# Big Wreck (Ian's tone)



## KneeDeep89 (Feb 12, 2008)

Hey guys, i'm new to the forum and you guessed it- lookin for an amp. I am in love with Ian Thornley's Big Wreck tone so i am trying to find an affordable way to replicate it the best i can. I live in Nova Scotia, so this is all i have for selection: Marshall, Mesa, Fender, Orange, Traynor,Vox and the like. 

Anything you guys can give me would be much appreciated!:smile:


----------



## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

KneeDeep89 said:


> Hey guys, i'm new to the forum and you guessed it- lookin for an amp. I am in love with Ian Thornley's Big Wreck tone so i am trying to find an affordable way to replicate it the best i can. I live in Nova Scotia, so this is all i have for selection: Marshall, Mesa, Fender, Orange, Traynor,Vox and the like.
> 
> Anything you guys can give me would be much appreciated!:smile:


I see a Marshall (JCM ?) and a Soldano SLO here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GydmsenAdnM

I would think most any old school 50 or 100W Marshall would get you pretty close as long as you can turn the volume up full. Probably lots of newer Marshalls too, but I just don't know them. 

Welcome to the fora :food-smiley-004:


----------



## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

yah he's a big user of soldano slo-100s. they're not easy to replicate on the cheap, lol.. how much are you thinking of spending? that would help, you can get an slo used for... 2500(no affiliation at all). so....


----------



## KneeDeep89 (Feb 12, 2008)

yeah, he's used JCM 2000s, SLOs and a few vettas with Thornley. What i'm reall interested in is his tone on songs Like Overemphasizing from ILMO and basically anything off The Pleasure and The Greed album. I know i can get Mesas and DSL's used for about 1500 here, so that ( + or - some money) is what i'm willing to spend.


----------



## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

it's tough to get that really over the top tone without spending the huge bucks. you might look for a hughs and kettner head... a mesa recto is a little too wooly IMO, marshall is closer.. try the new spider valve from line6, it's got a tube section designed by soldano, it might get you in the right neighbourhood.


----------



## TimH (Feb 4, 2006)

suttree said:


> it's tough to get that really over the top tone without spending the huge bucks. you might look for a hughs and kettner head... a mesa recto is a little too wooly IMO, marshall is closer.. try the new spider valve from line6, it's got a tube section designed by soldano, it might get you in the right neighbourhood.


Actually the Spider Valve was designed by Bogner not Soldano and it won't get you close. A BIG part of his tone is the downtuning and open tunings. I'd say a Marshall DSL 100 is as good a place to start as any.


----------



## KneeDeep89 (Feb 12, 2008)

yeah, thats thing. i almost always play in open tunings such as DADFAD DADF#AD and all sorts of variations open G so i have that covered. I don't know if this is true or not, but did marshalls new JVM replace the DSL's?


----------



## cbrown0019 (Jan 28, 2008)

Sneaky said:


> I see a Marshall (JCM ?) and a Soldano SLO here...
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GydmsenAdnM
> 
> ...


When I seen him live the last time (March07) He used a similar setup if not the same to that. And the marshall was a JCM800. And for effects, he used 2 dl4's, a mm4, a TS, i believe it was a vox wah, and i think it was some sort of home made boost or something along those lines.


----------



## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

TimH said:


> Actually the Spider Valve was designed by Bogner not Soldano and it won't get you close. A BIG part of his tone is the downtuning and open tunings. I'd say a Marshall DSL 100 is as good a place to start as any.


well, i stand corrected on the bogner/soldano.. i was confusing my boutique builders there. 

as to the tone, i would argue that it will get you quite close, high gain has always been line6's forte, and the addition of a tube power section makes the tones much nicer. YMMV of course.


----------



## KneeDeep89 (Feb 12, 2008)

would this do the trick?

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-musical-instruments-Marshall-Half-Stack-W0QQAdIdZ38015854


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

there's a lot that goes into the studio sound you hear on CD's, i'd keep that in mind.

that said, if you can approximate the tone i'd like to know! i really need to buy the big wreck CD's, great music.


----------



## cbrown0019 (Jan 28, 2008)

Did some looking online and found this interesting read, basically thornleys entire set up for that whole album with tunings for each song. enjoy!
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/matt-blackett/jan-00/6500


----------



## a Pack of Wolves (Sep 5, 2007)

i think alot of it was also his massive amount of (both) effects and guitars

his pedal board looked like a robot from the future laying on the ground in front of him

part of it is (was) also layers and layers of guitars on the songs

i don't think it's a simple as someone recommending you a certain amp or not

lots of pedals,lots of layering guitars,lots of different amp sounds

(p.s.)
i know this reply sound kinda dumb


----------



## Guest (Feb 15, 2008)

cbrown0019 said:


> When I seen him live the last time (March07) He used a similar setup if not the same to that. And the marshall was a JCM800. And for effects, he used 2 dl4's, a mm4, a TS, i believe it was a vox wah, and i think it was some sort of home made boost or something along those lines.


Big Wreck played the tiny little bar at U of T when I first started there. Killer show and loud as hell. That night it was a set of JCM's each into a 4x12. There was definitely an OC-2 on the board. I always thought that was a big part of his secret sauce. Man, I really loved that song...


----------



## KneeDeep89 (Feb 12, 2008)

yeah thanks guys for all your input. I realize that alot of his tone comes from the studio, the pedalboard and the tunings ( as most do). I gusee what i really wanna know is, which is the best amp that will give me that basic platform to build off of?

and btw, it cant be like a Soldano, or bogner or matchless lol.


----------



## KneeDeep89 (Feb 12, 2008)

i found a JCM 800 2204 (canadian version) for 1000 obo and a DSL 50 for 950. i heard a couple guys mention these amps in this thread before so i am wondering if either of these bad boys will do what i want. Thanks guys!


----------



## Guest (Feb 16, 2008)

KneeDeep89 said:


> i found a JCM 800 2204 (canadian version) for 1000 obo and a DSL 50 for 950. i heard a couple guys mention these amps in this thread before so i am wondering if either of these bad boys will do what i want. Thanks guys!


The 800 all the way man. And then push it hard with something out front. Kick in a little OC-2 and you'll be overemphasizing Thornley in no time. :wink:


----------



## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

JCM800 by a long shot! Better if it is non channel switching. I've got an 82' JCM800 with 6550's, its fat man. I run it just crunching up (even at 2 its freakin loud, this thing is a beast unless i attenuate)and then kick in my bad monkey. Done.. throw in some juicy pickups and you are there. Also remember that a lot of these guys had/have their jcm's modded. So why not get a jcm800 /2204 clone from Ceriatone in the head cab. right now I've been favouring my plexi clone with a boost. I've got Marshall in the blood I guess. The only thing I would rather have is a slo.


----------



## bryguy9 (Jul 13, 2007)

*oc-2?*

I love that song...
I love that song...

sorry.

Please fill me in. What is an OC-2?

bryguy:smilie_flagge17:


----------



## Guest (Feb 17, 2008)

bryguy9 said:


> Please fill me in. What is an OC-2?


Boss' little brown octave box: http://www.bossarea.com/loadpage.asp?file=boxes/oc2.xml


----------



## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

that article is pretty sweet...

the marshall and the soldano are sweet amps, and he is known to use matchless stuff a fair bit too!

he's got a new pedal board...i remember seeing big wreck in ottawa years ago and he had two big boards of effects...now its just one board full of switches with red LED's around them...LINE6 i believe...but you can see the MM4 and TS9 in the rack as well

the tunings have a lot to do with the sounds as well...drop d, open G (with some variations) and open D (with some variations) are the main tunings that he uses...


----------



## mcgriff420 (Sep 30, 2008)

A long-assed time ago when he played locally with Big Wreck he had a huge pedal board that looked home-made, and he was using a pair of JCM800's with two Marshall Power Brakes in his rack drawer. He also had a BBE Sonic Maximizer.

Using a huge piece of wood helps the sustain factor too, ie. those big Gibby double necks or an Eastwood Ultra would help get you there.

The tried and true way to get there is with a single channel JCM (cranked) and an overdrive pedal.
If you just want to get there with no fuss and no muss the DSL will make life easy so you can focus on the playing. Jus my .02


----------



## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

what i've been thinking lately is...i wonder what power tubes he likes...we know he's played JCM800's...but the SLO would have 6L6's...and there's probably a pretty good chance that his V-4's run on 6L6's too...

i like the heaviness...and the chime...maybe i'll through 6L6's in my YCS50


----------

