Shocking confession: I’m just not one of those players that has a highly developed sense of artistic identity. Angus Young, I am not. I’m still figuring myself out as a player and when it comes to gear, I want options. At the same time, I tend to struggle with products that have 59 knobs on them and promise a massive array of tones.
At face value, our Plexiglas amp in Eleven Rack and the Marshall Super Lead it’s based on, is a refreshingly simple and specific amp. But let’s examine some of the factory Rigs in Eleven Rack which put the Plexiglas to use and see where it takes us.
At one point in my life, I think I would have described a Plexi as a one trick pony, great for dimed-out, mammoth chords and VH-style blistering leads:
(E4: Volcanic):
Thankfully, with the assistance of some hearing protection, I had the opportunity to dig a little deeper. My first revelation was when I realized that it is very capable in much less overdriven context, like this Axis-era Jimi rhythm guitar tones :
(a1: Bolder Axe)
(l4: Weeping)
Using a guitar equipped with humbuckers and turning up the Volume 1 control takes you into classic Clapton territory:
(a4: Subway God)
If you go back to using single coils, max out all the tone and volume controls but dial down the Presence control, you can mimic recent era Jeff Beck leads (use your fingers instead of a pick to cop his attack):
(f3: Lose the pick)
Things get really interesting when you pile on the sauce and cascade gain stages by putting an overdrive pedal in front of the amp with more moderately set controls. Insert a tape echo in between the overdrive and the amp and you have that luxurious Eric Johnson lead tone:
(g2: 6 String Violin)
Another example with complimentary use of effects is Andy Summers’ tone from the early Police recordings. Taking the “c1: Lunar Steps” Rig stored in Eleven Rack, I can modify it to use the Plexiglas amp and still recreate his sound. Setting the Volume 2 control to 0 emulates removing the “jumper” (a short cable whose ends are plugged into Inputs 1 and 2) and plugging the guitar into just Input 1. A low to moderate Volume 1 setting will give you a surprisingly clean sound that cuts nicely in a mix and works great with modulation effects:
You have got to love the fact that one amp is the foundation for all those signature tones across decades of rock history. One trick pony? Hardly. Whether you’re trying to realize ‘your sound’ or you’re like me and still working it out, it’s pretty likely that you’ll find something useful if not brilliant with this amp. There’s so much sonic goodness that can be discovered by just blending the Volume 1 and Volume 2 controls. Without the burden of 59 knobs, I’ve got options galore and it’s that surprising flexibility from a simple set of controls that makes me massive fan of our Plexiglas amp.
except for l4: Weeping, all the clips above were performed by James Santiago