Infamous late-80s metal amps

[Davii]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

My rig:



Most of it is older than my guitars, daughter, etc The whole thing was around £650, mostly via eBay, though did take me a few years to find what I wanted. From what I've read over the years, the JMP-1 preamp is best with mods that put more emphasis on the tubes, but I've heard some people make the things sing very sweetly without all that, so I keep fiddling...

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

My rig:

View attachment 80617

Most of it is older than my guitars, daughter, etc The whole thing was around £650, mostly via eBay, though did take me a few years to find what I wanted. From what I've read over the years, the JMP-1 preamp is best with mods that put more emphasis on the tubes, but I've heard some people make the things sing very sweetly without all that, so I keep fiddling...

If you check out voodoo mods, they have a list somewhere on their site of artists who use the JMP-1 with their mods. I read the list and realized it's basically every damn artist I know of that uses the JMP-1. There is a reason for this. I had a stock one at one point but my ADAs were much better sounding no matter how much I tweaked it.

Love the 50/50 BTW. I prefer the 60/60, but either one is a great power amp.

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

What you're supposed to adjust your settings with, if you don't have knobs?

You use the pushbuttons and save everything as presets. Analog sounds, digital control. That was the direction things were starting to trend in before grunge made us all stupid.

 

[Davii]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

If you check out voodoo mods, they have a list somewhere on their site of artists who use the JMP-1 with their mods. I read the list and realized it's basically every damn artist I know of that uses the JMP-1. There is a reason for this. I had a stock one at one point but my ADAs were much better sounding no matter how much I tweaked it.

Love the 50/50 BTW. I prefer the 60/60, but either one is a great power amp.

I venture on to the Voodoo thing every now n' then, but the prices kill my enthusiasm pretty quickly. Have to admit that I've not seen the list, I'll have to remember to have a look at that next time I'm having a nose. Come to think of it, I've got AU7s in mine at the moment.

I've only ever had the 50/50, and any Marshall is/was way out of my price zone, is there much of a difference?

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

I venture on to the Voodoo thing every now n' then, but the prices kill my enthusiasm pretty quickly. Have to admit that I've not seen the list, I'll have to remember to have a look at that next time I'm having a nose. Come to think of it, I've got AU7s in mine at the moment.

I've only ever had the 50/50, and any Marshall is/was way out of my price zone, is there much of a difference?

You can get the mod as a kit... it's not that hard if you have soldering skills. I've never done a JMP-1, but I've done a couple of ADAs.

The old Peaveys are actually amongst my fav power amps. Everybody says it can't be as good as a Marshall or a Mesa... but the 60/60 is basically the power section from a 5150 and nobody *****es about those! You're fine. I still run a 60/60 as part of my W/D/W rig for stereo FX, and before I (reluctantly) switched to a head I ran a second one as my dry amp. Never felt the need for anything different.

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

That GX700 is awesome! I was bidding on one a while ago and got out bid, so I got a GSP-1101 instead.
The Mesa Triaxis is on my list as well, or a Dual Ractifier. I also want to get a Marshall EL-84 20/20 power amp to build a smaller rig.

 

[Davii]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Yeah, they're pretty cool, especially for being able to put the effects in any order you like. I kept looking at the 20/20, but there's a question over loads on the outputs (that I can't for the life of me remember what exactly) that put me off. That and needing something a bit louder.

Guess who's looking around the Voodoo website...

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Yeah, they're pretty cool, especially for being able to put the effects in any order you like. I kept looking at the 20/20, but there's a question over loads on the outputs (that I can't for the life of me remember what exactly) that put me off. That and needing something a bit louder.

Guess who's looking around the Voodoo website...

If you're happy with that 50/50 I wouldn't change a thing there. If you're not happy with what you're getting overall I'm going to suggest either modding or replacing the JMP. If you're considering replacement I can throw out a slew of suggestions; just tell me what you're after tone-wise. I ran rack amplification for a long time.

 

[Davii]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

If you're happy with that 50/50 I wouldn't change a thing there. If you're not happy with what you're getting overall I'm going to suggest either modding or replacing the JMP. If you're considering replacement I can throw out a slew of suggestions; just tell me what you're after tone-wise. I ran rack amplification for a long time.

The 50/50 is fine, no issues there. the JMP-1... It's great for overdriven power chords, but I've never been able to get a lead tone that I'm happy with, and I'm a little indifferent about the cleans. A lot of it could be me, so I didn't want to be a bad workman blaming his tools

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Have you tried pushing it with a pedal?

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

The 50/50 is fine, no issues there. the JMP-1... It's great for overdriven power chords, but I've never been able to get a lead tone that I'm happy with, and I'm a little indifferent about the cleans. A lot of it could be me, so I didn't want to be a bad workman blaming his tools

No, that sounds about right for a stock JMP-1... 128 sounds in a box but it only does one thing well and frankly it's the WRONG thing. If an amp is a one trick pony that one trick ought to be great clean.

The Rocktron Pirhanna is kinda the same thing... absolutely RIPPING crunch tone. Better than the JMP-1, really... but the cleans blow. The Triaxis has a lot of good sounds it it but it's a typical Mesa product in that you can change one small thing and it's like hitting the suck button. I really like the Engl E580... lots of great sounds in that guy. But they don't make it anymore and the used ones are holy **** expensive.

For programmable preamps the MP2 is still my favorite... the presets are terrible and dialing them is a bit of a learning curve but they're really versatile and most of the sounds are great. Plus it has programmable analog effects... super cool. But they're old and parts availability is starting to become a problem.

There's a lot of non-programmable knobs and dials preamps out there... depends on what you're looking for. I'm running a head for the moment and it sounds great but I'm having to make up for the lack of presets with outboard EQs and distortions which is hyper-annoying. I'm not sure if I'm sticking with it long-term. Right now I need to sink some money into my effects rig, but after that I need to decide if I wanna pony up for an E580 or not.

 

[Sirion]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Depending on how much one wants to lift one could probably make the best of these units by using a mixer to control which signal(s) go to the power amp at any given time. I'm not sure if it would be worth it, though, since crunch seems to be what the one-trick-ponies are good at; that is something the MP-1 does very well too.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

heh- my back hurts just reading about this old gear.

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Yeah, they're pretty cool, especially for being able to put the effects in any order you like. I kept looking at the 20/20, but there's a question over loads on the outputs (that I can't for the life of me remember what exactly) that put me off. That and needing something a bit louder.

Guess who's looking around the Voodoo website...

I know, I'm kinda hesitant because of some the problems the Marshalls have, and they are out of production, so there's a few reasons why I started looking at the Mesa 20/20 and the 2:90 as a viable replacement for my 9200, cause I've had it since 2005 and twice had to spend $400 getting it refurbd cause the fan must have quit, it over heated and burnt some resistors and some other stuff. Plus I had it retubed each time, so that added up fast, and its well over due so I haven't been driving it hard or for very long, and yea I did add an auxiliary fan and keep 1 space between the Engl and that in my rack.

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

......I need to decide if I wanna pony up for an E580 or not.

Those are nice I wouldn't mind having one myself.

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Those are nice I wouldn't mind having one myself.

They are great but expensive as hell. I haven't decided yet if I can justify the expense.

 

[Davii]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Have you tried pushing it with a pedal?

I may have done at one point, but what I do now, is place the JMP-1 in the loop of the GX-700, with a boost in front to hopefully achieve something similar. It's better, but not stellar. Once I've finished sorting out CS pups, I'll have to do a recording of me doing lead. Chances are I'm going in the wrong direction, and saturating the thing to within an inch of its life :bigeyes2:

No, that sounds about right for a stock JMP-1... 128 sounds in a box but it only does one thing well and frankly it's the WRONG thing. If an amp is a one trick pony that one trick ought to be great clean.

The Rocktron Pirhanna is kinda the same thing... absolutely RIPPING crunch tone. Better than the JMP-1, really... but the cleans blow. The Triaxis has a lot of good sounds it it but it's a typical Mesa product in that you can change one small thing and it's like hitting the suck button. I really like the Engl E580... lots of great sounds in that guy. But they don't make it anymore and the used ones are holy **** expensive.

For programmable preamps the MP2 is still my favorite... the presets are terrible and dialing them is a bit of a learning curve but they're really versatile and most of the sounds are great. Plus it has programmable analog effects... super cool. But they're old and parts availability is starting to become a problem.

There's a lot of non-programmable knobs and dials preamps out there... depends on what you're looking for. I'm running a head for the moment and it sounds great but I'm having to make up for the lack of presets with outboard EQs and distortions which is hyper-annoying. I'm not sure if I'm sticking with it long-term. Right now I need to sink some money into my effects rig, but after that I need to decide if I wanna pony up for an E580 or not.

I had a good nose around Voodoo's website, and thought my luck could be in when I spotted the UK affiliate thing... Right up until it said it would cost $100 extra. They need some before and after comparison videos too, not just a selection of guys doing badly improvised solos on overdriven lead settings. Grr.

I hate dancing around pedals, so my one other idea was to get a JVM410, and keep the midi access. I thought of building my own 3 or 4 channel preamp. Then considered becoming a monk. I wasn't keen on the underwear, so opted to stay as I am for the immediate future

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

I may have done at one point, but what I do now, is place the JMP-1 in the loop of the GX-700, with a boost in front to hopefully achieve something similar. It's better, but not stellar. Once I've finished sorting out CS pups, I'll have to do a recording of me doing lead. Chances are I'm going in the wrong direction, and saturating the thing to within an inch of its life :bigeyes2:



I had a good nose around Voodoo's website, and thought my luck could be in when I spotted the UK affiliate thing... Right up until it said it would cost $100 extra. They need some before and after comparison videos too, not just a selection of guys doing badly improvised solos on overdriven lead settings. Grr.

I hate dancing around pedals, so my one other idea was to get a JVM410, and keep the midi access. I thought of building my own 3 or 4 channel preamp. Then considered becoming a monk. I wasn't keen on the underwear, so opted to stay as I am for the immediate future

Here's what I'm doing for the moment. I landed a good deal on a used Supersonic head last year. Great sounding head, although it annoyingly has a non-standard pedal cable so I had to have a cable custom-made to get midi control... NOT cheap! If I've got the B rig which is just that head, a 4x12, and a six space rack I use the two channels in that head plus the overdrives, boosts, and EQs in my Lexicon to approximate the flexibility I had with the MP-2. If I have enough room on the deck I bring the A rig with a rollaway rack which contains a second preamp, which is a custom unit my brother built. One lovely kinda plexi-sounding crunch channel and a gorgeous lead channel. So I'm switching between the preamp section of my supersonic and the custom preamp, and I don't need to use the outboard gear so much. Everything is controlled by patch changes on my midi controller and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Davii]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Here's what I'm doing for the moment. I landed a good deal on a used Supersonic head last year. Great sounding head, although it annoyingly has a non-standard pedal cable so I had to have a cable custom-made to get midi control... NOT cheap! If I've got the B rig which is just that head, a 4x12, and a six space rack I use the two channels in that head plus the overdrives, boosts, and EQs in my Lexicon to approximate the flexibility I had with the MP-2. If I have enough room on the deck I bring the A rig with a rollaway rack which contains a second preamp, which is a custom unit my brother built. One lovely kinda plexi-sounding crunch channel and a gorgeous lead channel. So I'm switching between the preamp section of my supersonic and the custom preamp, and I don't need to use the outboard gear so much. Everything is controlled by patch changes on my midi controller and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'd avoided the head + rack thing, as I don't have transport, and can just about get away with the 6u shallow Gator case + 2x12. I've neodymium speakers, so saved a fair bit of weight there too. I have built a 2 channel pre, though that was intended to keep at home for recording (up until recently, my live rig was stored at a rehearsal studio), but have yet to progress to doing remote channel switching. I did wonder about hacking a JVM in order to fit the power, and fx unit into it, but I also like be able to take a signal from the other guitarist's preamp [section] to my power amp, so I can boost their signal on my side if I can't hear them as well as I'd like.

I know there's options that allow you to setup combinations of pedals, and the like, but they always look to be a cabling nightmare to me. I think the official Boss footswitch for the GX-700 has 6 sockets for that, but then don't you end up with having to feed the signal back n' forth all the time?

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

I'd avoided the head + rack thing, as I don't have transport, and can just about get away with the 6u shallow Gator case + 2x12. I've neodymium speakers, so saved a fair bit of weight there too. I have built a 2 channel pre, though that was intended to keep at home for recording (up until recently, my live rig was stored at a rehearsal studio), but have yet to progress to doing remote channel switching. I did wonder about hacking a JVM in order to fit the power, and fx unit into it, but I also like be able to take a signal from the other guitarist's preamp [section] to my power amp, so I can boost their signal on my side if I can't hear them as well as I'd like.

I know there's options that allow you to setup combinations of pedals, and the like, but they always look to be a cabling nightmare to me. I think the official Boss footswitch for the GX-700 has 6 sockets for that, but then don't you end up with having to feed the signal back n' forth all the time?

The voodoo labs GCX that I use to switch preamps and handle my amp channel switching will do pedals and it's not really that hard to set up. That said I think the only place daisy chained pedals should be seen is a museum. The head situation is only temporary, until I find a reasonable replacement for my MP-2. I want another programmable preamp, but one that isn't such a dinosaur that parts are going to become a problem in the near future. The only one that really fits AND gets what I'm looking for sonically is the E580 and holy hell the used ones go for 2k...