Hot Rodded Marshalls

Biu

New member
I'm talking about the EVH modded ones. Is this the tone that the 5150 is based on? I've never tried a hot rodded vintage Marshall, so I wouldn't know.


Love the new look of the forum by the way!:cool:
 
No The Plexi he used is for all practical purposes a stock 67 SL. Very few changes, always being debated..... The original starting point according to the PV forums for the 5150 is the PV VTM line. Ed dug it but wanted to refine it. I actually like the VTMs better than the 5150 these days. The 5150 has 5 or 6 preamp tubes depending on the model, his old Plexi only had three. So tonally you can definately get in the area but you will never get the open sound that his Marshall had.
 
According to legend (and the Marshall history book), EVH's early plexi was not modded in any way, just played with a variac.
 
I had a heavily modded 72 Super Bass that had belonged to
Billy Duffy. THAT amp was the closest "plug in and play" Van
Halen lead tone I've heard. I sold it, but have a real love for
nicely modded early 70's JMP's. I love it when the tech was smart enough to put any new pots in existing holes, rather than mess up a chassis. The best mods sound killer, and can be removed without a trace. I see a lot of collectors wanting bone stock Marshalls, but honestly, some of the nicely modded ones
smoke the stock ones. I've seen some nice plexi mods that keep the stock tone, but add features like footswitchable masters, and good master volumes. I like those ones a lot.
 
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