Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

[Mike M.]

Giving some thought about having a go at one of these. Offhand the two makes I've heard that seem to hit a sweet spot is the Reinhardt and the Trinity. Both have two channels, volume and tone with 2 inputs on channel one, while channel 2 has treble, middle, bass, volume, a master volume and 2 inputs. I like the idea of a master volume on the 2nd channel. For someone like me who plays at home, who loves the Marshall sound and who'd like to hear it without going deaf, an 18 watt TMB clone sounds like it might be the ticket.

I'm reluctant to getting a kit and building one myself because of my eyesight. I'm pretty much blind in my left eye which means my depth perception for close up work (like soldering) is a real chore. Wiring up a guitar is hard enough for me, let alone trying to build an amp.

So, what's your take on 18 watt TMB clones?

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

High fives the fellow visually impared


holllaaaaaaa

Anyways, you can find them on ebay for cheap and I found some videos of them on youtube.com before, seem pretty cool. I would buy one but I would really like an FX loop. There are also some Soldano clones that pop up once in a while as well for around $500-$600.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

I'm looking into it as well. I'm looking at getting the Ceriatone EF86 18w TMB kit and sourcing nicer transformers, though I'm not sure about the TMB aspect of the design:

I've recently heard a couple of outstanding 18W amps: the 65 London and the handwired Marshall combo. Both of those were non-master, one tone designs, though, and I think there's something special about the less complicated tone stack. From what I read, as soon as you add an extra knob, phasing starts to happen and you lose a lot of openness from the amp. This doesn't surprise me. My one tone knob Victoria is a beautifully open sounding amp compared to the victoria tweed twin with which it shares speakers and transformers.

So maybe an 18w without TMB but with a nice master volume?

-By the way Reinhart do great stuff. I've opened up one of their Trainwreck/metalplate 50watters and it was VERY well built.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

Personally the 18 watt Marshall is easily one of the MOST overblown amps of the past several years...everybody and their brother has a clone of them and IMO 99% of them sound like poo.

That said I will say that the Reinhardt 18 watter is MUCH nice than any of the others I have tried...

Now, that said the Germino Masonette is a 20 watt Plexi that runs 6V6's (which IMO sound MUCH closer to a full blown EL34 Marshall) and those can be had used for a VERY fair price. Also, some of the other Germino's can run 6V6's for a lower wattage and other tubes (6L6, EL34 and KT66 for higher wattage). Germino's aren't cheep but they are WELL worth it IMO...

 

[muttonchopsrule]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

i just ordered an 18 watt TMB kit from ted weber yesterday...should have it in a couple of weeks. i'll let you guys know how it is.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

Mike - everything I've read about Trinity's products is very positive. Haven't played on myself, but Stephen Coors is one of the nicest, most helpful guys I've come across in the amp building world.

Buying an 18-Watt clone off eBay would be a crapshoot at best IMHO. There are a few solid layouts, but thousands of derivatives and builders of varying quality. You could get lucky, but...

Chip

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

I have to say that at some point I want an 18 watter... and it WON'T be the Marshall. I hope this won't totally p!55 people off, but a mate of a mate recently done a tour of the M factory and was disgusted to find that from what he could see, the so called top quality Handwired stuff is made in a small back room by young people (cheap labour) no less. He was excited about getting a handwired amp... but what he saw has put him off completely! He said the quality or attention to detail was not what he was expecting. I'll certainly not bother.

 

[MattPete]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

Personally the 18 watt Marshall is easily one of the MOST overblown amps of the past several years...everybody and their brother has a clone of them and IMO 99% of them sound like poo.

There must be some tricks to tuning them, because IMHO, most of the clips that I've heard sound like crap. I mean really, bad, aweful crap. Having said that, there are a small handful that sound outstanding. So listen before you buy, and don't assume that all 18watters are built alike.

I like the Trinity clips that I've heard (I also like their amp that can switch between el84 and 6v6 on the fly). Based on those clips, I like the 6v6s far better than the el84s.

Here's the thread with those clips:
http://tinyurl.com/2o9cnk

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

There must be some tricks to tuning them, because IMHO, most of the clips that I've heard sound like crap. I mean really, bad, aweful crap. Having said that, there are a small handful that sound outstanding. So listen before you buy, and don't assume that all 18watters are built alike.
I like the Trinity clips that I've heard (I also like their amp that can switch between el84 and 6v6 on the fly). Based on those clips, I like the 6v6s far better than the el84s.
Here's the thread with those clips:
http://tinyurl.com/2o9cnk

Thats what Im saying...99% of 18 watters IMO sound like a big bag full of buzzy bees! I just don't care for most of them but there are a few good ones outthere!

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

Thats what Im saying...99% of 18 watters IMO sound like a big bag full of buzzy bees! I just don't care for most of them but there are a few good ones outthere!

You could argue that's part of the fun. In fact, my favorite thing about the 65 London is that it starts to show a bit of non-marshall character when you really push it. After all, it's not like the world's short of dudes pushing for the classic marshall tone.

Both 6v6 and el84 amps do have an interesting character when pushed hard in a vintage-style design, and if you're hardwired into the notion of great tone being a tight 6l6 or el34 overdrive (as a lot of people are) then you may not dig it so much.

But hey, I like all the valves and what they do. Tight, or not so tight.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Marshall 18 watt TMB clones?

Thats what Im saying...99% of 18 watters IMO sound like a big bag full of buzzy bees! I just don't care for most of them but there are a few good ones outthere!

I've got one of the 1% in my Ironsounds TMB that I built. Unfortunately they don't offer the kits anymore.