People will have all sorts of opinions, but there is also a lot of flexibility. Play with what you've got (and if you can, crank the reverb) and as long as you like the sound, you are good.

On the other hand, if you want to attain the most pure original early 60's surf sound, vintage Fender gear is the ultimate stuff, and there are plenty of people here to give you pointers on the best way to get there.

Works!
Check out these two songs from the latest album of THE RAZORBLADES

TAD 18 W and TAD 80 Watt JTM 45 plus vintage spring reverb

Last edited: Jul 27, 2020 04:11:01

iLuvZombieGirl wrote:

I hope this doesn't get crazy... As I am a newbie to this scene and get my equipment together for my new passion, I was with a dilema. All I have right now is a Marshall amp. Now I know I could make it work at the end of the day, but is this something that shouldn't done in surf rock culture? Is this a Cardinal sin of the scene? All the vids I watched on YouTube no one mentioned or played a Marshall. So please enlightened me. Thanks.

A couple of years back The Mystery Men? played the Little 5 Points Halloween Parade, and the backline included a Marshall half stack (I don't remember the model). I made that thing sound like fire. Anything is possible! It's mostly in your hands, anyway.

• Jamie
  SSS Agent #181
  Cartoons drenched in reverb!
  The Mystery Men?
  El Capitan & The Reluctant Sadists

Marshall, Vox, Fender, Bugera, Orange, it sounds the way you want to. You got tone control, sometimes springreverb, and more. Just buy what you like and alternate the sound! Speakers and tubes can alternate the sound too... And an Fender Bassmann was the original for the first Marshall amp or something. Go with your gut! If an amp can take good guitar pedals it mostly can do spring reverbs too!

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Back in the early 00’s, I regularly used a 50 Watt Marshall Valvestate at a recurring gig I had at a car show.

I had a couple of Fender Combos that I could have used, but I would sometimes have to load in from two or three blocks away, and I wasn’t going carry an all tube combo that far. The Marshall weighed noticeably less than the Fender.

Not only was it lighter, but with the Accutronics Reverb, the clean channel sounded great. (I don’t know how many people that have bought Marshall’s for their clean sound, but I sure did.) I’d still have it, but I sold it to a friend of mine who needed an amp, and I needed to free up some space.

Marshall for Surf Music? Absolutely!!

-Cheers, Clark-

-Less Paul, more Reverb-

synchro wrote:

I’ve heard Marshalls that sounded great, cleaned up. They are a high-gain amp and well suited for cranking out the distortion, but they can sound wonderful clean and with some reverb.

If you want to learn a little about your Marshall’s tone stack, check out this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZHM5BwPLRw

Jerry McGee, of The Ventures used a Marshall for their tours in Japan.

Okay I glad I stuck thru it. Made a lot of sense. Thanks for the info!

iLuvZombieGirl wrote:

synchro wrote:

I’ve heard Marshalls that sounded great, cleaned up. They are a high-gain amp and well suited for cranking out the distortion, but they can sound wonderful clean and with some reverb.

If you want to learn a little about your Marshall’s tone stack, check out this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZHM5BwPLRw

Jerry McGee, of The Ventures used a Marshall for their tours in Japan.

Okay I glad I stuck thru it. Made a lot of sense. Thanks for the info!

It was interesting to me how similar the Vox and Fender curves were. The Marshall was a bit different, but closer than I would have guessed it to be.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

I have only ever played once thru Marshall speakers using a Quilter TB202, however a Marshall amp was what got me into surf playing. It was a new Marshall Valvestate VS65, the reverb was lush and like hall reverb, but it started the reverb addiction right then and there.

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iLuvZombieGirl wrote:

synchro wrote:

iLuvZombieGirl wrote:

synchro wrote:

I’ve heard Marshalls that sounded great, cleaned up. They are a high-gain amp and well suited for cranking out the distortion, but they can sound wonderful clean and with some reverb.

If you want to learn a little about your Marshall’s tone stack, check out this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZHM5BwPLRw

Jerry McGee, of The Ventures used a Marshall for their tours in Japan.

Okay I glad I stuck thru it. Made a lot of sense. Thanks for the info!

It was interesting to me how similar the Vox and Fender curves were. The Marshall was a bit different, but closer than I would have guessed it to be.

Yes it seems the main difference was the amount of gain the Marshall which makes a lit sense if you think about it. Then the other main difference would be the bass roll off. You can tell Marshall was going was for particular style player but at the same time understandable. They had to make there own lane. At the end of the day they are both beast amp companies!

I know that a clean Marshall can really sparkle. I would like to see a comparison between the Marshall tone stack and the ‘59 Bassman tone stack. I know that the amps share more than a little DNA, including a cathode follower tone stack.

Probably my favorite Marshall is the 2061, which is similar to an 18 watt, but with a solid state rectifier, which makes it a bit stiffer. It’s an amp that lives in the boundary between clean and broken up, and definitely knows how to Surf.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

raylinds wrote:

I think we as guitar players put too much emphasis on gear, especially if we are going for an authentic vintage sound (I am very guilty of this). For surf, if you can get a good clean tone and that drippy reverb sound- whether it is with an on-board reverb, a pedal, or an outboard unit- preferably with a single coil pickup guitar, you should be good to go. Everything else is in the playing.

Totally agree. I love all of the cool Fender stuff for sure. I am a self-described Fender whore, but I've seen and heard GREAT surf music played through all kinds of weird and fun setups. Whatever works, for sure.

• Jamie
  SSS Agent #181
  Cartoons drenched in reverb!
  The Mystery Men?
  El Capitan & The Reluctant Sadists