Being involved in a car accident sucks, but...

Sometimes, 10 months later, you get a little something for yourself and your lovely lady that compensates for part of the suffering and discomfort...
 
Had a call yesterday that our financial compensation was in our lawyers' hands - a quick stop to our bank later we were on the way to the Apple store to buy a much needed replacement for my wife's old MacBook Pro. Most of the funds were only made available this morning, and I had planned on ordering from Sweetwater, but drinking my morning coffee and reading my e-mails, I received a 20% coupon at GC - surprisingly enough, Marshall was not among the dozens of excluded companies...
 
I have my rig now. 

May not be a big Les Paul Custom and a plexi or a JCM, but it's MY rig, and more than enough. :)
 

Sweetwater are a little weird. I think the only thing I bought from them was Ohmicide which was on sale for $40. From that one purchase, they call me personally every few months to ask how I'm doing. It's kind of charming. I do like to flick through their catalogs. 

Actually, as with many things I bought from GC, that Marshall I just bought has an issue with a knob - while it actually functions A-1, the little marker bar indicates that it goes from 6 up to 4, clockwise, instead of 1 to 10. 
 
But that's okay.
 

I haven't heard of that DSP amp. I guess that it has digital reverb? Does it still have tubes?

You bought a DSL and I thought you were set on reissue JCM800. Very different amp but it has very nice tone also. Not as bright as the 800 but that's not a bad thing. In my area 100 watt heads are tough to give away because the bars don't want real loud music. Myself, well, there are certain sounds that can only be made when the amp pushes enough air to wrinkle you pant legs. Rock on.

ampfixer
You bought a DSL and I thought you were set on reissue JCM800. Very different amp but it has very nice tone also. Not as bright as the 800 but that's not a bad thing. In my area 100 watt heads are tough to give away because the bars don't want real loud music. Myself, well, there are certain sounds that can only be made when the amp pushes enough air to wrinkle you pant legs. Rock on.

If I had the budget, I'd have gotten a JCM 800 reissue. And I'd probably own a Les Paul Custom too.
 
Seeing that I'm not touring w/ Elton John or Shania Twain, this more modest set up is more than adequate. :)
 
This one does 50W/100W. 
 
I haven't played it as much as I would have wanted - news of the attacks on Paris when I arrived home with it really put a damper and made me quite nauseous on what was going to be a very happy day, me finally getting the amp I've wanted for so long.
 
But from the bit of time I've spent playing, I'm really loving the classic gain channel. The modern gain, I'm not yet so sure, I'll have to spend more time on it I guess.
 
The cleans are lovely - I love Marshall cleans.
 
Clint: It's a DSL. 2 channels, all tubes, no DSP, only reverb. :)

I'm sure the DSL will meet all your needs Rain. It can kick some serious ass. As for your LP, they are all very similar guitars with the exception of bling. Rather than buying a better LP just focus on the pick-ups. I had the Duncan custom shop make my last set and the difference is huge. Of course I also think that an aluminium tailpiece makes every Les Paul sound better so YMMV.
 
Enjoy that rig!

Nice rig, Krist!

LOL
 
I rarely leave the house, ever, so my visits to GC are exceptional occurrences. And every single time I go, I make sure to check on their web site whether they have what I want in store. In this case, the closest GC did not, but the one downtown did.
 
Still... Mismatching head and cab, not knowing about the bundle deal and having misplaced the foot switch... That's a lot. :P
 
But I'm loving the rig, I saved a few $ and it spared me the looooooooong wait (4 or 5 days, I suppose).

Had a bit more time to play tonight - and to do some basic testing.
 
I think I'm getting to appreciate the red channel/ultra gain.
In Lead One mode.
Lead Two seems a bit too modern heavy for me.
 
But then there's quite a few things to mess with, such as that Tone Shift switch and "Resonance". I seem to always prefer a more natural type of sound, with more mids and less treble and presence, and reasonable amount of bass. 
 
I get the sound I want but I seem to be keeping the treble and bass knob a lot lower than I used to on my old amps.
 
I've also started messing around with the SM57, recording little bits and trying to get to know my cab and its speakers. 
 
Fun times! :)
 
Oh and I got a call today - they've received my foot switch. :)

A friend who's into modding amps and all that good stuff suggested that I might want to try a different type of tube, mentioning ECC832/823.
 
But in all honesty, I'm not even touching those things. I already have more than enough options, and I don't feel the need to modify that uber gain sub-channel to make it usable. I already have an awesome clean sound, great Plexi type of gain and excellent JCM800 type of gain on Red Channel, Lead 1. That's all I really need.
 
If I really wanted to take advantage of that Lead 2 sub-channel, I'd probably want a different guitar or a different type of pick-ups. Whatever those metal dudes are using nowadays. But I love mids so much...
 
As you mention, those controls are very interactive, and one of the reason I was so dead set on buying a Marshall is that I feel comfortable around them, and those controls allow me to work out all kinds of sounds which are still "my sound".
 
 
 
 

So I finally dropped by to grab my footswitch today.
 
Last Friday, when he couldn't find it, the clerk mentioned that he could not order the footswitch separately, but that they order a new amp and give me the footswitch that came with it.
 
I'm sure you see where this is going but I can't say that I really paid attention to what he was saying - my brain recorded the entire thing, but processed only the relevant info - footswitch would arrive this week.
 
Only when I had the box in my hands did it hit me that the person who would buy this new amp they'd ordered would be missing the footswitch. And a clerk will probably have him waiting for 20-30 minutes while trying to find it... And he'll probably end up repeating the exact same process.
 
But I guess I should focus on the fact that I'm a privileged customer - not only did I get a footswitch, but it came in a box, and with a manual for the amp. Only, the amp is actually the 40W combo, but, hey...
 
 
 
 

Don't sweat it.  Our Social Security program is based on a similar model.