Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher demos the Marshall JCM 800 Studio Series amp

We're big Bill Kelliher fans – not only does he always deliver the goods live and on record with Mastodon, he loves talking tone as much as the rest of us. He's even a guitar teacher! Here he's offering his thoughts, and demoing, the latest iteration of one of the greatest rock guitar amps of all time; the 20-watt Marshall JCM800 Studio Classic. 

"It's got a very nice and clean, very bright sound that really cuts through the mix, and to me that's very important," notes Bill, a big fan of arpeggiated parts that need clarity and articulation. "When I was a kid I would always scoop all the mids to get all the lows and highs in there. But I'd always listen back to recordings and ask, why can't I hear myself? And it's because you need that midrange, and this amp has a lot of midrange in it. 

Listen to Bill – beware of the scoop! 

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.