# Spinal Puppet = what real amp?



## 7 Strings of Hate (Sep 18, 2008)

just what is says. i have found that the "spinal puppet" model on the XTL just does it for me and would LOVE to get an amp that sounds the same. what is a real world counterpart for this one?


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## Groff (Sep 18, 2008)

I think that's just a Line 6 creation. It was my personal fav on GearBox until I got metal shop and discovered the Chunk Chunk patch.

To me it sounds like a Recto without the "squish" in the bottom end


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Sep 18, 2008)

i know its a line 6 creation, that why i'm asking what the real equivilant.

the recto is mid heavy, this sounds scooped, very panteraish, i guess i should probably post a clip of my patch so you guys can hear excatly what i'm talking about


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## Scali (Sep 18, 2008)

This is what Line6 says:


> *Line 6 Spinal Puppet* - The monster truck of tone. Big, powerful, tight and fast. We studied and modeled some of the best stock and *modded Marshall® amps* in the world to create this hybrid monster that goes way past 11. This is all about serious amounts of gain for discerning high gain players.


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Sep 18, 2008)

any idea of what marshalls?


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## MerlinTKD (Sep 18, 2008)

Huh... always put me in mind of Metallica, especially given the name. Maybe it's the Spinal Tap version of the Master of Puppets sound?


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Sep 18, 2008)

the sound of it really sounds like panteraish to me


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## Scali (Sep 18, 2008)

The only 'real' Marshalls as far as rock/metal are concerned, are the Plexi/early JCM800 models.
Obviously they need to be hot-rodded in order to deliver the amount of gain the Spinal Puppet has. Then you get the typical 80s recipe for tone.


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## budda (Sep 18, 2008)

modded marshall... look into a splawn maybe?


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## Metal Ken (Sep 18, 2008)

MerlinTKD said:


> Huh... always put me in mind of Metallica, especially given the name. Maybe it's the Spinal Tap version of the Master of Puppets sound?



Except The MoP sound was mostly MkIIC's, right?


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## EdgeCrusher (Sep 18, 2008)

I think a Mark III with a boost (needed for that over the top saturation) would be your best bet for that kind of hot rodded Marshall tone. When I scoop out all the mids with the GEQ it gives me that Metallica/Pantera type of sound (only better IMO)


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## Spinedriver (Sep 19, 2008)

I believe that back in the late 80's-early 90's, the guys in Anthrax were using modded JCM 800's. Dino Cazares also used to use a modded 800 and his tone was pretty heavy (when he used to use it).

So I guess that the mods that are done on the amp will pretty much dictate how heavy it'll be. As far as a 'real life' counterpart to the Spinal Puppet, it's hard to say because there are a lot of variables when you make a patch on the Pod and brass tacks is that there just might not be one.


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## HighGain510 (Sep 19, 2008)

Well if you're looking for a "pantera-ish" kind of sound, Dimebag always used solid state Randall gear so if you're looking for a non-Line 6 amp that would be close, there you go.  It's not really a "tube-sounding" model though so I don't think you're going to find a tube amp that sounds fizzy like that.


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## MerlinTKD (Sep 19, 2008)

Metal Ken said:


> Except The MoP sound was mostly MkIIC's, right?



That's what I've always heard... funny, SP doesn't sound like a Marshall to me, but then my ear for Marshall's is tuned towards older stuff, up through Priest and RR, that kind of thing.

'Cause I'm old. 


I suppose it does sound Pantera-ish, but then Pantera always sounded like a more modern Metallica to me anyway (and I mean that in a good way).


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## Scali (Sep 19, 2008)

The most famous Marshall modders are Soldano and Bogner. So think of those when you think of what a modded Plexi/JCM800 would sound like.
The only amp that Marshall ever built in that style, was the 6100. It contains a hot-rodded lead channel with 2 more preamp valves than a regular Plexi or JCM800, and the voicing/eq have been adjusted for that. The result is a preamp very similar to the Bogner Fish, and can deliver a Spinal Puppet-like sound.

Here is some info on how various amp designs relate:
Guitar Amp Evolution


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## Drew (Sep 19, 2008)

Scali said:


> The most famous Marshall modders are Soldano and Bogner. So think of those when you think of what a modded Plexi/JCM800 would sound like.
> The only amp that Marshall ever built in that style, was the 6100. It contains a hot-rodded lead channel with 2 more preamp valves than a regular Plexi or JCM800, and the voicing/eq have been adjusted for that. The result is a preamp very similar to the Bogner Fish, and can deliver a Spinal Puppet-like sound.
> 
> Here is some info on how various amp designs relate:
> Guitar Amp Evolution



To be fair, the DSL's and TSL's also have that sort of cascading gain staging, but they're voiced in more of a crunchy, less compressed, less liquid manner.


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## Scali (Sep 19, 2008)

Drew said:


> To be fair, the DSL's and TSL's also have that sort of cascading gain staging, but they're voiced in more of a crunchy, less compressed, less liquid manner.


 
As far as I know they don't use as many valves in the chain of gainstages (there are only 4 ECC83s in the amp, one of which is a phase inverter, so even if all else is used for gain cascading, it's less than the 4 ECC83s in the 6100/Bogner Fish... my 6101 has a total of 7 ECC83s in the amp), and get part of their distortion from diode clipping circuitry, which gives them more harsh, brittle crunchy sound, but less detail than the all-tube sound of a hotrodded Marshall.

This is a TSL:






This is a 6100:


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## sami (Sep 28, 2008)

Weird. Spinal Puppet is my fav and it doesn't sound Pantera-ish or scooped to me. I often lack a lot of upper mids because of my fingers and this one gives me the best oomph. It is fizzy but I've used the para eq to take off that high end fizzyness. I also use the TS9 effect with it.


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Sep 28, 2008)

i'l throw up a clip in a bit to let you hear how i have it set up


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## B Lopez (Sep 28, 2008)

I mostly use Spinal Puppet despite having the metal shop. 

Would like to hear that clip


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## Toshiro (Sep 28, 2008)

I thought one of the Line 6 models was based on Dino's modded JCM800? Don't remember 100&#37;.


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Sep 28, 2008)

heres a snippet of a song i was working on called "echos of creation", the clip only is like 30 seconds or so and it completely and totally raw just to give you an idea of what i'm hearing.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=878265


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