My favorite amps to use an HM-2 with are old Marshalls. I usually use a ‘67 JTM 100 Super PA through a 2x12 with JBL D120 and a 4x12 with Pulsonic G12H 55Hz from 1970, amazing chainsaw sound! 🙂
Okay sticking a pedal between the two channels in a 4-hole marshall to mess with the bass is such a cool idea, I am definitely going to experiment with that - thanks!
Another fun thing to do with a Plexi is to add a distortion pedal between the two channels, so plug the guitar into channel I (treble channel) and use your favorite distortion pedal there, then between channel I and II put the tube screamer, and then you can blend the two together that way. Sounds great. Also you can put other effects there like delays and it'll give you a pseudo FX loop feel since Plexi amps typically don't have effects loops. Allllllso, the way the EQ works on those amps is very interesting, they are not independent of one another so just turning the bass up also alters the treble and mids. Changing the mids effects the treble and bass, and same with the treble. So an interesting thing to do is to turn all the EQ to 10. Because you're boosting the treble and mids along with the bass, the flubbyness is tamed. This is the Van Halen setting. Also, you can turn the bass and mids to zero, and turn the treble to 10. You'd think that would sound like trash, but it's pretty cool sounding actually.
I had an old Marshall Major, which was a 200 watt beast. And it also was like a plexi in that it had four inputs. It was just bigger. I discovered the Boss PD1. Which, when turned on, turned the mudd into a much tighter clean basic tone with just a little breakup. Then, I turned on my Boss sustainer distortion pedal, and it absolutely just came to life. I mean it was Metallica brutal. Some of my greatest recorded tones were with that setup. I don't think that Boss make the pd1 anymore, which is why I bought two of them.
I'm currently using a rat boosting a catalinbread sft. The sft is set to max gain, 9 o'clock bass, noon treble. Sound thick and chunky by itself. Then the rat at 9 o'clock gain, max volume, and about 2 o'clock filter. The rat with the gain down really low adds this biting midrange that can almost turn a muff into modern metal. The sft brings the chunk, the rat brings the bite. Sounds pretty good to my ears, I haven't compared it to a modern metal amp tone though.
For the plug in route only, are y'all ready for option paralysis? First, get a lush clean sound, think rich, full, clear, add effects if you so desire. Then dial up the distorted tone. Experiment. It's wrong only when it sounds bad. Few dirt pedals have the blend knob, but worth searching for. The Red Seven Leviathan to me sounds like a blended tone. Check out John Browne's demo.
Just use a crunchy tube preamp and push the Marshall preamp tubes. Now you've got two or three stages of tube gain. Throw the tube screamer in for a mid boost.
One thing I would strongly suggest is using a smart gate that works with a key input and fx loop. Not just because when you stop playing it sounds like the amp isn't even on, but actually while you're playing it cleans up your tone and removes quite a lot of annoying shit in the guitar tone and tightens it up quite a lot. I would say it's entirely critical for sick modern metal tone, it's not just kind of sort good to have, it's 100% necessary.
If my Plexis sound like this, something's wrong. Check filter caps and tubes. There is no need to jump the channels. I might only use a pedal for boost, the amp should sound like the Holy Grail of high gain by itself. With all due respect lads, this is not representative of a proper Plexi. I use it for all my videos, and respectfully it sounds dissimilar to your amp.
Hmm, It was supposed to be in good shape and with new tubes and stuff. Since it sounded good i didn’t reflect, but now that you say it the amount of distortion might be on the light side. I’ll check it out, thank you. Regardless, the type of guitar sound you have in your videos is cool, but not what we were going for here. But if I’m going to be real serious about it, it’s better to let a Marshall sound like a Marshall and get some other amp if another sound is required. Experiments are fun though.
"Thanks for taking time to reply" True, but therein lies the 'thing'; coming across an old Marshall that has that serious amount of gain when pushed. I know they tweaked their designs throughout the years, so I am not sure how a typical '71 JMP should sound. The 67-69 seem to be the magic years. Furthermore my Soldanos and others are gathering dust, literally. When I plug into one, I immediately recognize a HUGE difference the way the amp responds. Preamp gain sounds fizzy/compressed to me now. Of course if I want nu metal, an overdrive through a noise gate and the amp set right, blows away any modern metal amp. Thats from years of tone chasing. In the end, it's all subjective. Good luck, and I hope a Marshall of the right kind plops in your lap someday, bruv.
Adding just a slight touch of gain from your OD pedal can go a LONG way when trying to get a vintage amp to sound a bit more modern, even when the OD is going into a dirt pedal, such as this video. That said, the real secret is to just EQ the hell out of it, on top of adding gain stages of course.
You definitel should check out a Diezel VH4 which is a "pretty old" design by now also and I would call it a classic - so fitting perfect in your collection ;-) Channel 2 is totally underestimated, gives Marshall sounds but super precise (perfect for doubling, L/R with real Marshall etc). For Metal recording - Ch 3. Going crazy - ch 4.
Haha can you come by right now? Näää, I got the splitting thing. What I meant was I didn’t fully understand how the two channels interacted before you showed me. The fact that it is two independent mixable channels is a perfect playground for a lot more experimentation.
This video is confusing me. On my 73 super lead 100w all you need is a ts9 or something similar, with cranked (or some other channel mix that is close to cranked) jumped channels the tone and feel are perfect for 80's style metal, definitely thrash (drrr drrr metal as the host says), even black metal. Prob not best for modern/commercial death metal, but also not at all what it sounds like here. The tone here sounds like you're pulling teeth out of that amp. It just doesn't want to play along. I want to listen again later in the studio, instead of my shitty sounding tv.
Btw I'm not actually suggesting that running your vintage Marshall full open all the time is a good idea. IME it does get the tone big time, but 1st of all it's really really loud. 2nd, I can only get a few sessions out of it before it blows up and needs another expensive retube. Be forewarned...
Hey! You’re not the first to notice this. I suspect it’s the master pot modification that makes it weird. It changes the character of the distortion a lot.
It was so much fun at your place!
Thanks for having me, I’ll be back soon! 🤘❤️
When ever you want Kristian! 😘
@@hoborec Kristian is the man!
My favorite amps to use an HM-2 with are old Marshalls.
I usually use a ‘67 JTM 100 Super PA through a 2x12 with JBL D120 and a 4x12 with Pulsonic G12H 55Hz from 1970, amazing chainsaw sound! 🙂
Good to know I'm not the only one!
Agreed, my Studio Vintage Plexi takes RAT and HM2 really well. As well as my Sovtek mig50!
Okay sticking a pedal between the two channels in a 4-hole marshall to mess with the bass is such a cool idea, I am definitely going to experiment with that - thanks!
Right?!! I’m going to make a follow up video on that for sure!
Yep, a few years ago we did almost the same thing with vintage Marshall from 70's and RAT pedal, so we got quite "pleasant" result.
Every time I bring out the rat I’m thinking “wow, this is really under rated, I should use this more!”
@@hoborec well yes, i think RAT is one of these classic pedals every "heavy" studio must have.
@@hoborec RAT love! One of my to fav pieces of gear easily.
Facial expressions usually adds the last 10 percent to a metal sound. I'm an even older guy so this was really useful. Thanks!
Hahaha so that’s why I’m never happy with the sound when I play. My expression game is not that solid 😅
Yes!! Another great video! You guys rock!!
Thank you very much!!
@@hoborec thank you!
Another fun thing to do with a Plexi is to add a distortion pedal between the two channels, so plug the guitar into channel I (treble channel) and use your favorite distortion pedal there, then between channel I and II put the tube screamer, and then you can blend the two together that way. Sounds great. Also you can put other effects there like delays and it'll give you a pseudo FX loop feel since Plexi amps typically don't have effects loops.
Allllllso, the way the EQ works on those amps is very interesting, they are not independent of one another so just turning the bass up also alters the treble and mids. Changing the mids effects the treble and bass, and same with the treble. So an interesting thing to do is to turn all the EQ to 10. Because you're boosting the treble and mids along with the bass, the flubbyness is tamed. This is the Van Halen setting. Also, you can turn the bass and mids to zero, and turn the treble to 10. You'd think that would sound like trash, but it's pretty cool sounding actually.
Such a cool idea!! I’ll definitely make a video on this. Thanks!! 🙏
Awesome! I’m so glad you guys are doing some stuff together! I watch both of your channels independently so this again, is AWESOME
Thanks Paul! Hopefully there will be more in the future 😘
I had an old Marshall Major, which was a 200 watt beast. And it also was like a plexi in that it had four inputs. It was just bigger. I discovered the Boss PD1. Which, when turned on, turned the mudd into a much tighter clean basic tone with just a little breakup. Then, I turned on my Boss sustainer distortion pedal, and it absolutely just came to life. I mean it was Metallica brutal. Some of my greatest recorded tones were with that setup. I don't think that Boss make the pd1 anymore, which is why I bought two of them.
So now I need to find a PD1 too… 😅
It's actually a really cool tone for Grindcore ! It reminds me the guitar sounds coming from the Soundlab Studio in Orebro during the 2000's
RIP Mieszko…
I still love the way the Regurgitate - Carnivorous Erection sounds. RIP
That patch cable method is pretty cool
This was so cool man. Need more stuff like this.
Thanks for watching!!
Awesome! Really cool video. Kinda hard to ask the plexy behave like a modern amp but damn, the end result was pretty cool!
Right? But I really like how gritty it gets when you push old stuff into the extreme.
Thanks! I gave my very best 🤘❤️
When you only want one amp you have to do what you have to do
I'm currently using a rat boosting a catalinbread sft. The sft is set to max gain, 9 o'clock bass, noon treble. Sound thick and chunky by itself. Then the rat at 9 o'clock gain, max volume, and about 2 o'clock filter. The rat with the gain down really low adds this biting midrange that can almost turn a muff into modern metal. The sft brings the chunk, the rat brings the bite. Sounds pretty good to my ears, I haven't compared it to a modern metal amp tone though.
For the plug in route only, are y'all ready for option paralysis? First, get a lush clean sound, think rich, full, clear, add effects if you so desire. Then dial up the distorted tone. Experiment. It's wrong only when it sounds bad. Few dirt pedals have the blend knob, but worth searching for.
The Red Seven Leviathan to me sounds like a blended tone. Check out John Browne's demo.
Disfear cap and Kohle? That's a sub.
Haha thanks! 🙏
Just use a crunchy tube preamp and push the Marshall preamp tubes. Now you've got two or three stages of tube gain. Throw the tube screamer in for a mid boost.
Peavey Bass Mark IV is sick. 2 "blend-able" channels with fx-loop on each channel and crossover output to send to slave-amp.
That sounds like an awesome playground for some serious experimentation!
I’m so onboard for this! I used to love running my guitars through a plexi but in the end I switched it out. Big regrets. Haha
That was great! Thank you for the video.
Thank you 🙏
Very simple but very effective. For on the computer you can also just run any two guitar plugins, NuralDSP etc simultaneously and blend the tone 😉
Love the video. You and Kristian awesome.
Thanks, it was a lot of fun!
One thing I would strongly suggest is using a smart gate that works with a key input and fx loop. Not just because when you stop playing it sounds like the amp isn't even on, but actually while you're playing it cleans up your tone and removes quite a lot of annoying shit in the guitar tone and tightens it up quite a lot. I would say it's entirely critical for sick modern metal tone, it's not just kind of sort good to have, it's 100% necessary.
Yes! I didn’t have a gate at hand when we shot this. But also, this amp doesn’t have a fx loop so it would only work with the simple kind of gate.
Why just not using a Boss ge7 after the ts9? Solves a lot of problems and can get you rid of that nasty high freqs as well.
This is an awesome video! Just shows that you don’t need the “latest and greatest” new toy to get amazing sounds! kudos:)
You might also end up with some more original sounds that way. Even though Marshall’s are probably the most recorded amps haha.
Great content from you guys, good to see ya both in one clip, that's pure awesomeness! Thanks for the tricks!🐀
If my Plexis sound like this, something's wrong. Check filter caps and tubes.
There is no need to jump the channels.
I might only use a pedal for boost, the amp should sound like the Holy Grail of high gain by itself.
With all due respect lads, this is not representative of a proper Plexi.
I use it for all my videos, and respectfully it sounds dissimilar to your amp.
Hmm, It was supposed to be in good shape and with new tubes and stuff. Since it sounded good i didn’t reflect, but now that you say it the amount of distortion might be on the light side. I’ll check it out, thank you.
Regardless, the type of guitar sound you have in your videos is cool, but not what we were going for here.
But if I’m going to be real serious about it, it’s better to let a Marshall sound like a Marshall and get some other amp if another sound is required. Experiments are fun though.
"Thanks for taking time to reply"
True, but therein lies the 'thing'; coming across an old Marshall that has that serious amount of gain when pushed. I know they tweaked their designs throughout the years, so I am not sure how a typical '71 JMP should sound.
The 67-69 seem to be the magic years.
Furthermore my Soldanos and others are gathering dust, literally. When I plug into one, I immediately recognize a HUGE difference the way the amp responds.
Preamp gain sounds fizzy/compressed to me now.
Of course if I want nu metal, an overdrive through a noise gate and the amp set right, blows away any modern metal amp. Thats from years of tone chasing.
In the end, it's all subjective.
Good luck, and I hope a Marshall of the right kind plops in your lap someday, bruv.
Adding just a slight touch of gain from your OD pedal can go a LONG way when trying to get a vintage amp to sound a bit more modern, even when the OD is going into a dirt pedal, such as this video.
That said, the real secret is to just EQ the hell out of it, on top of adding gain stages of course.
There will be more experimenting with this amp for sure.
You definitel should check out a Diezel VH4 which is a "pretty old" design by now also and I would call it a classic - so fitting perfect in your collection ;-) Channel 2 is totally underestimated, gives Marshall sounds but super precise (perfect for doubling, L/R with real Marshall etc). For Metal recording - Ch 3. Going crazy - ch 4.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll definitely check it out.
That's an unusually clean and murky sounding early '70's JMP. Is it healthy?
I really hope so. It had a check up not too long ago. But I haven’t compared to another.
@@hoborec th-cam.com/video/9MNJXQEqChg/w-d-xo.html
I made a quick clip of my '72 Superbass. Is yours a lead or bass amp?
Would probably sound great with the red bogner pre
Have to check that out!
Vilket coolt knep med splitpedalen! Ska prova det med min AC30, den har också fyra ingångar.
Jag hade inte fattat helt hur det funkade med kanalerna innan. Men sugen på att experimentera vidare med detta.
@@hoborec Hit me up! I can explain, haha!
Haha can you come by right now?
Näää, I got the splitting thing. What I meant was I didn’t fully understand how the two channels interacted before you showed me. The fact that it is two independent mixable channels is a perfect playground for a lot more experimentation.
@@hoborec Always here to help! 💪😇
And how does this work in a mix? I think we want to hear it
Yeah sorry, we didn’t have time to go that far. I’ll try to make it happen in a future video!
DRRT is like Dängel, but for guitars.
That might be very true 😅
Let’s try to standardise the expression DRUTT!
This video is confusing me. On my 73 super lead 100w all you need is a ts9 or something similar, with cranked (or some other channel mix that is close to cranked) jumped channels the tone and feel are perfect for 80's style metal, definitely thrash (drrr drrr metal as the host says), even black metal. Prob not best for modern/commercial death metal, but also not at all what it sounds like here. The tone here sounds like you're pulling teeth out of that amp. It just doesn't want to play along. I want to listen again later in the studio, instead of my shitty sounding tv.
Btw I'm not actually suggesting that running your vintage Marshall full open all the time is a good idea. IME it does get the tone big time, but 1st of all it's really really loud. 2nd, I can only get a few sessions out of it before it blows up and needs another expensive retube. Be forewarned...
Hey! You’re not the first to notice this. I suspect it’s the master pot modification that makes it weird. It changes the character of the distortion a lot.
What if it were Guitar->TS->Lehle->(1) Rat->Treble channel, Then Lehle->(2)Bass channel. Just a thought.
I’m going to experiment more with this in a future video soon!
Haha the low end on my Plexi has never been above 0, it's all just mud.
So you made a vintage amp sound modern with vintage pedals?
😂
Is that my old Rat :)
Haha not impossible 😅
Suecia y Alemania!
Any amp can do metal.
So true!
Why would you want your vintage amp to sound modern?
Haha that’s a great question. I think it was more about finding broader user cases.
wow these old plexis really do sound like shit don't they huh?
😂