MARSHALL JCM800
KEELER PUSH + VFE FOCUS
The JCM800 has certainly experienced a revival as of
late at the hands of metal and doom musicians. Many
of the loudest and most hirsute bands use them to
pile-drive audiences into submission the world over,
but of course, this is not what they were designed
for. When introduced in 1981, the JCM800 soon
found its hands into players such as Buddy Guy and
other artists not normally associated with the amp,
such as Brad Nowell of Sublime and Brett Guerwitz
of Bad Religion. Amp novices that crave the tone of
these amps may be surprised to know this.
By containing a Master Volume control and chaining
ability, this allows JCM800 amps to get unbelievably
nasty, but most people aren’t chasing those kinds of
tones. They desire the creamy, mid-rangey goodness
of which original JCM800s made great use. Here’s
how to get it.
For my money, the Keeler Push is the quintessential
Marshall Pedal. Yes, the Dirty Little Secret is
awesome, but that pedal is meant to cop the tones of
the Plexi and Super- series. Hear me out. The Keeler
Push, in all its gooped glory, takes three controls
from the JCM800—Volume, Gain and Treble—and
delivers 75 percent of JCM800 tones in spades. It’s
harmonically complex, it has a great “feel” and the
sound is unmistakably Marshall. The combination’s
remaining 25 percent is delivered by the VFE Focus.
It’s essentially a series of filters that can incrementally
dial in the best Marshall tone ever. All it needs is
great source material, provided by the Push.
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TONE TALK //
How to Create Classic Amps from Pedals