Bolan Tone

slacker

Casual fan here. I always viewed him as  singer songwriter who also played guitar. I loved his voice. His talent for me was the rhythm guitar riffs that drive the songs.. Many are instantly recognisable.

FelineGuitars

Kind of hard for me to hide my Bolan fan-boy tendencies 

I'm not sure though which of his hits had which amp 

He got involved with Vamp Amplification at some early point as well as using the HH stuff

Heis often seen with a Rangemaster treble boost and you can see his Copy Cat tape delay on the floor

Kurtis

As with a lot of these guys the bulk of his "tone" probably came from sheer volume! 
Not always easy to achieve, even with the same gear.
Other than that, any kind of "British" voiced amp, and possibly less distortion than you might imagine, should get you close surely?


Did he run the rangemaster into a solid state amp? 
Mick ronson used a solid state Marshall didn't he? Maybe there's something to it. 

Can't say I've ever had a tranny amp up at thunderous volumes. 

PhilKing

Mick Ronson had a 200w Marshall Major valve amp.  

Never realized that Mark Bolan had a Zemaitis (hiding in the background in Jon's picture).

The cabs look like they have 15" speakers in them, possibly JBL's, as I think they are Fender cabs.

Kittyfrisk

PhilKing said:

Mick Ronson had a 200w Marshall Major valve amp.  

Never realized that Mark Bolan had a Zemaitis (hiding in the background in Jon's picture).

The cabs look like they have 15" speakers in them, possibly JBL's, as I think they are Fender cabs.

Yep, affectionately known as "The Pig" 

Kurtis

PhilKing said:

Mick Ronson had a 200w Marshall Major valve amp.  

Ah cheers, don't know why I thought ss. 

Kittyfrisk

PhilKing said:

Mick Ronson had a 200w Marshall Major valve amp.  

Never realized that Mark Bolan had a Zemaitis (hiding in the background in Jon's picture).

The cabs look like they have 15" speakers in them, possibly JBL's, as I think they are Fender cabs.

Hootsmon

Dang he was handsome but I think had he lived he would have been just like Maradona in his old days.......when I saw that poster of him way back in chair with denim jacket I just HAD tae have one.....jacket not the chair

ICBM

Kittyfrisk said:

PhilKing said:

Mick Ronson had a 200w Marshall Major valve amp.

Yep, affectionately known as "The Pig" 

No, they're not the same thing. Ronson's model was the original Marshall 200 which is known as "the pig", with just one channel (two input jacks) and three controls - labeled treble volume, bass volume, and master volume (even though it isn't in a modern sense). The Major is a later model with a conventional two-channel, four-input, six-knob preamp. Ritchie Blackmore is the most famous Major user, although Martin Barre of Jethro Tull apparently had one too.

This is my old one... after I sold it to someone more famous .

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/23239/lot/213/gary-moore-a-marshall-model-1967-major-amplifier-circa-1968/

Kittyfrisk

ICBM said:

Kittyfrisk said:

PhilKing said:

Mick Ronson had a 200w Marshall Major valve amp.

Yep, affectionately known as "The Pig" 

No, they're not the same thing. Ronson's model was the original Marshall 200 which is known as "the pig", with just one channel (two input jacks) and three controls - labeled treble volume, bass volume, and master volume (even though it isn't in a modern sense). The Major is a later model with a conventional two-channel, four-input, six-knob preamp. Ritchie Blackmore is the most famous Major user, although Martin Barre of Jethro Tull apparently had one too.

This is my old one... after I sold it to someone more famous .

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/23239/lot/213/gary-moore-a-marshall-model-1967-major-amplifier-circa-1968/

Good points, I'm not qualified or experienced enough to agree with or contradict any of that, I'm just a pre-Internet punter, basing my 'knowledge' on the general accumulated consensus, which can occasionally be blurred at the edges of accuracy 
Like this https://reverb.com/news/a-history-of-marshall-amps-the-early-years

ICBM

Kittyfrisk said:

Like this https://reverb.com/news/a-history-of-marshall-amps-the-early-years

There's so much wrong in there it's hard to know where to start!

Kittyfrisk

^ Exactly 

Reverend

Some friends of mine using H||H heads without pedals

riffbrother

On Sky Arts 9pm tonight: Angelheaded Hipster - the Songs of Marc Bolan & T Rex.  

Reverend

riffbrother said:

On Sky Arts 9pm tonight: Angelheaded Hipster - the Songs of Marc Bolan & T Rex.  

Saw that at the cinema a few weeks ago

Blueingreen

Sorry if someone said so and I missed it, but I suspect a big part of his sound was the Watkins Copicat (visible in the 3rd picture in the post by FelineGuitars above).  I remember one of the music mags posting a comprehensive list of the gear his band used on a gig and it included 5 Copicats - he obviously loved them and used them for all sorts.  As well as tape echo the unit included a pre-amp that could function like an overdrive pedal - I used one for this myself at one time.

Offset

FelineGuitars said:

Oooh Marc.  Those 'shoes'.  No.

However... Electric Warrior is one of THE coolest album covers EVER.

Offset

Kurtis said:

As with a lot of these guys the bulk of his "tone" probably came from sheer volume! 

Can't say I've ever had a tranny amp up at thunderous volumes. 

Having owned several H||H amps in the past, I can confidently say 'tone' wasn't one of their key characteristics.  They DID look bloody cool on a dimly-lit stage however :-)

Kittyfrisk

Offset said:

FelineGuitars said:

Oooh Marc.  Those 'shoes'.  No.

However... Electric Warrior is one of THE coolest album covers EVER.

Almost certainly (Barbara Hulanicki) Biba's finest 

Offset

Kittyfrisk said:

Offset said:

Oooh Marc.  Those 'shoes'.  No.

Almost certainly (Barbara Hulanicki) Biba's finest 

A free pair with every Shawn Mendes Musicmaster.  Allegedly