Keep the Marshall: buy an attenuator & a Les Paulblacktiger wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 3:27 pmBased on everything I’ve read about these amps, it probably is my problem, unfortunately. I don’t really crank it enough to get amp break-up. Even on the low power setting, that gets plenty loud. I like the sound straight in, but if I’m honest with myself, it doesn’t really take effects well. I’ve been playing Jazzmasters with the tone on 10 for decades, so I’m clearly not scared of bright sounds, and to a certain extent, I think I’ve always equated “bright” with “clear,” but with this set-up I’m definitely getting some bright mud. In a way, it’s all academic because when/if I do home recordings, it’ll be direct, probably through an amp sim pedal, and I don’t play out. This is really just about the sound I’m hearing when I’m dicking around alone. It’s probably time to give up on the idea of having a Marshall (I grew up on Hendrix and punk rock, so that sound - or the idea of it - is really ingrained in me) and get something that actually gives me the sound I want.øøøøøøø wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 11:27 amConcurring with the others here--a small Marshall combo is probably not the ideal amp to get what you're after.
For Cocteau Twins clean, the Roland JC recommendation is solid.
For Swervedriver-style distortion sounds that wouldn't get you very close to the mark, but maybe that's okay... it'd be hard to find one amp that did both of those things truly well (unless you went for a Kemper-style convolution-based solution--which could be a great shout if in the budget, incidentally).
Do you like how your little Marshall sounds distorted? If so, would it be possible to keep it and add a Roland JC90 (or similar) for cleans?
If this is mostly for playing at home, two different amps is great. If you're looking for something to use in performance, that quickly becomes less-practical.
Oh, and have you tried a tubescreamer as a boost?