golfnguitarz
Well-known member
Been playing through a Marshall TSL for the past six years or so. Don't like the clean channel, the high gain in it is just sorta, meh. But the crunch is the bread and butter Marshall sound IMO. I just can't get the MV to nail that, and I don't think it is just a matter of adding EL34's to the power section and here's why. First, I love the channel 1 and 3 on the MV. But I keep wanting channel 2 to be something different. I have my friends Randall modular rig, which is basically a bunch of modular preamps designed by Egnater I believe. Anyway the plexi module gives the same basic crunch as my TSL, or close enough not to matter. So, for grins, I ran the randall rig into the send of the effects loop of the MV and set channel 1 to as clean as possible and I had an AB switch to use the same guitar into both preamps. Long story short, I was able to switch between the plexi module and the Crunch in channel 2 (and Mark I) and compare. So they are both using the same power section and cab and in my mind that just takes EL34's as the key to the sound out of the equation(correct me if I am wrong).
To my ears, the MV has this added brighter frequency/note as compared to a Marshall and you can roll it off somewhat, but not get rid of it. I kept trying to pump up the mids and that got me darn close along with rolling of the treble and presence alot. But I still couldn't quite get there. The plexi module also kinda "smears" the notes a bit as compared the MV. The MV is absolutely a more articulate amp than the plexi, it is just voiced brighter and I can't get that "honk" out of it.
Anyway, that isn't to say that there isn't alot to like about the MV, but with so many distortion modes on the amp, I guess I wish the Edge and Crunch circuits were a little closer to the amps they were seemingly trying to emulate/remind you of. Just my opinion, not about to sell it.
To my ears, the MV has this added brighter frequency/note as compared to a Marshall and you can roll it off somewhat, but not get rid of it. I kept trying to pump up the mids and that got me darn close along with rolling of the treble and presence alot. But I still couldn't quite get there. The plexi module also kinda "smears" the notes a bit as compared the MV. The MV is absolutely a more articulate amp than the plexi, it is just voiced brighter and I can't get that "honk" out of it.
Anyway, that isn't to say that there isn't alot to like about the MV, but with so many distortion modes on the amp, I guess I wish the Edge and Crunch circuits were a little closer to the amps they were seemingly trying to emulate/remind you of. Just my opinion, not about to sell it.
