drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
What are your thoughts on em? Just curious, I saw stratman's up in the trading post and they don't get discussed much here.
Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
- Thread starter drew_half_empty
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Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
isn't the bluesbreaker a bassman with el34's?
i would imagine that it kicks ass
isn't the bluesbreaker a bassman with el34's?
i would imagine that it kicks ass
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
Well it's supposed to be, the RI's I've seen have 5881's and are 30 watts, which is kind of odd...
Well it's supposed to be, the RI's I've seen have 5881's and are 30 watts, which is kind of odd...
Edgecrusher
Well-known member
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
The descion for Marshall to use the 5881's .was influenced by 2 factors. 1 at the time they started building them Marshall was having issues with getting a good supply of EL34's even the JCM900's built at this time came with 5881's 2. The original bluesbreakers used KT66 valves which are closer related to the 5881/6L6 family.
That being said KT66's wont fit into a reissue cabinet for some unkown reason marshall chose to use a smaller cab and the bottle on a KT66 psyically wont fit inside. But when I retubed mine with a set of nos RCA 6L6's it was marvelous. It is similar to a bassman but at the same time more aggresive. Ive always preffered the sound of 12 inch speakers to 10s' anyways. It does need to be pushed to sound good but if you have a attenuator of some sort thats not too much of an issue. Ive never played an original bluesbreaker so cant comment on how close they sound but on their own I think they are a great amp.
The descion for Marshall to use the 5881's .was influenced by 2 factors. 1 at the time they started building them Marshall was having issues with getting a good supply of EL34's even the JCM900's built at this time came with 5881's 2. The original bluesbreakers used KT66 valves which are closer related to the 5881/6L6 family.
That being said KT66's wont fit into a reissue cabinet for some unkown reason marshall chose to use a smaller cab and the bottle on a KT66 psyically wont fit inside. But when I retubed mine with a set of nos RCA 6L6's it was marvelous. It is similar to a bassman but at the same time more aggresive. Ive always preffered the sound of 12 inch speakers to 10s' anyways. It does need to be pushed to sound good but if you have a attenuator of some sort thats not too much of an issue. Ive never played an original bluesbreaker so cant comment on how close they sound but on their own I think they are a great amp.
James Rock
Active member
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
How close is a Bluesbreaker to a JTM45? Cos I was always under the impression it was kinda like the combo version if maybe slightly different?
How close is a Bluesbreaker to a JTM45? Cos I was always under the impression it was kinda like the combo version if maybe slightly different?
Edgecrusher
Well-known member
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
If you go back to 97/98 when I had mine they were the same amp minus the tremelo on the bluesbreaker. Just head and combo version. Though Marshall seems to have a habit of tweaking their reissues so im not positive if this still holds true.
If you go back to 97/98 when I had mine they were the same amp minus the tremelo on the bluesbreaker. Just head and combo version. Though Marshall seems to have a habit of tweaking their reissues so im not positive if this still holds true.
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
The Bluesbreaker combo is a JTM-45 with tremolo in a 2x12 combo.
The original JTM-45 and Bluesbreaker combos (which were never called Bluesbreakers until the reissue) were really about 35-40 watts and the oldest JTM-45's did come with 6L6 power tubes.
The earliest reissues had a stupid cab design that wouldn't allow the usse of any other power tube besides 5881 because it was too shallow...I know Marshall corrected that but I have no idea when.
The Bluesbreakers are alright amps but are also typical Marshall reissues...PCB and cheep parts...not nearly as stunning as an old handwired Marshall or a good repro/clone but good amps.
The Bluesbreaker combo is a JTM-45 with tremolo in a 2x12 combo.
The original JTM-45 and Bluesbreaker combos (which were never called Bluesbreakers until the reissue) were really about 35-40 watts and the oldest JTM-45's did come with 6L6 power tubes.
The earliest reissues had a stupid cab design that wouldn't allow the usse of any other power tube besides 5881 because it was too shallow...I know Marshall corrected that but I have no idea when.
The Bluesbreakers are alright amps but are also typical Marshall reissues...PCB and cheep parts...not nearly as stunning as an old handwired Marshall or a good repro/clone but good amps.
Lake Placid Blues
New member
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
I think they are very good pro gigging amps for most anything short of modern metal. I like them better than the Tweed Bassman re-issues which are also PCB but usually don't have the valve rectifier. The BB are well built by modern standards with chassis mounted tube sockets and pots with flying leads. If they were true PTP they would be much more expensive.
The name Blues Breaker comes from the fact that Eric Clapton used an early 2x12 combo version of the JTM45 with a Les paul to record the classic Blues Breaker's Beano album.
The re-issue comes loaded with ri Greenbacks and has some minor differences from the originals in terms of the bright caps and mix resistors..ect... and also the output transformer. Its pretty common to replace the 5881's with KT66s, or EL34s in some cases, and the GB speakers with Alnico Blues (they typically put out 27-35 watts). More involved mods may include putting the resistor and cap values to original spec and a Mercury Magnetics OPT, but stock its still a good amp.
I think they are very good pro gigging amps for most anything short of modern metal. I like them better than the Tweed Bassman re-issues which are also PCB but usually don't have the valve rectifier. The BB are well built by modern standards with chassis mounted tube sockets and pots with flying leads. If they were true PTP they would be much more expensive.
The name Blues Breaker comes from the fact that Eric Clapton used an early 2x12 combo version of the JTM45 with a Les paul to record the classic Blues Breaker's Beano album.
The re-issue comes loaded with ri Greenbacks and has some minor differences from the originals in terms of the bright caps and mix resistors..ect... and also the output transformer. Its pretty common to replace the 5881's with KT66s, or EL34s in some cases, and the GB speakers with Alnico Blues (they typically put out 27-35 watts). More involved mods may include putting the resistor and cap values to original spec and a Mercury Magnetics OPT, but stock its still a good amp.
J Moose
New member
Re: Marshall Bluesbreaker RI
IIRC when premier guitar (was it them? one of hte mags) did a shootout of JTM45's they had a handful of boo-teek heads, one or two "real" old ones and a reissue JTM45 with a few years on it and in the blind test, supposedly nobody could tell which was which though they could hear/feel the difference in amps.
Awesome amps, not for the weak of heart since they're kinda LOUD even at idle. Jump the channels, plug in a fuzz box, tell the drummer to kick it up a notch and stand back! Basically it is a JTM45 in a 2x12 box rather then a 4x12.
IIRC when premier guitar (was it them? one of hte mags) did a shootout of JTM45's they had a handful of boo-teek heads, one or two "real" old ones and a reissue JTM45 with a few years on it and in the blind test, supposedly nobody could tell which was which though they could hear/feel the difference in amps.
Awesome amps, not for the weak of heart since they're kinda LOUD even at idle. Jump the channels, plug in a fuzz box, tell the drummer to kick it up a notch and stand back! Basically it is a JTM45 in a 2x12 box rather then a 4x12.
