I am thinking of purchasing a vintage plexi marshall circa '67-70. I am looking for a sound like Zep on albums III--->. I have a Marshall JCM2000 TSL122 and it sounds pretty damned good with the clean pushed and puts out a fairly good amount of distortion (and sounds pretty close to the tone I'm looking for), but I wonder if an old Plexi would really sound that much better. I was wondering if anybody has done an a/b between these two amps and has found wether one sounds a fair amount better than the other. Also, I think I would want a 50-watter (b/c I don't need it TOO loud) and I was wondering the 50's have a much different tone. I know that sound is subjective, but I am interested in what you guys might have found.

I have a 50 Watter. It has just one channel
so I use a pedal or 2 to switch for different
reasons. I was made in the early 80's and
definitly sounds 'vintage'. But do I sound
like ZEP III... I wish

Chances are you can't afford a reliable Plexi. However, you can get an early 70s 50-watter at a reasonable price. Get a Hot Plate and turn the amp up. You might need to take the amp to a tech for a few mods to tweak the sound you're looking for.

thanks, but that's old news. I bought a 69' 1987 50-watt plexi with point to point wiring about 2 months ago. Use it with a 1936 Marshall cab with Weber Blue Dog Alnico 12's. Creamy distortion and a beautiful breakup like you wouldn't believe. And believe it or not, the clean absolutely kills. And I can nail every tone on ZepIII, thank you.

If anyone out there is looking for a fine place to have a Marshall modded, try Griblin Engineering in San Rafael, Ca.
PS...most old Marshalls don't sound similar one to the next. You can voice the amp for your preference, however, by speaking with a qualified and referred technician who is known for modding amps of the type you are looking for, and comes with a good reputation for his work.