I had only really explored the Mark series in the last number of years, making up for lost time (Studio Pre, III, IV, V:25). Earlier this year, I had a JCM800 2204 circuit made for me by Ceriatone (17" chassis put in a Mesa rackmount frame!) and also had acquired a Bogner Goldfinger 45 to get some real Marshall flavor options.
The Bogner in 80s mode could be dialed in to do a dead-on JCM800 sound and had a fantastic clean channel. But as I'm moving to just studio racks, it was too big so it had to go. And the 2204 has, to me, a narrow-ish sweet spot with the Master Vol. Too low and it's a bit thin and quiet (I use a loadbox), and too high the sound flattens out and gets darker and saggy. A 2203 might fix that, but...
Last week I discovered the Electra Dyne. I had heard the name mentioned before, but never paid attention to it. It was always the Stiletto and Royal Atlantic that would come up regarding British style Mesa amps. Both were too big. I saw an ED rackmount listed not too far from me, so I did a little more research. Some people really liked it. For $800 in beautiful condition from an original owner, I thought it was worth a shot. Boy is it ever.
To my ears, when running through my Torpedo Live w/ a Celestion IR of a Greenback loaded 4x12, this is classic Marshall territory. I thought I'd have to swap in EL34s, but I don't see the need. I used an amp head switcher to go between the 2204 and the ED, and the ED was basically a better JCM800 than the JCM800. I think the Greenbacks have a lot to do with it, as well as having the headroom of a 90W amp.
But in short, this has given me back everything I liked about the Goldfinger and gives me everything I want from a 2204. I really am quite pleasantly surprised.
The Bogner in 80s mode could be dialed in to do a dead-on JCM800 sound and had a fantastic clean channel. But as I'm moving to just studio racks, it was too big so it had to go. And the 2204 has, to me, a narrow-ish sweet spot with the Master Vol. Too low and it's a bit thin and quiet (I use a loadbox), and too high the sound flattens out and gets darker and saggy. A 2203 might fix that, but...
Last week I discovered the Electra Dyne. I had heard the name mentioned before, but never paid attention to it. It was always the Stiletto and Royal Atlantic that would come up regarding British style Mesa amps. Both were too big. I saw an ED rackmount listed not too far from me, so I did a little more research. Some people really liked it. For $800 in beautiful condition from an original owner, I thought it was worth a shot. Boy is it ever.
To my ears, when running through my Torpedo Live w/ a Celestion IR of a Greenback loaded 4x12, this is classic Marshall territory. I thought I'd have to swap in EL34s, but I don't see the need. I used an amp head switcher to go between the 2204 and the ED, and the ED was basically a better JCM800 than the JCM800. I think the Greenbacks have a lot to do with it, as well as having the headroom of a 90W amp.
But in short, this has given me back everything I liked about the Goldfinger and gives me everything I want from a 2204. I really am quite pleasantly surprised.
