Marshall Plexi alternatives?

[Joram]

Plexi's are quite expensive (if you can find one). Who knows a good alternative for recording?

[tomdarude]

I see you´re in the Netherlands, if you like a trip to germany (near hamburg) you should check out:

Twinsound.de | Gitarren-Röhren Verstärker | Gitarren-Röhrenverstärker New Vintage Series

their JTA-45 is € 999,- and sounds much better than the 2000,- marshall reissue!!

as are all their other amps!! recommended

[qsblues]

In the context of a decent mix, you'd be surprised how good plug ins will sound. Also, check out some decent modelers from Roland, Line 6 and what not. Standing by themselves, not so impressive. Within a mix and with judicious use of EQ, only another engineer can tell the difference, and then, only in the same control room.

[muziekschuur]

Dutch amp builder (quite affordable)


VernetAmps

Plexi 20W head: 879 euro....

Or:


CeriaTone.Com - DIY Guitar Tube Amp

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by qsblues

In the context of a decent mix, you'd be surprised how good plug ins will sound. Also, check out some decent modelers from Roland, Line 6 and what not. Standing by themselves, not so impressive. Within a mix and with judicious use of EQ, only another engineer can tell the difference, and then, only in the same control room.

No they will not! I've done tons of sessions with that line 6 crap and it is just that. I recently did a latin hard rock album where the guitarist had the high end roland guitar rig
and it was a good thing that they also had the d.i of the guitar, so we could actually get a real sound.

[projectMalamute]

Traynor Bassmaster.

Really. You can get em for peanuts, almost the same circuit as a plexi. Hammond transformers, really nice turret board construction. Great, great amps.

[qsblues]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

No they will not! I've done tons of sessions with that line 6 crap and it is just that. I recently did a latin hard rock album where the guitarist had the high end roland guitar rig
and it was a good thing that they also had the d.i of the guitar, so we could actually get a real sound.

I've used Line 6 stuff for years, and they work quite well. If the owner knows how to use it, then it's quite possible to get good sounds out of their gear.

Sadly though, most people DON'T know how to use them. Hell, most people don't know how to set up a tube amp, let alone anything remotely resembling anything digital.

I beg to differ. Line 6 does make very good equipment, and I'm always pleased with what I can get out of them.

[velvetgeorge]

****SPAM alert!****

I have some plexi alternatives here:

Metropoulos Amplification - The best vintage Marshall plexi replicas in the world.

George


Mods: please delete this post if it violates forum policy.

[biggator6]

The above mentioned 'spam' from metroamp is warranted - that's some good stuff. If you want a spot-on plexi clone, that's it.

[Joram]

Thanks for all tips!

Originally Posted by qsblues

you'd be surprised how good plug ins will sound

I agree with MusiclabI'm not very fond of these plugins. They don't have that punch and energy that a real amp has. Secondly, for me they all sound harsh. But, I do have an Sansamp GT2 and that works sometimes (in combination with a speaker). I think plugins can be handy to colour the sound.

Muziekschuur, great info. Thanks a lot!

Tomdarube, ProjectMalamute & Velvetgeorge: I go and search for these alts.

[doorknocker]

Originally Posted by Joram

Plexi's are quite expensive (if you can find one). Who knows a good alternative for recording?

Every Marshall is different so I wouldn't go with just the model or vintage. I have a 1971 Super Lead 100W that I wouldn't trade for any Plexi there is but I played other Super Leads that were good but not in the same league as mine. But then again the Super Leads are quite expensive these days as well.

I remember paying about $700 for mine 15 years ago or so and really thinking about it twice, I thought I was getting ripped off......Today it seems like an incredible bargain...

It's important to have the tubes set up right but I'm not a believer in spending huge amounts of $ for esoteric tubes.

I don't think that there's any other amp that can approach a good non-master volume Marshall for that particular sound.

[dualtone]

Originally Posted by doorknocker

Every Marshall is different so I wouldn't go with just the model or vintage. I have a 1971 Super Lead 100W that I wouldn't trade for any Plexi there is but I played other Super Leads that were good but not in the same league as mine. But then again the Super Leads are quite expensive these days as well.

It's important to have the tubes set up right but I'm not a believer in spending huge amounts of $ for esoteric tubes.

I don't think that there's any other amp that can approach a good non-master volume Marshall for that particular sound.

Word! I've found that folks' perceptions of the "plexi" sound vary greatly. Real plexis are usually more "Fender-y" than later models. They can break up amazingly, but often in a "softer" less aggressive way. But, yes, they're all different. You may even like the less sought after master volume JMPs!? One more thing...the 18/20 watters are cool, but don't approach what the 50 or 100 watters will do.

[AnthonySpinali]

Call me lame but I've never played through a Plexi.... Can anyone explain what all the excitement is about? I love my JMP 2203 and I had a Superlead with a Master Volume MOD on it years ago and it didn't touch my JMP. In fact I was dying to get rid of it.

[biggator6]

Can anyone explain what all the excitement is about?

Simple. Listen to about half the rock records made in the last 35 years or so.. more often than not, there's a plexi on there. Not always the 'ultimate' for what you need - but it's 'right' more often than not.

Think of it like this, it's like a Ludwig Supraphonic snare. Can you find something better? Sure. But when you hear a Supra - you just think 'gee, that's what a snare is supposed to sound like'. That's a Plexi. It's what a rock guitar is supposed to sound like.

[dewey decibel]

Best bet is a Traynor YBA-1 with a couple mods, which is basically a JTM-45 already.

[sweetmojo]

+1 for the Metropoulos Plexis!! Great stuff!!! I do wish that they lowered their price a bit though on the already built amps (too much of a price gap between the kits and the finished amp in my opinion).

[FFTT]

Metro, Rheinhardt, Germino, Blankenship, Category 5 all excellent builders.

The new Reeves Jimmy Page and Custom Lead are also excellent choices
in Hiwatt circuits.

[bitman]

I found you a plexi.
Is this too much?

Music Go Round

[FFTT]

The Metro's are supposed to have the most dead on period correct circuits, while
others may choose to tweak the circuits for greater flexibility.

Mark Knopfler went with the Rheinhardt Storm for his recent tour.

Rock solid, made in USA and great attention to detail.

You have some wonderful choices and all of them more reliable than the
original or new production Marshalls.

[muziekschuur]

O.P. is situated in The netherlands.

I assume he wants a reliable amp. A old Marshall (PTP wired) will require quite some maintenance.

Vernet Amps is situated in The netherlands in the neighbourhood of O.P. Vernet Amps is used by the New FOCUS (with Thijs van leer).

Offcourse if the O.P. wants something badass an HOOK amplifier (allso dutch) might be very interesting.

A new Bugera 6260 might be a nice budget choice. A fender Junior might be nice too (if artists bring their own pedals).

Having those three amps:

Vernet plexi amp
Fender junior or fender twin
Bugera 6260 top

Might give your artists some very nice sounds. All mentioned amps are tube amps.


Muziekschuur

[Bob Ross]

For a guy whose head is packed with such a plethora of Music Equipment Trivia -- me -- it's amazing I never figured this one out:

Is this Marshall "Plexi" that everone is talking about the same as the model #1959 100 watt head?

If so, then yes, that is it: the bee's knees, the shiznit, the archetypal icon of rock'n'roll guitar amp. You want one, you need one, you gots ta have it.

If not, then A) I must find out what this Plexi thing is! and B) y'all still want, need, and gots ta have a #1959 head.

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by qsblues

I've used Line 6 stuff for years, and they work quite well. If the owner knows how to use it, then it's quite possible to get good sounds out of their gear.

Sadly though, most people DON'T know how to use them. Hell, most people don't know how to set up a tube amp, let alone anything remotely resembling anything digital.

I beg to differ. Line 6 does make very good equipment, and I'm always pleased with what I can get out of them.

Please , while it's possible to get a decent sound from this line 6 stuff, it always pales when compared to a real amp in a room. And if your talking about a real plexi, or say a Hiwatt, none of this modeling crap gets that close. I agree that most people don't know how to get a tone out of anything, but I've been a guitar player for 45 years, and there have been a few players here who have gotten something useable out of, say a pod, it's just never been as good as the real thing. Modelers are good for being able to throw down some parts quickly if you're in an environment where using an amp is not an option and to get a vibe for what it should be.

[doorknocker]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

I agree that most people don't know how to get a tone out of anything......

The great thing about the old Marshalls or Fenders is that you don't have to set up anything on the amp, the tone controsl are pretty promitive....but it just sounds right and everything else is up to the player. I find that recording these amps is pretty easy as well though playing around with mic positions is always worth it for sure.

Personally I hate amps that you have to fiddle with for hours to get anything useable out of them- MESA/Boogie comes to mind- but there surely isn't any better example than the POD: Spend hours tweaking it, add tube preamps and compressors to 'warm it up' and don't forget to save your precious settings..... It just doesn't make sense, I'd rather spend my time trying to come up with some memorable guitar parts.

[matskull]

I agree that every marshall are different.

I've got a MKII bass master volume that sounds amazing.
Put a boost in front of it and that thing gets crazy!

[Joram]

Originally Posted by muziekschuur

O.P. is situated in The netherlands.

I assume he wants a reliable amp. A old Marshall (PTP wired) will require quite some maintenance.

Vernet Amps is situated in The netherlands in the neighbourhood of O.P. Vernet Amps is used by the New FOCUS (with Thijs van leer).

Yes, I prefer to have something I can listen to. I just called Vernet amps to try one. But, unfortunately he sold everything and I have to wait.

Originally Posted by doorknocker

The great thing about the old Marshalls or Fenders is that you don't have to set up anything on the amp, the tone controsl are pretty promitive....but it just sounds right and everything else is up to the player. I find that recording these amps is pretty easy as well though playing around with mic positions is always worth it for sure.

Exactly.

[alexamk]

Get a Bogner Ecstacy....way better than a Marshall plexi. I have 59 plexi, and rarely ever turn it on anymore.

[muziekschuur]

The Marshall Plexi is a series of amps with a plexi glass front and two inputs and two outputs. Just wire output to input and now two preamps are paired to overdrive the end amp to give what has become "the plexi -sound" .

The 1959 is one of those amplifiers called an "Plexi" . Within that range there are severall " plexi" models and severall mods wich all have their purpose.

In those days there was nothing heavier than 100W amps. So for a concert big names used to stack all the amps they could find to amplify themselves. The modular way of working with PRE's and END AMPS all have their own in and outputs helped for daisy chaining. But allso for all sorts of experiments.

The Blackstar Artisan are "plexi" based new designs and give quite some nice sounds with a PTP wiring. The Blackstar company was started by some Ex-Marshall engineers.

Cheers,


Muziekschuur

[brooklynhero]

NO joke

I tracked a Danelectro U52 reissue (the newer ones - not vintage)

into a reissue fender super reverb normal channel

into a marshall 412

using an audix i5

and I got some of the nicest rhythm guitar tracks I've ever recorded for big ballsy rock. Thick, Chunky, and DEFINED!

My mixing engineer said it was almost a perfect EQ curve - only a slight removal of 100hz.

You may be able to get a fender head cheaper than the Marshall. Try it out.


Other than that - try modding one of those super cheap single ended heads (epiphone valve junior) to plexi ish specs. That may be your cheapest option.

[biggator6]

There's also the option of building a kit.. the OP is in Europe - call Nik over at Ceriatone.

[Joram]

When visiting the local music store, I ran into a Marshall 1974X. They gave me a Fender Custom Shop Team Build ´62 Heavy Relic Strat (nice guitar!) to test the amp. Interesting amp, that 1974!