amps/heads/cabs for studio: school me!

[telejustin]

I'm not a guitar player and am still learning the ins and outs of this world, so be gentle!

Basically, I'd like to have a simple compliment of the classic electric guitar sounds available at my studio. We do a lot of pop and rock, so mostly interested in the Marshall and Vox kind of sounds. We currently have a Mesa rectifier combo, and a couple of vintage Fender combos already.

My question is this: to provide the best set of options, which heads would you have? Do they all need separate cabs? Or could I use a Marshall cab with an AC30 head? It would be nice to have one cab that could stay mic'd up (for quick sounds, minimal fuss, etc). Then I could just patch in the appropriate head in the control room.

Thoughts? My current idea is a Marshall head, an AC30 head and a 1960A cab. Am I nuts!? Or is this a sane idea?

[smoore98]

The answer for me was to invest in the Randall MTS modular series. It is a great concept and superb sounding units. Do some searches here and on Google and you can find out about the RM4 and the various modules. I own about 10 of them and they provide me with plenty of high quality sounds.

I would recommend a couple of cabs, one with V30's or a combo of V30's and G12H30'S, and possibly another with greenbacks or another wattage speaker. A 2X12 with an open back for fenderish/clean/blues would not hurt.

I would recommend either Bogner or Avatar cabs.

Another option I suggest is to check out the new EVH III amp from Fender Custom Shop. It really is three amps in one and all three channels (clean/brown/metal) sound great.

Scott

[Jonboy79]

I would also recommend something like the Randall. I have an rm100 and it gets used all the time in the studio. It's hard to beat that amp for versatility and can cover just about every base. I'd have to say I'm one of the few that actually digs the sound of the 1960a, but look for an older one. I've heard the newer ones are made using cheaper materials and just not up to par. Mine's older and kicks ass. I also agree with the V30's, absolutely great for rock. I have a 1x12 with a v30 and it gets used all the time.

[indravayu]

Originally Posted by telejustin

I'm not a guitar player and am still learning the ins and outs of this world, so be gentle!

Basically, I'd like to have a simple compliment of the classic electric guitar sounds available at my studio. We do a lot of pop and rock, so mostly interested in the Marshall and Vox kind of sounds. We currently have a Mesa rectifier combo, and a couple of vintage Fender combos already.

My question is this: to provide the best set of options, which heads would you have? Do they all need separate cabs? Or could I use a Marshall cab with an AC30 head? It would be nice to have one cab that could stay mic'd up (for quick sounds, minimal fuss, etc). Then I could just patch in the appropriate head in the control room.

Thoughts? My current idea is a Marshall head, an AC30 head and a 1960A cab. Am I nuts!? Or is this a sane idea?

The AC30 sounds best coupled with Celestion Alnico Blue speakers - anything else and, well, it just doesn't sound like a proper AC30. Celestion Greenbacks are a popular speaker choice for Marshalls - V30's are also good - if you want to save cash, order and unloaded cab from Avatar Speakers and drop in Warehouse Guitar Speakers Veteran 30's - they are a new company and sell very cheap, high quality, US-made replicas of the V30's - some prefer them over the original (I know I do).

You can use one cab for multiple heads - just not at the same time! Make sure you know the ohm rating on the amps' speaker outputs so that you can order the correct cab/speakers (16ohm or 8ohm are the most commonly found outputs).

For a low-wattage Marshall-style amp that sounds big, you might want to check out either the Fargen MiniPlex II or the Suhr Badger - both are in the 12-18w range and have power scaling, so you can get the amp roaring at reasonable volume levels. Vox just came out with a new series of handwired AC15's - you might want to check out one of them in a 1x12 combo.

- Chris

[telejustin]

Cool guys! I'm checking into the heads and boxes mentioned... I appreciate all of the thoughts. Keep them coming.

So, I just found a used Marshall 1960A for $350. It has brand new Celestion Vintage 30's on top and brand new Celestion G12H30's on the bottom. Apparently it's an older cab, but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe a good deal?

Then maybe another cab for the Vox?

I really appreciate all of the newer amp designs that allow for quieter volumes. But don't you need speakers moving a lot of air to get a really extended bottom end? When I listen to something like Yellowcard's Ocean Avenue, those guitars are really extended in the bottom. Can you get that at relatively lower volumes? If so please tell me how because I haven't figured it out!

[smoore98]

You must move air. The speaker has to be involved to get that sound.
Scott

[megl]

The Randall RM20 with a bunch of modules is great for studio work.

One of the real sleeper deals out there is the Vox AC-50 - you could get that and two cabs - put it through a Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks and you're in plexi land ... put it through an open back with Alnico Blue (or Gold) and you're in AC-30 land

The cab defines the sound A LOT!

/megl

[dmb10]

brown/black/silver face fenders (cleans and 'vintage' distortion)
marshall tube head (classic rock)
mesa boogie dual rec. (or any "metal" type head for heavier bands)
orange head (very useful for pop/rock bands)

this is a generalization, but obviously any band could use these amps.

cabs- go to avatarspeakers.com , and describe your price range and needs.

[smoore98]

I would also recommend you check out this article from the August 07 issue of Sound on Sound magazine for mic techniques and how they affect the sound:

SOS

Have fun.

S

[vernier]

My question is this: to provide the best set of options, which heads would you have? Do they all need separate cabs? Or could I use a Marshall cab with an AC30 head? It would be nice to have one cab that could stay mic'd up (for quick sounds, minimal fuss, etc). Then I could just patch in the appropriate head in the control room.

The real answer is "it hardly matters" ...one smallish combo amp can do everything ...volume control's clean or dirty.

[gsqd]

Get 2 or 3 small, ass kickin' combos. Something Fender style, something Marshall or Orange style and something high gain like a JSX. Should cover 99% of 99% of people's needs.

GM

[indravayu]

Originally Posted by telejustin

I really appreciate all of the newer amp designs that allow for quieter volumes. But don't you need speakers moving a lot of air to get a really extended bottom end? When I listen to something like Yellowcard's Ocean Avenue, those guitars are really extended in the bottom. Can you get that at relatively lower volumes? If so please tell me how because I haven't figured it out!

To a certain extent (don't forget, though, that some of the greatest guitar tones of all times have been recorded through small, low-wattage amps) - but you will get great breakup simply by having a speaker that is rated around the same level as your amp - if you got a 15w amp, for instance, a 15w Alnico Blue would sound cool with it - for amps in the 15-30w range, go for a 30w speaker (or a 2x12 cab with two 15w Alnico's, for instance) - but you can get great tone with higher rated speakers - my 15w Orange Tiny Terror (another amp that I can highly recommend!) sounds awesome through my WGS Veteran 30, which is rated at 60w.

- Chris

[espen askelad]

That cab sounds good. G12H30s are my favorite all-around speaker. My fav cab is the Matamp 2x12 slant loaded with those, it sounds awesome.

For Vox tones, you really want the Blue speakers. Otherwise, it'll still likely sound great, but it's not the classic Vox tone (if that's what you're going for.) I'd also suggest an AC15 over a 30 for recording, and I'd also suggest not a CC. I've yet to play a CC that measures up to the better RIs past. I will say a large part of this may be that the current Vox speakers (Wharfdales[?]) are awful and the cab I tried with Blues in it was just poorly built with lackluster sound.


Rather than get a Marshall and a Vox, you might check out the Marshall 18w RI combo. It's probably my favorite amp in production right now.
You've got some vintage Fenders, a Mesa for big modern grind... the 18w would sit perfectly in the middle. It does a great semi-clean that's still completely able to rock - the sort of tone that's clear, with great string definition, but massive punch at the same time. I primarily play Voxes for the clarity/snap and HiWatt/SoundCity for the big clean punch, but that little Marshall could probably do it all at once for me.

[Trancetones]

Originally Posted by gsqd

Get 2 or 3 small, ass kickin' combos. Something Fender style, something Marshall or Orange style and something high gain like a JSX. Should cover 99% of 99% of people's needs.

GM

I too went with this approach, and I'm happy with combos. I'll probably add a Vox AC30 at some point (if you are doing more nu rock then maybe something more hi gain - Mesa etc - will fit you better, I'm all old school.) Basically I went with a Marshall 1974x clone, the Ceriatone 18W combo amp (Ceriatone.com) and put it in a mojotone 1x12 cabinet (mojomusicalsupply.com) with a celestion greenback. It was fun putting it together. You will need to purchase 4 finish washers from your hardware store and carefully drill the holes in the top back plate of the cabinet to mount the amp. Drop dead Marshall plexi sound that breaks up into sweet distortion at a reasonable volume, and the Ceriatone quality is incredible. Perfect fit in the cab. Best soldering I've seen on a piece of gear, all point to point and high quality materials. It takes about 40 days after ordering to receive it and none of the POS Marshall Reissue 18W trannies crapping out after 2 months and the total cost was about $850-
For the second amp I went cheap and got a Fender Deluxe Reverb Blackface reissue and you get what you pay for. I should have dropped an extra $500 and gotten the Fargen combo.

[stagefright13]

Hmm I have an old Marshall and Laney for the dirt but my 1975 twin reverb makes the clean guys smile. They put their amps back in the van... But I must admit I mostly do other stuff.

But I see ya want the Marshall sound. I would recommend the old JCM800 Year 1981 or 1982. the 100 watt is very loud but really not a heck of alot louder than the 50 before distortion. Both are WAY loud tho. Don't have much experience with the Older 100 watter except I got stuck with one and was TOO clean and TOO loud. No master volume. But wish I had it now to try it.