First Rehearsal With Code 50

[andy k]

had my first loud test of the Code 50 last night.
Old school punk set, pistols-clash-buzzcocks set, so I tried to keep stuff simple.
anyone not familiar with me, I'm the crazy fool who created the preset list for ALL the code settings as supplied standard, except i drew the line at the FX which ARENT enabled in the preset.
I've been using a Code 25 at home , and loved it for practice at low volume--who could try a plexi at 10's ????, or even get close, the code got me close enough.
Anyhoo, when I took this gig, I thought i wouldnt be taken seriously with a 25, so I picked up a 50 and a pedal, and that would be my rig.
I made the right decision, the 50 was physically bigger, and at least a 12" speaker is a start for live stuff.
I re-visited my list ( do a search on here ) and i managed to work out the presets in relation to the banks on the pedal, not too hard, but theres a few banks that are CRAZY.
and then I realised my list is missing the UN-selected settings, which i kind of knew anyway, but the list is really hard to use with ALL setting showing.
I'm updating my own list with full settings for patches that I will be using on the pedal, and my first experiences live and loud were pretty positive.
I used my old settings, in a live, loud room for the first time, and will be tweaking things as the weeks go by.
I need volume to compete with a loud drummer, and I'm using a telecaster loud-which is another new thing for me, so theres a lot of stuff to work out.
Generally it went really well, easily enough volume, and as the speaker breaks in i'll be able to work out the treble, obviously with a tele-theres a fair bit there.
I've just spent a few hours tweaking a few things and saving to my App. and have brought my list up to date-it will be invaluable to keep track of things to be able to compare-i'm learning a lot of new stuff as i go along, and its early days--but It did sound great for a first attempt.
I didnt want to try saving stuff on the fly with the amp, and to be honest the only thing i did do was turn off reverb-just to see , but in a loud room with a group of new guys I just stuck to the settings and it worked out great.
I'll keep the list updated, and might re-upload it one day-when I'm happy with it--it will just be to fill in some blanks anyway.
cheers guys
andy k

 

[stw500]

Hey Andy, thx for your post and your work. Nice to know, that the 50 is loud enough for gigging. I could only test at home and this was far too loud for my wife and the clinking glasses.

 

[andy k]

Anyhooo,
second rehearsal went ok, i'd made a couple of little tweaks to my settings, and saved them to bank A1-2-3 on the pedl, and i raised it off the floor, sounded pretty good, drummer asked me to turn it up a bit, was around 2.5 on the master vol, definately less than 3, thats 3 not 3 oclock.
third rehearsal , lasted 10 mins with the code. half way through a tune, the tone changed dramatically and the sound went to shit.
i thought it might be a bug with the pedl, so i turned it off, and waited, then turned back on, all pre-sets sounded terrible--to me as if the speaker had blown.
luckily i live not far from the rehearsal space, so i went home and got my 30 year old roland cube 60, which was always a loud little amp, and my MXR 5150 Odrive, but i wasnt sure it would cut it.
I got through the rehearsal with a brutal sound, and the other guys even complimented me on it--but I'm not sure a 30 year old SS amp will be very reliable in the future--it hasnt let me down yet, unlike the code.
I've always sung its praises, and have been a defender of it, and the concept, now i'm not so sure.
I've had the amp just over a month-so just outside the return period and have e-mailed the seller, i'll see what they say.
Pretty pissed really, put a lot of time into it, and now wouldnt be happy using it without a backup, which makes rehearsals less fun.
next rehearsal will be with my 30 odd year old Roland, 5150 OD and a sansamp flyrig-thats going to be fun until I kill my cube.

 

[Plectrum]

I think you've been very unlucky. I've been using my CODE 50 live every week for about a year now without a problem.

 

[slagg]

Maybe it's just me but,I would never gig with a amp like the code. Just don't think a amplified cellphone would cut it
Edit:Sorry didn't mean to shit on your thread

 

[mbell75]

Wow, you had it under 3 with a loud drummer? Ive had mine on 3 in rehearsals and its just me playing guitar with a vocalist to drum tracks coming thru the PA. However, we do like to crank everything up a bit yes, having the Code off the floor (as with any amp) really improves its sound. I have a stand for it and it sits back tilted up a bit, way better sound than it on the floor.

 

[andy k]

ok,
new day, e-mailed the vendor last night, got back to me first thing today, suggested a factory re-set might fix it, otherwise pre-amp (think they mean output) or speaker fault.
I set it all up today, tried headphones first--seems ok.
tried playing at home vols--seems ok.
leaving it on-for about an hour and a half now-at rehearsal vol-which is only actually 3 on the master vol--seems ok so far, really noticing the effect the threshold has on background noise, my presets are all threshold at 0, and are set for loud plexi / bluesbreaker / 800, the 800 is really noisy, the stock preset for the 800 is at 4, and that definately kills a lot of dynamics.
e-mailed the vendor re-my testing today, explaining that I need reliability, and that the problem hasnt shown itself so far, without doing a factory re-set---which i suspect wouldnt help if its a genuine fault that only shows under stress.
I'm half hoping the fault does occur, and a factory re-set does fix it, but I wont know until it happens--so I guess thats not very reliable.
If i had time to play around--I would get someone to open it up to see if a better speaker got better results, but I havent, I still think the idea and the concept of code is fantastic-at the price point anyway, but I am beginning to see that Marshall 'reliability' might need to be re-considered these days---not that valves and transformers are THAT reliable, but it is a worry if I cant rehearse without a backup, let alone get through a show.
I'll keep you posted.
cheers guys
andy k

 

[Antmax]

I like mine and have had it since launch day. But it does have a lot more background noise and is by far the noisiest of three solid state amps and a tube amp which just has a low hiss. It's the one thing that marrs my experience of the CODE.

The CODE 100 has had a long delayed release. Some people connected to Marshall have said something about the power section needing to be redone. I imagine the 100 is designed more with gigging at high volume in mind. It would be a shame if the problem was in the 50's design too.

Mine has been very dependable since the first firmware update.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

I use mine for practices and have had no problems. Gigging, I have plenty of other amps for that but always bring a backup! Practice is one thing but for a show I take the little Peavey 6505 Mini head.

Maybe it's just me but,I would never gig with a amp like the code. Just don't think a amplified cellphone would cut it
Edit:Sorry didn't mean to shit on your thread

I don't think I would refer to Code quite that way just because it has a phone app. Take an MG or old Transtube Peavey series and add a huge host of more tones and effects. I don't think many gigged with Peabey Bandits but you see the point - it is a far more versatile amp than just a SS amp. That's why I got mine.

 

[Dmann]

Always have a backup amp.

 

[andy k]

update,
left it on for 4 hours at rehearsal levels, played it for a while at home levels-no recurrence of the problem, I'll have to wait until next week to play again at gigging volume-if it happens again, i'll do a factory reset, had to update gateway today to latest version, and tried the 'official' marshall tone transfer tool, seemed to work ok. tha amp is already on latest firmware, so if it fails again it will be going back, and i'll have it replaced.
My 30 year old roland cube chorus will be coming with me next time.
cheers guys
andy k

 

[slide222]

maybe the code mk2 might be a better bet , but I hope you get it sorted andy

 

[Deep Purple fan]

I use mine for practices and have had no problems. Gigging, I have plenty of other amps for that but always bring a backup! Practice is one thing but for a show I take the little Peavey 6505 Mini head.



I don't think I would refer to Code quite that way just because it has a phone app. Take an MG or old Transtube Peavey series and add a huge host of more tones and effects. I don't think many gigged with Peabey Bandits but you see the point - it is a far more versatile amp than just a SS amp. That's why I got mine.

I've got to agree with you. I know a lot of people bash CODE but I love the thing. I'm really pulling some good tones out of, everything works like it should, easy as hell to dial in. I've seen a guy gig with it. Great player for sure but he pulls out a great overall tone. I use mine with the headphones a lot on weekends or for bedroom volume playing and it does what I want it to do.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

I use mine for practices and have had no problems. Gigging, I have plenty of other amps for that but always bring a backup! Practice is one thing but for a show I take the little Peavey 6505 Mini head.

I should clarify - the Peavey Mini is the backup. Easy to haul, sounds good.
Had a practice last night with the Code, I still have to do some tweaking on the 800 channel but overall, I only need a few tones and it's a 1 hander, fairly light haul down basement stairs.

 

[andy k]

update,
first rehearsal since 'problem' surfaced, 3 hours at highest volume yet, no problems.
I had it stood on top of my Cube 60, which was ready to go with a Sansamp Flyrig for tones, if and when anything happened. I didnt even get a chance to set that up though, the code was fine.
I'm thinking there may have been a power spike or something that caused the original problem, until it happens again I cant really investigate.
Given the hassle of getting it changed over, I'm going to tell the vendor my findings, and make sure they have it on record in case I need it changing in a few months, it would all need to be done by post.
I now realise that gigging with ANY amp solo is going to be a gamble, so I was thinking of just keeping the Cube set up as a B rig, with maybe a splitter in front to allow a quick change if the main A rig ( code) blows again. I'm going to use an MXR 10 band eq in front ,as it has 2 outputs and I'll try and get that setup working in the next few weeks.
laters.
andy k

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Good idea especially for gigging. Likely even MORE required for a tube amp. Plugged in the little mini Jubilee head yesterday to play the new guitar - no sound. Turns out one of my RFT pre tubes sprung an air leak. It's dead, Jim! Always test before shows and take an extra amp and tubes. Can't be really tube checking mid gig....

 

[Deep Purple fan]

My code 50 seized up this weekend. Went completely dead for a second and powered back up. Then it died again. I checked all connection. Good to go but still dead. I then unplugged everything and reconnected. It then powered up. Lost my updated presets. Had to start over. Realization, the shelf life are measured in months not decades. I've had it a year or so.....I will be lucky to get another year. I really like what it does so when it dies I will look for a replacement.... a code or something similar.

 

[Arc Anjil]

Time for another firmware update? Or are the parts in a CODE so cheap we'll all soon be stuck with just a speaker box (with a cheap speaker in it)?

 

[Gunner64]

My code 50 seized up this weekend. Went completely dead for a second and powered back up. Then it died again. I checked all connection. Good to go but still dead. I then unplugged everything and reconnected. It then powered up. Lost my updated presets. Had to start over. Realization, the shelf life are measured in months not decades. I've had it a year or so.....I will be lucky to get another year. I really like what it does so when it dies I will look for a replacement.... a code or something similar.

Don't they come with a 5yr warranty? ..I would check into that. I just grabbed one and it has a 5yr warranty according to the card..

 

[mbell75]

The Code has kept up just fine with the band Im in for rehearsals, but its just drums, my guitar and vocals. I did my first "real" gig with the Code 50 last night. We were playing a rather small bar last night with a well known local band who seriously should be opening for GnR, they sound like early GnR and they are awesome. Ive only been playing guitar seriously for 6 months, only 3 months into this project and we opened for them. I only have a Code 50 right now, was not expecting to be playing live shows so quickly, especially opening for top notch bands. My friend who plays lead guitar in the band we opened for has an Orange Rockverb 100 and an Orange 2x12 cab and full pedal board. Talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight! Its more like bringing a toothpick to a gun fight. His rig obviously made my Code 50 sound like a sad little toy. Their sound just blows you back like a killer hard rock/blues band should and although we have a much different (more indie) sound, its like night and day and a good eye opener for us. I never intended to play live shows with the Code and after a few shows, yea, I really need to step it up. Getting a Fender Bassbreaker 45 and either a Bassman 59 reissue or a Super Reverb. The EL34s running with the 6L6s and the 2x12s paired with the 4x10s with a few foundation and fuzz pedals is what I want. The Code may work for rehearsals but bring it out to a real gig, even in a bar and you'll see what I mean. It just lacks the volume, depth and presence to drive a band if you want your sound to be really big.