Mesa that is close to the Marshall sound?

[Dolan13]

I know, buy a Marshall and be done with it. I have that covered just looking to place a Mesa head on top of the cool looking and sounding Mesa 2x12 I just picked up. Thoughts?

 

[mesaboogieKT88]

Stiletto?

 

[elvis]

Royal Atlantic

 

[mesaboogieKT88]

They are both discontinued, but still plentiful and available in mass quantities

 

[afu]

Stiletto preamp is almost a dead ringer for a Plexi in crunch mode. Tight Gain is almost a 2203 JCM 800 preamp, but has the Soldano cold clipper mod. The Power amp is nearly identical to a model 1959 JCM 800, with two main changes to make it fixed bias and for the P.I. Mesa liked to use for their "British"-style amps (all the Rectos, for one).

 

[primal]

Stiletto Definitely. Though I would say the crunch channel is more JCM 800 then Plexi. Though in Reality the JCM 800 2203/2204 is much closer to Plexi then people think. People who associate JCM 800 with hairbands are really hearing either the 2205/2210 800, or a boosted 800.

I posted this in another thread.

I owned both a JCM 800 2204 and Stiletto ACE at the same time once. Still own the 800

Here is a comparison of both.

Ace on Crunch Channel
https://soundcloud.com/sarge117/ampa

JCM 800 2204
https://soundcloud.com/sarge117/ampb

 

[kramerxxx]

I think a better way to look at this might be, high-mid voiced, vs low-mid voiced.

There are too many different Marshall circuits to compare to, so when you say Marshall, without being specific to a model, I.e., JCM800/900/2000, 1959, 1987, 2204, 2204, 2205, 2210, 2100, 2500, 4100, 4101, etc...., you need to think about the preamp and power amp circuits and the tubes used to accomplish that sound. EL84, 6V6, 5881, EL34, 6550, KT66/77/88 6L6, all sound a bit different.

I own a Mark, a Recto, an Electra Dyne, 2 Stilettos, a Budda SD30,(EL84s), a Cornford, and a Soldano pre/Mesa 50/50 power amp. All do something a bit different, though I tend to dial then in similarly.

The Stiletto is the amp that has the highest mid voice, or most treble/cut, with a similar EQ curve to a Mark, but with a base tone similar to a Recto. The Mark has the fastest attack. The Recto has the most gain and low end. The Electro Dyne has a similar gain structure as the Recto, but not as much gain on tap, and a great clean tone, similar to a Mark I.

And without exception, bypassing the loop tells a different sound from these amps, though I like having the solo boost and master volume for playing live.

The amps that have a mix or send/return pot(s) on the loop allow for more/less gain, if needed, and again change the tone of the channels.

The Mesa tone stack is different, depending on the models. If you turn all the tone controls down, bringing them up individually, you can get more tonal options than just common sense or the owners manual outline.

Leaving the bass and/or middle down on the Recs gives a reasonably Marshall flavor. This also works with the Dyne.

To answer the question, Most Mesa amps cannot sound like Marshalls, but you can get close with the right speakers, cab and adjusting the bottom it of the tone stack. This is fairly easy is you run a good EQ rack unit or pedal thru the loop.

 

[kramerxxx]

What I really like about the Stilettos is you can get a great clean sound, great crunch sound, you have a loop for reverb and delay, and a solo boost.

With the first channel set up for a semi dirty Clean, then an od pedal, you not have 3 levels of gain for that sound/channel, besides the obvious of using their guitar volume/tone controls for even more options. Same for the second channel with gain. I tend to run gain on that one about 11o'clock, channel master to the same volume as the first channel.

 

[CJ Grimmark]

Too bad those Mesa "brits" are all discontinued, but a fantastic option (if You can find one on the used market) would be the ElectraDyne.
It has the warmth and much of the low mid harmonic "rumble" that can be heard in some of the classic marshalls such as JCM800 and JCM25/50 Silver Jubilee. It also does a great plexi-style tone and an amazing clean. All on six knobs on the front panel...You can't go wrong with it
If You need a lot of gain the Stiletto would be better than the E.D., but with some warmth/low end trade-off.

 

[Rumy73]

Stiletto Definitely. Though I would say the crunch channel is more JCM 800 then Plexi. Though in Reality the JCM 800 2203/2204 is much closer to Plexi then people think. People who associate JCM 800 with hairbands are really hearing either the 2205/2210 800, or a boosted 800.

I posted this in another thread.

I owned both a JCM 800 2204 and Stiletto ACE at the same time once. Still own the 800

Here is a comparison of both.

Ace on Crunch Channel
https://soundcloud.com/sarge117/ampa

JCM 800 2204
https://soundcloud.com/sarge117/ampb

Nice sounds, sir! Wow, those two definitely in the same ballpark. Do I hear differences? Yes, but those are very slight.

I suppose having the two amps was redundant?

 

[Rumy73]

I think a better way to look at this might be, high-mid voiced, vs low-mid voiced.

There are too many different Marshall circuits to compare to, so when you say Marshall, without being specific to a model, I.e., JCM800/900/2000, 1959, 1987, 2204, 2204, 2205, 2210, 2100, 2500, 4100, 4101, etc...., you need to think about the preamp and power amp circuits and the tubes used to accomplish that sound. EL84, 6V6, 5881, EL34, 6550, KT66/77/88 6L6, all sound a bit different.

I own a Mark, a Recto, an Electra Dyne, 2 Stilettos, a Budda SD30,(EL84s), a Cornford, and a Soldano pre/Mesa 50/50 power amp. All do something a bit different, though I tend to dial then in similarly.

The Stiletto is the amp that has the highest mid voice, or most treble/cut, with a similar EQ curve to a Mark, but with a base tone similar to a Recto. The Mark has the fastest attack. The Recto has the most gain and low end. The Electro Dyne has a similar gain structure as the Recto, but not as much gain on tap, and a great clean tone, similar to a Mark I.

And without exception, bypassing the loop tells a different sound from these amps, though I like having the solo boost and master volume for playing live.

The amps that have a mix or send/return pot(s) on the loop allow for more/less gain, if needed, and again change the tone of the channels.

The Mesa tone stack is different, depending on the models. If you turn all the tone controls down, bringing them up individually, you can get more tonal options than just common sense or the owners manual outline.

Leaving the bass and/or middle down on the Recs gives a reasonably Marshall flavor. This also works with the Dyne.

To answer the question, Most Mesa amps cannot sound like Marshalls, but you can get close with the right speakers, cab and adjusting the bottom it of the tone stack. This is fairly easy is you run a good EQ rack unit or pedal thru the loop.

I think your are right with the idea of the eq in the loop (I run an mxr) and send the rec into a marshall cab for "that sound." While it is not the JCM 800 I had as a kid, it is pretty close. Add a boss sd-1 in thr front, and I am that much closer. Again, we are talking in the ballpark not a deadringer.

 

[elpingua]

Mark V can also get a Marshall type of tone on Channel 2. Granted it won't get you as close to as perhaps some of the other amps mentioned here, but it is another option worth considering if you wish to stay within the Mesa brand. Also it can do a whole more - its kind of a swiss army knife of amps.

PS it can also kind of do a brown sound, which is of course a Marshall type of sound, check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KcLV5Bmp3I

PSPS: Not my video just something I found

 

[bandit2013]

Nice, thanks for the clip on the brown sound. Sounds good.

I would agree, the speaker does make a difference in order to get closer to a Marshal tone but since I have no clue what particular Marshals sound like other than what I have heard in recordings.

I would vote for the RA100 and not just for the Hi/Lo gain channel either. Push the gain up on the clean channel and behold a different sound that is remarkable. The Roadster, either vintage or raw on CH3 or tweed voice on CH1 (gain dimed). Mark V would have to go to CH2 crunch or Mark 1 voice. The Mark V does have other capabilities so you are not stuck with one particular sound which makes it more appealing. The Roadster and RA100 both have their own basic tone (RA100 has two since the clean channel is voiced quite differently than the Hi/Lo channel. The Roadster is quite flexible too. My two favorites are the RA100 and Roadster but it is hard to ignore the Mark V (I never knew what I was missing until I changed the speaker in the combo).

 

[afu]

Here is a comparison of both.

Ace on Crunch Channel
https://soundcloud.com/sarge117/ampa

JCM 800 2204
https://soundcloud.com/sarge117/ampb

The thing I hear is a more resonant midrange with the 800, but it's slight and could just be eq. With a band, I'm not sure anyone would be able to tell a difference.

 

[bandit2013]

afu, both amps sound very close to each other. Both sound great.

 

[afu]

afu, both amps sound very close to each other. Both sound great.

I agree. I just heard more vocal-ish resonance with the 800. It's probably the 200-400 Hz low-mid thing that Marshalls do so well. What I meant is that the EQ could have been a little different. Overall, it was practically two clips of the same amp for all anyone would be able to tell.