Sounds great Chris
Marshall Style 1987 Build, Which Choke?
- Thread starter Cadorman
- Start date
Same here, the closest I got are the Origin’s .
But I can bring them down but not with that same snarl.
Your amp build sounds fantastic !!
Cheers
ivan H
Ambassador of Tubes & Grooves
There we go (thanks Cadorman). While it's possible to get a good tone at low volume with a pedal in front of the amp, IMO it doesn't compare to the organic tone & "feel" we get from opening it up some. Sounds great Cadorman & I know it sounds even better in the room. Cheers
OP
Cadorman
Ambassador of the Catocaster
Thanks Ivan. It sounds great, very little noise even when up on 8 (haven't had the nerve to go to 10 yet). I had all the controls at 12 o'clock. The 10uf cap on channel 2 is great. Really makes it useful. Thanks for all of your input.
One reason that I love using a volume pedal in the FX loop. I can set my master volume at 7-8 knob position and control amp volume without ever reducing gain level.
If ever I build this 45 watt British kit, ot will have a loop.
ivan H
Ambassador of Tubes & Grooves
These 4 hole (4 input) type amp rely on each stage contributing a little for their distortion tone. When we think of "power stage" distortion, this includes the phase inverter which helps to fatten the tone up when overdriven. Fitting a PPIMV to a pre PI master volume type amp & doing a little experimenting will show this to be true. The power tubes, OT & speakers all contribute too. The thing is, as Cadorman noted earlier, they do get loud when pushed to overdrive. At full clip a 50 watter can put out close to 70 watts.
While cranking the volume & limiting drive to the output does result in preamp overdrive, it's just not the same, even when the PI is included. I've tried every type PPIMV, I just don't like them much for the same reason, it's just not the same.
When necessary I use a Weber Mass 200 attenuator to knock just a few db off (no NOS power tubes fitted for this), but prefer not to.
All that said, a JTM45 is a 30~35 watt amp, you may get away without needing to limit drive to the output. Cheers
While cranking the volume & limiting drive to the output does result in preamp overdrive, it's just not the same, even when the PI is included. I've tried every type PPIMV, I just don't like them much for the same reason, it's just not the same.
When necessary I use a Weber Mass 200 attenuator to knock just a few db off (no NOS power tubes fitted for this), but prefer not to.
All that said, a JTM45 is a 30~35 watt amp, you may get away without needing to limit drive to the output. Cheers
OP
Cadorman
Ambassador of the Catocaster
Robert, you still won't be over driving the power tubes if you do this. That would require some form of attenuator
OP
Cadorman
Ambassador of the Catocaster
I have a Weber Mass Lite 100 watt that I don't use...might come in handy!!!!
ivan H
Ambassador of Tubes & Grooves
A glitch in the matrix.
That would work better (though they're best used to just knock a few db off, no trying to get down to bedroom levels please).
I thoroughly recommend having a go at building such an amp, it is very rewarding. Do some research first, choose components wisely (especially transformers) & have at it (there are step by step instructional available). Cheers
SG John
Ambassador of Cool Guitars and Amps.
At several gigs in the early 2000s, several different guitar players in Boston said I had probably the best sound of anyone on the scene. I was up against people who I'm not worthy to polish their frets, really. That was when I was using my '89 JTM45 Reissue into an '87 SIlver Jubilee 4x12 with G12T-75 speakers in it. I was extremely flattered to hear that from people I looked up to. The JTM45 has always been the sound in my head, and a great sounding (best Marshall ever) amp. I see the need to improve on the wheel, but they should have always offered an accurate version of that amp over the years.
ivan H
Ambassador of Tubes & Grooves
That would have been flattering. JTM45's are great sounding (& responding) amps, I agree that Marshall should have always offered an accurate version.
I've built a couple for others over the years, running one through an old 4x12 loaded with Rola 12PEG alnico speakers was one of those "magic tone" moments.
I have NOS components for 3 more Marshall builds (2 x Piher/Mustards, 1x Piher/Chicklets), one of them just may have to be a JTM45. Cheers
I'm not sure how one of the early amps would work out for me, since I have part of my board running through the FX loop. I play at around 3/4 volume on the knob, then bring it to a reasonable level with my FV30L volume pedal. If I was running a regular old JTM style amplifier, I am not sure how any of my board would work, or if any of it would work.
I would really hate to completely overhaul my entire rig that is working so well at present, but I must admit the 18 watt or even the 45 watt build intrigues me.
@SG John - I really have mad respect for your comment about your tone. That's an awesome thing. I wish I could say the same things, but the competition here in L.A. is fierce and I have the cheapest toys on the schoolyard.
One thing our band and onlookers have told me is that my amp is very loud, yet doesn't hurt their ears and I think this is because I roll in so much bass/resonance to augment the wide-open mids, plus driving 'Lead 2' with a TS-9 really tightens everything up.
I think I have used it twice. My big concern would be having to practically abandon my pedalboard, since most of these pedals don't sound good going into the front of an amplifier.
What are you guys - who are using the old tube amps - doing without an FX loop????
I control my volume with my FV30L and I am not sure how I would accomplish this if I was running an 18 watter....
That's a really great tone, Man...very nice!!!!!
I play with a lot more gain, maybe too much sometimes. This is a cell phone vid of my Schecter through my DSL40C with my board up and running...The playing is average, but the tone might give you some clues as to what my rig sounds like on solos anyways...This is my improvised solo on Whitesnake's "Fool For Your Lovin."
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Hey, we roll our own....reverb can be difficult, but the rest works out. I’ve been using a Boss LS-2 to turn the “loop effects“ on and off....
Volume duties are performed on the guitar in hand.
I run my 18watter at early breakup, and get my filth/dirt with pedals...pushing the pre on the amp, and/or providing the dist/fuzz internally. Time based effects follow as above.