- This topic has 8 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 5 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Is it just me, or is anyone else fascinated by that tweed amp J has sitting on top of one of his Marshall stacks? I first noticed it when I watched Live in the Middle East. He probably started using it before then, but for some reason it never caught my attention until recently.
I’m a huge fan of all things Fender, particularly tweed because it looks so good. I found out when they came through town that this is a Victoria. I had heard about these because Victoria is a boutique amp company that specializes in reproducing tweed-era Fender amps. The Victoria double-deluxe is an amp that I’d wanted to buy for quite awhile, until I finally realized I’ll never be able to buy one of these things with a clear conscience (so instead I took up DIY amp building a built tweed deluxe clone).
When Dinosaur Jr. was in town the other night, I went out back and imposed on their equipment manager after their show (he was very kind and patient to briefly talk to me while he was incredibly busy taking down the Dinosaur set in preparation for the Black Keys). I asked about the role played by the Victoria relative to the Marshalls when J sets the mix (he appears to mic one Marshall speaker and one Victoria). I can’t remember precisely what the gentleman said, but I got the impression that (1) the Victoria is the dominant player, and (2) the Victoria is quite reliable.
This would square with what I’ve read elsewhere about even the new hand-wired Marshalls being difficult to maintain through the nightly rigors of touring. (I once read somewhere that when Jimi struck a deal with Jim Marshall, he did so on the proviso that Marshall would provide techs to tour with Jimi and maintain his amps.) On the other hand, everything I’ve read about Victorias seems to indicate that they are built like the proverbial tank.
So, this is interesting because tweed sounds different from Marshall. Not better, not worse, just different. I’ve always associated J with what I thought was a “Marshallâ€
Very interesting post Window Grazing. I always wondered too the exact role that tweed amp played in J’s arsenal.
Their guitar tech is pretty cool, skinny guy with short hair and glasses? If so he reminded me of some sort of mad scientist for some reason. Anyway cool guy, he hooked me up with some of J’s picks.
Tonas, yeah, that sounds like the same guy I talked to. Sounds like we should nominate him for a Nobel prize or something, because he’s so cool and friendly.
Tom, I asked the amp tech about the old, beat up Marshall cab that you can usually see behind J, because I didn’t see it (I was standing right in front of J and only saw what appeared to be newer or at least relatively less worn extension cabs). The equipment guy told me that J was using this old extension cab as a monitor on the side – maybe this is what you’re talking about. It’s definitely a Marshalll I would surmise (I don’t know for sure) loaded up with vintage celestion greenback speakers.
"Rip Van Winkle " wrote:cool post. ^ did you ask him for the picks or did he just give em to you?Yeah after the show I asked him for one of J’s picks and he loaded me up. Cool guy for sure. Not to say that Sweeney wasn’t cool either because he totally was too. He gave me some of J’s pics too, and his set list at 2 of the shows.
j’s rig is so much more complicated than it has to be, in my opinion.
supposedly he uses the jmp-1 (a 1u marshall tube preamp) for all of his drive sounds, using two big muffs (plus misc pedals) for fuzz and even more fuzz. the marshalls (and now the victoria twin) are there as power amps only. i would suggest they’re also there for the visual element of that many cabs + marshalls. i guess the victoria has more clean headroom than the marshalls.
additionally, the open back victoria has less than one half the sound projection of EACH of those 4x12s, so while it may be the dominant player in terms of the FOH mix, it’s not like it’s NEEDED with that wall of cabs. honestly, couple pedals into the 1974x, throw a mic in front… he’d still sound like J.
"unchained " wrote:j’s rig is so much more complicated than it has to be, in my opinion.supposedly he uses the jmp-1 (a 1u marshall tube preamp) for all of his drive sounds, using two big muffs (plus misc pedals) for fuzz and even more fuzz. the marshalls (and now the victoria twin) are there as power amps only. i would suggest they’re also there for the visual element of that many cabs + marshalls. i guess the victoria has more clean headroom than the marshalls.
additionally, the open back victoria has less than one half the sound projection of EACH of those 4x12s, so while it may be the dominant player in terms of the FOH mix, it’s not like it’s NEEDED with that wall of cabs. honestly, couple pedals into the 1974x, throw a mic in front… he’d still sound like J.
I think you’re right about some of those cabs being there for the visual element. And you know what, if I showed up for a Dinosaur Jr show and didn’t see the usual multi Marshall stack display, I’d be disappointed somehow, even though I know you’re right and he’d still sound as good with a mic’d combo amp.
It would be interesting to see J’s setup when he’s recording.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.