butifarra88

Hi!
Recently a bought a Marshall Plexi. I play a lot of stoner and post rock and it works really well, but recently I'm more into things like Mastodon and sludge metal, and I really love that kind of sound. The problem is that I find it so difficult to find that kind of tone with this amp.

Any help? Should I change my amp to play that kind of metal? What kind of pedals or eq. should I use?

By the way, sorry if my english is a bit crappy : P

Thanks!!

mmolteratx

It's just not a very good amp for that. Though you could get it modded to cascade the lead input stage into the bass channel and then tweaked to sound better. Would wind up JCM800-ish though and you'd probably be better off just selling the Plexi and buying a Thunderverb or an 800 and then using a decent OD and fuzz.

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godgrinder

I would say keep if you like its tone for the other genres you play. Get yourself a good fuzz pedal to beef it up.

Any other reference bands other than Mastodon? I think you might be able to go into the (recent) Mastodon field with an overdrive pedal already...

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jesus=dinosaur

Pretty much what they said, a good fuzz, maybe a tube screamer (i know the guys in amstodon use them, but it could just be to tighten up their amps) or if you can find it they have a custom overdrive made, i want to say its a called the mastortion but i cold be wrong

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godgrinder

Aren't the JCM800 2203/2204 basically Plexi's with a tad more gain? He should be able to get close to that with an overdrive or something.

The Thunderverb should be cool but if he really wants to sell his Plexi he should have enough money to get a Sunn Model T reissue.

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Perverockstar69

All you need is a good OD pedal man, your Amp can do those tones with not too much trouble AFAIK.

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mmolteratx

No, the 2203/2204 have an extra gain stage. You won't get that with just an OD pedal. I've had a few Plexi and JTM style amps and none were particularly great at sludge without a heavy fuzz. You could get a passable tone by turning both channel volumes up to 10 and slamming it with an OD, but at that point it's too undefined, even for sludge.

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VishNuRoXoUt

You could get pretty gnarly tones with a Musket Fuzz and an OCD. I'd use a Plexi for Mastodon all day.

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Robbgnarly

I play in a prog metal band that has kind of a Mastadon sound. I use a JCM2000 DSL100 with a boost and I can get there just fine.
I love Plexi amps, but i don't think it is the right one for what you want. Laney AOR would be perfect and you can get the 50 watt for <$300 on GC used site. Sleep used them for years.

Laney GH 50/100 is also worth a look.

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ihartfood

honestly most mastodon that doesn't have heavy fuzz is not that gainy.
I think the plexi is fine for what you want. not the best, but fine.
hit it with the aforementioned musket fuzz (holy shit...tried one yesterday) and you'll be good.
come to think of it, there was a time (times?) that the guys in Mastodon just ran their 800s clean and used dirt pedals for everything.
maybe get a drive/distortion or something

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godgrinder

Just found it:
http://www.axeandyoushallreceive.co...ects-mastortion

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mmolteratx

It's a low gain OD meant to push an 800 or similar and I'm pretty sure it's out of production, though I'm not 100% on that.

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Offworld92

IMO, Plexis are more cool for their history than for their actual usefulness. The JCM800 can do everything the Plexi does, and more, and has the (IMO necessary) benefit of a master volume.

If you want to up the ante again, +1 on the Orange Thunderverb. Possibly the best single amp for sludgy tones (the best combo I've ever heard was a Dual Rectifier A/B'd with a JCM, not sure exactly which one).

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evmac

+1

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butifarra88

Thank you very much guys for your advise!

Next week I'll try a JCM2000 from a friend. I have a TS and I think it should work for trying to find the sound. Do you think I should also use some distortion pedal?

Robbgnarly

I use a JCM DSL100 and my controls are set at presesce 11:00, Bass 2:00, Mids 2:00, Treb 3:00+ no mid shift engaged, but the deep switch on. I use it through a Krank cab with Eminence V12's and it slays

All I use is a TS clone and a Bad Monkey (which I always use) to boost it, gain at 2:00 on the ultra gain ch 1

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T7E

Ok bro,
There is a bill keliher rig rundown on youtube from their most recent tour. He uses a 800 with the preamp vol on 6 and the white hardwire distortion

Previously, mastodon have used the 800s, Brent ran a JMP along with an 800 and a silverware twin during the crack the sky era, he now runs an 800 along with a thunderverb and a diezel VH4. Around the blood mountain era at least Bill ran a laney VH100 and he has recently been talking up the Mesa Royal Atlantic.

The mastodon tone would be attainable with a plexi. Run it quite loud, due to the lack of master vol. Use your TS as a clean boost and then run a suitable distortionpedal of your choice.
For more sludgy tones, do the same but substitute the distortion for a musket fuzz or similar

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Offworld92

Nah. You shouldn't be using the TS in a traditional sense anyway. You may know how to run it already, but just in case: level all the way up, drive all the way down, tone wherever it sounds best to you.

I mean, you can run dirt pedals in the same way, but it's very atypical, and for most pedals it just doesn't work right. Too much clipping.

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HUMANIZER

This isn't 1968. Use the volume knob.

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311ZOSOVHJH

This is what I don't get.

You say Mastodon tone is attainable with a Marshall Plexi but then you say 'run a suitable distortion pedal'

That doesn't count.

Anyone can run a distortion pedal to sound heavier. Most (lots) of people are more interested in attaining their tone with the amp.

The TS is asking if you can do Mastodon on a Plexi.

I can barely get there on my Splawn. I wouldn't want to be sitting there with just a Plexi.

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