PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

[cliffenstein]

My Windsor's faceplate was in pretty bad shape so I decided to see about getting a new one. I contacted John over at Mojotone to discuss it. He had previously made me a great looking Windsor logo for my JMP 2203 inspired headshell (courtesy of Mather Cabs), so I was confident it would look good.

John made me a new faceplate that is every bit as 2203 inspired as the headshell. It's freaking perfect! He used my initials (JCW) in place of the JMP text. The fonts and other text changes are perfect. I really dig the renumbering of the knobs back to 1-10 (verses 1-12 on the stock Windsor plate). John did a spectacular job and I'm super pleased with how this turned out.

NOW ONTO THE QUESTION...

I bought this amp used a few years ago and recently became aware of something non-standard about my Windsor's wiring. Check out these photos:

As you can see, the two main boards are not connected via a plug, rather the connection wires are individually soldered. Every photo I've seen of the inside of the Windsor head has the wires going into a plastic piece that just easily plugs in to connect the boards. Could it be that this is how the Windsor was when it first came out, or has this thing been modded? What would be the purpose of this particular "mod"? I recently tried a stock Windsor that had the standard board connection plug. I played it through my cab and with my same tube compliment in it (I literally took the tubes out of mine and put it in the other one) and it didn't sound as good as mine does.

Please shine a light if you have any ideas on this, or if you can tell if my amp has been modded in any other way. When I compared the boards between the two Windsors, I couldn't find any other differences.

 

[devastone]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

Looks great. As far as the mods go, I'm not familiar with Windsor guts, and I can't say for sure, but there looks to be a lot of leftover flux on the solder joints in the first shot of the PCBs, more than I would expect from a factory.

 

[dystrust]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

Soldering directly may give a better connection than the plastic plug which would potentially explain the improved tone.

About 15 years ago a friend broke the PCB-mounted input jack on my Jubilee 2555 and I had it replaced with a chassis-mounted jack wired to the board via heavy duty flying leads. When I got the amp back from my tech I noticed a slight bump in gain and lower mids.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

Somebody either had melting plugs or they nipped that particular typical Peavey problem in the bud. My VTM120 melted a plug one day. It's now soldered.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the 1n4003 diodes have been replaced with 1n4007 diodes.

If you want to have a look at the schematic, scroll down for the link to the PDF, here: http://www.thetubestore.com/Resources/Peavey-Schematics

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

Your amp originally had a harness connecting the two boards, and I can't imagine that mod improving the tone.

I'd imagine that since someone had their hands in there, something else changed, like an added bias pot, tubes, or something I can't see.

Either way, I like everything that's been done because Peavey designs good stuff, but then executes it all poorly. Your amp looks like Hartley Peavey had zero input in it, so he couldn't mess it up. Too bad all Peaveys aren't like that. He should retire and let people with good taste grab the reigns. The episode of Undercover Boss confirmed it for me. Hartley isn't a stupid man, but his company would be better if he had no personal input on the esthetics. His lack of style makes him his own worst enemy.

 

[cliffenstein]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

I recorded this just now with my iPhone 6, but it's good enough to give a rough idea. The master volume is a tad shy of 2.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

Sounds great, speakers in that cab? Would love to hear what an OD set to minimal gain and high level gives yeah.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

Grindy.

 

[cliffenstein]

Re: PEAVEY WINDSOR in JMP 2203 clothes part 2...(and a question)

Sounds great, speakers in that cab? Would love to hear what an OD set to minimal gain and high level gives yeah.

It's a 1982a cab and has 2 of the original Celestion G12H-100's and 2 WGS Veteran 30's in an x-pattern.

I run it on the low gain input. The louder it gets is the thicker it gets, but it retains the string definition and clarity really well. Settings as follows:

Pre-amp 7
Bass 6
Middle 5.5
Treble 4
Boost no
Master based on application
Resonance 6
Presence 4
Testure full a/b

If I dial down the Pre-Amp and push the Master then it's not edgy enough for my playing style. I really live in that Johnny Ramone meets Angus Young area.