What Marshall amp should I buy?

[sovietchimp]

Hi! My name's Paul, I'm 16. Looking to buy a Marshall amp because they're awesome! I really don't know where to start however. I'm a beginner/intermediate guitar player and I play the odd gig with my band. I have a Dean Dave Mustaine VMNT X United Abomination guitar, a couple of Boss Pedals. I play a lot of Metal mostly, Megadeth (as you can probably tell) Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden etc. And also some lighter rock like AC/DC. Overall the amp has to be fairly reasonably pricewise too. Cheers in advance.

 

[stryker59]

firstly, welcome to the forum!
as for your question i prefer the jvm's but they are pricier options. id highly recommend looking for a used jcm800 they are one of the best rock amps ever and you can get em used for decent money. good luck!

 

[zslane]

The problem is that "reasonably priced" for the average 16-year old does not buy you what most folks on these forums would consider an "awesome" Marshall amp. It will either get you a new MG series amp, which being solid state, will only get thumbs up from a few people here. Or you might be able to score a decent used tube amp from eBay or craigslist (for the record, both my Marshall tube heads came from eBay and they are great).

You'll have to tell us how much you have to spend, whether you like the idea of separate head and cab (or only want a combo), whether you are prepared to deal with tube replacement and biasing (something most teenagers aren't really eager to bother with), etc. Without that kind of information, it's tough to recommend anything.

 

[sovietchimp]

Well I'm not really too sure about having the head and cabs seperate. To make it more specific a combo. Something powerful to fill a small gig like a hall. Could someone shed some light on the seperate head/ cab thing? Thanks in advance.

 

[zslane]

There are advantages and disadvantages to anything you do.

Combo:
Pros: Portable all-in-one solution. Perfect if you intend to mic it at a gig.
Cons: If you want to plug the amp portion into a venue-provided cab (or their PA system), then you are lugging the builtin speaker around for nothing.

Head:
Pros: Highly portable. Sometimes more reliable than their combo equivalents, and usually less expensive.
Cons: Must be plugged into a cab or PA system. If the venue does not provide this, you will have to bring your own cab, at which point your life is no easier than if you had to bring a combo.

Tube amps:
Pros: Best sound you can get from a Marshall. Can produce amazing, face-melting tone without breaking a sweat.
Cons: Expensive. I mean, really expensive. Tend to sound their best only when really cranked loud, and most of the time you'll never get to turn it up that loud, not even in a club, bar, or small hall. There is also tube replacement and re-biasing to contend with since tubes die eventually (just like light bulbs).

Solid State amps:
Pros: Inexpensive. Don't need to "warm up" before use, like tube amps. Often sound their best at lower volumes (than tube amps require). Require virtually no maintenance.
Cons: Tend to sound less than great at high volume, though supposedly they still sound decent at most gigging volumes. Can not achieve the heavenly tone of a true tube amp.

Other things to keep in mind are that some pedals are meant to go with tube amps (most overdrive pedals, for instance), while others tend to sound good only when driving a solid state amp. An attenuator can help you get reasonably good tone from a tube amp without subjecting yourself and your audience to ear-splitting volumes, but you will be sacrificing a goodly amount of that heavenly Marshall tone we all love so much. Like I said, everything has its trade-offs.

 

[Purgasound]

Buy the real deal gear. If you buy a bunch of crap like the MG Series, it will float you by for a little while but you'll have to spend more money later on getting something that sounds decent. The MG's are good for practice amps and nothing more.

The JCM800 sounds awesome but if you're playing heavy metal it is not the amp you can just plug in and go, it takes a bit of tweaking and some addition of pedals and what not.

The JCM900 can get a bit dirtier but no bands in your cd collection use them. I don't care who wants to argue on that one. Maybe if you like Euroboy's tone on some of the Turbonegro records but they are coupled with JCM800's. Trey from Morbid Angel but he also has a JCM800 and racks and racks of effects to get his tone.

The DSL100 is very versatile but the tone does not reach the sonic levels of the 800.

1959SLP amps are pretty awesome, they don't get as dirty as 800's but if you add a few effects they can take you anywhere, but again, like the 800 and 900, they are single channel so there is no switching between clean and dirty.

The 6100 is another awesome amp. More versatile and much better than the DSL100 in my opinion.

If you're going to be playing gigs the rest of your life, get an amp that's worth a damn because if you buy some bush league crap you'll have to keep buying gear your whole life. If you buy the right stuff the first time, you'll never need another one. The amps mentioned here will not let you down.

 

[Eag]

If you're going to be playing gigs the rest of your life, get an amp that's worth a damn because if you buy some bush league crap you'll have to keep buying gear your whole life. If you buy the right stuff the first time, you'll never need another one. The amps mentioned here will not let you down.

+1

 

[mercilessdeath86]

learned that the hard way

 

[Zaxl_Rose]

keep in mind he is 16.

used is the way to go if you want a marshall for short money, though you have to be willing to take some time and maybe a financial hit to get something really awesome.

whats your budget? that'll help us get a feel for what might be right for you.

 

[Zaxl_Rose]

keep in mind he is 16.

used is the way to go if you want a marshall for short money, though you have to be willing to take some time and maybe a financial hit to get something really awesome.

whats your budget? that'll help us get a feel for what might be right for you.

 

[Vintager12]

The guy is 16 so i think he doesent have a verry high buget ( I'm 19 and i have the same probelem). The guy plays in a band , if he does gig's he need a stack amp i think, if he doesent does gigs he maybe better get a combo. For the sound he like's i think a plexi will be good , a JCM 800 or JVM will be good too, the plexi isnt able in combo but if he goes for that amp he has a KILLER tone. but i think the best choice is a JVM

 

[Purgasound]

16 is a good time to make money, I know this may be off topic, but if you have a job pretty much all of your income is disposable. I had more money then then i do now because i didn't have to worry about paying for food and rent and all that mess. didn't have a cell phone back then, minus another bill.

like that other dude says, used is a good way to go as you'll save a lot. as long as you're buying something that the previous owner took care of you're good to go. get a good marshall and you'll be happy with it i promise.
rock on brother

 

[zslane]

I've sent plenty of Marshall combos used in live gigs.

 

[sovietchimp]

Right, thanks guys! Loads of replies and lots of help. I think I'm gonna go for seperate head/ cab option, either a 1959SLP or JCM800 head. I'm gonna look around for a while, try to find a nice used marshall for less. Thanks again! Rock on!

 

[zslane]

Nice choices.

Those are two of the three amps I refer to as The Legends (the other being the JTM-45).

You could also go for the next tier down, what I call the Great Ones: the Silver Jubilee, the JCM900 SLX, the 6100LM.

Then there's the third tier, what I call the Solid Workhorses: JCM900s, DSL50/100, JVMs.

Oh, and my instincts tell me that the Vintage Modern is destined for Great One status. Grab one now while they are still relatively cheap. Don't wait until they've become collector's items like the Silver Jubilee...

 

[DragonSarc]

i wish i had money to get me a JTM or JCM when i was 16

 

[wizard_37]

No shit man, i was using a distortion pedal and plugging into my stereo.

 

[flat5]

Take your time and find a good used DSL head/paired with a cab, thats the most inexpensive way to get into the real deal, IMO.

 

[155]

start out with a nice combo kid, somethinf you can bring out and jam with the boyz easily dsl 401 mabye ,go tube and combo!