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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Re: Must have Pedals for a Marshall?????

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3/23/2000 6:27 PM
anonymous	Re: Must have Pedals for a Marshall????? Visual Sound J+H: Awesome, versatile pedal which already has a very distinct Marshall crunch vibe. Go get. Chris

3/23/2000 7:37 PM
Gus	I just modded one for a friend IMHO it needs some better parts on the 808 and switching side I replaced 14 parts. Now stock the J&H is very good, now with some good parts! BTW it uses a JRC4558 and a few TL072's

3/28/2000 4:47 PM

I use a Cry Baby wah, followed by an old Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal into my JCM800 2204. Ditto for my JTM 45. I find that the TS-9 is slightly over rated, and often adds a tad too much mid range "garbage" tones to an already distorted signal. Believe me, I still own an original TS-9!!! A Boss SD-1 SuperOverdrive will also do in place of a OD-1, as OD-1's are getting pretty hard to find (at least in Canada!). A SD-1 can be had used from most pawn shops for under 50 bucks ($35 US).
Now, what does the OD-1/SD-1 pedal do? It adds more sustain, and extra mid/high-end presence ((ie. ZING!!!) to your guitar's tone. This is great for allowing lead tones to cut through better, especially with 800 series (and earlier) Marshalls.
Bear in mind, I am referring to using the high-gain input on master volume Marshalls (I use a HotPlate with my JTM 45).
Now, if you want to use the clean channel/low input on a Marshall, the world can be your oyster. But be aware of limitations of your model of amp. JCM 800 era Marshalls generally have pretty decent clean headroom, and a wide array of effects devices can go before the input...there is a logical sequence from the guitar to amp. First Wah/compression devices, next overdrive/distortion, followed by modulation/phase shifters(ie. chorus/flange, etc), then delay/reverb devices, before going into the low gain input. Plugging these effects into an already distorted/high gain input usually results in "frying eggs", because modulation devices alter a signal's wave form which is "not friendly" before a high gain stage.
JTM 45's and other older Marshalls actually sound best with minimal "effects" because they break up so easily, thus ruining any modulation-type signal processing.
So there you have it!!! My final word is EXPERIMENT!!! Jimi did it, so does the Edge (albeit with an AC 30), and you should too!
If you are the purist type, a wah and overdrive device will be about all you'll need...

3/29/2000 1:24 AM

quote:
"...followed by an old Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal into my JCM800 2204....
...Now, what does the OD-1/SD-1 pedal do? It adds more sustain, and extra mid/high-end presence ((ie. ZING!!!) to your guitar's tone. This is great for allowing lead tones to cut through better, especially with 800 series (and earlier) Marshalls."

Man, that brings back some good memories! A bandmate used an OD-1 into a pre JCM 800 2204 years ago and that setup just killed!
FWIW, I use either an OD-1 or SD-1 in front of my 1987 for similar fun!

-Dave M.

3/29/2000 6:18 AM

Thanks for backing me up on this, Dave! There are too many young 'uns out there who don't know what a Boss SD-1 / OD-1 is really MEANT for. Many buy these pedals, thinking that they will be a KILLER METAL device. Much to their dismay, it is not, and the pedals end up in pawn shops. I now have a mint original OD-1, metal screw with box (paid $25 US), and 2 SD-1's ($20 each, like new). Now compare to a TS-9??? My TS-9 cost me $25 back in '87. Yep, bought it off a disillusioned metal head!!!
But I still like the Boss units more...

3/29/2000 4:32 PM

quote:
"My TS-9 cost me $25 back in '87. Yep, bought it off a disillusioned metal head!!!"

Actually, I liked the ts-9 i had back in my metal days..that mid boost really thickened up my lead tone...and gave me sustain for days!!! *laugh*.. I used the same pedal most of hte way thru college for pick-up bands etc... used it to torture the frondt end of an old tube amp i bought for $5 --we are talking 5"jensen speaker, and the mini-tubes like 6au6 size, but when kicked with a TS-9, it pushed it over the edge.. sme pedal helped me whenever I had to play thru some older crappy sounding Crates etc, would give the dead sound a bit of life... I laer modded it, and it got a bit better, but wel, since I tried a bluesbreaker, I really don't like the ts9 that much anymore

4/2/2000 1:32 PM

Putting an Ibanez Tube Screamer in front of an overdriven tube amp is the standard setup. The amp is set for overdrive, and the TS9 is set for high output and low distortion. This will increase the level going to your amp so the amp will overdrive more. That is the setup I use with a reissue TS9 loaded with the usual JRC4558 replacement chip. When it comes time for a guitar solo, I hop on the TS9 and I get that added punch I like when soloing. If you like the sound of a wah, place it before the TS9 and make sure you upgrade it to true-bypass to avoid loading down the uneffected sound. And BTW, I think every pedalboard should have a Boss TU-2 Tuner.

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