When you discover your favorite recorded Marshall tone was a Super Reverb..

Bob Zaod

Rock Star
Messages
2,872
Alex Lifeson on his amp for Caress of Steel. Which happens to be one of the tones I have chased for eons and my very favorite "Marshall tone" of all time.

REF: Guitar Player magazine June 1980

1674214925441.png


:hmm:columbo
 
Hahahah I had an awesome guitar class in high school and the teacher ran pro-sound for a lot of NYC shows/events. We were talking about amps one day and after he heard what everyone’s dream amp was he said “If you guys knew how many times I saw someone wheel out a Marshall stack onstage only to mic up a Fender Twin with some Boss distortion pedal plugged into it behind the stack, you’d all want Fender Twins”

I’m sure he was paraphrasing and the Twin could have been substituted for any combo, but the same applies. I really didn’t realize until the last year those older Fender amps were capable of distorting that much. I just figured “Fender = super clean with lots of headroom” because of the Twin.
 
I really didn’t realize until the last year those older Fender amps were capable of distorting that much. I just figured “Fender = super clean with lots of headroom” because of the Twin.
Same, and, to my surprise, when pulling up the Fender Deluxe in Helix, at stock settings, it's a little bit dirty, and if you want a clean sound, you have to dial back the gain.
 
Super reverbs sound epic when you can crank them, one of my favorite sounds and I’m also typically a Marshall guy.

Funny enough I decided to make some new helix presets over the last few weeks to get out of my Marshall rut. I’ve basically used a plexi model for virtually every gig in the last two years (regardless of whether or not it was really a good choice because I’m lazy). I spent some time with the deluxe reverb preset last night and got reminded just how killer they sound when you push them. Oh how I wish I would have bought a Princeton, deluxe, super, and a bassman back when they were cheap…

Every now and then a super comes up on Craigslist and I almost buy it. One day I’m gonna pull the trigger. Completely impractical and unnecessary for me, but I’m gonna end up doing it just because I’ve wanted one for so long even though I know I don’t need it.

D
 
Super reverbs sound epic when you can crank them, one of my favorite sounds and I’m also typically a Marshall guy.

Funny enough I decided to make some new helix presets over the last few weeks to get out of my Marshall rut. I’ve basically used a plexi model for virtually every gig in the last two years (regardless of whether or not it was really a good choice because I’m lazy). I spent some time with the deluxe reverb preset last night and got reminded just how killer they sound when you push them. Oh how I wish I would have bought a Princeton, deluxe, super, and a bassman back when they were cheap…

Every now and then a super comes up on Craigslist and I almost buy it. One day I’m gonna pull the trigger. Completely impractical and unnecessary for me, but I’m gonna end up doing it just because I’ve wanted one for so long even though I know I don’t need it.

D

I love the Deluxe in the Helix. I really miss my 65 FSR DRRI it was a tremendous amp. I couldn't tell you why I sold it if you held a gun to my head. I got that and a DSL40c in a trade for my Mesa Mark III purple stripe.
48422051_578656242577992_1640508744922038272_o_578656235911326.jpg


50847911_602503350193281_6904634105594380288_o_602503343526615.jpg
 
Last edited:
The opening track on up..


Excellent! Great tone. Kinda funny, I instantly hear some openness and jangle that reminds me of something not Marshall. I could cheat and say Fender, but it’s different than that. Maybe mids cranked mid-gain Hi-Watt?

Here’s one of the tones that I chase. Just one of many children…

 
I can relate to this… I recently found that guitars on Nevermind the Bollocks are played through a Fender amp.
 
Back in the '90s I picked up my first blackface Super Reverb at Rogue Music in NYC.

I was trying it out with a Zoom Driver pedal set to one of the stack settings. They had a small glass enclosed room where you could really crank it.

I wasn't sure I was going to buy it and left thinking I'd mull it over.

On the elevator down a guy in it with me said "That sounded great! What kind of Marshall was that?" He was astounded when I told him it was a Super Reverb.

He got off on the first floor but I stayed in the elevator and rode it back up.

Left with the amp in hand and gigged it for years.

1965 Super Reverb pictured with my '66 Deluxe Reverb, '81 Dean Z, and JVC Kaboom (with dual subwoofers on either end with their own independent volume control...best boom box I've ever heard).

51286002526_38f3145d17_c.jpg


zoom_icon_5000_0.png
 
Last edited:
Back
Top