1974x Zep Tone?

[page-fan-1]

I'm thinking of getting a marshall 1974x and wondering if you can get some decent jimmy page sounds from it?

[huw]

Well it's a great amp, for certain. And it can get some great sounds with little bother. But "Jimmy Page sounds"? (and I'll skip the usual lecture about which Jimmy Page sounds you are thinking of...)

Two things to be aware of, and the answer to both of them will be "try before you buy"...

First this thing uses EL84 valves, making it different from nearly every other Marchall out there. AC30s use EL84s, so does my vintage Watkins Scout - they are nice sounding valves and have a unique quality to the overdriven tone. Whether or not it's authentically Marshall enough for you can only be answered by your own ears.

Second point is that each channel has only a single tone control, not the more usual Treble, Bass & Middle. Nornally if I was looking to ape Jimmy's kind of tone I would want to pull the bass down a bit, whilst pushing the middle & treble up. The exact amounts would depend on the exact amp, but that's the basic idea. With an amp with just one tone control there may be no option but to max out the control (ie full treble) and hope that gives enough of a mid to high range emphasis to do the trick.

So caution advised in those areas - but on the other hand, I'd say definitely give it a try - the appeal of a 20w Marshall valve amp is obvious & large...

[BonzoLikeDrumer]

Yeah, this is the thing with a tube, they are not all the same. You can find shade's of differences in any one you buy. Transistor's are not like that at all. You'll get a more identical sound with most any transistor you find.

Keep in mind I'm not talking about tube's that are designed to sound different from one type to the other, it's just the way they are made and how they work that can give you a different sound from any one (of the same model number) you may pick out. As I said the tone can be so slightly different that it's very hard to tell and you can get many that will not sound any different at all. It's a hit or miss thing with tube's while transistor's are quite standard from one to another on the assembly line.