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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Any one else surf on a Marshall?

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Hey all, happy Sunday to you. New to the forums, I know this is probably sacrilegious to some of you but out of curiosity who else surfs on a Marshall amp? I have a big DSL40 combo as I play a lot of 70s rock and some metal, but recently Ive been really getting into playing surf rock, and I’ve found I can get some good surf tones by cranking the master volume and running the gain very low at like 1.5-2 and a spring reverb/trem pedal in the loop and a high treble and scooped mids EQ setting; this amp has a surprising amount of headroom! I was pleasantly surprised since I don’t have the funds or space to have a fender amp right now. Anyone else have Marshall experience here? Smile

The closest I've come is a virtual JCM900 in Reaper. It does have a good sound and the reverb is well done too. I don't use it all that often but occasionally.

The first Marshalls were tweed Bassman knockoffs, right? And the vaulted Brownfaces amps were derived from the tweeds as well so I figure they're all related.

Last edited: May 24, 2020 16:19:39

I don't use my DSL40 for surf but have used my Blackstar HT40 for surf with pretty decent results. Continue playing and look at a more dedicated surf amp. Quilter Pro Block 200 does a great job. I'll never sell my Marshall as it kills for everything else.

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stratdancer wrote:

I don't use my DSL40 for surf but have used my Blackstar HT40 for surf with pretty decent results. Continue playing and look at a more dedicated surf amp. Quilter Pro Block 200 does a great job. I'll never sell my Marshall as it kills for everything else.

The HT40 is a pretty similar EL34 circuit, I’d imagine it sounds pretty good for this genre if EQ’d right. I had been looking for used Princeton reverbs for surf purposes but they’re so expensive now, I feel I may as well get a deluxe for almost the same price! I wish there were more Fender style heads out there , I’d kinda like to plug one into the DSL40 cab to save room.

I play my Jaguars, Jazzmaster and Strat through a Surfy Trem & Surfy Bear Metal into my Marshall 2061X with 2061CX cabinet in my living room. I get a clean surfy sound as far as I can tell.

Everything, that does an ok clean sound will surf at least ok or better. The kind of reverb you're using is important I think (and of course the guitar should bring the basics = twang and a vibrato.

I recently bought a Marshall JTM45/100 clone used and with the Jag and my Gomez Tank it surfs great. Bass is tighter (which I like) compared to the Fenders I'm used to (browns & blacks). I will still surf with my beloved brownface, for other stuff (and when playin' my strat I love THAT plexi sound !!! there is something with the mids, Fenders dont do).

Have fun Smile

A vintage Marshall can absolutely pull it off. Here's mine, a 1969 50 watter, next to my 63 Bassman.
These two amps are really in the same ballpark. The Marshall is like a more aggressive, brighter version of the Bassman, and it likes to blow up if you look at it wrong. It likes to let you down at the worst moments. The Bassman is indestructible on the other hand.
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Couldn't help but notice that this would make a great Marshall Appreciation thread!
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hahaaaa - yes pics are always good Big Grin

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I remember Dave Wronski once telling me a story from the early days of Jon & the Nightriders, where Dave decided to play a club show with a vintage Marshall stack! John was not very pleased with him about this. Big Grin But as he was soundchecking the soundman told him over the entire PA that that was the best guitar tone he had ever heard! Dave told me he felt vindicated. Laughing

Ivan
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Last edited: May 25, 2020 12:49:31

I have a couple of nice Marshall heads , one is a high gain type JCM900SL-X ..there is no clean to speak of on this amp . My other is an '81 Park 50 watt head and the low gain input is clean and beautiful , chimey ... up the master and keep the channel vol low and yes I could easily surf with it ..it sounds great . Its an amazing amp ...I tried my clean boost into the dirt channel and it was one of the best things ever for hard rock ,punk...just inspiring .
So do I use it for surf music ? of course not I have better amps for that but if they were wiped out in a freak sharknado and all I had was the Park ...yeah no problem.

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Last edited: Jun 05, 2020 23:21:55

I had the silver jubilee stack and am still sorry for letting it go 15 years ago.

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IvanP wrote:

I remember Dave Wronski once telling me a story from the early days of Jon & the Nightriders, where Dave decided to play a club show with a vintage Marshall stack! John was not very pleased with him about this. Big Grin But as he was soundchecking the soundman told him over the entire PA that that was the best guitar tone he had ever heard! Dave told me he felt vindicated. Laughing

well, not a two cabinet stack! I would use my 1967 Super Bass 100 with one red 1969 cabinet because we were getting LOUDER. I had to deal with N Syxx with an SVT that he liked to get barking. I was playing most chord/ rhythm stuff and the amps that were available to me could not cut it.

I would bring my own mic. An AKG D12e. The story Ivan refers to is when we were to open for Dick Dale at the “Country Club” in Reseda, calif. During soundcheck, Steve Soast , who was playing bass for DD, looked up at the stage and said, “Marshall?” , with a disgusted tone of voice.

I did my guitar check, 1965 shoreline gold Jaguar, and sound guy said through the system, “ that’s the best guitar sound I’ve ever heard about n here, could you play a bit more?” It was like I paid the guy to say that. Perfect timing.

Trivial tech note: in the USA the power is 60cycles which makes for a little tighter sound than when these amps are used in Europe where it’s 50cycles. This something I noticed when going over there with my own amp and noticing the difference. Also, Echoplex’s run slower in Europe!

You have to believe that the Super Bass 100 was closely aligned with a bassman. I would have no idea myself but being the model year it probably sounded fantastic for surf guitar!

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When I play through my high gain amps, which I do for pure enjoyment, I use these guitars which all have hotter pickups. Gain is set moderately high and my EP Boost is dimed. This produces a heavenly vintage crunch. The four surf guitars are relegated to the surf amps and duties.
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The Kahuna Kings

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A lot of people just think of Marshalls for high gain sounds, but some of them do get a nice clean tone at reasonable volume levels. With a decent spring verb sound it will work.

Definitely! I run a '67 plexi and a mid 70's JMP 50! Sometimes I'll even lug out the Hiwatt!

I think pentode guitar amplifiers sound very cool. YMMV.

SSIV

Here's my '67 plexi and '66 6G15. These two play very nicely together! It sure is a weird feeling not knowing when I'll be dragging this thing out to a gig again. This is the first time I've not had a show lined up since the 80's!
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