Best amps ever made

[Nitro Express]

Actually when I lived in Salt Lake City I got to meet Jimmy Page at a fundraiser. His wife was raising money for their foundation that helps get Brazilian women out of prostitution. Jimmy was in Salt Lake making an appearance to raise money and I went and got to meet him. He's super nice actually and I got to hear him explain his take on amps and peddles. He said he actually liked smaller amps but had to use big stacks because Bonham was such a heavy drummer. He said the Tone Bender was a big part of his sound. He loved the Supro amp he used on the first album.

[GAR]

.. Jimmy page was really good friends with every good amp tech you read about from back in the day, you've lost the point by bringing in pedals.

We all know the pedals sound kicks in when someone from that time used a Supro, Silvertone or Fender, and they're nice sounds we know.

This thread's about Best Amps Made, and the JMP's that got famously recorded were modded to sound that way - aside from the production we got here in the states.

Different amps: the one on records, and the one you got in a music store. Therefore, the JMP and basically all "steel-paneled" ie nonplexi JMP Marshalls ARE NOT eligible candidates for "Best Amp Made." It's simply not true.

now the point then you bring up, the Fenders.. nobody doubts what a Deluxe or Twin do. Those are def among best amps made.

[Diamondjimi]

and if he had his JMP taken to a proper service guy to increase the gain I think he'd have mentioned it by now.

Excessive gain mods are for HACKS who use it to cover up their sloppy assed playing. (And yeah, I know it helps increase sustain, but so does a good guitar and some old fashiones VOLUME!) I tend to believe you fall into the first category.

This thread's about Best Amps Made, blah, blah, blah.horseshit on a shovel.....

If you were paying attention, HR was stating his opinion of what the best amp is to him ,Dipshit...

You own nothing as far as anyone here has seen. You're nothing but a simple yammering Cliff Clavin, no one cares what you have to say.

[jhale667]

Actually peddles

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peddle?jss=0

Have nothing to do with guitar amps. Killin' me over here. Stop mis-peddling pedals.

There's a long history of amp-snobbery in this thread, especially from GARfail , who ironically in at least 6 years has failed to prove he even owns one. Tone is subjective so it's kind of asinine to sit around pontificating about how one example or the other couldn't possibly get someone a decent tone. But then consider the source.


I personally know people that dig their (un-modified) early JMPs. Some of them use clean boost or overdrive pedals in front of them. If it works for them, rock.

Here's an interesting read about JMPs...which also suggests the use of a hot-plate, btw...very cool for getting old Marshalls to growl at lower volumes, and cooler than excessive preamp gain mods...

http://www.marshallforum.com/marshall-amps/558-marshall-jmp-50w-1977-a.html

BS1's love of Plexis is documented...lol I love 'em too. I think we're in agreement Boogies after the MK III were meh, and Rectos are definitely meh IMO, but they're popular amps...but who are we to judge?

But if you wanna talk modified Marshalls...have heard some amazing ones.. like Doug Aldrich's Cameron modded one...holy crap..here's one with a similar mod...

[VanHalenFan5150]

Marshalls for sure! That or Mesa/Boogies!

[jhale667]

Marshalls for sure! That or Mesa/Boogies!

Exactly, exactly.

Hey, here's a Cameron-modded JMP!

[Hardrock69]

Firstly, I stated that to me the best amp for a dirty sound is one I do not even own. A Marshall 100-watt Super Lead Plexi.

Garfuckle cannot understand English, so it does not surprise me he is making statements that make no sense.

His comments about Nitro's post are idiotic at best. Nitro posted that Jimmy Page mentioned (in a conversation with HIM) using a Tone Bender, but the other two items Nitro quoted were that Jimmy loved smaller amps, but used the Marshall stacks because of Bonzo, and that he loved the Supro he used for the first album. So any criticism by Garfuckle about Nitro's posts is unfounded, as he WAS talking about amps, and only mentioned the Tone Bender in passing.

Again, Garfuckle is doing a brain-damaged version of Don Quixote, tilting at imaginary windmills.

He's not saying whether he has or has not modded it.......Labels are for jars.. once the circuit board is diddled, it's not really a Marshall anymore is it, and if he had his JMP taken to a proper service guy to increase the gain I think he'd have mentioned it by now.

In all truthfulness, I posted about the amp a long time ago. Not my fault if you are a lazy, incompetent, lying fuck.
Your statement is like saying that replacing a carburetor on a Camaro mean it is no longer a Camaro.
It is not a requirement that I repost anything for you, other than to constantly remind you that your mother should have killed you when you were born to save everyone who ever met or communicated with you from wasting valuable time they can never get back having to listen to your infantile, ignorant, trolling bullshit.

telling, because after owning and playing a JMP for a year with rock album classics you start discriminating tone.. or at about age 16 whichever occured first.

Then after the dissatisfaction settles in, you realize "could it be possible so n so didn't use a JMP" even though concert photos show the fancy white logo?

Unlike you, there are many (probably over 99% of) musicians who know that not all Marshall amps are JMPs. In fact, as the JMPs were only produced for a few years, a MAJORITY of concert photos showing the "fancy white logo" are of OTHER models. And, once again, you demonstrate that you truly are one of the few humans born with a head full of shit by thinking that everyone on the planet is required to be satisfied by having a Marshall. Any person with an intellect equivalent to that of a retarded tree sloth could simply read this thread with the wide-ranging variety of responses, and actually understand that not everyone thinks a Marshall is the greatest amp of all time.

one more thing: purists after the "stock tone" have to be cornered in these type conversations as to what type of tone really is stock on these things, because none.. NO ONE, not a single one, had ever used a stock Marshall.

You have not spoken with every purist on the planet, therefore you have no idea how many 'purists' have used a stock Marshall.
That fucking statement is another example of your stupidity.
And please tell us, from your 'extensive experience' what is a 'stock tone' on a Marshall?

Also, anyone with any knowledge of amps at all will understand that no two sound exactly alike, even coming off the assembly bench one after the other, but of course, you could not possibly comprehend so lofty a concept, loser.

when Hendrix or Townsend picked up their amp right off the bench, I bet Ken Bran or whoever the tech was that voiced the early ones, tweaked em from the get go because the only "stock" tone I have ever heard on a Who or Hendrix album were the Fenders.. or Boogies they bought later on.

How can you tell by listening to a Hendrix or Who album what amp they were using, hmm? Please tell us. Inquiring minds want you to list exactly what amps were used on all the tracks on all the albums Hendrix and The Who ever did. You obviously are able to tell them apart just by listening. Please tell us the difference between a Tweed Fender Twin with a Fuzz Face plugged into it and a Marshall Plexi plugged into a Fender 2 X 12 cabinet.

And simply by definition, regardless of who the tech was (Ken Bran or whoever), when the amp leaves the factory, not afterwards, it is considered 'stock'. No matter what Ken Bran did or did not do, when Hendrix or Townsend picked their amps up from Jim Marshall's music store, it was a STOCK amp.
Sure it may have been tweaked before leaving the factory, but that would just make it a tweaked version of a standard production model, and still, a factory-produced amp i.e. "stock".

This thread's about Best Amps Made, and the JMP's that got famously recorded were modded to sound that way - aside from the production we got here in the states.

Prove it. Tell us all, from your extensive knowledge, what JMPs got 'famously recorded'. Define 'famously recorded'. Recorded by a famous engineer? Recorded in a famous studio? Recorded by a famous artist?

Now, tell us, Mister Information, how you are able to determine how many and which of the JMP's that were 'famously recorded' were modded, and which are stock.
You claim to know so much on this subject. So tell us in detail.

Different amps: the one on records, and the one you got in a music store.

Prove it. You are claiming that no one in the history of music since JMPs were first introduced has ever recorded with a stock JMP.

Therefore, the JMP and basically all "steel-paneled" ie nonplexi JMP Marshalls ARE NOT eligible candidates for "Best Amp Made." It's simply not true.

So says you. This thread is not devoted to the "Best Amp Made" as an absolute. This thread is devoted to everyone's opinion of the "Best Amp Made" as there is no way on the planet to determine what the best amp made is, any more than anyone can say beyond a shadow of a doubt what the "Best Car Made" is, or the best "whatever".

There is no doubt whatsoever, and it can be said with absolute certainty, that you are the dumbest idiot ever to claim to know anything about ANYTHING related to music, guitars, or life in general. It is most likely that even that worthless piece of shit named Lefty can say he has had better blowjobs from toothless winos than the slobbery choke-jobs you foist off on him in vain attempts to prove to yourself that you have some kind of worth to someone....ANYONE on the planet...even societal rejects such as him.

Now go play on the 405. Somewhere out there is a semi-truck with your name on it's front bumper.

My apologies to all for wasting my valuable time owning this reject from The School For The Mentally Unbelievable. It is a dirty job, but everyone's got to do it.

[Hardrock69]

Excessive gain mods are for HACKS who use it to cover up their sloppy assed playing. (And yeah, I know it helps increase sustain, but so does a good guitar and some old fashiones VOLUME!) I tend to believe you fall into the first category.

Well, he WOULD fall into the first category if he even owned an amp. But I agree about excessive gain mods.

IF I needed more gain from my JMP before it had even been worked on, a Tube Screamer would have done the trick. Not interested in hi-gain mods, as more gain = more noise.
Just give me some nice thick crunchiness, and I am off to the races. When I took my amp in to the top amp gurus in Gnashville a few years back, they had me play it in the shop when they were done doing the work I had asked (caps were old, one had died, had them put in new ones, along with NOS Siemens EL34s I got from Terry Kilgore and some matched preamp tubes). I did ask them to give me a bit more pre-amp gain, as it did not quite have the grind I wanted, though the thing sounded great as it was. Turning it up to 5 would have given me all the grind and sustain I ever wanted, but I do care about my hearing, and also wanted to get some good grind at lower volumes. So they changed a resistor on the spot for a little more grindage, and it is exactly what I wanted.

BUT, it is not what I would consider "The Best Amp Ever Made". I was not going to pass up the chance to buy it for $275, which is why I have it to begin with.

[Igosplut]

.
It is not a requirement that I repost anything for you, other than to constantly remind you that your mother should have killed you when you were born to save everyone who ever met or communicated with you from wasting valuable time they can never get back having to listen to your infantile, ignorant, trolling bullshit.

OUT-FUCKING-STANDING!!!!!

I'm not one for sigs, but this was too good to pass up! Too fucking funny, thanks Rock...

[Diamondjimi]

GARfail, pwn3d again!

[Nitro Express]

When Jimmy Page talked about his equipment, I was in a small group of people around him and he was answering various questions the people in the group were asking him and he was doing a bit of story telling. Something Page loves to do and is good at. Jimmy basically said he liked to use small amps in the studio and he went to bigger amps because Bonzo was loud as hell on stage and Jimmy needed to compete with that. Jimmy also told us when he was first tipped off to a fuzz peddle it was like finding the holy grail. You have to remember this was in the late 1960's and they didn't have the equipment or options we have now. No master volume amps, no pre-amp distortion. Jimmy also said people were fascinated by the new transistor technology and there wasn't the tube obsession they have now. He said the Tone Bender to him was a magic box and everyone from Hendrix to Townsend had some sort of fuzz peddle and it was a huge part of their sound. He also made the point you can get a thick sound out of smaller amps and used the first album as an example. He said it was a Telecaster going through a small Supro amp and it sounded huge. He said it was doing it's job. He said he went to a Les Paul and Marshall because he liked the combination and had to compete with Bonzo's huge hitting volume on stage.

[Nitro Express]

What cracked me up is Page reffered to Bonzo several times as this huge earthquake of sound. He said being on stage with Bonzo was way the hell louder than any other drummer and Page had no idea how the guy could hit that hard for a whole concert night after night. I almost got the impression it got too loud for Page at times.

[Hardrock69]

Just a reminder, man....you mean "pedal". Peddling is when someone is trying to foist something off on, or sell something to people.
At least you can say you met him! How fucking cool is that!

In the late 70s when I was in the US Army, I would go to the base recreation centers, and check out a guitar and amp and take it off to some room to make an ungodly sound. Most of the guitars were either Fender Mustangs or Musicmasters, or cheap Japanese electric guitars. Once in a great while (if you were lucky) you would find a rec center that would have a Fender Telecaster. When I got to Ft. Lewis, Washington and got in my first real rock band in 1978, a friend of mine told me in awe how McChord AFB (just north of Ft. Lewis) had nothing but brand-new Stratocasters.

Anyway, as for the amps, mostly it was cheap piece of shit stuff......the best you could hope to find would be black tolex Kustom II 120-watt 2 X 12 combo amps. In mid-1977, I was at Ft. Jackson, SC. They had these ancient Supro 2 X 12 combo amps...the kind with big white gnurled plastic knobs. I had no effects at the time, certainly the rec centers did not. So the only way to get any kind of distortion was through SHEER VOLUME.

Let me tell you, those Supros were loud as HELL! Amazing tube-driven fire-breathing monsters.

Unfortunately I would only have one cranked up for a few minutes before rec center staff would open the door and yell at me to turn it down! Supros rock! Billy Cox still owns a Supro amp that he and Jimi used to practice through when Jimi was living in Nashville. I can see why Jimmy Page liked the sound of them.

[Hardrock69]

One other thing about excessive gain mods. The more you overdrive your amp, the less impact it has. More preamp gain turns your sound into sludge, where it gives you the impact of a wet towel upside your fool haid. Whereas, a Marshall 100-watt Plexi with no overdrive and no talent-boxes (stomp boxes) is like having your head removed by a freight-train with a samurai sword welded to the front of it.

With my JMP I wanted to have just enough grind from it without having to use any kind of Tube Screamer or whatever. That way I could still have that impact, while still having the grindage I so dearly love.

[Nitro Express]

I don't appreciate the JCM 900 series either. I also can't stand the 5150 II. The eq section in that amp is weak. You can turn any one of the controls from 3 to 9 and you won't hear a change. I bought one as soon as they came out. Thought it would be like the original but with separate eq sections so I sold mine before the II came in. I got it home and threw up.

Mine is just the opposite. If I tweak the EQ knobs a little bit I get a HUGE change. 5150II amps are real pickup and speaker picky. If you have the wrong cab or guitar they will sound like shit. If you have everything meshing right like my rig, they sound great. I can see why people hate them though.