If you learned something in today’s video or have qualms with our findings, tell us below! ⬇ GEAR IN THIS VIDEO ⬇ 1969 Marshall Super Lead 100 R Weaver FX Midnight Vibe (Intro/Outro Jam) - instagram.com/rweaverfx/ Fender Hot Rod Deville ML - bit.ly/3SdqQTz THD Hot Plate Resistive Load/Line Out (4 ohms) - bit.ly/3VKNA0c 1970 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face - bit.ly/3D9UnrR
It may be a gross overstatement but I think our classic rock heroes generally had/used a lot less gain than most ppl today when they try to dial in/mimick those tones.
I bought a modified 1971 Marshall in 1992. It had what looked like the "Rhoads" mod: channels jumped internally, Master Volume added, and a "squeezer" trim pot on the jump circuit. I bought it with its matching Greenback-loaded 4x12's. It was a metal face, not a true "Plexi," but it was the loudest amp I've ever owned. Even with a Master Volume, it could peel paint! The metal face 70's non-master heads were reportedly more aggressive, and this amp was no exception. With the channel volume on 5 the amp sang like a bird, but power chords had a bark and a tone that was unmistakable. Best sounding amp I ever had.
@@thefrankly definitely. A little more aggressive, a little tighter on the bottom. They didn't get as woolly and mud out. First time I ever played one was way before I got mine. A friend brought over a 1974 50 Watt once, no Master, totally stock. We couldn't even hear the drummer! Just obnoxiously loud, but sounded soooo good!
One thing you have to know about the Plexi (1959 Superlead) is that their gain levels, and tonal character, can vary wildly from one example to another. Due to intentional or accidental parts value changes, substitutions due to stock levels, engineering changes, and other factors, you can have two 1959s made a year apart that are as different as peanuts and pistols. Some are all about incredible clean headroom and basically won't distort unless you get out a drive pedal and push them really hard, while others are really sensitive thanks to large bright cap values and other circuit quirks and approach heavy metal levels of available drive when plugged straight in and turned up. Being the owner of currently five JMP era Marshalls, I swear that this is true.
Clapton said the same thing and is quoted as this being the reason he moved over to Fender tweed Twins. He liked the consistency from amp to amp with Fender.
There is so much bs being told at the forums by “Experts” it’s unbelievable. Many of them throwing late 70ies JMP and 80ies jcm on the same heap and calling them plexis. So wrong. The biggest difference technical changes in the early years were the rectifier tube vs diodes, the 470/500pf bright cap ,which bypasses a lot of highs which overdrives the next preamp stage much sooner than without it, and the split cathode design vs the joined cathode in the normal and bright channels. Also the cathode bypass caps changed. Also , other than using fuzz pedals guitar players were using treble boosters back then, which also contributed much to overdriving the first stage of the preamp.
@@Johnsormani The only thing consistent about Marshall is that they kept changing things all through the 60s and 70s. If they ever made 100 straight truly identical amps in a row during that time period I'd be greatly surprised.
Funny, this is the first I've ever heard of people thinking the Marshall Plexi was a high-gain amp. I thought the whole idea behind that famous "Plexi" sound was playing through a cranked Plexi to achieve natural breakup. The Strat and Les Paul both through the Greenback at 100% did it for me!
He's just making a video that grabs our attention. On the other hand Jimi Hendrix uses these amps and he is the first and most world famous guitarist to play in his particular style of over the top high gain. I mean, in his day he was known for his high gain and distortion along with fantastic levels of sustain at concerts. -Peter age 73
The best representation of the Plexi sound is Cream live 1966 in a place called Klooks Kleek and Free at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970. Both were guitar-cable-amp and no pedals at the time.
Having been the marketing product manager for the EVM Series when I worked at Electro Voice in Buchanan, Michigan many years ago, where we constantly were evaluating our prototypes, exisiting speaker models as compared to all the major other speakers which were then available. I found this video very informative, fascinating, and was Exellent ! Being a Marshall, Fender and Vox user for many years, it took me awhile to really understand what the Plexi really was sonically all about. Many do not realize how versatile an amplifier it can be. Bravo on your series of informative videos, they are terrific.
My tech built a 50 watt Marshall plexiglass clone out of New Old Stock Parts it's really loud and a bass sounds great through it when the volume is about 4 or 5.. I don't have the chance to use it with two 4x12 bottoms but that's when it sounds the best and guitar with P90 pickup seems to get an exciting sound
Got my first EVM in a Boogie in 1982, then put a pair in a Silverface Twin. Been convinced they are the most neutral in good way speaker ever brought to market. Also no cone cry and you can’t hurt them with any guitar amp made.
Yes. His smart move is taking his time. Thinking it out. Playing solid. I’m a a little guilty of being the exact opposite. Guitar nerd s. Would probably like my playing better but. Majority of public would like. What he is doing better.
This is why, after many years of owning Marshalls, I finally realized (and could afford) that the JTM45 is the best compromise for me. It's still crushingly loud, but it's not insane, especially when you blend the channels. A few months ago I added a Freyette Power Station to the rig so it's more versatile than ever. Absolutely love my tone through this Marshall rig.
Superb demo! Possibly best Plexi demo on youtube. This particular amp sounds especially amazing. No high gain here for sure. Incredible demonstration of speaker contribution to overall tone.
I did some work at a recording studio back in the mid 90's. Was there during a lot of Modern Rock bands recording their albums. A lot of producers and artists used a lot of "Plexi" amps with pedals to get some amazing thick hard rock tones. Recently I have heard a guy here locally using a 73 Super Bass with, a Helix in the front for his tones. Was shocked on how good it sounded.
Jim Marshall was our neighbour in Bletchley, Milton Keynes England this place is also home to the code breakers of ww2 and the enigma machine and the bombe, Jim Marshall's son now plays clarinet and my grandson as a contract as a jazz keyboard player with Marshall's recording studios.
Jim Marshall did electronics fixing old radio's and old tv's hence the valves in the amp's. Playing on the idea everybody wanted louder he put a extra digit on the controller knobs. This did not make them louder but gave the perception that they were.
In December 1932 it was "broken" by mathematician Marian Rejewski at the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, using mathematical permutation group theory combined with French-supplied intelligence material obtained from a German spy. By 1938 Rejewski had invented a device, the cryptologic bomb, and Henryk Zygalski had devised his sheets, to make the cipher-breaking more efficient. Five weeks before the outbreak of World War II, in late July 1939, at a conference just south of Warsaw, the Polish Cipher Bureau shared its Enigma-breaking techniques and technology with the French and British.
When I was in high school in the early 70's, I had a 50 watt plexi head. Someone had hot-rodded it. It absolutely screamed at all volume. It was literally on total 100% kill. I used to play it through an Ampeg Porta-Flex 4x12 cabinet. I'd plug the Marshall into the "extension amp" jack and put the Porta-Flex head on a table while the Marshall rested across the open top of the cabinet. I was playing a Kapa Continental through it before I got my 1st strat and it didn't matter- it was just unbelievable. Not knowing that it had been modified, I thought that was how Marshalls sounded and me and my buddies were in total awe. It started blowing fuses so regularly that I finally took it to a Marshall shop. When I got it back, it was a totally different amp- no more kill at all. I called the guy who worked on it and when I asked him what he did to my amp he yelled at me, saying, "That's the way it's supposed to sound!". lol
I bought my JTM45 reissue in 1990-ish BECAUSE it wasn't a high gain amp and would be a pedal platform. It replaced my very ordinary and unloved master volume JCM 800, which I had for less than two years. The versatility you get from pedals through a great clean amp is where it's at for me.
100 per cent. I use my clean channel on my dsl 402 perfect eq and use a drive pedal in front, my other pedals are used in the loop. Fantastic. No attenuator needed all sound levels under control.
@@aliengrey6052 My set up was (I haven't played in a while, sadly) Boss Turbo Overdrive - set for unity with the direct guitar signal and a great interaction with my Gibson Les Paul Junior, then a Rat 2, set for a clean volume boost and a digital echo used mostly for it's great double tracking mode, almost like a sinister chorus sound. That was it. Like you say, totally under control. The JTM45 doesn't get any louder once it starts to clip, and it's pretty loud by that time but it still sounds and responds just the same at lower volume settings so I could dial in any volume I required and get the same control and responsiveness regardless. Years of messing around with high-gain amps never gave me the same freedom of action.
Great job Mason. Between you and Rhett I believe you've opened a lot of minds and perhaps helped to spur along a whole bunch of new "enthusiasts ". Oh it takes me back!
Its nice to see the versitiity being highlighted. I use my 68 Superlead into original cabs and Its difficult to transfer that tone into you tube land let alone on a recording. The live tone, for me, at full volume goes from Little Wing to Somebody Get me a Doctor real easy. So adding effects to it becomes endless possibilities. Gorgeous tones and Super versitile. I play country also with my Tele and it always delivers the goods. If you need less volume, thats what a small Marshall 1974 18watter is for ;-) Combo amps to the rescue!
This is a really good video, having owned a few Plexi amps it nails the plexi experience. One small gripe, I wish there was much less delay used during the sound examples. Cheers 🍻
I have a 1966 JTM 45, a 1969 Small Box aluminum panel and an early 80's JCM800 w/vertical inputs. I run them thru a 1968 Marshall slant cab with pre Rola 12" greenback speaks. The ONLY amp that is hi gain is the JCM800 and it sounds glorious! I still love my JTM 45 over my many different amps though because it has such a beautiful clean, high headroom tone. Btw, I bought all these amp heads and the cab waaay before the vintage gear thing kicked in. Late 60's early 70's kind of thing. Been playing over 50 years and worked in vintage instrument shops for over 30 years so I got first choice and killer deals! Certainly, couldn't afford them now!! Just wonderful! Thanks for the upload Mason!
@@VertexEffectsInc hey mason, I swear to God man like I said I've been playing for over 50 years and was in the Vintage gear game for over 30 years and I learn so much every week from this channel the rig doctor etc. You do our communities such a huge service with the depth of your knowledge your unbiased demonstration of other manufacturers gear, unbiased for the most part LOL but yeah you get it man I'm a fan I love your playing and I've got an Ultraphonics Mark 1 that I absolutely love and I've got your clean boost Mark 2 that is second to none man. You make some great stuff Mason and I just want to acknowledge that for you!
@@VertexEffectsInc by the way, that ultraponics Mark 1 into my jtm 45 is just tone from the Godz!!! Glorious doesn't even scratch the surface! That box you made is killer!
Excellent video! people often don't realize how loud they are too. Playing on 5 is already"peel the paint off the wall" and 10 would be "blow your head off" settings...
One thing not to forget, that can be heard through the entire EVH-section of this video: The preamp-section of the Echoplex-Delay that would be in front of the amp back then. There you get a gainstage as well. I thought the Les Paul through the SLP into the Greenback sound was pretty much spot on for this song. Really nice to listen to tones!
Excellent point. The vintage Echoplex preamp was a classic booster in the front ends of Marshalls and Fenders everywhere. Ritchie Blackmore used a tape recorder preamp in a similar way.
Thanks for video. When I hear Marshall Plexi I think of Allman Brother's Filmore East, Angus and Malcom Young's tone, Paul Kossoff tone. All that heavier distortion Marshall tone, I think of JCM800 Marshalls.
Totally agree.. the ‘71 50 watter that I played A LOT in the 90s and naughts would almost never break up, and when it did, I couldn’’t hear for days. It drove me to boogies! Still love them, and would love to try cascading them… in a modeler. BTW, thanks for that! I never knew about EVH’s cascading trick(!?)
Decades ago when I played old Fender and Marshall amps, I couldn't figure out how to get distortion out of them. All I could get out of them was a really loud clean sound that shook, rattled, and rumbled the entire building.
I hear you, a mid 70s 50W plexi was my first proper tube amp at a time where vintage was just considered old. I quickly found out that a Big Muff in front can do wonders. Luckily some band from Seattle made playing loud guitars viable again right when I started to play live. That helped the desired sound the most :)
It's the amps. The increase in watts means the clean is there at higher volumes. The reverse is true. If you want that cranked sound, get a lower watt rated amp. A 10W amp is half as loud as a 100W amp which is half as loud as a 1000w amp. You'll get that breakup quickly on a 10W amp.
This was the Sound of the Amps. With Luck you have a knob to pull "for more" gain. This was the reason to have a Boogie by Mesa. Or Distortion Pick ups. A "Dirty Finger" by Gibson direkt to a Mark III Boogie or an old Tube Amp let you smile and give many of the things, people seek today.
I think a lot of the tones on our favorite recordings are less distorted than we perceive. The classic “Brown Sound” really isn’t all that dirty. A lot of it is just Eddie’s percussive attack, and of course, he had graphic EQs and the Echoplex boosting the signal, and the Variac doing its thing. But it’s not high gain. Other players who were using treble boosters and/or pedals like the Distortion+ had more distortion, but it was fuzzier and more midrange-focused. I find it ironic that Eddie later ended up putting his name on the most high gain tube amps on the market.
There are moments where ED does get some serious high gain thump though, like with Unchained, but as mentioned, he had a few pedals that were boosting his signal, and his attack adds a lot.
I personally play my jtm45 with a distortion plus and a blues driver, and together the distortion I get is crazy loud but magical. And between lead parts I’ll switch them off and have that beautiful plexi clean tone. Getting a jtm was one of the best decisions I’ve made so far as a young musician
I had a Marshall 100W Lead that had a master volume - one of the earliest models I believe they made with a master volume. It sounded great and is my favourite amp that I used. I would have to say it wasn't really all that distorted unless you cranked it up with both the gain + master volume. But by then, the soundman would be having conniptions, as we were a bar band, and people in the audience would be losing their sanity. LOL. I currently use a handwired 12W Fender 5E3 tweed amp for mucking around, as I'm an official old guy now. The 5E3 isn't what you'd call clean. Very cool sound at low volume. But my favourite to use was the 100W Marshall. Forgot to mention...the Marshall cabinet was 4-12's with the Celestion 25W greenbacks - sweet speakers!
The OR20 is my favorite amp. The overdrive is hidden in the power amp. Crank up the master and it sings. Or just boost past the headroom with a pedal to get preamp distortion. That tilt control makes it so versatile. Love everything about it.
A lot of players dislike the Origens because its hard to get a high gain sound out of them. But that's exactly why i like them. Just put a boost/OD/ distortion pedal in front and voila. I see a lot of rookies get a high gain amp who crank the gain and put distortion pedals in front. All fizz. The EVH amps have that souped up gain control that brings in that fizzy gain way too early. The opposite of the cranked Plexi sound let alone a JTM45.
Old post but you're correct. I bought a Super Lead in the 80s and was 100% happy with its quality and sound, but it wasn't what i was expecting. Its cost, and easy to steal head, relegated it to my home and sometimes the studio. I ended up using 4 Fender Super Twins. Yeah, they were heavy as a tank but nobody stole them. They were also notoriously clean, and notoriously cheap to buy... and that got me into pedals. After 40 years I still prefer a dead clean amp with boost, OD, and a rare distortion pedal for grit. My old Super Twins are gone but using a Furman set at 115v made the tubes last 6 years. I let my ears rest by using sub 35 watt combos in the last year or so, but i let the Marshall out for a spin every once in a while.
You pretty much nailed it. The key was "really high volume" because in the 70's, PA systems hadn't advanced. Having seen countless bands during the early 70's, the stage volume of bands like Deep Purple, Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad were ear splitting. to the point of almost painful to hear. Today we have the luxury of an endless array of pedals to juice the sound without the massive volume. What this style amp was/is, is an incredible platform to use pedals with. That's something lost in today's world of ultra high gain amps, massive distortion, and guitars tuned down two and three steps. Kudo's for the review.
*Post Phase Inverter Master Volume* was a very easy common mod in the 70's. Three parts, non invasive. See Train Wreck Type 1 PPI Master Volume. Another vehicle to massive crunch at lower volumes was putting a 1 transistor Dallas Arbiter Rangemaster Treble Booster in front of a 6- EL34 SOUND CITY 120 that has no master volume. ( great video on ytb). Marshall is similar. You can always pull output tubes to lower volume. Always remove outside left, outside right as pairs.
For about 3 years, when I was 19-22 years old, I had a Marshall "Major" 200 watt Plexi Full Stack, which was, as it tured out, virtually useless, in most venues we ever played, at the volume needed to really make it really "shine"! BUT, at that "Sweet Spot"...what a SOUND!! Truly, truly AWESOME! :D I'm 73, now, and use a Marshall "Origin" 50 half-stack, or the Combo, to get very very close, to that cranked "Major" sound, and far more reasonable/useable volume levels. An original vintage Plexi, and even the Plexi "hand wired" re-issues are out of my budget, these days. The Origin does "just fine", for my modest needs, now. Love Fender amps, as well!
I think what most people refer to when talking about a "Plexi tone" is the tone you get when you have the channels jumped and all knobs dimed. Most people I know and have talked to are not really under the impression that a Plexi is a high-gain monster of an amp, but it is the amp that started the high-gain craze when people began modifying them to get more gain.
I think what most guys are referring to is actually a sound they've never heard in person and pedals and amp sims (digitally) are their baseline. If you've not played a vintage Marshall, or a Plexi, it's hard to understand how clean it is for most of the way through the volume taper.
Indeed, Marshalls from the late 60s are mid-gain amplifiers. They tend to have a thick and throaty mid-range. Great crunch sound for rhythm. For lead, I always found that they need a boost for more liquid sustain. When I hear people refer to the "plexi sound" I think they are referring to that thick mid-range rather than high gain.
If at max they're mid gain (maybe) depending on your gain threshold. I might be able to get my Marshalls to approximate my SLO in the "crunch" setting, but certainly not the "lead" channel even at lower levels of gain.
Wow. I finally heard how a "plexi" (Super Lead Jtm 45/100) actually sounds like. Thanks for having "vampirized" out that idea almost everyone thinks of when they hear "Plexi 1959/1960's" or such. Nice presentation, pretty clear and I didn't get bothered from opening to ending. Congrats. Cheers from Belgium and keep it up. You rock 🤟🤟😉😉
Awesome video! I’ve never considered the “plexi sound” as really overdriven and saturated. Because as you said, it’s really a fairly clean tone. But I’ve always described it as “greasy and gritty”, but in a very good way. As you showed, speakerchoice is really very important to that plexi tone which is why I dig a good old Greenback.
Exactly! Many years ago I bought a very similar 100w super lead from a friend looking for that Hendrix/Page tone and was confused how clean it was! It sounded great for cleans but as a young player didn’t know how to tame it or use it and unfortunately eventually sold it 😫 So I noticed when Marshall put out the Origin series recently it was exactly what I was looking for, Plexi tones with a master volume and variable wattages in a smaller package, but still that cool spanky Plexi tone I could goose with pedals at various playing volumes, I got the 50 watt combo and love it! But online a lot of people were trashing them, because as you said, the actual plexi sound was not what they were hearing in their head, but more like late seventies jmp or early 80’s 800’s. (I also own an ‘86 50watt jcm800 which is exactly that ‘brown’ sound without pedals or cascading anything, they have internal clipping diodes within the circuit if I’m correct, like a built in distortion pedal right?🎸🔊)
3mins in and I love this video. Some of the best advice for recording electric guitars: you need less distortion than you’d think in a mix. The plexi is a great example of this. ACDC’s “Back in Black” isn’t THAT distorted by any stretch, but between the eq and compression their guitars sound awesome. Thanks Mason!!
I just looked on Reverb for an original Fuzz Face like I had when I was a kid. I don't think I even payed $100.00 back then. I almost had a heart attack when I saw what they're going for.
@@ushnicyuvnikof2748 For the most part I agree with you. That said many years ago I was in a friend's music store and they had a 1950's Gibson Super 400 with a cutaway that was custom made for a person who retired and decided he wanted to play guitar. It took them a year to build it. He got tired of waiting and decided to learn piano instead. When the guitar arrived he put it under the bed and never played it. The guy died and his wife brought it to the music store to put on consignment. The case had a cover over it. Both the case and the cover were like new. The only thing that was destroyed is the leather handle had almost completely disintegrated because it was never treated with a leather conditioner. They opened the case and the instrument still had the tags on it. The guitar was new. They wouldn't let anybody play it and when they touched it they used cotton gloves. The lady only wanted $20,000.00. It's worth probably 3X that much but that's all she wanted. I'f I had the money I would have bought it for an investment. That instrument is considered 'Vintage' due to it's age even though it was brand new and never played. The guy who owned it literally never touched it. This, however, is exceedingly rare. A lot of 'Vintage' guitars (especially Fenders) are crap. They get high prices for them because of their age but the wood in them is really not super high quality like what you would get now if you custom ordered one from the Custom Shop or had a private luthier build you one. Old Gibsons on the other hand are much better than new ones. Pedals on the other hand are a completely different story.
It’s the underlying tone behind the overdrive - there’s a sweetness. I recorded an album at home using an attenuated JTM 45 reissue. And it’s definitely a case of if you want more, you have to put something between the guitar and the amp - a booster, fuzz/overdrive - as you’ve shown very well here. Excellent video!
Great video! I see so many people trying to play AC/DC with a ton of gain on a master volume amp. Angus's sound isn't as distorted as people think. He was over-driving Marshalls.
Fantastic mate, as someone who grew up with Marshalls (a 71 50 watt hardwired) it was a bone crushingly loud amp that got happy at 8. The best tomne I had was the amp in a separate studio miked through the console. I think most new generation love the Marshalls they played with in modelers like the fractal gear where you can run them full bore and get a similar effect.
I used to have one and it had the greatest tone of any amp I've ever owned. But it didn't distort until it started to get ungodly loud. Easily the loudest amp I've ever owned.
@@VertexEffectsInc Depends on how you look at it. These amps were designed in an era when there were no PA's (or hardly any). They shine when you turn them (half way) up in a large venue and when you use two 4x12 cabs. They were never meant to distort at low volume (or to distort at all, as you pointed out). I never use pedals for distortion. So a smaller amp and cab suit most (nowadays) situations better. The trouble is that a lot of people nowadays think these amps should work at bedroom level, studio, rehearsal room, local club etc. and start using attenuators, pedals and all that. But you should think of them as PA gear from back in the day when a band had to provide all the volume themselves.
@@zandig666 No, it does not work like that. The size of the room and the audience matters. If you would take it to a large hall or an outdoor stadium and turn it up loud and you are standing 8 meters away from it, it is still loud, and of course it is just as loud as when you play it at home, but the sound "flies away", especially outdoors. It is all a matter of how much air you want to move. If you are in a baseball stadium with 20.000 people making a lot of noise and screaming, a 100 watt Marshall is not "loud", certainly not 100 or 200 meters away from the stage when all those people are there. The other way round: if you take a 5 watt 1x10 inch tube amp to the rehearsal room it might not be loud enough to hear yourself over a (hard hitting) drummer. The amp "drowns" in the room so to speak. But if you take it home to your bedroom and play it there cranked the windows start to shake and your neighbours will start to complain.
I have owned a Super Lead 100, and a variety of other Marshall's that I have played the last 40 years. I agree completely with your assessment that the Plexi is basically a clean amp that provides an incredible pedal platform. The problem I also found was the volume level required to produce the 'sound of ecstasy' desired, even using pedals. So...to solve this problem, and after many years of buying/selling amps and effects, I have finally discovered my sound, I use a Soldano Hot Rod 25 running in stereo with a Marshall 2525H via a Radial Tonebone JX-2 Pro Switchbone AB-Y switcher. Add a Boss RV-500 and I have the sound I love at a reasonable level. It truly can take years of experimentation to discover how to create the sound that moves your soul; but the time, effort, and cost required, will hopefully enable the guitarist to finally just be able to play the music they love, without complaining the sound is not quite right. Thank you, and many others like yourself, for demonstrating how to define and create the guitar tone that you have searched for your entire life!
Hahaha...probably not the first, but hopefully not the last. It's funny how almost every "Plexi" pedal is a pretty distorted overdrive pedal when it's almost impossible to get breakup from a Marshall Plexi or Superlead 100 unless it's maxed out.
@@VertexEffectsInc even when a Plexi or jtm 45 is dimed you still don't get that great High gain vibe. It took me years to realize I had to stick something in front of it like a first generation rat or a tube screamer or whatever was handy! Then and only then, look out! It was on from that point forward!
Good description I have a 71 50W and late 60s 4x12 with 25 greenbacks. It lives in the studio but I have toured it extensively. Way back, guitarists added a boost to push the front end as it isnt really a fire breather without help. JB used a coloursound overdriver.......when I had one and the 71, it sounded awesome. I use a double muff on setting 1 now. It is all used with a Richter power soak (I gained the Marshall whilst helping with R&D for the Motherload). Its been my no 1 for many years and I love it.
Spot on!!!!! Finally my mistake back in 1972 was not understanding what I was buying when I bought a 100 marshall stack. I wrestled with that amp for 50 years. I call my stack Capone because the cops confiscated it many times back in the day. It really sounds more like a Fender super twin on steroids. The amp tech said it was the loudest amp he ever had on his bench 148 rms. It’s actually a very early 73. We used to play open air venues back in those days that’s where The amp shined I used a Vox wah peddle and that sound was incredible. My friend had a treble boost which was also a good way to hit the front of the amp harder to get a great to distortion. Bravo you did a great job 😊
What a lot of people hear w/ Plexis without effects is speaker breakup, cone cry, console transformer saturation/harmonics, and tape saturation. Tape also starts shelving off north of 10k so it softens up that brittle high end plexis have. In studio, I have a lot of control to turn a tiny bit of breakup or harmonics into a mountain of distortion.
Something that is cool is we now have Studio Vintage Plexi that allows you get that plexi dimed at a much lower volume without compression/distortion/boost pedals in front. With it being 5 or 20 watts (depending on what mode you switch) the headroom is so much less and you can get that Angus Young amp exploding thing at a much lower volume (it's still loud but not "I can hear you in the next county" loud). Im a guitar into amp guy and I find that when I use mine with my LP, I have the Loudness 1 up all the way, Loudness 2 at "Marshall 2" and all the EQs dimed except the bass, which I dial to taste for the song I am recording (trying to keep in mind where the bass guitar in the track is/or will sit.) I often just keep mine on the 5 watt channel through an Orange 2x12 and just use my hands and volume knob to "dirty it up" when need be. If you can find a Studio Vintage plexi (they are hard to find used but you can get them at a steal like I got mine!) go grab one! You won't regret it at all. Cheers!
What a great lesson on the variety, and smorgasbord of power, wattage, and options anyone can create. Not just with a Marshall and fender amplifier, but many other iconic amps. Youve brought to life many opportunities. Btw. This old timer subscribed. Cheers to your success in the coming years. Great video
Absolutely right Mason. Most people cite plexi sound and they've never actually played one. I was lucky enough to for a short while own a 68' 100w plexi in custom white leather no less, owned previously by the band Angel, ( Punky Meadows ). I came across it thru a friend, probably in about 78 or 79 out in L.A. It was torn and beat to hell. But the thing is, that a lot of people don't realize, is that it was mostly cleanish! But, ..... un Godly loud! Like twin reverb break the windows clean loud, until the volume was WAY up there, then it would start to break up. This was a serious stage amp only, ..... big stage, but it was glorious. THAT was the Jimi sound...... huge clean with hair around it. Really huge. It had to be boosted with something to really get over the top. If I had only known to keep it.......
Awesome, awesome, awesome video. Thank you so much. Not only did it bring back memories, it confirmed what I've heared (if that makes sense) for years.
Super informative and you are always a professional. I finally subscribed. (sorry for the delay) And as for delay and reverb, they are the milk and honey of inspired playing. Thank you for bringing music fully to life in your demos.
Picked up a ‘75 1987 this year and have honestly never been happier with my tone! I have a relatively effect-heavy sound and it does the job as a platform beyond perfectly. Thank you for the excellent video as always!
I got one prob same time as you did. I got a 50w all original only the power caps had been done. No mv. Sounds incredible I love it. It pairs well with the 74 cab w creambacks I got 2 years before.
Awesome video, thanks. Adding to the plexi tone diversity is the mode of rectification. I play both a JTM (tube rectification) and a 1968 plefi front JMP50 (solid state rectification) and they compress very differently (sag). I think it affects the distorted sound a bit and also the way the amp receives pedals.
Awsome video brother! I've bin through this for so many years. I wanted a tube amp that could produce killer distortion, gain, smooth saturation with no brittle high end grating on my ears, and without the help of ANY pedals!! I don't think Marshall truly did it until they released the incredible Marshall JVM 210H. What a beast baby!! Now that's an amp built for rock n roll! I just don't understand why Marshall didn't capitalize on it and keep going and expanding on the idea? Anyway, thanks for the 411. You've got a new customer my friend! Sean Black
Great points and a fine channel, I remember that Marshall amps in strip malls would disappoint because you had to throttle down for neighbors. Never thought much of them til I got a Kemper and could hear them properly opened up with either tweaked mods or stock for nice old ones loaded with nostalgia tubes. One thing many people miss about gain is the board or treble boost gain. So yeah, artist amps were not overly gained at the studio because it drives engineers nuts with noise and loses clarity etc-but sometimes they were also overloading a particular board or like Lynch going into a Tascam which gained his recorded tone even more according to producer Wagener. Plus, both Iommi and Blackmore used treble boosts that are crucial to sounding higher gain than you will get from just the amp even set as it was for a particular track.
I was completely unaware that people considered the JTM's high gain other than that they were higher gain than Fender amps. But as far as I'm concerned, they growl and don't bark and that's why I love them.
Nice demo. I fumbled through this a few decades ago before I could find answers on the internet... or even the internet. I think that it is important to note that you're not actually using a "Plexi" as they have plexiglas front panels. Marshall switched to gold bushed aluminum panels around 1968/69. Some amps actually have one of either based upon availability during production at that time. The aluminum panel amps have a different sonic signature sound as well. They are a little (some a lot!) brighter. I had both simultaneously for several years and it was easy to tell them apart with your ears. I sold my '71 metal panel, and later a '75-ish JMP, but kept my '68 (Plexi) Superlead. My heirs will have to figure out what it is and what to do with it. Perhaps even by watching your well-presented video. Thanks!
One of my favorite "plexi" pedals is the Xotic SL Drive, it has a great mini form factor and it's so versatile for getting different plexi flavors. And my favorite way to use it is in front of my handwired Marshall 2245 THW set fairly clean. Incredible tones.
its like the added distortion "fits inside" the amps gain. So incredible. I had a 80's JCM 100W that I have never been able to top for overall tone. ( I hard soldered the cab. speakers , put Groove Tubes in it & cleaned all the pots with DeOxit anti-corrosion. ) I sold it to a friend and it went on to live on the road in the Midwest for several years before I lost track of her....
When I think of “plexi” I think of the time when I was in college on vacation in Denver and I walked into a guitar center and there was a Jimi Hendrix full stack with the 45/100 head. That was the most glorious clean sound I’d ever heard and it is burned into my memory. And all of the pro guys I know say the same thing “run your Marshall clean” with pedals. I agree.
I bought a Marshall Artiste 50watt combo in 1979 - I was never happy with it as it was glass clean even at full volume. I had it up for sale a couple of times, but there was no real interest. I used to gig with it but I had a fuzz box that was on most of the time. Transistor amps got better so the Artiste stayed at home. Many many years later when I knew a bit more about engineering and electronics, I saew anarticle about rewiring valve amp front ends to improve sound. I read up on Marshall schematics and I rewired the two input ECC83 valves into a JTM style mutiple gain stage with a switchable modifed boost channel. I kept the reverb channel and used the original channel 2 input jacks as an FX send and return. I also added variable negative feedback. I had totally ruined the resale value , but the result was amazing. I made a video to go on the local online sellers channel and it sold very quickly. I told the buyer that as it was a custom amp, if he had any trouble, to bring it back and I would fix it. He floored me with his reply - he didn't play guitar, he only collected old Marshalls. In hindsight, selling it to him meant my creation would never be used to it's best, but money is money. Here is the original video th-cam.com/video/YIzcZq6Fqaw/w-d-xo.html. - and all that from a single P90. Makes me wish I'd never sold it.
This was an awesome video to watch. I picked up a 72 superlead a few years ago, best purchase I ever made and really has become a draw to my local recording artists.
I had a 1971 Super Lead 100 Plexi. It was clean until you get to 6 or 7, from there on it distorts like mad but, the volume is deafening. That's why most artists in the 60's and 70's used 50-watt heads. I bought a 1976, Mark II Master Model Lead 100W, in 1980, from a friend. That amp screams! I still use it today. I couple it with 2 1960A cabinets from the same year.
This was actually very validating to watch. I'm a Marshall guy through and through, with a '76 2203, a '78 Super Bass, an '87 JCM 2210, and a '90 JCM 9er. For the longest time, I was wondering why my stock 2203 JMP, while it sounds great on its own merits, didn't really pack the crunch that I'd heard so heralded on a lot of those 1970-'80s records; Once I had my own epiphany that A: the layering of tracks was partly responsible for beefing up that sound, and B: the artists seldom delve into what boosters were used, it started to fall in place, that no, I didn't have a dud by any means. The split channel JCM 800s and the oft-maligned JCM 900s do still have a searing crunch on their own.
I’ve got a 1987x (50 watt reissue without the FX loop) head with a 1960A (4x12 slant) cab. I got them both around ‘97. Only mod I did was replace the stock speakers with Greenbacks and also retubed the head with JJs. It is plenty loud and is clean up until about 3 on both channels (jumpered). And it gets loud fast. Past 3 it gets a little louder and more saturated as you turn up the volume. The sweet spot seems to be about 2 o’clock on both channel volumes. Back in the ‘90s and into the 2000s, I’d cascade an A/DA MP-1 into the input. I know, crazy. But it worked to get a more controllable clean and overdrive sound. I now have a Boss TAE that I really like to get the saturation at a manageable volume that won’t have my neighbors calling the cops. Les Paul through a plexi: Hear it roar!
Great video... I guess I'm in the camp that when I think of the Plexi I always associated it with a good, strong clean tone, but I'm also from that generation before, and, just as pedals punching the front of the amp became the norm and the monster it is today. Either way, you've done well exemplifying the Plexi in all it's glorious powerful clean tones. It is truly one of the best platforms for pedals to tone-out and sound their best.
Thanks for sharing! I think why many people think it's a dirtier sound than it is, is because many players from my generation and afterwards never played a real vintage Marshall, let alone a Plexi, to know what they sound like, and their education to that sound is through pedals (Marshall in a box) which are generally OD or Distortion pedals, or through amp models that are doing a similar high gain thing to the pedals.
Great job comparing these sounds. Playing the same riff throughout is key. Lot of videos dont play the same riff for comparison. Spot on bro. Awesome video. LIKED & SUBSCRIBED!
Great presentation. One thing a lot of guys don't realize is that those plexi amps were insanely loud and that loudness made for a lot of sustain which made for a great sound. You did a great job explaining how those amps actually sound.
If you learned something in today’s video or have qualms with our findings, tell us below!
⬇ GEAR IN THIS VIDEO ⬇
1969 Marshall Super Lead 100
R Weaver FX Midnight Vibe (Intro/Outro Jam) - instagram.com/rweaverfx/
Fender Hot Rod Deville ML - bit.ly/3SdqQTz
THD Hot Plate Resistive Load/Line Out (4 ohms) - bit.ly/3VKNA0c
1970 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face - bit.ly/3D9UnrR
Don't forget a link to Rhett
@@andrewshell788 done!
What was that EVH thing you played? Can't put my finger on it... 😅
@@belgianguitarist7503 dance the night away?
I have. 3 qualm s. But can’t find them. ( what’s qualm ? )
It may be a gross overstatement but I think our classic rock heroes generally had/used a lot less gain than most ppl today when they try to dial in/mimick those tones.
10000%
And then, hotter pups became part of pushing those back breaking boxes.
A excellent video here!
@@VertexEffectsInc that’s a lot of the percents!
More gain/distortion hides shortcomings in playing technique. What does that say?
I think EVH cranked the plexi
Wish everybody did demos as clear and informative as this.
Wow, thanks!
Ditto
I bought a modified 1971 Marshall in 1992. It had what looked like the "Rhoads" mod: channels jumped internally, Master Volume added, and a "squeezer" trim pot on the jump circuit. I bought it with its matching Greenback-loaded 4x12's.
It was a metal face, not a true "Plexi," but it was the loudest amp I've ever owned. Even with a Master Volume, it could peel paint!
The metal face 70's non-master heads were reportedly more aggressive, and this amp was no exception. With the channel volume on 5 the amp sang like a bird, but power chords had a bark and a tone that was unmistakable. Best sounding amp I ever had.
Thanks for sharing!
Some pre MV SL100 amps actually put out 140ish watts when measured.
@@jameswyre6480 my amp guy freaked out when he checked the plate voltage. The voltage reading was well over 550.
1969-1975 is a fantastic era. I have plexis and the 70s superleads and super bass hold their own.
@@thefrankly definitely. A little more aggressive, a little tighter on the bottom. They didn't get as woolly and mud out.
First time I ever played one was way before I got mine. A friend brought over a 1974 50 Watt once, no Master, totally stock. We couldn't even hear the drummer! Just obnoxiously loud, but sounded soooo good!
One thing you have to know about the Plexi (1959 Superlead) is that their gain levels, and tonal character, can vary wildly from one example to another. Due to intentional or accidental parts value changes, substitutions due to stock levels, engineering changes, and other factors, you can have two 1959s made a year apart that are as different as peanuts and pistols. Some are all about incredible clean headroom and basically won't distort unless you get out a drive pedal and push them really hard, while others are really sensitive thanks to large bright cap values and other circuit quirks and approach heavy metal levels of available drive when plugged straight in and turned up.
Being the owner of currently five JMP era Marshalls, I swear that this is true.
Clapton said the same thing and is quoted as this being the reason he moved over to Fender tweed Twins. He liked the consistency from amp to amp with Fender.
I own about 12 old plexi’s and you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!!
correct
There is so much bs being told at the forums by “Experts” it’s unbelievable. Many of them throwing late 70ies JMP and 80ies jcm on the same heap and calling them plexis. So wrong. The biggest difference technical changes in the early years were the rectifier tube vs diodes, the 470/500pf bright cap ,which bypasses a lot of highs which overdrives the next preamp stage much sooner than without it, and the split cathode design vs the joined cathode in the normal and bright channels. Also the cathode bypass caps changed. Also , other than using fuzz pedals guitar players were using treble boosters back then, which also contributed much to overdriving the first stage of the preamp.
@@Johnsormani The only thing consistent about Marshall is that they kept changing things all through the 60s and 70s. If they ever made 100 straight truly identical amps in a row during that time period I'd be greatly surprised.
Funny, this is the first I've ever heard of people thinking the Marshall Plexi was a high-gain amp. I thought the whole idea behind that famous "Plexi" sound was playing through a cranked Plexi to achieve natural breakup. The Strat and Les Paul both through the Greenback at 100% did it for me!
Yeup. I was going to say something very similar. I'm not sure if this guy was lied to as stated here or if he misunderstood someone.
It comes down to the early VH brown sound, which was high gain for it’s time.
Even here, at 100% with the LP, one can mistake it for a higher gain amp, simply because of how the amp cuts through the mix.
He's just making a video that grabs our attention. On the other hand Jimi Hendrix uses these amps and he is the first and most world famous guitarist to play in his particular style of over the top high gain. I mean, in his day he was known for his high gain and distortion along with fantastic levels of sustain at concerts.
-Peter age 73
The best representation of the Plexi sound is Cream live 1966 in a place called Klooks Kleek and Free at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970. Both were guitar-cable-amp and no pedals at the time.
Having been the marketing product manager for the EVM Series when I worked at Electro Voice in Buchanan, Michigan many years ago, where we constantly were evaluating our prototypes, exisiting speaker models as compared to all the major other speakers which were then available. I found this video very informative, fascinating, and was Exellent ! Being a Marshall, Fender and Vox user for many years, it took me awhile to really understand what the Plexi really was sonically all about. Many do not realize how versatile an amplifier it can be. Bravo on your series of informative videos, they are terrific.
Thanks so much for watching! Thanks for this comment :)
Excellent 🤙🤙
How about those SRO Electro Voice Spkrs.
My tech built a 50 watt Marshall plexiglass clone out of New Old Stock Parts it's really loud and a bass sounds great through it when the volume is about 4 or 5.. I don't have the chance to use it with two 4x12 bottoms but that's when it sounds the best and guitar with P90 pickup seems to get an exciting sound
Got my first EVM in a Boogie in 1982, then put a pair in a Silverface Twin. Been convinced they are the most neutral in good way speaker ever brought to market. Also no cone cry and you can’t hurt them with any guitar amp made.
Mason’s been hitting the guitar gym holy moly that was awesome 💪🏼
Hahahahahahahaha! Now I need to get to the regular gym ;)
@@VertexEffectsInc don’t we all… although I prefer the six string gym
@@Mallett98- Ironic that both gym and guitar culture use the word "shred"
Yes. His smart move is taking his time. Thinking it out. Playing solid. I’m a a little guilty of being the exact opposite. Guitar nerd s. Would probably like my playing better but. Majority of public would like. What he is doing better.
This is why, after many years of owning Marshalls, I finally realized (and could afford) that the JTM45 is the best compromise for me. It's still crushingly loud, but it's not insane, especially when you blend the channels. A few months ago I added a Freyette Power Station to the rig so it's more versatile than ever. Absolutely love my tone through this Marshall rig.
Back in the late 60's the venues got bigger so the volume needed to go along with it.
@@bigstick5278 thanks - yes, I am well aware. I was in the age of crushingly loud amps.
The Fryette is the best investment someone with old Marshalls can make.
Superb demo! Possibly best Plexi demo on youtube. This particular amp sounds especially amazing. No high gain here for sure. Incredible demonstration of speaker contribution to overall tone.
I agree. Great job
I did some work at a recording studio back in the mid 90's. Was there during a lot of Modern Rock bands recording their albums. A lot of producers and artists used a lot of "Plexi" amps with pedals to get some amazing thick hard rock tones. Recently I have heard a guy here locally using a 73 Super Bass with, a Helix in the front for his tones. Was shocked on how good it sounded.
Jim Marshall was our neighbour in Bletchley, Milton Keynes England this place is also home to the code breakers of ww2 and the enigma machine and the bombe, Jim Marshall's son now plays clarinet and my grandson as a contract as a jazz keyboard player with Marshall's recording studios.
Wow, cool!
Jim Marshall did electronics fixing old radio's and old tv's hence the valves in the amp's. Playing on the idea everybody wanted louder he put a extra digit on the controller knobs. This did not make them louder but gave the perception that they were.
In December 1932 it was "broken" by mathematician Marian Rejewski at the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, using mathematical permutation group theory combined with French-supplied intelligence material obtained from a German spy. By 1938 Rejewski had invented a device, the cryptologic bomb, and Henryk Zygalski had devised his sheets, to make the cipher-breaking more efficient. Five weeks before the outbreak of World War II, in late July 1939, at a conference just south of Warsaw, the Polish Cipher Bureau shared its Enigma-breaking techniques and technology with the French and British.
thank you for doing this! As one who lived through the early Plexi days, I've never had the audio to show youngsters the real sound. Now I do. Thanks
You're very welcome!
When I was in high school in the early 70's, I had a 50 watt plexi head. Someone had hot-rodded it. It absolutely screamed at all volume. It was literally on total 100% kill. I used to play it through an Ampeg Porta-Flex 4x12 cabinet. I'd plug the Marshall into the "extension amp" jack and put the Porta-Flex head on a table while the Marshall rested across the open top of the cabinet. I was playing a Kapa Continental through it before I got my 1st strat and it didn't matter- it was just unbelievable. Not knowing that it had been modified, I thought that was how Marshalls sounded and me and my buddies were in total awe. It started blowing fuses so regularly that I finally took it to a Marshall shop. When I got it back, it was a totally different amp- no more kill at all. I called the guy who worked on it and when I asked him what he did to my amp he yelled at me, saying, "That's the way it's supposed to sound!". lol
I bought my JTM45 reissue in 1990-ish BECAUSE it wasn't a high gain amp and would be a pedal platform. It replaced my very ordinary and unloved master volume JCM 800, which I had for less than two years. The versatility you get from pedals through a great clean amp is where it's at for me.
Snap, did the same .
same here. i have a JCM 2000 for high gain, with some old glass in the preamp just to push the gain a bit more.
100 per cent. I use my clean channel on my dsl 402 perfect eq and use a drive pedal in front, my other pedals are used in the loop. Fantastic. No attenuator needed all sound levels under control.
@@aliengrey6052 My set up was (I haven't played in a while, sadly) Boss Turbo Overdrive - set for unity with the direct guitar signal and a great interaction with my Gibson Les Paul Junior, then a Rat 2, set for a clean volume boost and a digital echo used mostly for it's great double tracking mode, almost like a sinister chorus sound. That was it. Like you say, totally under control. The JTM45 doesn't get any louder once it starts to clip, and it's pretty loud by that time but it still sounds and responds just the same at lower volume settings so I could dial in any volume I required and get the same control and responsiveness regardless. Years of messing around with high-gain amps never gave me the same freedom of action.
Me too! Liked it so much that I bought a second one, so I could run it in stereo! Now I find myself wanting a third JTM45 for a Wet/Dry/Wet rig!
This was everything I love about watching/learning from tone breakdowns on TH-cam. Thanks for making this!
Glad it was helpful!
I have a 76 super lead 100 and I’m finding that there is so much to learn about it. This video is very informative. Thank you
Great job Mason. Between you and Rhett I believe you've opened a lot of minds and perhaps helped to spur along a whole bunch of new "enthusiasts ". Oh it takes me back!
I hope so!
Its nice to see the versitiity being highlighted. I use my 68 Superlead into original cabs and Its difficult to transfer that tone into you tube land let alone on a recording. The live tone, for me, at full volume goes from Little Wing to Somebody Get me a Doctor real easy. So adding effects to it becomes endless possibilities. Gorgeous tones and Super versitile. I play country also with my Tele and it always delivers the goods. If you need less volume, thats what a small Marshall 1974 18watter is for ;-) Combo amps to the rescue!
This is a really good video, having owned a few Plexi amps it nails the plexi experience. One small gripe, I wish there was much less delay used during the sound examples.
Cheers 🍻
I have a 1966 JTM 45, a 1969 Small Box aluminum panel and an early 80's JCM800 w/vertical inputs. I run them thru a 1968 Marshall slant cab with pre Rola 12" greenback speaks. The ONLY amp that is hi gain is the JCM800 and it sounds glorious! I still love my JTM 45 over my many different amps though because it has such a beautiful clean, high headroom tone. Btw, I bought all these amp heads and the cab waaay before the vintage gear thing kicked in. Late 60's early 70's kind of thing. Been playing over 50 years and worked in vintage instrument shops for over 30 years so I got first choice and killer deals! Certainly, couldn't afford them now!! Just wonderful! Thanks for the upload Mason!
great post Jakal9712
Thanks so much for the comment and watching!
@@VertexEffectsInc hey mason, I swear to God man like I said I've been playing for over 50 years and was in the Vintage gear game for over 30 years and I learn so much every week from this channel the rig doctor etc. You do our communities such a huge service with the depth of your knowledge your unbiased demonstration of other manufacturers gear, unbiased for the most part LOL but yeah you get it man I'm a fan I love your playing and I've got an Ultraphonics Mark 1 that I absolutely love and I've got your clean boost Mark 2 that is second to none man. You make some great stuff Mason and I just want to acknowledge that for you!
@@VertexEffectsInc by the way, that ultraponics Mark 1 into my jtm 45 is just tone from the Godz!!! Glorious doesn't even scratch the surface! That box you made is killer!
Excellent video! people often don't realize how loud they are too. Playing on 5 is already"peel the paint off the wall" and 10 would be "blow your head off" settings...
One thing not to forget, that can be heard through the entire EVH-section of this video:
The preamp-section of the Echoplex-Delay that would be in front of the amp back then.
There you get a gainstage as well.
I thought the Les Paul through the SLP into the Greenback sound was pretty much spot on for this song.
Really nice to listen to tones!
Excellent point. The vintage Echoplex preamp was a classic booster in the front ends of Marshalls and Fenders everywhere. Ritchie Blackmore used a tape recorder preamp in a similar way.
Thanks for video. When I hear Marshall Plexi I think of Allman Brother's Filmore East, Angus and Malcom Young's tone, Paul Kossoff tone. All that heavier distortion Marshall tone, I think of JCM800 Marshalls.
Interesting!
Totally agree.. the ‘71 50 watter that I played A LOT in the 90s and naughts would almost never break up, and when it did, I couldn’’t hear for days. It drove me to boogies! Still love them, and would love to try cascading them… in a modeler. BTW, thanks for that! I never knew about EVH’s cascading trick(!?)
Thanks for watching!
Decades ago when I played old Fender and Marshall amps, I couldn't figure out how to get distortion out of them. All I could get out of them was a really loud clean sound that shook, rattled, and rumbled the entire building.
They can get damn loud before any distortion happens. Often it's the speaker before the amp.
I hear you, a mid 70s 50W plexi was my first proper tube amp at a time where vintage was just considered old. I quickly found out that a Big Muff in front can do wonders. Luckily some band from Seattle made playing loud guitars viable again right when I started to play live. That helped the desired sound the most :)
It's the amps. The increase in watts means the clean is there at higher volumes. The reverse is true. If you want that cranked sound, get a lower watt rated amp. A 10W amp is half as loud as a 100W amp which is half as loud as a 1000w amp. You'll get that breakup quickly on a 10W amp.
This was the Sound of the Amps. With Luck you have a knob to pull "for more" gain. This was the reason to have a Boogie by Mesa. Or Distortion Pick ups. A "Dirty Finger" by Gibson direkt to a Mark III Boogie or an old Tube Amp let you smile and give many of the things, people seek today.
@@VertexEffectsInc oh yes. And without much Tube Compression.....
Thanks for clearing up the myths and mysteries of the plexi. These are things I've often wondered about over the years.
That was great explanation. Nicely done.
Totally agree, great playing too.
I think a lot of the tones on our favorite recordings are less distorted than we perceive. The classic “Brown Sound” really isn’t all that dirty. A lot of it is just Eddie’s percussive attack, and of course, he had graphic EQs and the Echoplex boosting the signal, and the Variac doing its thing. But it’s not high gain. Other players who were using treble boosters and/or pedals like the Distortion+ had more distortion, but it was fuzzier and more midrange-focused. I find it ironic that Eddie later ended up putting his name on the most high gain tube amps on the market.
Dallas Range master. 🙂
Exactly.
There are moments where ED does get some serious high gain thump though, like with Unchained, but as mentioned, he had a few pedals that were boosting his signal, and his attack adds a lot.
Peavey 5150 very buzzy amp. Uuuug
I personally play my jtm45 with a distortion plus and a blues driver, and together the distortion I get is crazy loud but magical. And between lead parts I’ll switch them off and have that beautiful plexi clean tone. Getting a jtm was one of the best decisions I’ve made so far as a young musician
I feel like many people know what it’s supposed to sound like. You did it perfectly and its awesome.
Thanks for watching!
I had a Marshall 100W Lead that had a master volume - one of the earliest models I believe they made with a master volume. It sounded great and is my favourite amp that I used. I would have to say it wasn't really all that distorted unless you cranked it up with both the gain + master volume. But by then, the soundman would be having conniptions, as we were a bar band, and people in the audience would be losing their sanity. LOL. I currently use a handwired 12W Fender 5E3 tweed amp for mucking around, as I'm an official old guy now. The 5E3 isn't what you'd call clean. Very cool sound at low volume. But my favourite to use was the 100W Marshall. Forgot to mention...the Marshall cabinet was 4-12's with the Celestion 25W greenbacks - sweet speakers!
Great video. I bought an Origin 20. Got it home and was wondering where all the gain was. Still a great amp. Paired with a good fuzz is magic.
👍👍👍
The OR20 is my favorite amp. The overdrive is hidden in the power amp. Crank up the master and it sings. Or just boost past the headroom with a pedal to get preamp distortion.
That tilt control makes it so versatile. Love everything about it.
A lot of players dislike the Origens because its hard to get a high gain sound out of them. But that's exactly why i like them. Just put a boost/OD/ distortion pedal in front and voila. I see a lot of rookies get a high gain amp who crank the gain and put distortion pedals in front. All fizz. The EVH amps have that souped up gain control that brings in that fizzy gain way too early. The opposite of the cranked Plexi sound let alone a JTM45.
Old post but you're correct. I bought a Super Lead in the 80s and was 100% happy with its quality and sound, but it wasn't what i was expecting. Its cost, and easy to steal head, relegated it to my home and sometimes the studio. I ended up using 4 Fender Super Twins. Yeah, they were heavy as a tank but nobody stole them. They were also notoriously clean, and notoriously cheap to buy... and that got me into pedals. After 40 years I still prefer a dead clean amp with boost, OD, and a rare distortion pedal for grit. My old Super Twins are gone but using a Furman set at 115v made the tubes last 6 years. I let my ears rest by using sub 35 watt combos in the last year or so, but i let the Marshall out for a spin every once in a while.
You pretty much nailed it. The key was "really high volume" because in the 70's, PA systems hadn't advanced. Having seen countless bands during the early 70's, the stage volume of bands like Deep Purple, Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad were ear splitting. to the point of almost painful to hear. Today we have the luxury of an endless array of pedals to juice the sound without the massive volume. What this style amp was/is, is an incredible platform to use pedals with. That's something lost in today's world of ultra high gain amps, massive distortion, and guitars tuned down two and three steps. Kudo's for the review.
Thanks for watching!
*Post Phase Inverter Master Volume* was a very easy common mod in the 70's. Three parts, non invasive. See Train Wreck Type 1 PPI Master Volume.
Another vehicle to massive crunch at lower volumes was putting a 1 transistor Dallas Arbiter Rangemaster Treble Booster in front of a 6- EL34 SOUND CITY 120 that has no master volume. ( great video on ytb). Marshall is similar. You can always pull output tubes to lower volume. Always remove outside left, outside right as pairs.
For about 3 years, when I was 19-22 years old, I had a Marshall "Major" 200 watt Plexi Full Stack, which was, as it tured out, virtually useless, in most venues we ever played, at the volume needed to really make it really "shine"! BUT, at that "Sweet Spot"...what a SOUND!! Truly, truly AWESOME! :D I'm 73, now, and use a Marshall "Origin" 50 half-stack, or the Combo, to get very very close, to that cranked "Major" sound, and far more reasonable/useable volume levels. An original vintage Plexi, and even the Plexi "hand wired" re-issues are out of my budget, these days. The Origin does "just fine", for my modest needs, now. Love Fender amps, as well!
Thanks for watching!
@@VertexEffectsInc Thank You, for the content! Keep up the good work! :D
I think what most people refer to when talking about a "Plexi tone" is the tone you get when you have the channels jumped and all knobs dimed. Most people I know and have talked to are not really under the impression that a Plexi is a high-gain monster of an amp, but it is the amp that started the high-gain craze when people began modifying them to get more gain.
I think what most guys are referring to is actually a sound they've never heard in person and pedals and amp sims (digitally) are their baseline. If you've not played a vintage Marshall, or a Plexi, it's hard to understand how clean it is for most of the way through the volume taper.
The Jose mod that everyone in the 80’s started doing on their Plexis and Metalface Superleads
I was watching while on lunch and you had me ready to break out singing along! Great touch and sounds!!
Awesome! Thank you!
This is really informative, Thank you rig doctor clarifying the concept and all the hard work you put to made this happen 🙏
Glad it was helpful!
I have an old Traynor YBA-1 that's a very similar circuit, I learned these tricks myself back in the day. Great video, wish I'd had it back then.
Thanks for watching!
Indeed, Marshalls from the late 60s are mid-gain amplifiers. They tend to have a thick and throaty mid-range. Great crunch sound for rhythm. For lead, I always found that they need a boost for more liquid sustain. When I hear people refer to the "plexi sound" I think they are referring to that thick mid-range rather than high gain.
If at max they're mid gain (maybe) depending on your gain threshold. I might be able to get my Marshalls to approximate my SLO in the "crunch" setting, but certainly not the "lead" channel even at lower levels of gain.
Wow. I finally heard how a "plexi" (Super Lead Jtm 45/100) actually sounds like. Thanks for having "vampirized" out that idea almost everyone thinks of when they hear "Plexi 1959/1960's" or such. Nice presentation, pretty clear and I didn't get bothered from opening to ending. Congrats. Cheers from Belgium and keep it up. You rock 🤟🤟😉😉
Awesome video! I’ve never considered the “plexi sound” as really overdriven and saturated. Because as you said, it’s really a fairly clean tone. But I’ve always described it as “greasy and gritty”, but in a very good way. As you showed, speakerchoice is really very important to that plexi tone which is why I dig a good old Greenback.
Exactly! Many years ago I bought a very similar 100w super lead from a friend looking for that Hendrix/Page tone and was confused how clean it was! It sounded great for cleans but as a young player didn’t know how to tame it or use it and unfortunately eventually sold it 😫 So I noticed when Marshall put out the Origin series recently it was exactly what I was looking for, Plexi tones with a master volume and variable wattages in a smaller package, but still that cool spanky Plexi tone I could goose with pedals at various playing volumes, I got the 50 watt combo and love it! But online a lot of people were trashing them, because as you said, the actual plexi sound was not what they were hearing in their head, but more like late seventies jmp or early 80’s 800’s. (I also own an ‘86 50watt jcm800 which is exactly that ‘brown’ sound without pedals or cascading anything, they have internal clipping diodes within the circuit if I’m correct, like a built in distortion pedal right?🎸🔊)
eveything on 10 and your guitar volume is your master volume, its how it was done
I think that one overlooked feature of Marshall amps is the outstanding clean tone.
Absolutely, sorta the secondary thesis of this video - they sound amazing!
3mins in and I love this video. Some of the best advice for recording electric guitars: you need less distortion than you’d think in a mix. The plexi is a great example of this. ACDC’s “Back in Black” isn’t THAT distorted by any stretch, but between the eq and compression their guitars sound awesome. Thanks Mason!!
I just looked on Reverb for an original Fuzz Face like I had when I was a kid. I don't think I even payed $100.00 back then. I almost had a heart attack when I saw what they're going for.
They've gotten up there!
"Vintage" is a scam of a marketing term - there just "used".
@@ushnicyuvnikof2748 For the most part I agree with you. That said many years ago I was in a friend's music store and they had a 1950's Gibson Super 400 with a cutaway that was custom made for a person who retired and decided he wanted to play guitar. It took them a year to build it. He got tired of waiting and decided to learn piano instead. When the guitar arrived he put it under the bed and never played it. The guy died and his wife brought it to the music store to put on consignment. The case had a cover over it. Both the case and the cover were like new. The only thing that was destroyed is the leather handle had almost completely disintegrated because it was never treated with a leather conditioner. They opened the case and the instrument still had the tags on it. The guitar was new. They wouldn't let anybody play it and when they touched it they used cotton gloves. The lady only wanted $20,000.00. It's worth probably 3X that much but that's all she wanted. I'f I had the money I would have bought it for an investment. That instrument is considered 'Vintage' due to it's age even though it was brand new and never played. The guy who owned it literally never touched it. This, however, is exceedingly rare. A lot of 'Vintage' guitars (especially Fenders) are crap. They get high prices for them because of their age but the wood in them is really not super high quality like what you would get now if you custom ordered one from the Custom Shop or had a private luthier build you one. Old Gibsons on the other hand are much better than new ones. Pedals on the other hand are a completely different story.
It’s the underlying tone behind the overdrive - there’s a sweetness. I recorded an album at home using an attenuated JTM 45 reissue. And it’s definitely a case of if you want more, you have to put something between the guitar and the amp - a booster, fuzz/overdrive - as you’ve shown very well here. Excellent video!
Great video! I see so many people trying to play AC/DC with a ton of gain on a master volume amp. Angus's sound isn't as distorted as people think. He was over-driving Marshalls.
Well said!
Yes; at one point he was using plain JTM45s.
I was thinking that the pros all say the same thing when it comes to playing AC/DC and old Marshall's, there's not as much gain as you think!
ACDC is the perfect example of people use too much gain
Fantastic mate, as someone who grew up with Marshalls (a 71 50 watt hardwired) it was a bone crushingly loud amp that got happy at 8. The best tomne I had was the amp in a separate studio miked through the console. I think most new generation love the Marshalls they played with in modelers like the fractal gear where you can run them full bore and get a similar effect.
To me, the plexi sound has always been this clean to edgy slightly crunch sound with a ton of dynamic range.
Glad to see an EVM 12L as part of a demo. These speakers aren’t brought up enough. I love these speakers. They make any amp I plug into them shine
I used to have one and it had the greatest tone of any amp I've ever owned. But it didn't distort until it started to get ungodly loud. Easily the loudest amp I've ever owned.
Yes, that's the trouble!
@@VertexEffectsInc Depends on how you look at it. These amps were designed in an era when there were no PA's (or hardly any). They shine when you turn them (half way) up in a large venue and when you use two 4x12 cabs. They were never meant to distort at low volume (or to distort at all, as you pointed out). I never use pedals for distortion. So a smaller amp and cab suit most (nowadays) situations better. The trouble is that a lot of people nowadays think these amps should work at bedroom level, studio, rehearsal room, local club etc. and start using attenuators, pedals and all that. But you should think of them as PA gear from back in the day when a band had to provide all the volume themselves.
@@nielsfeitsma2131 if u were in an auditorium u probably wouldn't think it was as loud as it is !!??!!??
@@zandig666 No, it does not work like that. The size of the room and the audience matters. If you would take it to a large hall or an outdoor stadium and turn it up loud and you are standing 8 meters away from it, it is still loud, and of course it is just as loud as when you play it at home, but the sound "flies away", especially outdoors. It is all a matter of how much air you want to move. If you are in a baseball stadium with 20.000 people making a lot of noise and screaming, a 100 watt Marshall is not "loud", certainly not 100 or 200 meters away from the stage when all those people are there. The other way round: if you take a 5 watt 1x10 inch tube amp to the rehearsal room it might not be loud enough to hear yourself over a (hard hitting) drummer. The amp "drowns" in the room so to speak. But if you take it home to your bedroom and play it there cranked the windows start to shake and your neighbours will start to complain.
Sounds killer bro , so good!
my JTM45 gets more action than my JCM800 now that im closer to 40 than i was 15 yrs ago. although. the JCM is a FAIRLY clean "high-gain" amp too....
But at least you have a master volume ;)
I have owned a Super Lead 100, and a variety of other Marshall's that I have played the last 40 years. I agree completely with your assessment that the Plexi is basically a clean amp that provides an incredible pedal platform. The problem I also found was the volume level required to produce the 'sound of ecstasy' desired, even using pedals. So...to solve this problem, and after many years of buying/selling amps and effects, I have finally discovered my sound, I use a Soldano Hot Rod 25 running in stereo with a Marshall 2525H via a Radial Tonebone JX-2 Pro Switchbone AB-Y switcher. Add a Boss RV-500 and I have the sound I love at a reasonable level. It truly can take years of experimentation to discover how to create the sound that moves your soul; but the time, effort, and cost required, will hopefully enable the guitarist to finally just be able to play the music they love, without complaining the sound is not quite right. Thank you, and many others like yourself, for demonstrating how to define and create the guitar tone that you have searched for your entire life!
thank you! - finally the first video to say the truth about the real "plexi-sound"...
Hahaha...probably not the first, but hopefully not the last. It's funny how almost every "Plexi" pedal is a pretty distorted overdrive pedal when it's almost impossible to get breakup from a Marshall Plexi or Superlead 100 unless it's maxed out.
@@VertexEffectsInc even when a Plexi or jtm 45 is dimed you still don't get that great High gain vibe. It took me years to realize I had to stick something in front of it like a first generation rat or a tube screamer or whatever was handy! Then and only then, look out! It was on from that point forward!
Good description I have a 71 50W and late 60s 4x12 with 25 greenbacks. It lives in the studio but I have toured it extensively. Way back, guitarists added a boost to push the front end as it isnt really a fire breather without help. JB used a coloursound overdriver.......when I had one and the 71, it sounded awesome. I use a double muff on setting 1 now. It is all used with a Richter power soak (I gained the Marshall whilst helping with R&D for the Motherload). Its been my no 1 for many years and I love it.
AC/DC is a great example of Marshall "clean".
They got some gain on their sounds though...not totally clean. I think they also used JMP era Marshalls as well.
Spot on!!!!! Finally my mistake back in 1972 was not understanding what I was buying when I bought a 100 marshall stack. I wrestled with that amp for 50 years. I call my stack Capone because the cops confiscated it many times back in the day. It really sounds more like a Fender super twin on steroids. The amp tech said it was the loudest amp he ever had on his bench 148 rms. It’s actually a very early 73. We used to play open air venues back in those days that’s where The amp shined I used a Vox wah peddle and that sound was incredible. My friend had a treble boost which was also a good way to hit the front of the amp harder to get a great to distortion. Bravo you did a great job 😊
I actually prefer the greenback in every test.
What a lot of people hear w/ Plexis without effects is speaker breakup, cone cry, console transformer saturation/harmonics, and tape saturation. Tape also starts shelving off north of 10k so it softens up that brittle high end plexis have. In studio, I have a lot of control to turn a tiny bit of breakup or harmonics into a mountain of distortion.
That intro jam though!! Great playing and tones, and most excellent presentation. Rock on!
Thanks so much!
First of your videos I've run across. Excellent job! Enough info but not too much. Clear demo. Thanks. I'm sure I'll watch more of your videos.
Something that is cool is we now have Studio Vintage Plexi that allows you get that plexi dimed at a much lower volume without compression/distortion/boost pedals in front. With it being 5 or 20 watts (depending on what mode you switch) the headroom is so much less and you can get that Angus Young amp exploding thing at a much lower volume (it's still loud but not "I can hear you in the next county" loud).
Im a guitar into amp guy and I find that when I use mine with my LP, I have the Loudness 1 up all the way, Loudness 2 at "Marshall 2" and all the EQs dimed except the bass, which I dial to taste for the song I am recording (trying to keep in mind where the bass guitar in the track is/or will sit.) I often just keep mine on the 5 watt channel through an Orange 2x12 and just use my hands and volume knob to "dirty it up" when need be.
If you can find a Studio Vintage plexi (they are hard to find used but you can get them at a steal like I got mine!) go grab one! You won't regret it at all.
Cheers!
What a great lesson on the variety, and smorgasbord of power, wattage, and options anyone can create. Not just with a Marshall and fender amplifier, but many other iconic amps. Youve brought to life many opportunities. Btw. This old timer subscribed. Cheers to your success in the coming years. Great video
I've watched every guitar channel on TH-cam and I think You nailed it, I really enjoyed the shoot-out, thanks for sharing :D
Wow, thanks!
Absolutely right Mason. Most people cite plexi sound and they've never actually played one. I was lucky enough to for a short while own a 68' 100w plexi in custom white leather no less, owned previously by the band Angel, ( Punky Meadows ). I came across it thru a friend, probably in about 78 or 79 out in L.A. It was torn and beat to hell. But the thing is, that a lot of people don't realize, is that it was mostly cleanish! But, ..... un Godly loud! Like twin reverb break the windows clean loud, until the volume was WAY up there, then it would start to break up. This was a serious stage amp only, ..... big stage, but it was glorious. THAT was the Jimi sound...... huge clean with hair around it. Really huge. It had to be boosted with something to really get over the top. If I had only known to keep it.......
Awesome, awesome, awesome video. Thank you so much. Not only did it bring back memories, it confirmed what I've heared (if that makes sense) for years.
Mason this is really good stuff here. Having never played a Plexi I chased down that sound for decades. Now I'm glad I saved my money.
Glad I could help!
Super informative and you are always a professional. I finally subscribed. (sorry for the delay) And as for delay and reverb, they are the milk and honey of inspired playing. Thank you for bringing music fully to life in your demos.
Great video Mason! Thanks for the actual art and science of the Marshall Plexi sound and tones.
🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for explaining this. I have zero idea why people thought this was a high gain amp. Cheers!
define gain
Picked up a ‘75 1987 this year and have honestly never been happier with my tone! I have a relatively effect-heavy sound and it does the job as a platform beyond perfectly. Thank you for the excellent video as always!
I got one prob same time as you did. I got a 50w all original only the power caps had been done. No mv. Sounds incredible I love it. It pairs well with the 74 cab w creambacks I got 2 years before.
Awesome video, thanks. Adding to the plexi tone diversity is the mode of rectification. I play both a JTM (tube rectification) and a 1968 plefi front JMP50 (solid state rectification) and they compress very differently (sag). I think it affects the distorted sound a bit and also the way the amp receives pedals.
Dude . Great vid. Honestly there were at least 2 “OH YEAH!!” Moments that I should have honestly known for years lol helped me a lot
Awsome video brother! I've bin through this for so many years. I wanted a tube amp that could produce killer distortion, gain, smooth saturation with no brittle high end grating on my ears, and without the help of ANY pedals!! I don't think Marshall truly did it until they released the incredible Marshall JVM 210H. What a beast baby!! Now that's an amp built for rock n roll! I just don't understand why Marshall didn't capitalize on it and keep going and expanding on the idea? Anyway, thanks for the 411. You've got a new customer my friend! Sean Black
Great points and a fine channel, I remember that Marshall amps in strip malls would disappoint because you had to throttle down for neighbors. Never thought much of them til I got a Kemper and could hear them properly opened up with either tweaked mods or stock for nice old ones loaded with nostalgia tubes. One thing many people miss about gain is the board or treble boost gain. So yeah, artist amps were not overly gained at the studio because it drives engineers nuts with noise and loses clarity etc-but sometimes they were also overloading a particular board or like Lynch going into a Tascam which gained his recorded tone even more according to producer Wagener. Plus, both Iommi and Blackmore used treble boosts that are crucial to sounding higher gain than you will get from just the amp even set as it was for a particular track.
One of the better analyses on the subject I've listened to on TH-cam.
Thanks so much!
You put a lot of work into your videos - I appreciate you breaking down these sounds.
Hello Mason, serving up some tasty tones today! Thank you for all of the great content!
Wow, thanks!
Great video topic. I always learn something from your videos. Even if it’s just a little nugget of information i still learn something.
Finally someone said it! I have always thought this!
Yes!
I was completely unaware that people considered the JTM's high gain other than that they were higher gain than Fender amps. But as far as I'm concerned, they growl and don't bark and that's why I love them.
Nice demo. I fumbled through this a few decades ago before I could find answers on the internet... or even the internet. I think that it is important to note that you're not actually using a "Plexi" as they have plexiglas front panels. Marshall switched to gold bushed aluminum panels around 1968/69. Some amps actually have one of either based upon availability during production at that time. The aluminum panel amps have a different sonic signature sound as well. They are a little (some a lot!) brighter. I had both simultaneously for several years and it was easy to tell them apart with your ears. I sold my '71 metal panel, and later a '75-ish JMP, but kept my '68 (Plexi) Superlead. My heirs will have to figure out what it is and what to do with it. Perhaps even by watching your well-presented video. Thanks!
One of my favorite "plexi" pedals is the Xotic SL Drive, it has a great mini form factor and it's so versatile for getting different plexi flavors. And my favorite way to use it is in front of my handwired Marshall 2245 THW set fairly clean. Incredible tones.
its like the added distortion "fits inside" the amps gain. So incredible.
I had a 80's JCM 100W that I have never been able to top for overall tone. ( I hard soldered the cab. speakers , put Groove Tubes in it & cleaned all the pots with DeOxit anti-corrosion. ) I sold it to a friend and it went on to live on the road in the Midwest for several years before I lost track of her....
Rock on!
When I think of “plexi” I think of the time when I was in college on vacation in Denver and I walked into a guitar center and there was a Jimi Hendrix full stack with the 45/100 head. That was the most glorious clean sound I’d ever heard and it is burned into my memory. And all of the pro guys I know say the same thing “run your Marshall clean” with pedals. I agree.
I bought a Marshall Artiste 50watt combo in 1979 - I was never happy with it as it was glass clean even at full volume. I had it up for sale a couple of times, but there was no real interest. I used to gig with it but I had a fuzz box that was on most of the time. Transistor amps got better so the Artiste stayed at home. Many many years later when I knew a bit more about engineering and electronics, I saew anarticle about rewiring valve amp front ends to improve sound. I read up on Marshall schematics and I rewired the two input ECC83 valves into a JTM style mutiple gain stage with a switchable modifed boost channel. I kept the reverb channel and used the original channel 2 input jacks as an FX send and return. I also added variable negative feedback. I had totally ruined the resale value , but the result was amazing. I made a video to go on the local online sellers channel and it sold very quickly. I told the buyer that as it was a custom amp, if he had any trouble, to bring it back and I would fix it. He floored me with his reply - he didn't play guitar, he only collected old Marshalls. In hindsight, selling it to him meant my creation would never be used to it's best, but money is money. Here is the original video th-cam.com/video/YIzcZq6Fqaw/w-d-xo.html. - and all that from a single P90. Makes me wish I'd never sold it.
Thanks for a well organized and well spoken video!
Glad it was helpful!
This was an awesome video to watch. I picked up a 72 superlead a few years ago, best purchase I ever made and really has become a draw to my local recording artists.
Thanks for this - these kinds of A/B comparisons really help understand tone and de-bunk certain myths
Glad it was helpful!
I had a 1971 Super Lead 100 Plexi. It was clean until you get to 6 or 7, from there on it distorts like mad but, the volume is deafening. That's why most artists in the 60's and 70's used 50-watt heads. I bought a 1976, Mark II Master Model Lead 100W, in 1980, from a friend. That amp screams! I still use it today. I couple it with 2 1960A cabinets from the same year.
Best comparison video I've seen of the plexi !!! Many thx and boy those amps sound great at 100%
Thanks for this excellent and educational demo video! Great sounds!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was actually very validating to watch. I'm a Marshall guy through and through, with a '76 2203, a '78 Super Bass, an '87 JCM 2210, and a '90 JCM 9er. For the longest time, I was wondering why my stock 2203 JMP, while it sounds great on its own merits, didn't really pack the crunch that I'd heard so heralded on a lot of those 1970-'80s records; Once I had my own epiphany that A: the layering of tracks was partly responsible for beefing up that sound, and B: the artists seldom delve into what boosters were used, it started to fall in place, that no, I didn't have a dud by any means. The split channel JCM 800s and the oft-maligned JCM 900s do still have a searing crunch on their own.
I’ve got a 1987x (50 watt reissue without the FX loop) head with a 1960A (4x12 slant) cab. I got them both around ‘97. Only mod I did was replace the stock speakers with Greenbacks and also retubed the head with JJs. It is plenty loud and is clean up until about 3 on both channels (jumpered). And it gets loud fast. Past 3 it gets a little louder and more saturated as you turn up the volume. The sweet spot seems to be about 2 o’clock on both channel volumes. Back in the ‘90s and into the 2000s, I’d cascade an A/DA MP-1 into the input. I know, crazy. But it worked to get a more controllable clean and overdrive sound. I now have a Boss TAE that I really like to get the saturation at a manageable volume that won’t have my neighbors calling the cops. Les Paul through a plexi: Hear it roar!
Great video... I guess I'm in the camp that when I think of the Plexi I always associated it with a good, strong clean tone, but I'm also from that generation before, and, just as pedals punching the front of the amp became the norm and the monster it is today. Either way, you've done well exemplifying the Plexi in all it's glorious powerful clean tones. It is truly one of the best platforms for pedals to tone-out and sound their best.
Thanks for sharing! I think why many people think it's a dirtier sound than it is, is because many players from my generation and afterwards never played a real vintage Marshall, let alone a Plexi, to know what they sound like, and their education to that sound is through pedals (Marshall in a box) which are generally OD or Distortion pedals, or through amp models that are doing a similar high gain thing to the pedals.
Great job comparing these sounds. Playing the same riff throughout is key. Lot of videos dont play the same riff for comparison. Spot on bro. Awesome video. LIKED & SUBSCRIBED!
When you cascaded those amps together, I thought the extra gain actually helped with note definition. That sounded incredible!
Great presentation. One thing a lot of guys don't realize is that those plexi amps were insanely loud and that loudness made for a lot of sustain which made for a great sound. You did a great job explaining how those amps actually sound.
the loudness is exactly why I eventually went to Marshall clones that had a scaled direct line out (Mojave Ampworks)
Thanks for the tip. I may see if I can try one.@@mobydick3895