G & H

Goodbye.

Hello.

Clean living

The real reason why I purchased the Marshall MX112 cab is seen here. I need a good, working clean tone. The best bet is to invest in a Fender amp but I'd like to capitalize on what I currently own. The cab is supplementing my JCM800 & I know what you folks out there are thinking; that's the wrong amp to be taking my cleans to another level. You are absolutely right. The 800 is known for its bark; the more distortion you pump into one, the more menacing the 800 becomes. Provided of course, you crank things up which I'm not planning to do to keep things clean. I've been plugging the 800 into a Blackstar cab all this while but I hear excessive bass in there so in the name of keeping things all Marshall-y, the MX112 was factored into the equation.

Still on the MX112 cab, the driver in there is a Celestion Seventy 80. It's best described as an outstanding no reaction model, often equipped into a budget range across manufacturers. Translation- there's nothing outstanding this driver has to offer except that it makes what you already like to hear a little more appealing. You know, removing that wee bit of harshness from the top end & making sure the bottom end doesn't boom too much that it kills definition. If you are into this kind of offering, the Seventy 80 in any manufacturer's cab should be considered.

Finally, a good clean isn't a good clean if you don't understand what goes into making a good clean; it's not the amp per se. I must say that the Tele & chorus played this one nicely (no pun intended). On that note, I'm not after a pristine, chimey type of clean, it's my type of clean- something that propels me to play & not mess up motivation considering I'm not the clean type to begin with. Also, if I'm sick of hearing too much cleans along the way, then I know what the JCM800 is good for. 

Happy Tuesday, everyone. 😆

JCM twang

Guitar geeks out there would know what it means to pair a Fender with a Marshall amp for some good cleans. Hendrix did it to good effect. That was a Strat with a non-fiery Marshall, of course. Following my 'discovery' of how a JCM800 clean proved to be more appealing than I thought it would be, plugging in my Tele into this set up was a clear winner. The Tele honk as they call it (playing both pickups via the middle position selector option), opened up some enjoyable finger picking ideas which I dwelled on today from start to end. Once again, some tools were meant to address a certain approach & it's a matter of stepping back to embrace the stuff beyond one's comfort zone. 

OK, maybe I'm getting old & prefer those distortion-free tones instead. 🙉

JCM clean

I'm beginning to love this amp more. Whatever drive tones it was fabled for, the cleans in here were much overlooked. It accepted the chorus pedal well. The JCM800 wasn't known for go-to cleans. Its JTM/JMP siblings have more appealing cleans & that legendary break up tone unlike the excessive manifestation by the JCMs in general. Yes, I'm still wallowing in clean tones. Not after chimey, crystal clear voicings, just that appealing measure which helps get my ideas through. I'm not looking to buy any more Marshalls in time to come, I'm treasuring what I have right now. 

Pedal-ing

Some amps out there sound more awesome given a little boost in terms of drive. In this aspect, we are looking at connecting drive/distortion pedals either through the conventional guitar-pedal-amp set up or letting them work some magic through the FX loop. Nobody should tell you how you should be connecting them, it's what works for you.

I've been revisiting my Marshall JCM 800, was happy with a Tube Screamer in the FX chain but upon close listening, this didn't quite increase the amp's ferocity. The Tube Screamer increased some cream factor in there but the amp could be edgier in terms of drive. So out came some distortion pedals: BOSS DS-1, EHX Metal Muff, Montreux Knebworth & One Control Anodized Brown Distortion. The JCM 800 simply prefers a growling distortion that does not overpower its own voicing & my One Control Anodized Brown distortion was it. In addition to more growl, I could still hear the Marshall tone in there. If it is flipped to sound otherwise, then what's the point of having a Marshall to begin with.

Sometimes, it's easy to overlook a preferred set up simply because we embrace a certain hype pertaining to a tried & tested formula of matching a certain amp to a particular drive pedal (Oh, man you gotta try a Twin Reverb with a Tube Screamer- sounds familiar to you?). Do ask yourselves, first & foremost if that adventure was yours to begin with. There is nothing wrong with emulating a well-known set up of a certain guitar icon but do keep things objective. If it doesn't work for you then you have no obligations to embrace it.

The weekend

The weekend comes & goes. For many of us, work encroaches our weekend for a simple reason- we let it happen. I have a strict work-rest principle: Work stays at work. I'm the type who makes sure rest days remain work-free. Rest days are for my guitars but this Takamine here isn't mine. However, it's a regular visitor to my residence; the EG510. It's given a fresh set of .011s & it's fretboard re-moisturized. I started work yesterday but was drawn to some DVD time so the final bits of work ended this morning.

Then came some ME time & I chose to play through this 1W-er; my Marshall JCM800 anniversary model. There was a strong urge to plug into something bigger but restraint triggered some ideas so it was worth it. All this done before lunch. 

The rest was family time, naturally. My family understands my inclinations so it's only natural that I return the understanding. Nothing fancy, lunch in town which concluded with some ice-cream. Those of us who do not have family commitments (yet) might indulge in excessive guitar time but once family comes into the picture, I urge you to include family as & when they require your presence.

Family time includes spending time with the cat as well. This is my cat, Lisa. I used to own a cat years ago but it passed away the week before I got married. That was a depressing moment in my life; the loss of a family member. Yes, my cat is family because both cats came to me. They were neither bought nor picked up from the streets; they literally came into my life. Lisa was an abandoned cat at my work place. I started noticing her & fed her after seeing how hungry she was every Monday- nobody fed her over the weekend. We decided to trap her one day for a sterilization programme but the vet said, upon inspection, she's already sterilized. I arranged for her to be sent over to my residence after hearing that the work place would be closed down by the end of 2014. It would mean a total uncertainty for Lisa in terms of food. Lisa was already toilet-trained so that surprised us & re-inforced the fact that she's an abandoned pet. So here she is, a family member for life. 

If you respect life, never abandon your pets. They are living creatures like the rest of us & would be subject to trauma once left behind. Only humans are heartless enough to abandon a living entity by choice so that puts us lower than animals but we don't take time to reflect.

Enjoy the final moments of your Sunday. If you feel cheated by now, chances are, you didn't understand what 'weekend' means in the first place. Cheers!

Marshall JCM800 (Part 2)

The JCM800 1W is well, a typial JCM800 amp, manifested in novelty dimensions. I'm saying this because the JCM800 roar is in tact despite the size, it's that kinda amp which needs cranking up for optimum ferocity. If this is your initial encounter with one, be informed that it's not a metal-type of drive on board but it's an achievable standard with:

1. Master + Pre-amp volume cranked way up
2. Pedals to boost the pre-amp section

Blues- if you think you need that crunch for blues application, this amp has it but it could sound a little harsh as if hinting at its more intense capacity on board. That BOOST button there would give you added drive but its immediate effect is one of limitation- there's a little compromise in terms of EQ settings as well as volume. I needed to reconfigure my EQ (slightly) & rectify that volume drop every time the BOOST function is activated.

Still to be continued... :-)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mid-year is here!

Marshall: JCM800 1W (Part 1)

I've just received my Marshall JCM800 1W head some days ago, still in the discovery stage; it's a mere 1W, so I'm not expecting too much from it.

The control panel features a 3-band EQ, a booster switch & a pair of volume controls- Master/ Pre-amp. There isn't a channel switching button here so you effectively have to turn up the pre-amp in order to hear the drive coming through, more of it is achieved by activating the boost button. At lower pre-amp levels, the boost isn't apparent but adding more master volume would work things up. So we have, effectively, a trio of controls influencing one another in terms drive voicings, I took my time to know what works so it's not exhaustive.

Unlike its full-sized counterparts, this 1-watter sounds rather midrange/treble excessive, I had to trim them down, in fact, to minimum performance to hear accepable tones, otherwise, it sounds sharper than a hissing cobra.

Alright, enough feature highlights (I think)- tone highlights in next installment :-)