Owner's Manual

MODELED AMPS & CABS: WHICH AMPS AND CABS ARE MODELED?
4 • 5
Brit Blues - This Amp Model is based on a circa 1964-65 JTM-45 head with
block logo (predates the “scrolled” Marshall logo), complete with a gold Plexiglas
(Plexi) front panel, although the sound normally associated with Plexi amps
comes from the late 60’s, 50-watt version that was the inspiration for the next in
POD’s line up of Amp Models. The JTM-45 marked the beginning of Marshall’s
transition from a mellower Fender-like tone to the distinctive bright “crunchy”
sound of the later Marshalls.
Brit Classic - Modeled after the infamous Marshall Plexi – coveted by tone
connoisseurs the world over. By this time (ca. 1968) Marshall had completely
changed the circuitry away from the Fender 6L6 power tube heritage and moved
to an EL34 tube; another major tone difference was due to the necessary output &
power supply transformer changes. (See, we told you we spent some time looking
into all this stuff.) All this mucking about added up to create a tone forever linked
with Rock Guitar. Amps of this era didn’t have any sort of master volume control,
so to get this sound you’d have to crank your “Mark III Super Amp” to max – just
the thing to help you really make friends with the neighbors. Hendrix used
Marshalls of this era; 20 years later Van Halen’s first two records owed their
“brown sound” to a 100-watt Plexi. In order to get a crunch sound out of a Plexi
you would likely crank up the input volume and the tone controls (to 10!). You’ll
find that the Brit Classic, in keeping with our basic “make-it-sound-a-whole-lot-
like-the-original” concept, is set up to do pretty darned near the same thing. Max
out the Middle and Treble knobs and turn Bass to about 9 or 10 o’clock on your
POD when using this Plexi-inspired Amp Model and you can treat those nice
neighbors to a tasty slice of fat rock tone.
Brit Hi Gain - Turn to this Amp Model to conjure up tones of the coveted
JCM 800, one of Marshall’s most universally-acclaimed modern amps. This
updated version of the Plexi continued Marshall’s heritage with added gain and
edge for a new generation of rock guitarists. One of the biggest differences here is
that the tone controls are located after the preamp tubes. We worked with a 1990
JCM 800 with Master Volume to develop this model. Incidentally, some versions
of JCM800’s get their distortion from clipping a diode. The amp we modeled uses a
tube for distortion. This is the metal sound Marshall made famous. Although not