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Greetings. It's the captain here and I
am at Marshall HQ with the lovely Chris
George uh who I've known for a long
time. Ever since he was a guitarist of
the year for something way back when,
which is a very long time ago. Yeah.
Yes. Also young now. Yeah. Uh and Chris
uh does all the artist demonstrations
and product demonstrations rather for
Marshall as well as more recently last
two or three years been involved in um
developing new stuff for Marshall and
[Music]
Atoria. Atoria. Yeah. Which is uh Do you
want a bit of backstory? I mean, what's
the deal? Absolutely. Well, I know, you
know, pretend that I haven't known about
this secret going on for the last two or
three years. Um so, uh yeah, tell us
tell us a bit about a story. So, the
idea was um you know, as with
everything, we took a good good look at
what we have and what we don't have and
what was going on out there. And so one
of the things that that we realized was,
you know, looking at the market and
looking at the growing trend of boutique
amps and stuff like that, which are very
much dominated by the American amplifier
companies, although there are some
really good British ones as well. Um, it
was to offer something in that primarily
that area, but also to appease the guys
who get sort of sick and tired of our
old 50-year-old design amplifiers that
we have, you know, because anything that
we had to compete in that area was a
Blues Breaker or a 1974X. And they're
great amps. There's nothing wrong with
them, but they have been around, like I
say, 50 plus years, you know. So, the
idea was to again look at what the trend
was. uh and to try and have something
that fits in a modern handwired
amplifier range uh that were all a
practical output but also all had their
own um personality to them as well. Guys
who want to who just want sort of more
natural tone and and stripped down
features, this is the thing for them,
you know, because therein lies the irony
of what is a modern boutique amplifier.
And in fairness, most modern boutique
amplifiers are a sort of a um a an
attempt to sort of faithfully reproduce
some of the magic that Marshall and
Fender and Vox were making sure back in
the you know in the 50s and the 60s.
Yeah. Um and I would say the only thing
that's probably uh where perhaps
boutique I'm not even sure I like that
word, but is that's the word, isn't it?
So we're going to say that's what
everyone uses. Yeah. Um, boutique amps I
guess perhaps visually is perhaps where,
as you say, well, certainly the Blues
Breaker is is too much of a beast to re
really class as a as a as a sort of a
boutique amplifier. But, but some of the
smaller ones, you know, the what's the
one with the tremolo built into it as
well? The uh the 74 has got tremolo.
There's a smaller one then, isn't there,
than the uh the 87 20 261 head. Those
kind of things are almost just
desperate. they kind of are boutique
amplifiers but just perhaps with the
wrong look and missing a couple of
features like right some of the sort of
switchable outputs and things like that
that and so that was the idea was to
keep the the essence and the basis of it
you know with that handwired side to it
but also to bring in the features um
that are much more practical that you
wouldn't usually get on those types of
amps too so it's sort of marrying the
two things together um unaffecting the
tone are things you know like I say more
practical uh things like power reduction
and and you know sort of a bass boost or
bright switch or whatever on across the
range. So kind of recognizing I suppose
that that as although some of those old
Marshall amplifiers are great, they were
built for a time when live music was
played in different sort of uh to
different audiences and in different
arenas. Um and these are much more
you're sort of taking into account how a
modern guitar player perhaps might play
smaller venues, perhaps play more at
home, perhaps might mic up if he needs a
bit more volume, that sort of thing. [Music]
So, look, as you can see behind us here
are um three fabulously styled different
versions of Atoria, green, red, and
blue. All available as either a 1x12
combo or as a a head with a matching um
1x12 cabinet.
Stylistically, I kind of I I see this.
It's like there is a throwback here to
really old Marshalls, you know. So, when
you're talking about the pre- signature
kind of front, the blog logo. Yeah. Um
but also very much a nod towards I think
what perhaps uh the the sort of the
where some of the the other sort of
boutique amplifiers have really uh hit a
sweet sort of vibe with with with
customers as guitarists come in and they
just see something, they go, "Oh, yeah,
I like you know, and so I kind of there
is an attempt to sort of do something
very different, but I guess most
importantly is going to be sort of tone
and features. So where where do you want
to start in in the range to sort of tell
people about Well, I mean, you know,
just briefly to touch on what you're
saying about the looks on the looks side
of things, it's always worth mentioning,
you know, you're never going to please
everyone because we've got the guys out
there who love Marshall in black, white,
and gold, and it should never be
anything else. And then we've got the
guys out there who say all Marshalls
look the same. So I mean that was
another thing about this range was it
needed to have its own sonic identity of
course but visually it was equally as
important to make them stand out. You
know if I walk into your shop you know
and I look at all the Marshall stuff you
know the Atoria is going to stand out
and you know that's going to be really
eye-catching against something like a
DSL and so it should be because
price-wise they're completely different
too you know. Actually this really works
cuz you've kept you know you got
something of the old and something of
the new and it's I think it really
works. you know, we didn't want it being
pigeonholed that people would look at
it, see the old logo, and think, "Oh,
it's a it's another reissue of something
in a different box." But I think the
color scheme carries it through. Also,
the fact that obviously the logos are
color matched to the amps as well as a
nice touch. And again, it was all about
attention to detail um visually and and
sonically as well. Yeah. Is there a
before we get on to then to sort of tone
and specs, is there a sort of a a
classic Marshall tie-in to the Atoria,
I'm assuming. Is that some sort of one
of Jim's old favorite venues or
something like that? You know what?
People can take it for what they want.
It's one of those things. It means Yeah.
Well, it means so it means so many
different things to various people. So,
come on. Let's talk about stuff. So, the
green one. Do the green one. That's what
you're plugged into, isn't it? Yeah. So,
this is the Atoria uh Classic. The
reason it's called the Classic is is
because it's much more of a classic
setup. It's a single channel amp. All
the amps in the range are 30 W. They all
contain the Celestian Creamback speaker,
which is the H magnet one, the heavy
magnet. Yeah, exactly. Um it's slightly
custom voiced to us and it's the only
speaker that we're using. This is the
only range that we're using that speaker
in. Um they've all got K KT66 valves in
and all got um power reduction too. So
we'll talk about the decision to use the
KT66es in a minute because that's again
that'll be another I I don't think
there's anything else in the range
that's got or certainly none of the the
range that people will be familiar with
that's got KT6. No, the last thing we
used in a production run with KT66es
would have been the vintage modern which
is Well, let's let's stay with that
then. So, characteristically,
um, how do you find the KT66,
uh, sort of affects the tone compared to
something you might more traditionally
use? Yeah, I always
I always like the 66s, but I felt
sometimes there could be um, a bit too
much in the bottom end, depending on
what amp they're in. The reason that we
chose them for this was really simple in
that we abded it with EL34s. Yeah. And
66s. We did a blind test. you know, when
we do a lot of testing here, we don't or
some of us don't want to know, you know,
it doesn't you don't want to sway your
judgment. So, um, yeah, it was a really
simple AB. We chose our favorite and it
happened to be the 66s. So that's yeah I
think that's a great way of doing it
because you don't want to be forced into
a corner and think oh you know this
would be great because I know it perhaps
it has a bit of added marketing
collateral because like I say that's the
only range we're producing with those
valves in as well but you want it to be
very organic to the product and and I
some I sometimes wish that that you'd
almost film some of those blind tests
because I know when you I've been
involved again where you're you're blind
testing a speaker or you're blind
testing a valve and the marketing bit of
your brain is going, I hope I hope we
choose the Celestian Vintage 30 to go in
this because I know that's the one the
customer's going to want. And then you
do the thing and and it's almost like
I'm and you choose something else and
you almost want to go we didn't we chose
that other thing entirely because that
was the one we all agreed was the best
sounding. But anyway, so I'm sure you
did go through that. Yeah, absolutely.
The speaker can be the hardest thing as
well. with this. A couple years ago, we
went to Celestian, you know, we went to
their place and they've got this great
room where you can just go and test
everything, you know, the equivalent of
in here and they set up all these
speakers and you're just so spoiled for
choice because there's not a bad one in
the bunch and then and then you go
slightly blind because on a clean sound
one this one sounds good and then on a
medium driven and you know and you're
going ah exactly. But anyway, so that's
cool. But so talk about the output. So,
you've gone 30 watts, which is um
I would say it's the it's the new 100
watts, isn't it? 30 watts. It's like
that for the modern day guitar player
that's that's uh really doing anything,
either playing large venues and mking up
or playing smaller venues and just, you
know, needing enough power. 30 watts is
just bonus, isn't it? And we look, we
all like 100 watts and we've all been
doing 100 watts for a long time, you
know what I mean? But, um it gets to a
point where it's about practicality at
the end of the day. And it's also about,
you know, that whole thing of a lot of
time people think 50 watts is half the
audible output of 100 watts and it's not
and nor is 30 watts, you know, you know,
3/10 of 100. It's not that at all. And
so 30 watts is a really nice area where
it's not as loud as 50 watts obviously.
Um, but it's still you get a nice
singing sort of nice bit of compression.
You Yeah, exactly. Still loud. Loud
enough to gig with unmiked. Great for
the studio. Uh, yeah. Yeah. But for
those of uh players out there that are
thinking, you know, I'm probably going
to be 75% playing at home, 25% playing
on the stage, whatever, you've got power
scaling in this. Yeah. So, we put the
power reduction in them as well, which
works off the master volume pot. So,
tell us that because I I know um
power reduction, power scaling, whatever
you want to call it, attenuation been
super super popular for for a few years
now. And I've heard it done brilliantly
and I've heard it done appallingly.
Sure. Um, and I, you know, I I I'm
interested, I suppose, you know, sorry
for sort of geeking out, but I'm kind of
interested in how they do this and and
I'd like to kind of almost hear it as
well because I sort of think it's, you
know, what you don't want power
reduction to is suck all the life out of
the amplifier to make it quieter. No,
that's right. And that's what you're
always I think uh naturally and again
organ organically, you're always going
to be up against that. You know, I don't
think anyone has anyone got it 100%
perfect yet? I'm not sure, but The best
ones I've heard are where guitar players
use attenuation to to roll back their
amp by 30 or 40% volume. So you get a
crazy loud sound that you just bring
back to a sort of controllable sound.
Yeah, that's right. To get right down
low is always tough because I guess
you're just not getting the speaker
movement and Exactly. Yeah. And all
those things that make the final sound
uh you know the combination. But we
should hear it anyway. We should we
should definitely. And it works. This
one works off of the um the master
volume. It's not pento tri or anything
like that. We wanted something that was
again much more practical in that you
have you hear a big sonic difference
kind of thing. So um to give you an idea
um so the master's set on 3/4 at the
moment and this is the sort of sound you get.
So what you do is you pull out the
volume there. And then of course it
drops into power reduction mode. And you
can still use the master volume anyway
And then just for reference going back
Yeah. So it's not a it's not a variable
power reduction. It's just it's a it's a
sort of low and high type. Low low and
high. But then you can still use the
master volume in conjunction in low
mode. I see. Exactly. So you can take it
right down if you want. I mean it's
certainly on on I mean we should
probably try it on all three of them
sort of go through cuz that one you
could hear there was a little bit less
gain as well when you went into power
reduction mode. That's the nature of
this amplifier as well at the same time
though when we get on to the other two
you'll hear that it doesn't sort of take
so much off the top and stuff like that.
Um but we we'll try that. So put it back
into sort of low. Well no I think we'll
wait till we get one of the gier amps
and then we'll we'll give the power
reduction a bit more cuz I think on
cleaner amplifiers you can just back the
volume down and still work. But for
consistency, we wanted to put it on all
three. Yeah. So, what else have we got
knobs and buttons wise on? This is the
classic, right? This is the classic. So,
yeah, one channel. Um, that's why it's
called the classic cuz it's just a one
channel relatively clean amp. Like the
amount of um overdrive that you were
hearing there or the amount of gain that
you hear in there is about it's about as
much as it will do. Oh, really? So, this
would be like a great pedal amp if
you've got drive pedals. And that's the
idea, you know, that if you've got your
own pedals, uh, your own nice pedals
that you really like, you can put it in
front to to drive it and get it going.
Um, do we do we want to hear that? Do we
want to should we just grab a Blues
Breaker pedal? Is, you know, there I
spotted one over your shoulder over
there. Should we just give this a Yeah,
why not? I'll get it. We're back. Uh,
this is the most excellent Marshall
Blues Breaker 2 pedal that we have set
in boost mode rather than sort of drive
mode with all the knobs on it. if you've
got one of these are about halfway
except for the volume which is about
3/4. But listen to this. So this is without
without
um
and it's fairly inexpensive the pedal
you know. Yeah. I mean, we could have
pulled out a 150 lb boost pedal if we
wanted to, but something. Yeah. Oh, man.
That's a sexy sounding amplifier. Well,
you're in the high mode. I notice each
of these amps have got high and low. Is
that same sort of idea as any Marshall
amp that you'd be familiar with? So,
just is it like a three or six dB? Yeah,
I think it's about 6 dB. 6 dB
attenuation on the low. Yeah. So, if
you're really quite particular on this
amplifier on the classic about keeping
it clean and and keeping it uh you know,
not broken up, then you'd be better off
going to the low. And one thing we
haven't mentioned is just a sensitivity
control which it's got which um just
allows you is that instead of gain or as
well as Yeah. So, you've got um we'll
we'll do a scanning close-upy thing of
this here. Exactly. H bass middle treble
sensitivity master. Right. So couple of
controls that people might not be
familiar with. Yeah. So again the edge
control features on all of them and
that's people like one of the big
questions is what's the difference
between edge and presence because it
kind of works is a better guitarist I
think isn't he?
Yeah he did go downhill after I think so.
so.
Um so
so we um so the way that presence works
is that it adjusts the um negative
feedback within the power stage of an
amplifier. And so with a story there's
no negative feedback. So there is a um a
highpass filter in there. I found with
these actually it's a lot more practical
because you know usually present you'll
just leave you know you just set it and
leave about halfway or something like
that. with these with the edge controls
I found more on the high higher gain
apps if you turn it back you get much
more of a darker sort of almost woolly
tone which is quite nice should you need that
that
okay so um Chris is going to play for 30
seconds or so on here and just because
I'm interested in what the controls do
and I expect you guys are too as well uh
I'm just going to have a fiddle a fiddle
with the knobs uh whilst Chris is
playing so uh anyway come here [Music]
[Music] M
M boom.
boom. [Music]
[Music] Moo.
Moo. Cool.
[Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
So that was really really useful I
thought there especially I think it what
it does is it the the the bass middle
and treble is very familiar Marshall
sort of territory um not massively
changing the characteristic of the tone.
Uh edge does exactly what you said it
does and sensitivity is absolutely kind
of like um like a low gainy kind of
sort of gain and presence and allin-one.
So really like that. So that's that's
the Atoria classic. Yep. Um, nothing
else to really tell us about that if we
haven't already driven it home. I'm
pretty sure we have. These are all
handwired um in the Marshall factory in
Milton Kees. Um, so let's move on to
which one next? Do you want to do the
blue one next? Because it's the sort of
the next most gainy and we'll finish
with the most gaining. Yeah, if you want
to, we can do that. Yeah, cool. Yeah,
makes sense. Um, so the concept behind
the Atoria duel is for the two channel
guy. Yeah. Yeah. You want a clean
channel, you want an overdrive channel.
Um, there is also a body control on the
overdrive channel and a very nice clean
channel as well. You know, it's got the
edge, it's got the power reduction,
etc., etc., but um, pretty much speaks
for itself. Foot switchable two
channels. KT66es again in this. So,
okay, cool. Kind of same idea as what we
just did for the classic. So, Chris will
play, I'll fiddle with the knobs. Play a
bit for We'll play a little bit longer
on this one because there are more knobs
to fiddle with. Here we go. Um,
Um, [Music]
[Music] hey
hey [Music]
[Music] everybody.
[Applause] [Music]
[Music]
Hey, hey, hey. [Laughter]
[Laughter] [Music]
Heat. [Music]
[Music] Heat.
Heat. [Music]
[Music] Heat.
Heat. [Music]
[Music]
I like I like that a lot. Yeah, it's the
the I tell you what I did notice a
couple of things that react really
differently to the classic. The power
scaling reacts y massively more. Um I
quite like as well. Well, I say I like
No, that's that's the wrong word. It's
interesting that what's happening when
you're pulling the the power scaling in
or pushing it back in again. There's
like a there's like a two or three
second. That's right. You hear it just
drop down. Yeah. So clearly it's so it's
obviously going through some sort of
reduction and then ramp up again, isn't
it? Rather than just a straight Yeah.
Um, but the the when you get the the
overdriven channel around about sort of
twothirds of the way and particularly
with the body control which is where you
you I don't know if you noticed but on
the the gain gets pulled out for this
this feature called body. It's fat.
Yeah. Really fat. And also when you go
over to the overdrive channel if you've
got the gain set quite low as with a lot
of amps like that they it sounds good
but it sounds a little empty. Soon as
you pull the body control it just
fattens it up. you know, even with high
gain, as high as that will go, the body
is is really fat. Might be too much for
some, but then you just take it back
out. So, again, it's just variation of
tone. And in terms of the voicing of the
overdrive channel of that, you'll hear
it is different from from the one that
we'll look at after vintage marshally.
Exactly. It's not like there's huge
amounts of gain in there, but enough for
the majority of people, especially for
all the rhythmic stuff. Yeah. I mean,
that was the blue amp was the one I was
using during the sort of the jam we had.
And uh I had it with uh the gain about
2/ird of the way out. And I didn't have
the body control out cuz at that time I
I didn't know it had a body control. Uh
but it it had that, you know, again,
just how you how you remember all the
old classic old Strats plugged into a
Dirty Marshall sounding. Um I liked it.
So I mean the blue one is is is my
favorite so far. Um although I don't
know I have got a little pong for just
single channel amplifiers that you put
loads of pedals in front of at the
moment. Yeah I think if I was a pedal
guy I can see why the green one would be
popular but if I was more of just a you
know just straightforward plugin. Can
you foot switch the channel here? And
also uh as with the the custom as well
the effects loop too. Okay. So effects
loop in here as well. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
Effects loop in there. Yeah. Very nice.
Um, we may need to take a small
intermission now whilst we mic up the
red one, but uh stay tuned because next
is uh is essentially the same thing
again but with the the dirtiest one,
[Music]
Oh man. Need to give us Need to give it
a bit. Well, I wasn't sure whether I
just wanted to keep it up. Holy mother
of Mary. Um Chris has just played a
chord which you didn't hear, but you're
about to hear through the classic um
custom. It's custom. Sorry. Through the
custom. It's unbelievably loud. Uh we
just made him turn it down because it
nearly killed me. Um
so the custom is the dirty one, isn't
it? Yeah. It's the dirty. It's the evil.
It's the nasty neighbor. It's a dirty
one. It will go It will do all your
crunch stuff, you know, with the Asbo.
Exactly. But it will go up to uh it will
go up loud. It will go up heavy and lots
of gain. And there's a bright switch.
There's a body switch. It's got you
Yeah. It's got everything you want
really. Well, we we're going to do the
same thing again basically where where I
crouch down and um fiddle with some
knobs on here. Um it's the it's again
it's simple, isn't it? It's one one
channel with a boost. Exactly. Uh
effects loop. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.
Switchable boost and effects loop on
this one. First switchable.
Heat. [Music]
the things we do in this job to bring
you the best tones of all the guitar
amps in the world. Um, wow.
That's loud. That is really good. I tell
you, you you said on the other amplifier
that that the the body control really
works well with the gain with the volume
reduction. Y So, I hopefully you guys
pick that up on there, but but at the
lowest point, I know it's always
difficult on YouTube, but but at its
lowest point, we were actually pretty
quiet on that. And the body when you do
pull it out does act almost like a a
loudness switch on a hi-fi. You know, it
just adds that sort of depth back in
where perhaps the amp isn't naturally
producing it cuz it's not loud enough.
But that's just naughty, isn't it? I
mean, what is there not to like? If
you're a Marshall fan, there is nothing
not to like about that sound. I mean,
even unboosted, you know, there's
there's still a lot of gain. I mean,
I mean, tonally it's good, but I mean to
give you an idea of how much gain is is
in it, turning that up with the boost
It'll just Yeah, you don't you really
don't need to fight for feedback. It
just does it all for you, isn't it?
Yeah, that is that's just I mean and
actually when I say it's really loud, it
it's it's not like sitting in front of a
100 watt super lead. It's um it's loud
enough to be we could be gigging at that
kind of volume. Uh and obviously I'm
sitting really really close to it, but
it sounds great. Can I hear it with a I
just want to try it with a Strat.
Definitely. I'm afraid, as you've
probably noticed, Chris plays the guitar
the wrong way up. So, uh I'm afraid in
order to demonstrate a Strat, you're
going to have to hear listen to a
slightly inferior guitar player. But
Uh-oh. [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
I'm playing with tens, by the way, just
for Mick Taylor because he said I was
[Music]
Great. So, I suppose what the best thing
about guitar amplifiers
is how every guitar kind of sounds
different. Well, the best thing about
good guitar amplifiers is where you just
pick stuff up and it's like all the
goodness of your guitar. Yeah.
Everything that you know I can imagine
everything that Leo and Jim wanted to
happen happens and still happen. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, it's so naughty.
You should be here. You need to be here
with this or something similar. That
sounds amazing though. And this or this
or this?
That's proper. M. That's proper. Oh,
there we are. You This is This is the
face of a of a child in a sweetie shop
face. So, if you had to choose one,
which which one would be yours? Oh,
that's tough. You know, I cuz I mean
this is going to sound like the worst
sales pitch in the universe. Um, but I'm
kind of currently uh experimenting the
whole two amp thing. you know, two amp
is better than one thing. And um getting
some kind of great results using stuff
like um Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a
Marshall DSL or something if you're on a
budget or just a couple of very
different voiced amps. So, honestly, I
guess if if it was like you can have
one, if you can hear drums in the
background, say hello to George. Um
if I had to have one, I guess the
obvious one to buy is the blue one
because it's the dual channel. Okay.
Does a little bit of everything. Um,
can see that being as a, you know, good
club gigging kind of guitar amp. I think
if you're What I actually do quite like
is I can I don't think there's going to
be one of these that doesn't appeal
because I think, you know, the green one
absolutely is going to be your the guy
that just goes, "Look, I just got I've
got some killer pedals I want to plug
in. I don't believe in effects loops.
It's all wizardry and they didn't have
them back in the day, so I don't need
one now." That's the green one. Sure.
the guy that's just going, you know, I I
want when I think of of Marshall, I
think of Gary Moore and Slash and, you
know, those kind of iconic drive players,
players,
they want this one and they will not be
disappointed cuz this is a good amp. Um,
and then I don't know, I think the guy
that's just going, you know what, I I
I'm just looking for a boutique
amplifier. I want something that's
hamwired, relatively portable, looks
sexy, and is going to do it's going to
give me some nice clean tones, some nice
driven tones. I can channel switch. I've
got an effects loop on there. Um, and I
suppose if it's got
a Marshall throwback, it's going to be
vintagey Marshall. It's not sort of
modern Marshall. What about you got a
4x12 anywhere? Yes. So, we could do
that, of course. Okay. Well, do you want
to hear Do you want to hear this amplif
here through a 4x12? Say that's a yes. I
think somebody said no, but we'll ignore
it. Um, let's do that then. So, anyway,
uh, we're going to play out, I think,
with Chris George, the amazing Chris
George, guitarist of the year, 1973.
Runner up. Feels like runn.
Um, so I've been the captain. Thank you
so much to Chris and the guys at
Marshall for inviting us up to HQ today.
[Applause] [Music]
[Applause]
Heat. [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
Is that enough to zoom out on? She like [Music]
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