Marshall JMP-1 and ENGL E530

[pagemalicious]

Hey guys. My ADA MP-1 is currently sitting on top of my rack in a non working condition. I tried to do a mod on it that was surposed to let me use the pre amp but not worry about the battery going dead on me and loosing my settings. But the mod didn't work so i'm waiting for a new chip to arrive. If i really can't fix the problem i'm going to have to sell it on ebay as a non working unit. So i need start looking for options now in case the worse happens.

How does the JMP-1 sound for death metal type stuff? I know mick tompson from slipknot used to use one (i know, gay band, but i was surprised to know he used a JMP-1) i know Marcel Coenen uses one too and i really like the tone he has. Maybe Bill and John can help on this one.

I'm also interested in the ENGL E530 tube preamp, about the same price as the marshall, but with a different voicing. Any one use these? if so, how do they compare to the JMP-1 (that's if you have used the JMP-1)

[jackson1]

I've had the JMP-1 and i currently have the E530.

To my ear, the E530 can be voiced more towards scooped sound and it has more gain available by itself. But it can do other sounds as well. It has very versatile tone controls where you can dial in just about any rock/metal sound you want.
I changed its tubes to JJ's at some point and i wrote back to Bob with my comments. You may find it interesting, so here's a link to my site with the "review":

http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/tubes.htm

The JMP-1 is a very good preamp too for rock and metal, but not as ENGL-brutal as the E530.
I feel that the basic distortion and voicing character of the JMP-1 cannot be changed very much. It has the same basic character no matter how you adjust the tone controls. It basically has a good sound but the tone controls are just normal bass and treble -like. And that's old school. Kind of boring and stale.

The ENGL voicing design is just in another league. It's fun to try new stuff out on it, because you can change it a lot and it rewards you with good, yet very different sounds.

The secret to having many sounds available in one unit is the design of the equalizer - and the ENGL team has it nailed.

[Fragle]

the jmp1 is an outstanding preamp for anything from 80s shred to thrash metal. however, i don't think it could do the whole oversaturated bass heavy death metal thing very well. ok, hatesphere (danish death/modern thrash band, check em out!) use these preamps live, but imho it fits their music (largely due to the thrash metal elements).
if you happen to like a more old school death metal sound (mid heavy, without all the super high gain), the jmp1 might suit you just fine, though.

as for the e530, isn't this basically the preamp of the engl blackmore? if so, stay away anyways, if you happen to like high gain with a lot of definition for really fast picked runs, coupled with a not so bottom heavy and rather bright voicing, the engl might be for you. on the bright side, it definitely has a lot of clarity when using lotsa gain. this sounds really promising when reading it (i know, been there done that), but if you're actually in the room with any engl you'll most likely find it to be harsh and thin. i think they sacrifice a LOT of thickness and punch to get those fast single notes sound clear. for anything "normal paced" you might as well use a bassman, yep, it's thin like that. severe lack of esp. low mids imho.

ok, enough of my usual engl rant....some constructive input:
for death metal, you should check out the rectifier preamp (well, if you HAVE to stay rack'ed) or a recto in general. cannibal corpse (pat o'brien especially) get a KICKASS death metal tone out of these, both live and in the studio. other than that, check out the sansamp psa-1 preamp if you're into hypocrisy or recent immortal sounds. although i haven't played one, the rocktron piranha is also said to be a very good sounding preamp.

[pagemalicious]

Thanks for the posts guys. I need alot of clarity for my sound. It's not really all out death metal as the band i'm in has alot of thrash influence as well as some cool lead guitar work. The ADA MP-1 delievers alot of clarity (especially when pushed with a SD-1 to tighten the low end) but i'm expecting the worse. I do like the ENGL Screamer ALOT, i fell in love with that amp. I thought it had some characteristics of the Mark IV as well as the characteristics of the typical ENGL line. Maybe the ENGL preamp is for me after all.

[jackson1]

One thing to consider is to match the preamp carefully to your poweramp. For this reason, i picked an EL84 powered poweramp to go with the E530, to get a fatter buttom and thicker mids when pushed hard.

The Peavey Classic 50/50 is perfect for me and the E530. It's a nice balanced combo.

I also tried (for fun) the Marshall 9100 as the poweramp and pairing it with the E530 and that is NOT good. Thin lows, harsh mids.

All i'm saying, don't necessarily blame a specific preamp for a lacking sound - it might deliver when paired correctly.

[Fragle]

"All i'm saying, don't necessarily blame a specific preamp for a lacking sound - it might deliver when paired correctly."
you definitely got a point there. however, i was mainly talking about the engl heads in general.

"as the band i'm in has alot of thrash influence as well as some cool lead guitar work."
jmp1. period (unless you wanna go for a head, then the 5150 is the way to go imho)

[DeathDaily]

[QUOTE=Fragle]the jmp1 is an outstanding preamp for anything from 80s shred to thrash metal. however, i don't think it could do the whole oversaturated bass heavy death metal thing very well. ok, hatesphere (danish death/modern thrash band, check em out!) use these preamps live, but imho it fits their music (largely due to the thrash metal elements).
if you happen to like a more old school death metal sound (mid heavy, without all the super high gain), the jmp1 might suit you just fine, though.

The balding guy from Nile uses a jmp-1, and it does the "whole oversaturated bass heavy death metal thing very well". Sory I can't remember his name.

[pagemalicious]

One thing to consider is to match the preamp carefully to your poweramp. For this reason, i picked an EL84 powered poweramp to go with the E530, to get a fatter buttom and thicker mids when pushed hard.

The Peavey Classic 50/50 is perfect for me and the E530. It's a nice balanced combo.

I also tried (for fun) the Marshall 9100 as the poweramp and pairing it with the E530 and that is NOT good. Thin lows, harsh mids.

All i'm saying, don't necessarily blame a specific preamp for a lacking sound - it might deliver when paired correctly.

That sounds cool as i use a Peavey classic 50/50 too.

I might get myself down to London tomorrow and see if one of the shops will let me try out the JMP-1 before i go buying anything.

[FSU_Seminoles]

as for the e530, isn't this basically the preamp of the engl blackmore? if so, stay away anyways, if you happen to like high gain with a lot of definition for really fast picked runs, coupled with a not so bottom heavy and rather bright voicing, the engl might be for you. on the bright side, it definitely has a lot of clarity when using lotsa gain. this sounds really promising when reading it (i know, been there done that), but if you're actually in the room with any engl you'll most likely find it to be harsh and thin. i think they sacrifice a LOT of thickness and punch to get those fast single notes sound clear. for anything "normal paced" you might as well use a bassman, yep, it's thin like that. severe lack of esp. low mids imho.

That's exactly what I thought of the Fireball I had

what other amps have you played ?

[horns666]

I got the Jmp-1/9200/JFX-1 rack ..bought it since new in '96..has all the best 80's shred tones ..VH/Criss Oliva/Glen Drover..to the T's..GREAT lead tone!!!

Uberschall is much more "meaty"..that covers all the "modern" metal style I need..

Neither one could replace the other..I like both .it covers a lot of sonic territory and sounds GREAT together!!!!

[jackson1]

Ah Bill, still got the same old setup, eh? Can't blame you, i had it myself and it served me well

[Fragle]

"That's exactly what I thought of the Fireball I had

what other amps have you played ?"
blackmore and powerball. i briefly played a fireball in a music store and actually thought it was a cool amp, but when i owned my blackmore i found out the exact same thing: KICKASS low volume sound, crappy high volume sound. plus i *tried* to play a show with a powerball....what a waste of time! the guitar player of one of the other opening bands had a powerball, and i asked him if i could use it for a show, see how i like it live&loud. needless to say, it was a mess. spend almost an hour dialing in sound, after that i went back to the marshall dsl100 backline. now that's a fine sounding amp for thrash metal! (nothing outstanding, though....just very decent for a rather mid-gain player, i can definitely see where bill etc are coming from...it's a mess when using high gain. too bad i hardly use any gain live )

[Inearthed]

The balding guy from Nile uses a jmp-1, and it does the "whole oversaturated bass heavy death metal thing very well". Sory I can't remember his name.

I thought he used a Peavey Rockmaster?

[FSU_Seminoles]

"That's exactly what I thought of the Fireball I had

what other amps have you played ?"
blackmore and powerball. i briefly played a fireball in a music store and actually thought it was a cool amp, but when i owned my blackmore i found out the exact same thing: KICKASS low volume sound, crappy high volume sound. plus i *tried* to play a show with a powerball....what a waste of time! the guitar player of one of the other opening bands had a powerball, and i asked him if i could use it for a show, see how i like it live&loud. needless to say, it was a mess. spend almost an hour dialing in sound, after that i went back to the marshall dsl100 backline. now that's a fine sounding amp for thrash metal! (nothing outstanding, though....just very decent for a rather mid-gain player, i can definitely see where bill etc are coming from...it's a mess when using high gain. too bad i hardly use any gain live )

what cab did you use with the ENGL amps ?

I didn't use the best of cabs with the Fireball, maybe they sound a whole lot better with matching ENGL cabs

[Fragle]

i ran the powerball through a marshall 1960 fullstack. with the blackmore i used several cabs ranging from a mesa recto cab to a hiwatt cab.