Leaderboard

Who loves the sound of some outdated electronic glass bottles with killer voltages running through them? I've been lucky enough to own a few good ones, a few dodgy ones, and I still own a great one. Worst was a Marshall TSL122. The clean channel was alright, the other 2 channels were dreadful. It was too powerful an amp for the house, even with the Power Reduction switch engaged. Hey ho, you live & learn. Had a JCM800 2x12 combo for a while. One of the single channel ones. Sounded great, but it had been revalved many moons previously for 5881's, they sounded good, but they didn't last very well, so it had to be revalved regularly at great expense. After I got it, a speaker failed, so I had to get a replacement (Celestion V30), then the other failed, so I stupidly put another V30 in it. Completely ruined it. Sounded awful with 2 V30's, couldn't get it to sound right after that. The best one, is a Matamp 1224. Hand built in Yorkshire, pure valvey goodness, and with a really nice vinyl finish that they managed to source specifically for me. Got a matching 4x12 cab and a 1x12 cab for home use, both finished in the same vinyl. Had the faceplate replaced after a year with the "block" 70's Matamp logo. The amp has valve switching features where you can choose 4 different power valve combinations, 1 valve in Class A, 2 valves in Class A, 2 valves in Class AB1 & 4 valves in Class AB1. There's also a half power switch and a Pentode/Triode switch on the back. What have you got???

Good evening, @Stoneham, and ... ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

My first valve amp, age 15, was a Marshall JTM30. This amp triggered my valve obsession and now I build valve amps for a living! I upgraded to a DSL50 during my Gary Moore phase and used that for about a decade, until I started using my own designs. I've repaired just about every valve amp made and have a love of vintage Fenders, Vox, and Marshall amps. But who doesn't?!

When I read comments about Gibson quality control, I think you could say that not all guitars are good now, even the expensive ones.

As a returnee to playing guitar, I was (and still am) blown away by the apparently immense range of affordable and playable guitars that are available these days. My first electric which I purchased back in the late 70s was a telecaster copy that quite frankly had not had the easiest life and was not that easy to play. Fast forward 45 plus years and I now own a second hand epiphone which is far better to play and in much nicer condition even though it was used by a gigging musician who obviously looked after and loved it. The price I paid for the telecaster was £21 which I reckon is comparable to the £100 ish I paid for the Epiphone taking into account inflation etc. I would like another telecaster (probably for nostalgic reasons rather than anything else) but I very much doubt I would pay top whack for a real one as I doubt if I would notice the difference, so would probably go for the more mid-range priced models. I also seem to remember that the Gibson Les Paul was a really expensive guitar in the late 70s closely followed by the SG and then the Fender models, whereas now they appear to me to be far more affordable. Please note that I don't speak with any authority or great knowledge on this subject and this is purely based on my observations and experiences, I leave the expert opinion to you more suitably knowledgeable and experienced guys and girls, all I know is that I have the nicest guitars I have ever owned for what appears to be similar prices taking into account the passage of time and inflation etc.

Heh, ironically the JMP-1 is solid state distortion but uses a valve to filter the sound a bit. Their 9000 series preamps sound nice too but maybe a little less sweetened. I have a bunch of paperwork to do today but I'll hopefully have some time to try the Triaxis out later.

Thanks for the help, planning on putting a 50watt marshal head into it that won't be put past 5. Hopefully get to something close to a decent sound out of it, cheers.

Impedance is a rather nominal notion, and 'exact' figures are fairly meaningless, really. The actual impedance is only for a specific frequency and power input. There is no noticeable difference between 8 and 8.3; treat is as 8 and you'll be fine. Would it be suitable for guitar..? The answer, I'm afraid, is 'a lemon; suck it and see'. If it sounds OK, it's OK. Be aware, however, that typical PA stuff, 'back in the day', was not rated highly for power handling, as only vocals from a modest amp were expected. Don't connect a 100W Marshall amp turned up to 11, as it won't last long, I'd say. Vintage gear can be nice, if played in vintage manner. Watkins Westminster amps from that period are now collector pieces, but their 17 watts won't fill a stadium..! Go easy on your find and enjoy it for what it does, not what you think it should do.

Hello! I’ve recently bought a used Marshall JCM 2000 DSL and the footswitch wasn’t included in the purchase. I’m wondering if there is a compatible foot switch model that can be used for switching between all the four settings on the amp….(clean, crunch, Lead1 and Lead2)…? I believe that the original switch only controls the two channels.

No, the original switch has one button for Clean/Lead, the other for Reverb On/Off. There is no compatible switch that allows the combinations you're wanting, sorry. There is a later version of that amp that has a five-pin connector for the footswitch which does all you need; that's not the one in the photo, though, and an update would not be possible without major work.

DISCLAIMER - I am posting this in multiple places, for maximum exposure/to get as many answers as possible, so sorry if you get fed up of reading it multiple times.....!) Anyway......I was watching a video reviewing and comparing small valve amps (albeit guitar.....15/20W) , with a variety of speakers (10" and 12") and valves (types and quantities...ECC83's and 81's, EL34's, 84's and 6L6's, and anywhere between 2 and 6 tubes) Now I know different valves give different sounds, and different arrangements of components used also influence characteristics.... So......during the review they described the amp with the most valves (6, 3 pre and 3 power) and least (2, 1/1), both same power, as 'lacking headroom' (which I get to mean that they were starting to distort with little provocation.....) So...what does the number of valves have to do with sound/character Also two amps had exactly the same valves in the same configuration, wattage and speaker sizes......but did not sound that similar.....(both best sounding imho) Is the difference down to the other parts of the amp being different from each other? And finally.....it is obvious that number of valves has little to do with wattage (most and least valves were both 15W, and 20W had 3 and 5 valves), so what determines power? I am sorry if these are just stupid questions, I was just curious.....

Hey, so in response (I think): 1) Valve amps use tubes on two separate sections on the circuit. You usually have your EC types in the pre-amp section and the your EL/6L6/KT etc are in the power section. Most your EQ type tones will be through the pre amp section, and in truth, the number of valves makes no difference to the sound here, rather the design of the circuit will be the biggest influence. Your power section is where you get the saturated "gain" tones on these types of amps. Your power section valves is where you get "break" up when you drive the signal hard enough through the pre amp. Once again, the number of tubes will only be dependent on the design and has no real baring on the tone. 2) Tonal character is defined by the type and even manufacturer of the actual tubes themselves as well as the circuit design. Also, quality of other components makes a huge difference, although some manufacturers swear by cheaper parts as valve amps are not meant to be "hi-fi" 3) Power is determined by your power output transformers. Usually the 2 giant metal lumps or torroidal transformers that you see (and feel) in valve heads. These get bigger as the wattage increases as they are what is required to "step up" the wattage.