Help me pick my next amp!

[Fragle]

hey guys

i finally decided to sell my engl blackmore head. at gig volume, it's too bright and almost tinny. the marshall jcm 2210 i have totally slays it when turned up, so the engl is...well, redundant, i guess [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
i want to take the $$ (should be around 900 euro + 230 euro for the wireless i'll return, so i'm talking around 1100 here) to try some more amps.
i really like the 2210 (which sounds basically like exodus -pleasures of the flesh, but a bit thicker and heavier), so i guess overall i'll be shooting for the hotrod marshall sound. a spiced up 2210 [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] more low end, an extra lead channel with more gain, but overall the same punch and clarity the 2210 has.
i was thinking mark III, peavey triple XXX, or 5150. OR i'll wait a couple of months and save up the big $$ for a framus cobra (1600 euro new). the problem is that trying it out in a store is NOTHING like the real world, and shelling out 1600 euro just to find out that it's a great amp in the bedroom but a bad amp on stage (like the blackmore, or also the powerball is) pretty much sucks [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

any suggestions? as i said, i like the clarity the engl has to offer, but the "glassy" feel makes it all harsh and brittle when turned up. the marshall doesn't do this [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] but i'd like push it a little past what the 2210 can do.
and by the way, modding is NOT an option. kills the resale value :/

thanks

[Inearthed]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

Well, the 5150 is always a safe purchase if you can deal with everything shared and you don't need a real clean channel. It has plenty of gain and it it cuts really well if you properly EQ your amp (I don't get lost in the mix when I use it at practice or live with my bandmate that runs a JCM 800 2203). Mark III is in the same boat, with all the controls shared, but you living in Europe, wouldn't that translate to a very high cost for the Mark III? Peavey Triple XXX has 3 independent channels, but I'd personally save for a Cobra since they're similar and I think the Cobra sounds better.

[Fragle]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

well, triple XXX is around 1000 used and 1200 new, mark III usually sells around 800-900 euro on the bay (they rarely show up, though), 5150 used to retail at 1000 euro new (the 6505 is like 150 euro more IIRC) but sells for 800 used....nowhere near as cheap as they are in the good ole US
[img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
there's a band we're friends with (our singer used to sing for them) that uses 5150 heads. they told me that the 5150 is slightly muddy and really raw (although thats how they dial them in, as they are shooting for a that kind of tone...muddy [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] )...maybe i can borrow one for a show.

and yeah, i don't need a clean channel. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Rupe]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

If you want hot-rodded Marshall tone, the best I have heard lately is the Mesa Stiletto.

[jgcable]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

I went from a 2210 to a Mark III. If you are looking for a 2210 with more bottom end and chunk the Mark III should be considered. I also am a fan of the 5150 and the 5150II. They are both great sounding heavy amps. Hot-rodded Marshall all the way..

[Fragle]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

jg, that sounds interesting. i remember you had volume issues with the mk III....well, as you've owned a 2210, do you think the mk will also be too loud for me? i'm normally using the 2210 at around 7 on the channel volume and 4 on the master volume for gigs. thats loud, but not unbearable.
is the mk III in the same league, or is it more like my blackmore which is SUPER loud (i had it on 7 on the channel and 5 one the master for the last open air, and i was so fucking loud it wasn't even funny....then again, LARGE stage, so who cares??). definitely unusable for the average gig...one of the reasons i'm gonna sell it.

edit: another question. how heavy can the MK III get? i know both the framus and the XXX are insane, and the 5150 is nasty too, but how about the MK III? compare it to a rectifier as well as the 2210, please, as i know both pretty well.
i want my sound to have a lot of pick attack, enough compression for leads without being overly compressed for rhythm, smooth topend (none of that fizz the new 3ch rectifiers have - the 2ch sound way smoother to my ears), and a pronounced mid/upper midrange - just like the 2210

[slayer]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

JSX maybe? Jack.

[Endrik]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

cough cough mark cough 3 cough

you can get metallica or lamb of god heavy.
mark has more lower midrange wich sounds smoother than upper midrange marshalls. It cuts thru amazingly well.

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

Mark III all the way! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

That amp just has me HOOKED. It's a tweaker but once you dial in, strap in!

It is fucking LOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD too (and that's just playing through a 1x12 combo with the EV 200w speaker). Can't imagine what it'd do if you'd run it through a 4x12.

[PoisonGodmachine]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

how much for the blackmore?

[jgcable]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

My Mark III is stupid loud. Easily louder than the 2210 I used to own and thats saying alot because the 2210 is 1 loud mutha.
I think the reason the Mark III sounds so incredibly loud is its ability to cut through a live band mix. If you were ever looking for an amp that you could 100% hear on stage under any conditions, the Mark III is it. Its not as heavy as an Ubershall or a Herbert. I think my purple stripe version has maybe just a tad less gain than a 5150 block letter head but it just sounds heavier and less grainy than a 5150. It certainly has more bottom end and chunk. Heck, I played the last gig with mine with the bass level between 2-3 and it was still very thick and great for palm muting.
I have never owned a Mark IV but I gotta believe you will get everything a Mark III is known for + a ton more. I would have gone for a Mark IV but they were a little more than I wanted to spend for an amp I am really never going to use. I never use my Mark III. It just sits in my closet with a fresh set of tubes in it. Its ashame really.

[Fragle]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

mmhh...that sounds very interesting. as much gain as a 5150, less grainy, punchy, lots of mids...that sounds as if it would fit the bill.
the 5150II i once played in a store had too much gain actually...had it at like 5 iirc, that was just perfect. i usually set the blackmore also to 5 on the heavy lead channel.
one question: how loud does the mk III need to be to sound good? the marshall i have starts to sound good at around 3 on the master, 7 on the channel volume...thats where the punch and thickness starts to build. of course, it sounds better when cranked to 8, but 3-4 is the volume where it doesn't sound fizzy, mushy and thin like most tube amps do at low volume. how is the mk III in this respect?
the blackmore i have is a very loud son of a bitch, easily twice (!) as loud as the 2210, no problem, but it actually sounds worse the higher the volume is. maybe it starts sounding awesome with the master around 7-8, but nobody can ever use this kind of volume trust me. not even open air, i know it, i've played open air, couldn't get it past 5.
sure, the mkIV is easily twice as versatile as the III, but those easily go for like 1800 euro iirc. i can get two mkIII heads for the price of one mkIV....seems like the III is the sleeper in the MK line.

poisongodmachine (awesome song by the way [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] ): well...lets see. the blackmore new is 1250 euro, the z5 board another 150, used they normally go for around 800 euro, and i paid 100 euro for the z5 used....so i'd say 900 euro for the head and z5 board, plus shipping.


edit: another point....i used to own a mesa DC5 head, which i sold after playing a few live shows with it. my complaints were that it sounds quite mushy, with a fuzzy high end quality, no matter how loud it was. the high mids also got harsh easily, and if i scooped them out i couldn't cut through the mix any more. it also had way too much gain, i think i used to have it at 4 live and loud.
is the mark III in any way similar to the dc5? apparently not, because what jgcable is describing above is pretty much the exact opposite of a dc5, but i'm gonna ask anyway [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
thanks

[jgcable]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

It is very different from the DC5. To me, the DC5 leans more towards the Rectifier tone. The Mark III is more "heavy Marshall sounding".

[Fragle]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

trust me, the dc5 is nothing like a rectifier. doesn't have the bottom end of the recto, nor does it have the sizzle.
i dunno, maybe it was the tubes (mesa tubes all the way)...but then again, i bought my 2210 for the $$ i got from the dc5, and i couldn`t be happier.
it wasn't crap...i sounded actually decent with my emg loaded jackson king v. however, it HATED my charvel and my esp like crazy....and the charvel is my main guitar :/

heavy marshall sounding is exactly what i`m looking for right now. the 2210 is midrangey like crazy, and i love it. just needs more punch in the lows and a tad more gain/compression for leads.

i guess i``ll give the mkIII a shot. any more input is greatly appreciated, though.

[PoisonGodmachine]

Re: Help me pick my next amp!

....in my opinion...emg 81s sound horrible through the blackmore. did you find the same when switching through guitars...im just curous. cuase no one else..has confirmed this with me