Will my rig sound better with a BBE?

[hippietim]

I personally have always found rigs with BBE to sound great until the BBE is turned off, then I appreciate the original rig's tone again more as a result. They're not for me.

+1

[Outlander]

You're right on Bill about the recto's. I recently got a new dual 3 channel recto and tried the g-major in it's loop. I was quite surprised to find out it sucked major balls! So now I have a all dry rig (Recto 1/2 stack) and all wet rig (ADA rack) for effects. The recto sounds awesome combined with the sweet singing tones of the EL84 powered 20/20.And of course the recto sounds great by itself!

[Rupe]

Hey Rupe, Happy New Year to you to
So the BBE goes between the preamp and the poweramp, correct..?
I'm not sure if the Mesa preamp/Marshall poweramp combo is the most recommended setup, the Quad's manual said it was designed to be used specifically with Mesa poweramps.. Well I couldn't find a Mesa poweramp in my pricerange.. It can't sound THAT bad with a 9100 though right?
I saw a pic of Janick Geers rig once, he had a Mesa preamp as well as his JMP's, he was only using Marshall 9200 poweramps in that setup IIRC.

Yes, between the pre and power...and don't worry about using your Quad with the Marshall, it will work just fine.

Alot of people tend to want to crank up the knobs on the BBE but that's the wrong approach. Used incorrectly, they make your tone sound aweful. Used conservatively, I would think that it will help you out as I had a Quad back in the 90's and my 422A worked well between that and the 2:90.

I too have turned off the BBE and started to dig the tone without it...until my next rehearsal. Something about it allows my tone to cut through a live mix much better.

[Guitardude86]

Thanks Rupe, you know what, all is good in the world; turns out I'm getting a Mesa 20/20 amp after all, and I'm even getting it cheaper than the 9100
Now all I have to do is resist the temptation of the Marshall from 1970 I played at the store today.. Holy shit man.. That thing has got some major mojo.. All my heroes playing Marshall's in the 70's (and some 80's too) came to mind.. It's pretty useless getting it to rock properly without a pedal in front.. But throw down a pedal in front, maaan I liked it a LOT brotha!

[Guitardude86]

About that Marshall.. I know many dislike using pedals for gain and stuff..
But in the 70's and 80's, heck ever since Hendrix, people did that all the time didn't they? Would it be wrong of me to go for the Marshall? I tend to crank up the gain on most amps.. But I don't do it to camouflage sloppy playing, I simply like a lot of music where the guitarists use a lot of gain..
But when I grew up listening to my dad's vinyl-collection, Marshall was it man.. Stricktly 70's and 80's music.. Those players didn't have those tons of gain a lot of guys have today, so I guess they had to play cleaner too..
Not saying today's guitarists are sloppy, I'm just amazed at what those "early" guitarists accomplished with such a simple set-up. And it sounded so friggin' good too! I know, it's about the player and not the gear..
But seriously.. I've been thinking about that Marshall head all day..
It put a spell on me or something..
I know some guys think Marshalls suck.. I used to think the same, the DSL, TSL series did nothing for me and I didn't even have the patience to tweak out a good sound from a JMP-1 preamp! Vroooom...
Spill your guts

[horns666]

Well the JCM 800 2210 are my favorite Marshall amps because it didn't require a stomp..

I ran two of those in stereo into four Marshall cabs.

The JMP-1/9200 w5881s sound like a better version of that set up..I traded my 2210s I loved faster than shit when I first heard it my rig in '96.

I always ran stomps in front of my old Marshalls and sounded preety cool..that's a bit old school, if that's your thing..great.

Marshall "heads" died when the discontinued the JCM 800 series..they just worse from that point on IMO.

I couldn't dump the DSL fast enough..I got it CHEAP and got a free new Marshall cab out of that deal. My Uber is sitting on it.

[horns666]

John aside.. .. The bottom line is, my Marshall 9200 sounds much better with the BBE than without it!!!

if YOU like your tone but just want more low end, a BBE 422 will remedy that nicely.

Bill Z

[Rupe]

I know some guys think Marshalls suck.. I used to think the same, the DSL, TSL series did nothing for me and I didn't even have the patience to tweak out a good sound from a JMP-1 preamp! Vroooom...
Spill your guts

If everything checks out with the old Marshall and you dig the tone, go for it! I too can't stand the DSL and TSL's stock (I've heard them crush once modded though), but the amp that you're talking about is a completely different animal. Nothing wrong at all with running a pedal in front of one...most of my "guitar heros" from the 80's (Rhoads, Lynch, Vai, Lee, Dimartini, Le Tekro, Jabs, etc) did that exact thing. Hell, if you can dime that thing, you'll probably have enough gain going on for some cool rhythm tones without a pedal.
I love my rack for its versatility, consistancy, and overall great tone. That said, I still prefer most of tube amps "best" settings over what my rack can do.
I don't think that you can go wrong either way...follow your ear

[Bengal65]

I have a 482i, and I swear by it. I actually can't play my rig without it turned on anymore. I was extremely weary of buying one at first as well, as there isn't alot of information about them online... but it was worth it, bar none.

+1 Best Bang for the buck in my rig. G Major, PSA-1 Sansamp, BBE 482i and VHT 2/90/2.

[horns666]

That's right Rupe..Fuggums.."Follow your ear"..

Bengal, I could see that working with that preamp/rig..cool!!..

Follow your hearts and your ears and fuggums!

[Guitardude86]

follow your ear

Absolutely That Marshall just had so much mojo man, I was thrown back to the 70's and 80's. And it was loud as f**k too! All my heroes came to mind when playing it, especially Roth, maybe because it was so loud
Seriously I'd kill for Roth's tone, although it's his playing that amazes me I swear that tone is pure magic.. I heard most of his effects on the earlier albums were added later in the mix tho! Kind of a bummer, I was so wishing I could replicate the delay/reverb on "So Many Lives Away" and "Burning Wheels Turning"..

[Cybersavior]

I have had the 482i in my rig for years. (see also Jeff Loomis) It has been powered down for more than a year.

Rig: Jackson through Mesa DR (voodoo), 4X12 rectocab, tc g-force, korg tuner, furman power, behringer foot ctrlr.

[omwdc]

didn't do it for me - sounded more processed

[slayer]

Difference between the 422 and 422A ? Jack.

[straycat]

I liked the 422A very airy and open tone I'll let you know if the 422 is any different I have one on the way.