Someone GAVE me a Marshall Vintage Modern!

[SonicProvocateur]

No sh!t. My friend's dad got tired of the Marshall sound in favor of going with a combination of Ceriatone SLO and an Elevenrack and since i'm buying his Les Paul he wanted to give me this Marshall 2266C (early version!)

I offered to buy it from him instead of him giving it to me, but he insisted and who am I to refuse?? Well, he gutted the combo for the G12C speakers so all I have is the chassis, and I made this vid. It's still a rad amp. Not my old 1987x or Silver Jubilee, but still pretty rad.

Question is: where do I get a headshell for it?? It won't fit anything else. I'm thinking of calling up Curtis Granger and seeing if he can make me up one from scratch. Maybe Splawn.

Here's a quick clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDOZudO086U

 

[zodiac272]

that's pretty awesome! nice vid.

scott

 

[Jackie]

I love how the Vintage Modern interacts with the guitar. It's definitely a must have amp for a rock guitarist. Does need some volume to shine though. Nice catch!

 

[Roadifier]

This might work for it,

http://cgi.ebay.com/MARSHALL-JCM-800-900-Metroamp-Headshell-Case-Cabinet-/280715968520?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415bf9c008

 

[Bryan-FTWL]

Call me jealous.

 

[Jackie]

Yeah, no kidding.

You could add a mirrror on the side of the chassis so it'll be easier to dial though

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Just made an updated video now that i've fixed the broken "Detail" pot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B7HHLxbIoE

Hard to tell how detailed the low end capture of the AT2035 is without a subwoofer is and Youtube compression, but I didn't clip the low end with the lowpass built in on the mic.

 

[Gtr_Pkr]

Those are some great amps! Lucky fellow you are. I have found that the Valve Art KT-66's are a great current production tube. The Genelex KT-66 is the cream of the crop. Enjoy.

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Those are some great amps! Lucky fellow you are. I have found that the Valve Art KT-66's are a great current production tube. The Genelex KT-66 is the cream of the crop. Enjoy.

Thanks for the suggestion! I've been looking at some alternatives to the Stock ones and reading up on the amp. Seems the amp was designed around the stock Sino KT's, so I guess i'll leave those for awhile and try and get some more girth from the preamp until I can save for some vintage KT's.

It's definitely a rad amp and the power section is sooo responsive. I fired up the boogie and went to town on it finally after about a solid week of playing the Marshall...still two different beasts, but I'll never sell the Mesa...ever! 8)

 

[Gtr_Pkr]

Those are some great amps! Lucky fellow you are. I have found that the Valve Art KT-66's are a great current production tube. The Genelex KT-66 is the cream of the crop. Enjoy.

Thanks for the suggestion! I've been looking at some alternatives to the Stock ones and reading up on the amp. Seems the amp was designed around the stock Sino KT's, so I guess i'll leave those for awhile and try and get some more girth from the preamp until I can save for some vintage KT's.

It's definitely a rad amp and the power section is sooo responsive. I fired up the boogie and went to town on it finally after about a solid week of playing the Marshall...still two different beasts, but I'll never sell the Mesa...ever! 8)

You better not!! I'd love to get a Mark series amp. Maybe I'll trade my Triple Recto.

Try the Valve Art KT66's first. They are reasonably priced, and a great tube. Here is a link for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Valve-Art-KT66-Vacuum-Matched/dp/B003HEFQAA

 

[JCDenton6]

That is one sweet amp! I would still like to get my hands on a JCM 800 :mrgreen:

 

[SonicProvocateur]

lol, I might be in need of those KT-66's after all...I dunno what the shelf life of KT's are, but I know these have had lots of hours on them and today they started acting up when I took the amp off my power conditioner (some sputtering and popping, and I knew the high gain tube was giving out...) But I also wonder if it's the cursed "rattle" or genuine tubes giving out noise...

I did notice, looking at the guts that the amp had xicon 5W screen grid resistors, so thats very comforting in the way of not worrying about blowing tubes! I modded my Mark III to those specs when I nuked a screen grid. Now I can push my Sylvanias to the limit.

 

[JCDenton6]

I did notice, looking at the guts that the amp had xicon 5W screen grid resistors, so thats very comforting in the way of not worrying about blowing tubes! I modded my Mark III to those specs when I nuked a screen grid. Now I can push my Sylvanias to the limit.

Interesting, I definitely have to look into that for my Triple!

Hope it's nothing serious with your amp

 

[94Tremoverb]

I did notice, looking at the guts that the amp had xicon 5W screen grid resistors, so thats very comforting in the way of not worrying about blowing tubes! I modded my Mark III to those specs when I nuked a screen grid. Now I can push my Sylvanias to the limit.

It won't make any difference. If the tube is going to blow due to screen failure, it's going to blow no matter what brand or power rating the screen resistor is.

The advantage of using a better resistor is that the resistor doesn't follow the tube. But to do this, the amp must have a separate HT fuse, or the better screen resistor will still probably blow anyway, but will hold up for longer and more damage may occur before the power fuse blows. Essentially, Mesa are using their carbon screen resistors as HT fuses. I don't like this, which is why I fitted my amps with proper HT fuses. Marshalls have HT fuses as standard.

(A higher *value* screen resistor can help to protect the tube, by the way - but it also changes the sound, and the higher the value the higher the power rating must be as well, since more power is developed across it.)

 

[SonicProvocateur]

You are very correct 94tremo.

The upsides and downsides to upgrading the screen grids will of course vary from model to model too. My 60 watter Mark III had a history of blowing a tube on -that- side so it had weakened that resistor. Also, I had a history of using more modern high power 6L6's, which my ears loved but the amp apparently did not so much.

The upgrade did change the tone; making it a little less sweet/defined/(gainy?) and a bit less saturated. I have considered unmodding it. On the upshot, there is no way I could run the Sylvania's like I do without fear of blowing up and seeing some more smoke again. The balance of power between the mod and incinerating more grid resistors is a tough call for me.

I have no idea how it would sound in a Triple. It isn't necessary to run vintage tubes, but I don't have any shrieking at ultra-rediculous-high volumes anymore with certain settings and (metal-level) gain. Very nice, considering the first show I played with my Mark III it sounded like The Chariot's "Everything is Alive..." album.

 

[Deathf***ingmetal]

Man... I'm jealous... I don't like Marshalls but I'm jealous...