / rehearsals.
The Simul 395 only comes out on stage...

But it makes a huge difference.
also very helpful: since it's a stereo amp, I mike one side for PA and can use the other side as monitor.
So I can change volume as much as I want without influencing the PA volume...

Cheers!