Mesa Amp + Pedal for Marshall Tone

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Boogie Bill

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I use Mark IIIs and a Mark IVA combos. What pedals can I use in front of my Mesa to give me more of a Marshall crunch tone?

Here are some I've heard about:

MI Crunch Box
Box of Rock
Radial Hot British and Plexi-Tube
Carl Martin Plexitone
Tech 21 British
Marshall Guv'nor or Jackhammer

I don't need a ton of gain...it's that certain tonality that only a Marshall seems to have, that I want for a change of pace.

Got any ideas?

TIA

Bill
 
Marks are specifically designed to NOT sound like Marshall. But why let that stop you? :lol:

What Marshall sound do you want? AC/DC, Van Halen, hair metal, or full-shred metal?
 
R2 is s'posed to be the "Marshall" sound.
Least that's what the catalog sales pitch was.
But that was long ago and far away.
As stated, now there's more than one Marshall sound.
Even Marshall makes three different overdrive pedals.
 
elvis said:
Marks are specifically designed to NOT sound like Marshall. But why let that stop you? :lol:

What Marshall sound do you want? AC/DC, Van Halen, hair metal, or full-shred metal?

I'm thinking more in terms of crunch rhythm, so Malcolm's tone would be a good start. I'm not into metal--but AC/DC, Free, Allman Bros., Eddie, and beyond.... sure. Whatdya got?

Got to love that Plexi on 8 tone. I owned a JCM 800 4010 with EL34s and I've played though 900s quite a bit. There's just a shift in the bass--a tightness that I'm not getting with the Marks.

Bill
 
Boogie Bill said:
elvis said:
Marks are specifically designed to NOT sound like Marshall. But why let that stop you? :lol:

What Marshall sound do you want? AC/DC, Van Halen, hair metal, or full-shred metal?

I'm thinking more in terms of crunch rhythm, so Malcolm's tone would be a good start. I'm not into metal--but AC/DC, Free, Allman Bros., Eddie, and beyond.... sure. Whatdya got?

Got to love that Plexi on 8 tone. I owned a JCM 800 4010 with EL34s and I've played though 900s quite a bit. There's just a shift in the bass--a tightness--that I'm not getting with the Marks.

Bill
 
The pedals Laskyman recommended are good. You might also see what a plain old graphic EQ can do for you. It can get you those final tweaking steps to getting there. The OCD gets a pretty VH-ish tone into a clean channel as well. What are your amp's tone settings?
 
As for amp settings, I'm pretty much setting both my Mark IIIs and the Mark IV in the recommended sweet spots. Both use EVMs, and I use the EVM Theile cab underneath.

Bill
 
I wrote a couple of years ago about getting a Marshall-esque tone on the Recto's clean channel set to Pushed with an EQ and/or an overdrive in front to push it over the edge. I'd be curious if some of you tried it out with your favorite pedals mentioned in this thread and see what you get.

Here's the thread:

http://www.forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5271
 
I own two of the pedals you listed, which are the Radial ToneBone Plexitube and the Zvex Box of Rock. The former is quite high gain, giving you more of a modern Marshall distortion, like a modded Plexi, but with the gain of JCM800, and possibly beyond. The latter is more of a JTM45 sounding pedal. The clean boost side is rather transparent, and helps push the amp further...
 
I have one of those and get a really marshall-esque sound through my mkIII. crunch, crunch, crunch
:)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINT-Vintage-Marshall-Drivemaster-Drive-master-guitar-effects-pedal-/150819544734?pt=Guitar&hash=item231d8b9e9e
 
Chris McKinley said:
I wrote a couple of years ago about getting a Marshall-esque tone on the Recto's clean channel set to Pushed with an EQ and/or an overdrive in front to push it over the edge. I'd be curious if some of you tried it out with your favorite pedals mentioned in this thread and see what you get.

Here's the thread:

http://www.forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5271

Chris,

You and I are on the exact same wavelength..... Excellent post RE: your link. I'm bumping it because it deserves to be read. I'll post-reply when I get the chance.
 
Thank ye kindly, Blaklynx. The open voicing of the Clean Pushed channel is kind of a sleeper benefit of the Rectos that most users probably aren't really aware of. Yeah, it's not exactly the same as a Marshall, but it does the job just fine if you know how to tweak it.
 
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