Marshalls : | guitars

Amps. By "The Guv'nor" ... Dr Jim Marshall OBE.

I DO like amps. Specifically Marshalls. I bought my first Marshall when I was 14 and have never looked back since.

I'm happy to claim that all the amps I've ever owned (bar one, but I don't like to talk about that embarrassing aberration ...) have been Marshalls.

Am I sheltering myself from other great tones? Possibly. Am I perfectly happy to rely on Marshall tones? Entirely.

I've been asked a few times whether this is just brand-loyalty. Thinking about it, yes, I guess that it probably is. But again, I'm entirely happy with it ... having these things makes me happy, and give me access to all the tones in my head. If I needed to feed my children by playing guitar then I might look around, but this nothing more than a hobby, so the aim is to generate happiness and contentment (specifically, mine). And these do that. A lot.

I've been changing my setup recently more often than I change my socks. I'm CURRENTLY running three heads (the JVM, the JMD and the MF350) each into their own 4x12. My signal first hits a few pedals (volume, wah, drive/boost, each controlled by a loop switcher), then is split into 3 (two switchable, one 'always on'). The first split (always on) goes straight into the JVM, no mess, no fuss, no nothing (just an ISP Decimator noise gate in the loop). The second split goes into the JMD, and the third into the Mode Four. Easy.

With the exception of the drive and wah, you'll notice that there are no off-board effects.

That way, the dry signal comes from the JVM, with a range of cleans, rasps, crunches and hi-gain stuff, and all of the effects-laden 'wet' stuff comes from the JMD ... all I've ever used is delays, reverbs and the odd flange and chorus (now and then), and the JMD handles that stuff perfectly well. The Mode Four is there for extra beef (something it does very well), although I've experimented with slaving the preamp out from the JMD straight into the power amp of the Mode Four. Its interesting, and sounds pretty huge, but I DO like the versatility of having the three amps all contributing something. Overall, it is a really pleasing combination, and all the tones I could wish for are only a couple of stomps away.