Have I made a mistake?

[lemeker]

I know that opinions are opinions etc, but after collecting my new RG8 white from my local music store, I briefly conversed about my new purchase and was immediately told without hesitation that I have bought a wasp in a jar and I will resell it straight away and that 'no Marshall's take pedals well'

Surely it cannot be that bad. Well it's being delivered tomorrow. Here goes.

Ohhh really.....no Marshall's take pedals well.....that's news to me.

 

[Edika]

My Valvestate that is a hybrid not all tube Marshall seems to love pedals.

 

[Mechanized]

Well it's here...And I think I'm suffering from buyers regret.

Now this does sound miles better cranked. But the overdrive channel and the boost sound like s**t for anything high gain (could be my rg8's stock pickups). Anything past the low E sounds muddy and flabby. I do Love the clean though! Very responsive snappy and warm.

With a metal muff up front, it does seem to tighten things up slightly but I think I may need a tubescreamer type of OD. Would something like a bad monkey do some good?

 

[Mechanized]

Halp

 

[cwhitey2]

IMHO the hatred for them comes from people who have only played them in music stores and couldn't crank them to get the most power and the best tone out of them, I have the 100 watt version and it sounds fantastic once you get the volume at about half. It's also possible the tubes in the amp they have tried weren't biased correctly if at all. Yes you can use a metal muff with the amp as a boost, I actually prefer the metal muff with it instead of a tubescreamer.

This.


Sounds bad at low volumes, crank it up and it slays

 

[Mechanized]

This.


Sounds bad at low volumes, crank it up and it slays

What's your opinion on using something like the bad monkey to tighten things up at lower levels versus the metal muff? Which does seem to colour the tone a hell of a lot even when subdued.

I'm a major n00b with this stuff and this is my very first valve amp.

 

[Albionic]

Yup definitely a bad monkey in front will be an improvement over the metal muff. Just remember that when people talk about amps like the jcm 800 for metal they are boosting the hell out of the front end with an overdrive pedal(there is a difference between overdrive and distortion). any tube screamer type pedal will do. gain on zero. volume on full. tone at about half. its all about pushing the preamp tubes so you get the distortion from them naturally rather than the transistors in the pedal so you may find you don't have to push the gain control too high on the amp.

don't be afraid to drop the mids on a marshall at least for a metal rhythm sound as i find contrary to what some think marshalls can be mid heavy giving more honk than crunch.

 

[BladeDTMGuitarist]

Have an amp tech retube and bias the amp. Then replace the RG8's pickups.

 

[Mechanized]

Yup definitely a bad monkey in front will be an improvement over the metal muff. Just remember that when people talk about amps like the jcm 800 for metal they are boosting the hell out of the front end with an overdrive pedal(there is a difference between overdrive and distortion). any tube screamer type pedal will do. gain on zero. volume on full. tone at about half. its all about pushing the preamp tubes so you get the distortion from them naturally rather than the transistors in the pedal so you may find you don't have to push the gain control too high on the amp.

don't be afraid to drop the mids on a marshall at least for a metal rhythm sound as i find contrary to what some think marshalls can be mid heavy giving more honk than crunch.

I'm actually just waiting on a call back from a tech as to how much it's gonna set me back for a retube and rebias. However, last night I spent a few hour tweaking and toggling to try and coax a playable tone out of it, and after playing with the resonance a little and getting to know the amps eq better, it does sound pretty good once past 4. However, this thing does carry some pretty bad rattle once cranked. And the low end is Really flubby, and anything past the low e sounds undefined and lacks a lot of definition.

Now, the metal muff does colour the tone a hell of a lot, and I am thinking of ordering either a bad monkey or a joyo vintage/ultimate overdrive today. Will these help push the preamp tubes into that saturated distorted tone we all love from tube amps? my initial impressions are a lot better than I was expecting. The clean channel is awesome, the reverb seems good and the overdrive 1 channel with the muff in front sounds a damned sight better than the built in boosted channel.

 

[Mechanized]

Apologies if I'm repeating myself a little, Im just looking for the best advice.

Funnily enough, my friend is trying to sell me this metal muff for £20. Which is quite a lot cheaper than the ne price, or even the eBay used price.

 

[Floppystrings]

Your ears are more important than what you read on the internet.

Try a tube screamer, and different pickups. If you feel bad about the purchase, you can always return it.

Buying gear should be a fun thing, research is an important part though.

 

[lemeker]

I would give it a little time to play around with things before making a final judgement. I also think the Bad Monkey or similar OD would be better than the metal muff (which I consider a distortion pedal). Metal Muff is an awesome pedal, but I don't think it's good for boosting, in the way a ts9 or 808 would be.

 

[Albionic]

i hear good things about those joyo pedals i think the ultimate overdrive is based on the ocd. The bad monkey is a tried and tested tubescreamer type pedal.

A rattle should be easily fixed once you find it. as for flubbyness i'm not sure. perhaps could indicate new tubes are required.

 

[Mechanized]

Yeah, it probably does need new tubes. This is an '09 MA and has the original tubes still going!

Is it expensive to get them changed? Or is it something that anyone can do?
Well I have a bad monkey ordered today and coming tomorrow!, thank you very much amazon! £25 too!.

 

[mnemonic]

I haven't used one in years, but I remember thinking the bad monkey was a pretty good tubescreamer-like overdrive for its price. Plus its got that 2-band eq on it, so it should be a bit more versatile than others on the market.

By the way you describe the amp, it sounds like an overdrive is what you need, its the fix for when you've eq'd the amp how you like but the bottom isn't tight enough, and the gain isn't focused enough. It will give you that extra attack to make the palm mutes really thump.

Just keep the level high, and the drive low.

 

[BladeDTMGuitarist]

The actual process of having an amp retubed and biased isn't expensive but a full set of tubes can be a little pricey. I highly suggest getting the tubes rebiased by a professional tech, if it is done wrong you could fry the amp. I don't have any kind of a rattle with my amp when its cranked, I would ask the tech to make sure everything is screwed down tight. If anything is loose inside an amp it can cause all kinds of weird noises. If you want tighter bass try using the Overdrive channel with the built in boost on and the crunch balance knob set between 7-10, and the Resonance between 5-10 that should thicken things up a bit. I would still suggest a new set of guitar strings and new pickups for the guitar.

 

[Albionic]

Personally i'd wait till the od pedal turns up before spending any more cash as you may find that the pedal does the trick.

Mind you its probably prudent to have a tech look it over

 

[Mechanized]

I haven't used one in years, but I remember thinking the bad monkey was a pretty good tubescreamer-like overdrive for its price. Plus its got that 2-band eq on it, so it should be a bit more versatile than others on the market.

By the way you describe the amp, it sounds like an overdrive is what you need, its the fix for when you've eq'd the amp how you like but the bottom isn't tight enough, and the gain isn't focused enough. It will give you that extra attack to make the palm mutes really thump.

Just keep the level high, and the drive low.

Well, the Bad Monkey came today, and oh my god. The difference is absolutely outstanding. The low end went from flubby to extremely defined, the mids almost seemed, tamed. And tone? The MA went from a mis-judged amp that needed TLC to get where it wanted to be, to an incredibe, full bodied tone. It sounds a little JCM'ish IMO, which is why i wanted to give marshall a try in the first place (Dino's tone; also, a guy like me can't really afford the outlay of any higher-end marshalls).

Overall, immensely satisfied with this amp now. It's amazing what a tubescreamer can do for your tone.

/rant

 

[mnemonic]

Glad you've got it sorted. Tubescreamers and other overdrives/boosts really are essential with most amps for a good metal tone. I can't remember the last time I didn't use one. With my newly-acquired Marshall 8080, its always on.

Now you get to have fun tweaking your gain structure. I've found more gain on the pedal and less on the amp wild yield a tighter, djentier tone, where less on the pedal and more on the amp will get closer and closer to the unboosted tone.

 

[Bevo]

Use the volume on the pedal and try keep the amp volume high to get the tubes cooking, lots of tone like that!

You may also want to get the tubes tested, they may be old but I have had 30 year old tubes working perfect.