I guess I might as well show off my amp. I don't have many hours on it yet and I haven't been able to crank it, but that's life with 3 young kids. Background note: I have wanted this amp for about 15 years! It was WAY overpriced when new, and living in Montreal, Canada they just don't show up used, so I was very excited to finally get one.
After watching ebay over a few years, I got it this July for a very good price. It just happened to be at a time when Thomas Ampworks (Andy, aka Monsta Tone) was having a sale on mods. The little hamster wheel in my head was turning...
In transit from OR to NY, UPS was kind enough to drop the amp, breaking the cab along 2 joints, shattering some preamp tubes and putting a small hole in 1 speaker. It's the exact same damage Monsta Tone had a few years ago on one that he shipped. Since I had to remove the chassis to rebuild the cab, I decided to ship it to Andy for mods. That's a very significant distance to ship back & forth, but the sale made me decide to go for it. On top of that, Andy had a used Mercury Mags OT selling for cheap so I had him install that too.
Public Service Announcement: If you think retolexing might be a fun project to tackle, think again! It's very time-consuming and can be frustrating. I could not find an efficient way to do it. A variety of scrapers and my underpowered detail sander took more hours than I wanted to devote. Ask my wife. However, I had some flashy tolex that was begging to go with a hot rodded amp like this and some gold jute grille cloth (my favorite!).
Without further ado, here's the finished product:
Overall, I couldn't be happier. The mods let a good amp off the chain. I was drawn to the tweakability of the amp from the start and I can say that it does not disappoint. A quick rundown of features:
-JJ 6V6's for 40 watts
-Assorted current production 12AX7's, soon to test NOS
-Andy's High Gain mod (check website)
-MM output tranny
-Fane AXA12 and Scumback XH55 speakers
I may experiment with some other speakers as these are pretty loud! Pics taken before the black corners were installed. The clean (love) side is great, very usable and organic (just slightly less responsive than a good handwired amp), dirt side (lust) is mighty. That's the best word for it. Like any good Marshall, it's barely under control and wants to be run full up. It's killing me to wait for a chance to run up the master volume. The dirty side prefers humbuckers, no question. Using the boost on the love side in high gain adds the 5-way mid switch which is cool for tailoring the tone. I've used eq pedals and onboard filters (like Varitone) which do almost the same thing, but it's cool to have the option. I don't know what else to say, Andy did an awesome job tailoring these mods to this model. The only thing cooler than the amp is his customer service! He spent loads of time with me, answered all my questions (usually by email due to the time difference) and I couldn't ask for more. I now have the amp of my dreams. Well, the last 15 years worth of dreams anyway...
After watching ebay over a few years, I got it this July for a very good price. It just happened to be at a time when Thomas Ampworks (Andy, aka Monsta Tone) was having a sale on mods. The little hamster wheel in my head was turning...
In transit from OR to NY, UPS was kind enough to drop the amp, breaking the cab along 2 joints, shattering some preamp tubes and putting a small hole in 1 speaker. It's the exact same damage Monsta Tone had a few years ago on one that he shipped. Since I had to remove the chassis to rebuild the cab, I decided to ship it to Andy for mods. That's a very significant distance to ship back & forth, but the sale made me decide to go for it. On top of that, Andy had a used Mercury Mags OT selling for cheap so I had him install that too.
Public Service Announcement: If you think retolexing might be a fun project to tackle, think again! It's very time-consuming and can be frustrating. I could not find an efficient way to do it. A variety of scrapers and my underpowered detail sander took more hours than I wanted to devote. Ask my wife. However, I had some flashy tolex that was begging to go with a hot rodded amp like this and some gold jute grille cloth (my favorite!).
Without further ado, here's the finished product:
Overall, I couldn't be happier. The mods let a good amp off the chain. I was drawn to the tweakability of the amp from the start and I can say that it does not disappoint. A quick rundown of features:
-JJ 6V6's for 40 watts
-Assorted current production 12AX7's, soon to test NOS
-Andy's High Gain mod (check website)
-MM output tranny
-Fane AXA12 and Scumback XH55 speakers
I may experiment with some other speakers as these are pretty loud! Pics taken before the black corners were installed. The clean (love) side is great, very usable and organic (just slightly less responsive than a good handwired amp), dirt side (lust) is mighty. That's the best word for it. Like any good Marshall, it's barely under control and wants to be run full up. It's killing me to wait for a chance to run up the master volume. The dirty side prefers humbuckers, no question. Using the boost on the love side in high gain adds the 5-way mid switch which is cool for tailoring the tone. I've used eq pedals and onboard filters (like Varitone) which do almost the same thing, but it's cool to have the option. I don't know what else to say, Andy did an awesome job tailoring these mods to this model. The only thing cooler than the amp is his customer service! He spent loads of time with me, answered all my questions (usually by email due to the time difference) and I couldn't ask for more. I now have the amp of my dreams. Well, the last 15 years worth of dreams anyway...
