larrylover
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- 925
At the local GC, I played a Marshall handwired 18 watt combo with a single celestion g12m speaker this afternoon. Also in the room, a used Gibson 30 combo with two celestion vintage 30's in it (sorry I can't remember the exact name of the Gibson. This is a recent amp -- made during the 21st century, I think custom shop amps, and I think they have been recently discontinued) and a used Dr. Z Maz Jr.
I was very excited to play the Marshall. It had "high" and "low" inputs. The low input had a single tone control and a volume control. the high imput had a single tone control and a volume control and two tremolo controls -- speed and intensity.
Maybe I expected too much. It was a very one trick pony. (Used a LP with humbuckers). Cleans were very very ordinary, maybe even less than that. The only thing that made the cleans listenable was using the tremolo which was nice sounding so long as the speed was below 5. And the cleans didn't last very long. The bluesy dirt was also ho-hum. The only time the amp gave up anything to recommend it was when the the tone and volume controls on the high input were dimed. At that point the amp allowed a bit of sustain and some Marshall squawk. But that was about it. Opened up like that all notes on the E-D strings were muddy. No thump. I found it seriously lacking inspiration. I would say I need a 50 watter to get my heart beating but Mr. Z ghia, Alessandro Beagle and the Maz Jr., at the risk of skipping ahead, showed this not to be the case. The Marshall is just an ordinary, ordinary amp at extraordinary prices.
The Gibson was far more interesting. A 4 XEl84 amp, it had nice vox-style cleans, and vox-style overdrive with the bright switch on and plugged into "high" input. With the bright switch and plugged into the "low' input, had a nice fender-style clean, but not the shimmer that you get with black face. Very good for funk stuff.
The maz jr. was the best. Inspiring cleans and nice dirt and great overdrive. lack of time prevents me from going into more detail. Great master volume. Very nice amp.
I was very excited to play the Marshall. It had "high" and "low" inputs. The low input had a single tone control and a volume control. the high imput had a single tone control and a volume control and two tremolo controls -- speed and intensity.
Maybe I expected too much. It was a very one trick pony. (Used a LP with humbuckers). Cleans were very very ordinary, maybe even less than that. The only thing that made the cleans listenable was using the tremolo which was nice sounding so long as the speed was below 5. And the cleans didn't last very long. The bluesy dirt was also ho-hum. The only time the amp gave up anything to recommend it was when the the tone and volume controls on the high input were dimed. At that point the amp allowed a bit of sustain and some Marshall squawk. But that was about it. Opened up like that all notes on the E-D strings were muddy. No thump. I found it seriously lacking inspiration. I would say I need a 50 watter to get my heart beating but Mr. Z ghia, Alessandro Beagle and the Maz Jr., at the risk of skipping ahead, showed this not to be the case. The Marshall is just an ordinary, ordinary amp at extraordinary prices.
The Gibson was far more interesting. A 4 XEl84 amp, it had nice vox-style cleans, and vox-style overdrive with the bright switch on and plugged into "high" input. With the bright switch and plugged into the "low' input, had a nice fender-style clean, but not the shimmer that you get with black face. Very good for funk stuff.
The maz jr. was the best. Inspiring cleans and nice dirt and great overdrive. lack of time prevents me from going into more detail. Great master volume. Very nice amp.