fdesalvo
Well-known member
I find myself in a strange situation and I don’t know what I am looking for at this point. I was playing rhythm primarily, but my band (modern Rock)has gone back to a 4-piece format and I am now handling lead/rhythm. We do a fair amount of touring and I was using a PODxt Live through a TSL for really fat rhythm tones and it became unstable at some point, so I quit using it and am back to using the straight Marshall with various effect pedals. My current rig is this:
Marshall TSL ½ Stk
Gibson 2007 SG-GT (stock pups)
Pedal board
For Rhythm, this amp’s clean is lackluster and the crunch is actually quite nice- but don’t even think of palm-muting- it’s very thin. The lead channel is only a slightly gainier and more compressed version of the crunch channel, and like it, absolutely sucks for low string rhythm work.
For lead work- not too shabby- actually cuts through the mix with the 1960a- a plague for my former DC10 and PODXTL. Ripping high string runs are a blast and have great feel and articulation- and that’s on the crunch channel. But again, the lower strings feel stiff and lifeless. I don’t even use the lead channel at this point.
How am I going to address my rhythm woes? In addition, I think I am looking for a little more grit in my lead tone- sometimes I like starting my solos from the low strings and it’s just not a pretty thing with this amp.
What the hell sort of amp am I looking for? I need a sweet clean tone, punchy/tight/semi-saturated crunch with a liquidly feel, and a lively and cutting lead tone that doesn’t feel overly stiff or nasally, and has a nice texture to it.
Maybe I’m ignorant, but I’ve formed a certain opinion throughout my experiences with modern hi-gainers: Get a Mesa if you mostly use the lower strings and a Marshall if you use the D on up!
The Rectos I’ve used were nice for fat power chords, but not so much for tight mutes. On the higher strings, the nasal tone and dull feel they left me with hindered my ability to feel what I was doing.
The Marshall I am on now is the exact opposite- fun for solos, but for any palm-muting- on any string; it sucks…What’s a guy to do?
Marshall TSL ½ Stk
Gibson 2007 SG-GT (stock pups)
Pedal board
For Rhythm, this amp’s clean is lackluster and the crunch is actually quite nice- but don’t even think of palm-muting- it’s very thin. The lead channel is only a slightly gainier and more compressed version of the crunch channel, and like it, absolutely sucks for low string rhythm work.
For lead work- not too shabby- actually cuts through the mix with the 1960a- a plague for my former DC10 and PODXTL. Ripping high string runs are a blast and have great feel and articulation- and that’s on the crunch channel. But again, the lower strings feel stiff and lifeless. I don’t even use the lead channel at this point.
How am I going to address my rhythm woes? In addition, I think I am looking for a little more grit in my lead tone- sometimes I like starting my solos from the low strings and it’s just not a pretty thing with this amp.
What the hell sort of amp am I looking for? I need a sweet clean tone, punchy/tight/semi-saturated crunch with a liquidly feel, and a lively and cutting lead tone that doesn’t feel overly stiff or nasally, and has a nice texture to it.
Maybe I’m ignorant, but I’ve formed a certain opinion throughout my experiences with modern hi-gainers: Get a Mesa if you mostly use the lower strings and a Marshall if you use the D on up!
The Rectos I’ve used were nice for fat power chords, but not so much for tight mutes. On the higher strings, the nasal tone and dull feel they left me with hindered my ability to feel what I was doing.
The Marshall I am on now is the exact opposite- fun for solos, but for any palm-muting- on any string; it sucks…What’s a guy to do?