Marshall Vintage Modern 2266C Distortion SOUNDCLIPS

[Mark Olson]

Before you go spouting off about this belonging in the Amps forum, I've already posted there and there was zero interest. Short of some high handed indictment against the general users of the Amps forum, needless to say I figured using a guitar amp for distortion sounds might generate more interest on the effects forum. So there you go.

So let me tell you a little bit about this amp. It's a 50 watt all tube combo loaded with two 25 watt Celestion Greenbacks (12"). These, at least for me and my style, can be great bass speakers and if you've owned the Bass Pod XT Pro, you may remember that it models a couple of different Greenback loaded cabs, if I remember correctly. Now this amp is quite new, and my Greenbacks haven't even been broken in yet, but I'm certain it will sound mint once they are.

It has 4 12AX7's (the last of which is switchable in and out of the circuit for massively more distortion) and 2 KT66's in the power section. It's called a vintage modern because it has two dynamic ranges, one that is much like a JTM45, the other is supposed to be like a hot rodded 70's Marshall. The low dynamic range is capable of light crunch when you crank it up some, and the high dynamic range is capable of everything beyond that, from Humble Pie's "30 Days in the Hole" to full on shred.

So onto the clip. This is in the high dynamic range, more towards the "30 Days in the Hole" end of the spectrum, a nice moderate, if buzzy, crunch. Bass used was just an SX P bass, shortscale, with the stock very light strings on it. It achieves that "guitarlike" sound that my playing style is often about, as in a piece of music like this (it's the first track I've laid down to a song I'll be cutting). Here's what that sounds like:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7703012

What you probably can't tell is that the dirt of that amp can also translate well onto lower register growling, heavy basslines. I do intend to produce some clips of that as well, but for right now I can only record at very low volume, so I've got no hope of effectively breaking in my speakers anytime soon and capturing the low distorted growl this amp can produce with a heavier sounding bass at a nice high volume.

So anyways what I'm looking for is some feedback as to whether you guys think this low volume clip captures some of that Humble Pie vibe or not, and if you think I should keep it the way it is for the tune I'm working on or if I should recut it with a less buzzy sound? Thanks in advance!

[Mark Olson]

Here's a hi gain clip, still with the low volume:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7703538

and here's an even lower volume clip (note the background acoustics) little blues mood with fuzz courtesy a Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face. Still using a cheap SX P/J:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7703533

[OhThePeacock]

Sounds nice and crunchy! I dig the tone you get from it. Do you possibly have a picture of the amp?

[Mark Olson]

I don't have a picture of mine specifically, but you can see it here:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...ELAID=43141009

I don't know if you can tell from that picture or not but it's dark purple. It's a very cool amp, I'm excited to have it. I'm actually buying it from my brother, a guitar player, for $1000, mint condition and everything. I'm actually also getting an Orange Tiny Terror soon, so we'll see if that's cool on bass or not too. Since I'm so much like another guitar player anyway it makes sense me playing through a guitar amp.

I've also got another clip which is the rhythm track for another tune I'll be working on. It's with my Gibson SG Bass' bridge pickup through a Fulltone Bass-Drive Mosfet with a little reverb on it from the amp (it has a plate reverb). It sounds pretty chunky and dark, but I kind of like it:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7704064

[Mark Olson]

Ok I've got a clip of some thunderous bass distortion using the JTM45 side of the amp. This is done with my Gibson SG Bass, neck pickup only. Check it out:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7730537

I for one think it has a real nice crunch to it. Now if I can just get those speakers broken in!

[superbassman2000]

wow that is a really nice crunchy distortion! you know what i would like to hear if you can get a clip of it--run it in tandem with a clean bass amp--i bet that would sound pretty thick!

[Mark Olson]

Yeah I'm sure it would. Actually that amp has two distinct preamp voices, Body and Detail, and the Body or the voice with emphasized low end is set clean while the Detail or voice with emphasized treble is set distorted. So it may not sound like it, but there's some clean bottom on there.

But I would record it in tandem with another amp, but unfortunately right now I don't have room for a second amp where I record... sometime down the road!

[Mark Olson]

That statement about the Body and Detail is referring to the last clip only, obviously. On the other clips the Body is all distorted to hell. But I do think it sounds better with the Body clean and Detail distorted instead of having both distorted so that's probably how I'll be recording it mostly from here on.

[nad]

The clip with the fuzz is to friggin' die for. Very nice.

[Wasted Bassist]

That last clip sounds fantastic. I wish I had a guitar amp like that at my disposal.

[Mark Olson]

Thanks! Having a Marshall guitar amp with Greenbacks and everything is like an effect in itself, not just with the distortion and the reverb it offers, but even set clean an all tube Marshall amp is great with a Fuzz Face or what have you for fuzz.

I like that Hendrix Fuzz Face because it sounds huge, the guitar itself I used for that clip is actually pretty anemic sounding with little tiny strings on it, just a stock SX P/J shortscale purple sparkly girl bass, but if you listen to it in that first clip and then with the Fuzz Face it sounds like a total different guitar because of all the balls the Fuzz Face has.

Though I wonder how that fuzzed out clip would've sounded if I dialed a little reverb in on the amp I think it'll sound plenty thick once I add a little studio magic to it.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

I've also got another clip which is the rhythm track for another tune I'll be working on. It's with my Gibson SG Bass' bridge pickup through a Fulltone Bass-Drive Mosfet with a little reverb on it from the amp (it has a plate reverb). It sounds pretty chunky and dark, but I kind of like it:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7704064

This clip is really awesome sounding, like you said very chunky and dark.

[Mark Olson]

Thanks! There's one fudge up on a high A chord that sounds all bad, but I'm keeping it the way it is and I'll be adding a solo on top with the Orange Tiny Terror. Right now I'm making good use of the speakers in the Marshall to do lots of recordings with the Orange.