Recreating a realistic Marshall tone without an amp.

[leesteel]

I have been using the 500X since it came out. Before that I had the 500. I work in a cover band that some times plays small places and I enjoy the freedom of not having to bring an amp to the gig. BUT, I recently picked up a 100W Marshall combo amp, AVT100. I needed an amp to bring out to open mic that didn't require my pedal board and everything that goes with it.

 

Now I have fallen in love with the tones I am getting out of this amp and just can't seem to duplicate it with the 500X. This is a very bad dilemma to have. I must now choose between solving this problem, or hauling this amp and reworking all my 500X patches to be FX only because at this point, I need the 500X for a lot of other obvious reasons. 

 

I use Variax 500's and up until now, my favorite (go-to) combination has been LP Special 1 combined with the Soldano amp model. Any suggestions you might offer would be very much appreciated.

[cruisinon2]

Well if you decide you want to use the combo for your basic tones and the pod just for FX, there's not much re-working to do. Just add an FX loop to each patch, turn off the amp model, and connect everything with the 4CM.

 

I find the JCM800 and the newer 2204 in the model packs to be plenty "Marshall-y" though...

[leesteel]

The JCM800 is part of the HD Metal Pack… Guess I'll have to break down and buy that one too. I was trying to get by with what I already have (plexi 100).

[duncann]

The JCM800 isn't part of the model pack. The 2204 is though. The 2204 is the JCM800 but was redone using the HX modeling method and then ported to the HD.

[leesteel]

The JCM800 isn't part of the model pack. The 2204 is though. The 2204 is the JCM800 but was redone using the HX modeling method and then ported to the HD.

 

OK, gonna give that a try.. You are referring to the Brit J-800

[duncann]

OK, gonna give that a try.. You are referring to the Brit J-800

 

Yea. That's the name Line 6 gave to the non-model-pack JCM800. It's hard to remember the names of these things sometimes. :)

[cruisinon2]

OK, gonna give that a try.. You are referring to the Brit J-800

That's the one...

[leesteel]

We'll see how close I can come. I am hopeful.

[pianoguyy]

I know you know this, but there will be future readers who do not, and it is something to take into consideration... 

 

The Pod is not going to sound like your Marshall. 

It is going to sound like your Marshall after it has been mic'd. 

 

So, just remember that when you are making tones. 

You still need to mic your amp, which is going to change the final sound. The Pod IS the final sound. 

[PeterJH]

In my experience, the POD HD500X does some of the best "Marshall" tones out there.

 

I certainly wouldn't go out and buy the extra packs to get that tone. There are plenty in the unit as is...

 

Cheers.

 

Peter.

[leesteel]

I know you know this, but there will be future readers who do not, and it is something to take into consideration... 

 

The Pod is not going to sound like your Marshall. 

It is going to sound like your Marshall after it has been mic'd. 

 

So, just remember that when you are making tones. 

You still need to mic your amp, which is going to change the final sound. The Pod IS the final sound. 

 

I was under the impression that if you use the PRE version with no cab, you avoid extra coloration.

[cruisinon2]

I was under the impression that if you use the PRE version with no cab, you avoid extra coloration.

Which is what you might prefer using if you run into the FX loop on your combo (I'm assuming it has one). No real "need" to model a power amp, cab, and mic if the real McCoys are right there, but through an FRFR rig, a preamp only model probably won't sound very good. The cab/mic sims contribute substancially to your sound. It's a lot to remove from the equation

[leesteel]

Which is what you might prefer using if you run into the FX loop on your combo (I'm assuming it has one). No real "need" to model a power amp, cab, and mic if the real McCoys are right there, but through an FRFR rig, a preamp only model probably won't sound very good. The cab/mic sims contribute substancially to your sound. It's a lot to remove from the equation

 

That is a very good point.

[bartnettle1]

The real good amp preamp can trump what is in the HD and while a one trick pony. (Has mostly one good sound setting or only a few) it can have that extra juiciness.

 

Setting the levels right is the first especially to toggle between HD pres and the amp's.

 

4CM tends to benefit from pre amp models in the 
HD rather than full amps but full amp models can work 

 

Toggle switches and input impedance  to try in getting an interactive tone. 

This is where some guitarist' give up and condemn the HD 

 

The output menu options like combo, stack have tone control and the brightness will most likely need attenuating.

impedance is the other as well.

 

I cannot recommend a good way to level match between HD and Amp pres apart from trial and error at low volumes at first and remembering to save.

Best video and say what you are doing and post it for us. LOL

[jeremybnz]

I use the brit j-800 for my dirt sound, if you want a copy of my patch I'm happy to share :)

[Smashcraaft]

Did you already described the style or the tone you like to achieve?

I have seen the standard brit j-800 as very flexible from my experiences  :mellow:

[DunedinDragon]

Just out of curiosity, I commonly use the J-800 that came with the POD for a lot of my heavier rock tones.  I purchased the Vintage Pack which was well worth it, but I didn't get the Metal Pack since I didn't think there would be a huge benefit as I only use rock tones for maybe 20% of the songs in our songlist.  However, if there is a REAL significant difference in the remodeled version in the Metal Pack I might re-think this.

 

For those that use the remodeled J-800 from the metal pack how would you characterize the differences between that and the stock J-800 that comes with the unit?

[duncann]

Just out of curiosity, I commonly use the J-800 that came with the POD for a lot of my heavier rock tones.  I purchased the Vintage Pack which was well worth it, but I didn't get the Metal Pack since I didn't think there would be a huge benefit as I only use rock tones for maybe 20% of the songs in our songlist.  However, if there is a REAL significant difference in the remodeled version in the Metal Pack I might re-think this.

 

For those that use the remodeled J-800 from the metal pack how would you characterize the differences between that and the stock J-800 that comes with the unit?

 

I've never really used any version of the J-800 specifically, but generally speaking, take a listen to some clips of Helix's J-800 (shouldn't be too hard to find something) and compare that to the original J-800 in the HD. The metal pack version probably falls somewhere in the middle of the resulting gap.

 

If it's anything like the 5150 in the metal pack, which I found to be much more lively and dynamic than anything else in the HD, including the Soldano OD, then I would expect something similar from the remodeled J-800. The 5150 quickly became my favorite amp in the HD. I must admit I've never really been much of a fan of modeled Marshall amps, or Fenders. They always seem to have a real flabby, muddy, loose bottom end that's difficult to dial out.