Which boogie amp best mimics a Marshall?

[gumbymage]

I've been reading this forum for months now and this is my first post. Based on information found here and elsewhere, I ordered a Road King II head and two 2x12 Road King cabs. It's yet to arrive, but the whole time I've been wondering if I'd prefer a different amp like the Mark IV or Stiletto Duece. The Guitar Center seems to have very few boogies so I can't demo them.

I guess I do like the Marshall sound since I've primarily play a JVM 410 combo and a DSL2000 401 combo. But while I like this tone, I also want to get into other kinds of tones too and that's why I ordered a RKII because I heard it has a wide variety of tones. Would I be satisfied with it's Marshallesk tone? Are the Mark IV and Stilletto better suited? Buy one of each maybe? :lol:

Thanks,
Rob

 

[MesaENGR412]

I have not hooked up to a RK, but if you like the marshall sound, and need a little different flare, I'd look into Splawn Amplification. They have some sick amps that have the marshallesque tone, but offer a lot more gain and clarity. As for what has been said on this board (at least what I've read), Mesa's don't really do so good emulating marshall's because of their unique gain voicing. The Stiletto can get close because of it being structured around the Marshall-staple power tube EL-34, but still, it has a gain voice all it's own....and it doesn't really sound marshally to me. A Rectifier's gain is very different sounding than a Marshall DSL/TSL gain, the amp is based on the 6L6 power tube, and because of these things I think it is hard to make them sound Marshallish. Marks have a more fluid gain, with more mids and are probably more suited to a marshally tone (i'd recommend using EL-34's), but still will only get so close because of their cascading gain structure and unique mesa voicing. But hey, you never know, that RK or MK IV may be the "sound" you've always been looking for, and never could get because of using the Marshall. I'd give the 6L6's a try and see how you like them in your tonal palette. In the end only your ears can decide, and that takes hearing the amps first hand. Good luck with your quest for tone bud, I hope things sound good for ya

-AJH

 

[xscottx9]

I have a Road King II .. The British channel does not sound like a "good" Marshall to me. I bought the RK over a DR for the "Marshall" hype, and I am afraid I got scammed ..

Now. .The Road King is an awesome amp, and I love it, and use it .. so dont thionlk I am bashing it, it just does not do the Marshall sound like I and "you" think it will. I did not want a newer Marshall sound, I just wanted that older Clean on the verge of breakup Marshall sound. It does not help I have 3 Marshalls here to compare it too .. yeah it does

 

[Charlie]

Check out a Stiletto.

:wink:

 

[Barry]

Stiletto

 

[Stratocaster]

I have a Road King II .. The British channel does not sound like a "good" Marshall to me. I bought the RK over a DR for the "Marshall" hype, and I am afraid I got scammed ..


Any chance the 'brit' in reference to is more of a 'Plexi'?

 

[jamme61]

I went through the same thing with the Roadster, the marshall sound was the one sound that the roadster IMHO didn't do very well. I loved the clean channel and the rect channels were fun but, I don't use the recto sounds. i have also had the MKIV, great amp but not the marshall sound IMHO. This is why Mesa made the stiletto, i played an ace 2x12 yesterday and I will try and buy it today(loved it ). It's very close to the marshalls your talking about(sound wise) but it's got it's own cool voice too. I also have the Express 5:50 which on the 2nd channel blues setting, gets me early Marshall tones better then the Roadster or MKIV and the express has a killer clean channel(better then the Stilleto IMHO) IMHO the Stiletto should be perfect for you, good luck

 

[123thefirst]

It all depends of course... expectations and sensitivities to very subtle and sometimes imagined things make all the difference in the world sometimes...

IMO the Road King II is much better at getting classic Marshall lead tones than rhythm sounds. You most certainly can eek out a matching tone on your RK II of pretty much anything, (if necessary with the help of an outboard EQ or possibly compressor/boost/distortion effect). But whether the feel and inspiration will match or not is too fragile a thing to predict.

I'd add that the RK's open back cabinet along with EL34 power tubes are necessary components for me for making the Brit mode sing.

If you can't get close to a sound you hear then maybe a Road King is just not the amp for you at this point in time or doesn't fit with the level of your other equipment. I'd set myself up with the attitude that where a difference occurs the advantage lies with the RK, in being more flexible and intense in certain ways because it really is.

 

[gumbymage]

Well, i guess there's nothing wrong with getting the Road King AND keeping my Marshall JVM. I could switch between them when I need to. I do sometimes switch to my Vox AD50VT for a different sound from time to time and sometimes run them both in stereo (which fills out the sound nicely when playing Stone Temple Pilots).

I was really hoping the RK would do it all (as the written reviews often suggest). Too bad there aren't any locally to demo. I haven't received it yet, but I'm looking forward to hearing what it can do very soon.

 

[gumbymage]

Well, i guess there's nothing wrong with getting the Road King AND keeping my Marshall JVM. I could switch between them when I need to. I do sometimes switch to my Vox AD50VT for a different sound from time to time and sometimes run them both in stereo (which fills out the sound nicely when playing Stone Temple Pilots).

I was really hoping the RK would do it all (as the written reviews often suggest). Too bad there aren't any locally to demo. I haven't received it yet, but I'm looking forward to hearing what it can do very soon.

 

[jamme61]

if you can run both amps (marshall and RKII) that will sound the best. one amp trying to do it all never works out for the best possible tone. I think the do everything amps do things well but not great.Once you get into master volumes and cascading preamps and efex, switching, etc, you lose some tone, that's a fact. The best amp for me, tone and feel, will always be the simple one channel amp. Does boogie do a fantastic job with these do everything amps? IMHO yes. But if you can run two amps to do there own special tone, it's going to sound best. I still think RKII, MKIV, Stiletto, are all killer amps.

 

[Mr. Stiletto]

Hm, let's think about it...STILETTO

 

[otter5555]

stilletto ace.

my ace EASILY does most marshall sounds AND beyond

otter

 

[Platypus]

Definitely check out the Ace... can cop some marshall tones though it does have a boogie voice all its own.

 

[les_paul_gold_top]

I've been reading this forum for months now and this is my first post. Based on information found here and elsewhere, I ordered a Road King II head and two 2x12 Road King cabs. It's yet to arrive, but the whole time I've been wondering if I'd prefer a different amp like the Mark IV or Stiletto Duece. The Guitar Center seems to have very few boogies so I can't demo them.

I guess I do like the Marshall sound since I've primarily play a JVM 410 combo and a DSL2000 401 combo. But while I like this tone, I also want to get into other kinds of tones too and that's why I ordered a RKII because I heard it has a wide variety of tones. Would I be satisfied with it's Marshallesk tone? Are the Mark IV and Stilletto better suited? Buy one of each maybe? :lol:

Thanks,
Rob

My Stiletto Deuce with early '60's Mullards in V1-V3 is pretty close to a Marshall sound - there are some many different "Marshall" sounds! I can get pretty **** close to my old 50 watt metal face '73 (less bright cap of course) in the Crunch mode Channel I - actually I think its a little more versatile as it really works great when taking a lead in solo mode - whereas the Marshall at all 5's with the help of a THD hotplate, only was good for rythym crunch - I had to have a TS or BD in front for leads. I use the Tight Gain Channel II as my lead with no pedals. I'm not sure if it sounds much like any Marshall - but boy does it sound good. The last gig I played and as my hearing faded, I found myself using the Tight Gain for everything and just rolling back my volume a little for rythym crunch and full volume for leads - it sounded awesome...

Tim

 

[jab]

this is a piece from an interview with Andy Timmons (some guitar virtuoso that helped Mesa with Stiletto). I have a Stiletto and they are completely different than Recs/Roadsters. Certainly more Marshall-esque, but I can't say identical. Maybe better actually. Would be great to have a Stiletto and Roadster head - what a rig that would be!

Interview excerpt:

Steve Mueller from Mesa/Boogie came to hear the tracks we were working on for the new record and he was blown away with the tone, wanting to know what we were using, and I sheepishly told him that it was the vintage Marshall stuff. He was like, “Wow, that just really sounds amazing. We’re working on the Stiletto and we’d love to get your ears involved, because we’re trying to capture some of this and then some.” Obviously, they’re going to do their own thing, and when Steve came to me with a later version of the Stiletto I was absolutely blown away because Mesa/Boogie absolutely nailed that sound – especially my 1979 JMP sound.

Now, I can get that recorded sound live, which I’ve never been able to do before, plus with those vintage Marshalls, you really don’t want to take those things on the road. They’re so valuable now. And Boogie was like, “We want you to have an amp where you can get that sound live,” and they really, really nailed it.

 

[srf399]

I've tried out both the Ace and the Deuce now and I would not be surprised if in 10 years or sooner people will speak of the Stiletto Stage II's doing the same thing using the Marshall sound as it's base as the MKIIC+ did with the Fender sound as it's base. I think these things are going to be holy grail tone classics right up there with the MKIIC+ I know that is a huge statement but I think we're witnessing the making of a major classic. The sounds that these amps get right out of the box are stunning.

 

[Maury]

I played through a stilletto combo a few weeks ago. Not sure which stilletto it was, but man was it bright. I was playing a PRS SE with hot humbuckers and I had to set the treble at 9:00 for starters. Are these amps meant to be this trebly or is there a trick to getting them to sound fat? Not slamming the stillettos at all - just admitting I have no cluse how to dial them in.

 

[jamme61]

I've tried out both the Ace and the Deuce now and I would not be surprised if in 10 years or sooner people will speak of the Stiletto Stage II's doing the same thing using the Marshall sound as it's base as the MKIIC+ did with the Fender sound as it's base. I think these things are going to be holy grail tone classics right up there with the MKIIC+ I know that is a huge statement but I think we're witnessing the making of a major classic. The sounds that these amps get right out of the box are stunning.

+1 just got turned on to an ace and am blown away and I'm a big Marshall plexi jcm 800 type guy. I think they got the marshall and their own mojo goin on in these amps. I had the roadster and the MKIV and neither one got me like this stiletto ace, but again i love marshalls.

 

[dennq45]

One word Rivera