I get that. In the same boat. However…. I gave up trying to figure it out. Retired from work. Now I sit around all day watching reruns of Food Network and HGTV shows and the occasional Cubs game.
50 years -- -does it make a difference?
- Thread starter eSGEe
- Start date
It's 6:30am here and just barely light. I've been drilling on the guitar since 4:30am, pretty much my usual daily routine...
I don't know really...
Vintage stuff, or reissues of vintage stuff...what has really changed over the years other than manufacturing techniques???
I've never found any old vintage piece of equipment that I felt like I needed.
One of the studio's where I work has a Marshall JCM800 2204 and a very early Fender Blackface.
Neither one is even remotely remarkable.
Another studio has Trainwrecks and McIntosh amps on premise. Nothing even remotely special about them, except bragging rights over the price tag.
We were recording yesterday and there was a group of us session guys sitting around talking and listening to old tracks, eating Wasabi pistachios and screaming yellow zonkers.
Some of these dudes have worked with the likes of Glen Campbell and Elvis/TCB, and made a living doing session work, even before I was born.
Funny thing is, each time someone commented favorably on a particular guitar tone (from one of my older recordings) it was either played on my 1999 Marshall MG50 or my Line 6 HD-75.
Lesson Learned - People will often try to invent a theory to support their likes or justify their purchase(s), but pure objective 'blind tone comparison' is the ultimate factor and every single time, the guys who promote the high dollar boutique equipment never get it right...
Be careful what you listen for - you just might hear it...
By far, the most used amp in that group of guys was the Roland JC-120. When asked what made that amp so good, I got this answer:
"We'll, we got them for free from our label (Capitol) and they worked good with a keyboard, so we used them for everything...."
I was playing yesterday (at the music academy's live sound sessions) through my Marshall Origin 50H, custom board and custom 2x12 cabinet, and one of the other instructors was playing through a Line 6 combo, one through a Princeton and another through a Boss Katana.
The solid state amps had much more color and depth and overall, the songs sounded better, especially on the cleaner songs where you can really hear the clarity and definition, and the newer amps just sounded more multidimensional, especially with such a wide range of genres being performed.
Now, I prefer my tube head and full pedalboard, be it nostalgic or whatever, but its hard to beat what is being produced today.
What I like about my rig is that I can set the master on 8 and not have to turn the guitar down...the rig is perfectly controllable. No noise. No feedback. Zero. Nada. It took a long time to get there, so I'm in no hurry to change things and start over again from scratch.
If I had to draw a comparison between the newer and the older amps, I would say the new amps make the vintage stuff sound like the single speaker in Grandma's Country Squire wagon in comparison...very one dimensional.
Vintage stuff, or reissues of vintage stuff...what has really changed over the years other than manufacturing techniques???
I've never found any old vintage piece of equipment that I felt like I needed.
One of the studio's where I work has a Marshall JCM800 2204 and a very early Fender Blackface.
Neither one is even remotely remarkable.
Another studio has Trainwrecks and McIntosh amps on premise. Nothing even remotely special about them, except bragging rights over the price tag.
We were recording yesterday and there was a group of us session guys sitting around talking and listening to old tracks, eating Wasabi pistachios and screaming yellow zonkers.
Some of these dudes have worked with the likes of Glen Campbell and Elvis/TCB, and made a living doing session work, even before I was born.
Funny thing is, each time someone commented favorably on a particular guitar tone (from one of my older recordings) it was either played on my 1999 Marshall MG50 or my Line 6 HD-75.
Lesson Learned - People will often try to invent a theory to support their likes or justify their purchase(s), but pure objective 'blind tone comparison' is the ultimate factor and every single time, the guys who promote the high dollar boutique equipment never get it right...
Be careful what you listen for - you just might hear it...
By far, the most used amp in that group of guys was the Roland JC-120. When asked what made that amp so good, I got this answer:
"We'll, we got them for free from our label (Capitol) and they worked good with a keyboard, so we used them for everything...."
I was playing yesterday (at the music academy's live sound sessions) through my Marshall Origin 50H, custom board and custom 2x12 cabinet, and one of the other instructors was playing through a Line 6 combo, one through a Princeton and another through a Boss Katana.
The solid state amps had much more color and depth and overall, the songs sounded better, especially on the cleaner songs where you can really hear the clarity and definition, and the newer amps just sounded more multidimensional, especially with such a wide range of genres being performed.
Now, I prefer my tube head and full pedalboard, be it nostalgic or whatever, but its hard to beat what is being produced today.
What I like about my rig is that I can set the master on 8 and not have to turn the guitar down...the rig is perfectly controllable. No noise. No feedback. Zero. Nada. It took a long time to get there, so I'm in no hurry to change things and start over again from scratch.
If I had to draw a comparison between the newer and the older amps, I would say the new amps make the vintage stuff sound like the single speaker in Grandma's Country Squire wagon in comparison...very one dimensional.
Last edited:
Amp Mad Scientist
Ambassador of Heresy
Marshall 2203 does have a unique claim.
The first time that 2 preamp stages were combined together, to create preamp distortion in a guitar amp.
This design has been copied over and over.
It is the basic design for all modern guitar amps. Including Mesa Boogie, Bogner, EVH, and on and on.
It's all the same basic design.
All of these are traceable back to the Fender Bassman cathode follower...(saturation / compressor / limiter tube stage)
which was then improved by Marshall.
After Marshall proved that it was the best design, everybody started using it.
Up until today:
nobody has created a better way.
That's why Mesa and everybody else is using it !
So, if you thought that any particular amp used "superior technology,"
you would be mistaken.
Last edited:
SIx String Chef
Ambassador of Taste
Aren't we all, eSGEe...
I didn't know that fact!@!
I'm excited to get this Origin modded with the extra gain stage. It's gonna sound awesome...