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Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:00 am
by Alain Benoit
Take it away Dylan and Scott.

A.

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:04 am
by Scott DeVarenne
I'm working on it.

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:50 am
by Scott DeVarenne
No master volume. High gain. 50 watts. A frighteningly powerful rock and roll machine. It has two volume/gain pots, for the high and low frequency inputs, which can be jumped together. I plugged in, hit a chord, turned the HF volume up to 2 and nearly pooped because it was so loud. Al is of the opinion that this amp sounds best when it's turned up at least halfway. While I don't doubt that at all, I am forming my own opinion that classic Marshalls are designed so that even well before the power stage starts throbbing, the magic is already there in the preamp. That mud-resistant crunch and bite is there from the start and just gets better with additional volume. Something I can't get a handle on, which comes bundled with the cranked Marshall through a 4x12, is the THUMP. It feels like I'm trying to shingle a house with a 16 pound sledgehammer.
The day after trying the 1987x at Fluid, I went to L&M and plugged into the DSL100. Afterwards, I thought of something Dean Roberts said to me a couple of years ago when he was checking out the Vintage Modern. "I'm starting to think maybe I just don't like Marshalls". He has obviously figured out that he does indeed like Marshalls, and rocks it very hard and sounds great. But myself, with the way I play and what I want to hear coming out of the speakers, Marshalls don't do it for me. Sorry.

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:12 pm
by Malcolm Boyce
Speaking as a listener, not a player, I can say that Marshalls of a certain range definitely have a certain "thing" that if you didn't find it satisfying, you wouldn't like "Marshalls".

That's with two "L"s... :-P

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:16 pm
by Malcolm Boyce
...and Dean most certainly has a discerning ear for tone. It would be most excellent if we could fool/trick/bribe/coerce him into participating in this little ongoing dialogue.

Same with that Sam P guy... 8-)

...and Heath.

Where are you guys?

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:23 pm
by Alain Benoit
Dean is in every Monday.
He is aware of the program.
He is not interested.

He does however fairly regularly try out amps at L&M.

A.

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:27 pm
by Mathieu Benoit
Scott DeVarenne wrote:Afterwards, I thought of something Dean Roberts said to me a couple of years ago when he was checking out the Vintage Modern. "I'm starting to think maybe I just don't like Marshalls". He has obviously figured out that he does indeed like Marshalls, and rocks it very hard and sounds great.


Actually these days Dean rocks one of these:

Image

So maybe he really didn't like Marshall?

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:40 pm
by Malcolm Boyce
Alain Benoit wrote:Dean is in every Monday.
He is aware of the program.
He is not interested.

Too bad. He would be a great participant here for this kind of thing.

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:09 pm
by Alain Benoit
Mathieu Benoit wrote:
Scott DeVarenne wrote:Afterwards, I thought of something Dean Roberts said to me a couple of years ago when he was checking out the Vintage Modern. "I'm starting to think maybe I just don't like Marshalls". He has obviously figured out that he does indeed like Marshalls, and rocks it very hard and sounds great.


Actually these days Dean rocks one of these:

Image

So maybe he really didn't like Marshall?


And to his credit, it is beyond reproach.

A.

Re: Marshal 1987X

PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:59 am
by dylanger
I found this amp a little hard to get good tones out of. It was capable but you really had to find the sweet spot on it. When trying to get a clean sound, the high end was either to harsh or too dark. This seems like an odd statement to make but there was a really fine line between the two. As soon as I got rid of the harsh high end it wasn't bright enough. I played around with presence and treble and eventually found a good mix between the two. Once I started cranking the amp to get some dirt the harsh high end came back. I got rid of it but wasn't really satisfied with the tone. I don't think I would even like jamming with amp because once I started playing with a other musicians I would try a make the tone better and then would get lost and have trouble getting back to the acceptable tone. As a Studio tracking amp it could be great but I wouldn't use it for jamming.