Author Topic: Marshall or Laney (Read 6852 times)

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #15 on:** October 03, 2007, 07:48:36 PM »

Quote from: TomW

Quote from: HEAVIER THAN HELL
If you want a higher powered Celestion that loves gain and sounds molasses-thick get some Classic Lead 80s. They have such a gorgeous low end chunk on 'em and will fatten up any amp.

If you have a 4x12, try a pair of Classic Lead 80s and a pair of G12H-30s - I promise you will not be dissapointed.

:twisted:

What is the benefit of mixing two types of speakers, would getting a pair of classic lead 80's and a pair of G12H's provide a better classic rock tone than just 4 G12H's?

I'd imagine that it would give a fuller sound in some ways as one speaker will be stronger in some frequencies and the other will be stronger elsewhere
So hopefully mixing them will give the the best of both in some ways.
Also there will be perhaps less (or just different) phase cancellations

kevincurtis · « **Reply #16 on:** October 03, 2007, 08:18:56 PM »

If you have a stereo cab you can also set it to use one set or the other as a 2x2 to get a wider variety of sounds...

TomW · « **Reply #17 on:** October 03, 2007, 08:28:41 PM »

Cool, I'm gonna get them then. Cheers for all the help guys :D

everton_fc · « **Reply #18 on:** October 04, 2007, 11:02:03 AM »

shameless plug - got a brand new heritage GH30 for sale in seconds out - never used and cheapest buy it now price on ebay.

TomW · « **Reply #19 on:** October 09, 2007, 09:45:53 PM »

Can anyone reccommend a website for buying speakers from?

Twinfan · « **Reply #20 on:** October 09, 2007, 10:05:00 PM »

I used these guys recently - top service and good prices:

http://www.lean-business.co.uk

I've also used Watford Valves in the past too:

http://www.watfordvalves.com

Henk · « **Reply #21 on:** October 10, 2007, 08:31:34 AM »

Quote

I'm finding the tone I get from my Marshall DSL100 too harsh, spikey and fizzy. So Im looking at selling it and buying a new amp with a more focused, smoother tone. Would a Laney gh50l fit my needs or would just changing the speakers solve my problem? At the moment I have a marshall 1960 cab with 4 g12t75's.
I play mainly classic rock like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Black Sabbath, early ozzy etc... and my main guitar is a gibson sg with nailbomb.
thanks

Nice topic!

Well as far as my opinion on the subject goes, i would say most of what is you clean base sound comes from the pickup/speaker combo of your choise. Offcourse an amp does give you the ability to change characteristics but the basic sound is there.

When i am tonebuilding i always start at the end, which cab do i chose? Then pickups/guitar, then amp/effects(which do belong together imo). So the things in the chain i can alter least go first.

Allthough i second the v30's option based on your post, i advice you to try out stuff at your local guitar shop. As far as wattage is consearned you need to get a cab that is able to withstand the power you put trough it, so the cab should be able to handle 100w, in case of v30's it would be a 4x12 cab.

I would try to get a tight bottom heavy basic sound with just enough highs to add the appropriate powercord harmonics from my pickup/speaker combo (which should not be too hard with v30's 4x12) and then just let the dsl100 do what it is supposed to do, amplify and kick in a those high gainlevels.

Good luck, and most of all have fun!

(excuse the bad english plz...)

ericsabbath · « **Reply #22 on:** October 10, 2007, 08:42:34 AM »

the laney gh100l without the boost engaged (that activates another gain stage) sounds just like a jcm 800 2203

Twinfan · « **Reply #23 on:** October 10, 2007, 08:51:46 AM »

Quote from: Henk

i would say most of what is you clean base sound comes from the pickup/speaker combo of your choise. Offcourse an amp does give you the ability to change characteristics but the basic sound is there.

I'd have to disagree with Henk here. In my opinion, the amp/speaker combination is MUCH more critical to your tone than he suggests. E.g. take all these two setups:

1) '59 Gibson Les Paul and '68 Marshall Plexi 50w

2) Epiphone Les Paul Special and Marshall Valvestate head

Use an old Marshall cab with Greenbacks and which combination sounds best? No contest huh? Swap the guitars over and see which sounds better now. My money's on the Epiphone through the Plexi....

A great tone needs the right amp/speaker combination to shine. They're so closely linked you can't say that the amp (or the cab) doesn't really matter. You have to get the two to work together in a way that suits your ears. This is what you're finding with your DSL100 - the combination doesn't work for you.

Henk · « **Reply #24 on:** October 10, 2007, 09:11:01 AM »

Quote from: Twinfan

Quote from: Henk

I'd have to disagree with Henk here. In my opinion, the amp/speaker combination is MUCH more critical to your tone than he suggests. E.g. take all these two setups:

1) '59 Gibson Les Paul and '68 Marshall Plexi 50w

2) Epiphone Les Paul Special and Marshall Valvestate head

Ok true, allthough if you are a metal guitarist option 1 would not even be that appealing especially when put trough greenbacks.

Im trying to seperate different stages in tone building, ultimately you are right, however i do think that if the combination pickup/speaker does not work you will never be able to "fix" it with any amp sice they are more or less a fixed deal.

If i find a suitable cab ill try your idea of mixing v30's and greenbacks, probably ill make them seperately switchable on my jcm800(2205) 50watter. Would an old and really heavy London city cab work you think?

Twinfan · « **Reply #25 on:** October 10, 2007, 09:43:11 AM »

I use a V30 and G12H combination in my 4x12 and it sounds fantastic. The problem with a V30/Greenback mix is that the V30 has a 100dB rating and the Greenback has a 97dB rating. The V30 will sound MUCH louder. It might be nice to try it though?

As a slightly controversial statement (!!) I would say that pickups are less of a contributor to your tone than to your amp/speakers. In my opinion, pickups are the "salt and pepper" of the guitar tone world. You add them to taste to change the flavour of the tone. But at the end of the day, a curry is a curry ;)

Henk · « **Reply #26 on:** October 10, 2007, 09:59:55 AM »

Quote from: Twinfan

I use a V30 and G12H combination in my 4x12 and it sounds fantastic. The problem with a V30/Greenback mix is that the V30 has a 100dB rating and the Greenback has a 97dB rating. The V30 will sound MUCH louder. It might be nice to try it though?

As a slightly controversial statement (!!) I would say that pickups are less of a contributor to your tone than to your amp/speakers. In my opinion, pickups are the "salt and pepper" of the guitar tone world. You add them to taste to change the flavour of the tone. But at the end of the day, a curry is a curry ;)

Yeah i know, allhough i think the greenbacks will cut trough in the mids, anyway setting them up on seterate channels would be better i think. Maybe there is a way to tone the v30's down a bit. I probably misread you original post, or maybe the idea of bringing the two great vintage speaker together was so appealing.

Your statement is a bit of a practical/theoretical toss up. Anyway from a practical POV youre probably right. Still i do prefer building a tone from a good pickup/speaker base, simply because you allready have such an advantage over trying to keep searching for that one sweet spot. Allthough the last would be more of a challenge.

kevincurtis · « **Reply #27 on:** October 10, 2007, 12:49:35 PM »

This is a really interesting thread - almost "what is tone" and what is just "frequency shaping" for want of a better phrase. It would be interesting to do a poll of what people consider makes up their 'tone' 10% amp , 5% strings etc. For me, I'm with TF and even more controversially I think its mainly the amp...lets stab at 70% :)

For me, the speakers shape the tone from the amp, but it still sounds like 'that amp' I can even point to a bit of evidence..in my thread about the G12H Ive now posted a clip using the same guitar and speaker, but a different amp (Marshall and Laney), comparing the marshall through the different speakers, yes there is a big difference in the sound as in frequencies and their replication through the speaker, but you would still say it was the same amp...but the laney sounds completely different :)

Feel free to say I'm a big eejit :)

Twinfan · « **Reply #28 on:** October 10, 2007, 01:12:34 PM »

I'm with you Kevin. Something it's taken me over 20 years of playing to realise is that your amp/speakers combination IS your tone. Everything else is "tone shaping". At lower gain settings your guitar type (LP, Strat, Tele etc) makes a big difference, but wind it up and it plays a lesser part. Jimmy Page and a Tele on the early Led Zep albums is a classic example.

Biggest relevation I've found recently?

Wind everything up to "loud gig" levels and by far the biggest factor in your tone is your amp. Add in the rest of the band and you (or the audience) won't be able to tell the difference sound-wise between a Chinese Squier Tele and an original '51 Nocaster. It'll 'feel' different to you to play though, obviously...

Mr Ed · « **Reply #29 on:** October 10, 2007, 01:54:21 PM »

^

Couldn't agree more... for all the difference that guitars, pickups and technique make... I've found out over the last month since I've not had my amp that IT is the most powerful part in shaping what I consider "my sound".