Got my Marshall back

[Robert S.]

I have been torn for a few years now about my 2203. It's a 1984 vert input that I picked up in 1994 and when I got it it sounded ok for a Marshall but tone for me back then was a struggle. I tried different things with it including a ProCo Ratt and later a Digitech RP-7 tube and while it did sound good, level was always a problem and my tone still wasn't getting me any sonic wood.

In 2001 I bought my Mesa stuff and that took me awhile to get dialed in but once I figured it out and then started running JJs in it with EL34s in the class A sockets, well the thing just ripped. Because of this the Marshall sorta turned into rehearsal space decoration. Shouldn't everyone have at least one 100 watt Marshall sitting around for kicks?

Anyways, bought a Crate V32 Palamino because I needed a small tube combo. Sold the Mesa stuff because the economy forced me to make decisions I didn't want to make. Really started digging the Crate with pedals and my rack stuff in the loop. Then I started eyeballing the Marshall sitting in the corner.....

I had fellow forum member and tube amp guru Lastwinj convert the 2203 to EL34s awhile back and he does killer work. Saved my butt with the Mesa stuff a time or two as well. We had been talking about me wanting a loop in the 2203 for maybe a year and he found a loop and I found some cash.......

Got my Marshall back.......

I have played it a couple time at level with a band and oh my goodness what a bad mother spanker I have here. I am running the low sensitivity input with the pre and master dimed. Actually everything is dimed except the treble and presence which are at 5 to kill some of the top end and make the mids stand out. I am running a Bad Horsey II wah, a stock TS9 and a Twin Tube Mayhem into the front end. In the loop I have a TC G-Major and a Rocktron IntelliPitch. I use the output of the IntelliPitch to choke the power section because changing the pre and master volumes messes with the treble response and tone of the amp. Dropping the level at the output of the IntelliPitch doesn't do this.

I get great cleans and not just "for a Marshall" . My clean tone is nice and round without any notice of clipping. The TTM really makes it raunchy and adding the TS9 sends it over the top to liquidly goodness.

Thanks Jeremy! Everyone that has heard this amp thinks its a killer.

Got my Marshall back!

 

[jerryjg]

Re: Got my Marshall back

:headbang:

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Got my Marshall back

Cool man! Glad to hear you're digging the Marshall.

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Got my Marshall back

I was a fool to sell my 800...enjoy having it back!

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Got my Marshall back


British attitude....

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Got my Marshall back

Rid, I am telling you. This amp is seriously snotty.

I dimed it the other day and opened everything up and stood in another room. I nailed my guitar and almost messed my drawers. It would be hard to find a live situation where I could do this but darn it, I am willing to try!

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Got my Marshall back

That roar is unlike anything else
Hehe crank it...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Got my Marshall back

I know some people are purists about things, but I really don't like amps that DON'T have FX loops. It allows something like your Marshall 100W to be useable, rather than pretty furniture. That's what I like doing with my amps too. Crank them up a bit, and reign them in with the output knob on a rack unit or Nanoverb. I really like using the Nanoverb for that purpose. Then, I can add just a little reverb, but mostly use it as a second master.
And, it's small so it sits on the amp like a pedal.

Few things are funner than turning one up to 10 and getting in the next room to hear it.
That thing can rearrange your furniture!

 

[J Moose]

Re: Got my Marshall back

I had fellow forum member and tube amp guru Lastwinj convert the 2203 to EL34s awhile back and he does killer work. Saved my butt with the Mesa stuff a time or two as well. We had been talking about me wanting a loop in the 2203 for maybe a year and he found a loop and I found some cash.......

Got my Marshall back.......

I use the output of the IntelliPitch to choke the power section because changing the pre and master volumes messes with the treble response and tone of the amp. Dropping the level at the output of the IntelliPitch doesn't do this.

Very, very interesting.

My '84 2205 also does the varying treble response bit... it's a feature of Marshall's that I love to hate.

Did Jeremy do any other work to the amp besides EL34 conversion and the FX loop?

At the NY Amp Show back in May, I played his Wrecked heads and they did indeed leave me wrecked. One of the coolest amps I encountered at the show and even since then...

You've got me thinking now...

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Got my Marshall back

Jeremy should be posting on this thread shortly. He knows better what he did in the amp but I believe the loop and conversion was all.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Got my Marshall back

cool - glad you got your tone jones satisfied - gotta love it when that happens ...

do you think the rocktron is helping with the cleans? or is it all amp? .. i use to swear that my old intellifex had a positive effect on my cleans and i never moved the EQ off center within any preset ... there was just some kinda thing that made the whole greater than the the sum of the parts

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Got my Marshall back

cool - glad you got your tone jones satisfied - gotta love it when that happens ...

do you think the rocktron is helping with the cleans? or is it all amp? .. i use to swear that my old intellifex had a positive effect on my cleans and i never moved the EQ off center within any preset ... there was just some kinda thing that made the whole greater than the the sum of the parts

Part of it is the amp. Running in to the low sensitivity input helps keep the amp out of clipping and then padding the input to the phase inverter with the IntelliPitch drops the signal even farther, making the amp run even cleaner.

Then you pummel the front end with a solid distortion pedal and your back up and clipping. You don't have to take a lot off with the rack in the loop to make the Marshalls clean tone very useable. Doing it that way though I get to keep my mains up all the way which has a lot to do with how those older Marshalls developed their tone.

I do know what you mean about the Rocktron stuff and I find it happens with the G-Major as well. A lot of the modulation, delay and reverb patches roll the bottom or top end off and anytime you shave your signal, things will sound cleaner.

 

[34029324079]

Re: Got my Marshall back

I too was a fool to sell my 2204 half stack and want it back, cheers mate! plug and play that monster, mang!

 

[tone4days]

Re: Got my Marshall back

Part of it is the amp. Running in to the low sensitivity input helps keep the amp out of clipping and then padding the input to the phase inverter with the IntelliPitch drops the signal even farther, making the amp run even cleaner.

Then you pummel the front end with a solid distortion pedal and your back up and clipping. You don't have to take a lot off with the rack in the loop to make the Marshalls clean tone very useable. Doing it that way though I get to keep my mains up all the way which has a lot to do with how those older Marshalls developed their tone.

I do know what you mean about the Rocktron stuff and I find it happens with the G-Major as well. A lot of the modulation, delay and reverb patches roll the bottom or top end off and anytime you shave your signal, things will sound cleaner.

yeah, hitting the amp a bit softer and letting it do the lifting is just about always gonna be a win with a quality amp like yours have been (i cant imagine how hard it mustve been to let that mesa rack rig go - major GAS lust over that - glad you have replaced it with something even more happenin) ....

and yeah, letting the power amp tubes go full throttle is always part of a winning answer too .. i get askeered when i consider how loud your new beast mustbe ...

i dont know if it is their high quality D->A converters, post converter analog circuitry, or some algorithmic mojo, but there is a warmth that doesnt sacrifice crispness in the lows, and highs that are twinkly/chimey/sparkly without straying into strident

 

[lastwinj]

Re: Got my Marshall back

Robert's Marshall is a pleasure to work on, and PLAY. Wicked sounding beast.

His amp has had some mods to the signal path, mustard caps feeding the power tubes, a few other changes that i don't recall. nothing all that serious. I have only changed it over for EL34, replaced a couple of jacks, and now the effects loop. Everything else was b4 me.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Got my Marshall back

I wish I could be that happy with my 2203...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Got my Marshall back

I wish I could be that happy with my 2203...

How's that Randy Rhoads Marshall working out? You were the one who bought one, weren't you?

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Got my Marshall back

yeah, hitting the amp a bit softer and letting it do the lifting is just about always gonna be a win with a quality amp like yours have been (i cant imagine how hard it mustve been to let that mesa rack rig go - major GAS lust over that - glad you have replaced it with something even more happenin) ....

and yeah, letting the power amp tubes go full throttle is always part of a winning answer too .. i get askeered when i consider how loud your new beast mustbe ...

i dont know if it is their high quality D->A converters, post converter analog circuitry, or some algorithmic mojo, but there is a warmth that doesnt sacrifice crispness in the lows, and highs that are twinkly/chimey/sparkly without straying into strident

Letting the Triaxis/290 go did bite the big one but you know, its only stuff. I can replace the Mesa gear rather easily as their stuff is rather consistent. I still have the racks and breakout boxes, the wireless and effects. I just sold the heart of the beast. I am knocking down serious coin again but I am banking my cash for the moment as winter is coming fast in Michigan and the trades always slow down a bit in the winter. I am booked solid for the next couple of months but still, I think I'll hold off until spring to replace the Mesa gear. All I need is one good exterior job and it's off to GC! Actually, this time I'll probably buy the Mesa stuff used and spend the difference on one of Lastwinjs amps. He really is making some nice stuff now and the Wrecked head he had over here last night has me thinking.

My 2001 LP 59 RI was far harder to part with. I'll find another one of those too. Maybe a 59 RI in tobacco or teaburst this time. I was always a sucker for brownbursts.

I guess I need two quick exteriors next spring!