New Amp: 1982 Marshall JCM800 2210 - Early Circuit

I have been wanting to do a video on my favorite Marshall amps - the split channel 800 series - for some time. My 2205 made a short appearance as a comparison to the 2555X in my first video, but I never went into the details.

One of the main reasons I haven’t done a video on those amps yet is because both of the ones I own - an ‘85 2205 and a an ‘86 2210 - are the “later” circuit design. This may seem like a minor thing, but the earlier circuit, such as the one used on this 1982 model 2210, is much larger than many realize. I finally got my hands on an early model amp in good condition, with a complete recap job to boot, so it’s in tip-top shape.

Despite sharing the exact same controls, markings, and model number, these may as well be two different amps! This isn’t like comparing two different revisions of Mesa Rectifiers - a value change here and there - these split channel 800’s have completely different signal paths.

Both amps share the same tube complement, as well as a long spring reverb tank, tube buffered effects loop, and Marshall’s first ever channel switching capability via a two button footswitch (one button for channel, the other for reverb on/off). There is a master volume, presence, and reverb control that affects both channels, and the “normal” channel can be kept relatively clean (still a “Marshall” clean) with a two-band EQ, and the “boost” channel has both a gain and a channel volume control, as well as a more standard 3-band EQ, for more drive.

The ‘82 amp’s clipping diode array is visible towards the top right, located between the VR5 and VR6 pots.

However, there are some pretty important differences in the details. This early amp has a post phase inverter master volume, a very odd design that uses a dual-gang pot, one on each half of the phase inverter signal. Later 2210’s had a standard pot, pre-PI master. There are also differences in the guitar signal path itself, with early amps sporting a quad of 1N4007 diodes arranged to clip the signal and add overdrive, situated just after a cathode follower on V2B and before the boost channel volume control - the later design retains some diode clipping, but uses two diodes located in different areas of the circuit, and the cathode follower is gone completely. The last major divergence is the earlier design placing the 3-band EQ just before the gain control, right after the input gain stage - not too different from something like a Mesa Mark series amp. The later design moves the EQ to the more standard Marshall location, after 3 tube gain stages, although lacking the cathode follower/tone stack driver that amps like the 2203 or 1959 use.

The ‘82 amp’s six filter capacitors visible

Also as somewhat expected for 1982, this amp carries a large array of 6 filter caps, just like an early 2203 would have. My later 2210 has only 3 filter caps, which follows the same sort of trend, as a 1986 year 2203 would also only have 3 filter caps. It’s hard to say what effect this has on the sound exactly though, since the other circuit differences make it hard to compare, unlike the 2203 which is still the same basic circuit in 1986 as it was in 1982 (besides HT voltages).

Now that I have this amp, I look forward to working on a video explaining these differences and importantly, doing an A/B comparison between both circuit revisions.

You can review photos of the internals of both amps here:

Early Amp - 1982 JCM800 2210

Later Amp - 1986 JCM800 2210

Early and Later schematics:

New Amp: ADA MP-1 Classic

I’ve had, and loved, an ADA MP-1 for a long time now - it was only my 2nd tube amp, and I used to run it into the FX Return of my Marshall TSL all the time for a change of pace. Later I picked up an MP2, which I still intend to spend some more time with - it sounds great, but the interface is a bit complicated so it takes a long time to program in the sounds I like.

The MP-1 Classic is the last one I’m missing, so when I spotted this damaged one online, I figured I’d try my hand at repairing it and getting it working. The MP-1 Classic was the last preamp ADA released before going under, and ran concurrently with the MP-2 for a little while in the 90s. In short, once the original MP-1 was discontinued, the MP-2 didn’t sell so well and the MP-1 still had a good reputation, so rather than release the same MP-1 again, the “Classic” was created, which has a handful of improvements over the original in terms of interface, but theoretically has the same core sound and simple programming.

I was able to get the Clean SS and Tube Distortion modes working, and in my brief play test, it does sound extremely similar to my original MP-1 at the same settings, but I haven’t spent a lot of time dialing it as I still have repair work to do. The MP-1 Classic has the same Tube Clean voice as before, but adds a new voicing called “Tube Brown,” which I’m very interested to try out.

Hopefully the repairs don’t take too long and I’ll get to put this through its paces soon. I also have a Yamaha SPX90 just aching to get used again on something, and this seems like the perfect combo (not that the built-in ADA chorus is any slouch).

New Amp: ENGL Special Edition E670

This top of the line ENGL Amp has always eluded me, but when I found this one online at Guitar Center I pulled the trigger. Sadly, the order was cancelled - I called the store, and apparently someone else had bought it first. Damn.

Lucky for me, it popped up, returned, at another GC several states away from its origin in Texas. I’m not sure why it was returned, but I ordered it again and it arrived a few days later in very good condition.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around why this was returned - it was expensive, but quite a deal compared to other E670’s on the market, and far cheaper than the new E670FE Founder’s Edition amps (effectively, a reissue of this amp with a few circuit tweaks).

Speaking of the newer E670FE, and maybe this is confirmation bias, but I’m glad I have this earlier amp - it’s a little bit more feature heavy. The new FE version does not have the high/low power mode (disables two power tubes, knocking the amp down to 50w), the cable tester on the rear panel, or the switchable output section. This original E670 can actually be connected to two different speaker cabinets, with different impedences, and you can set which channels, or which patches, use speaker output A or B. This means if you want to run your cleans through a cabinet with Jensens, and your drive channels through a cabinet with Celestions, you can do that! Super cool feature, but maybe underutilized or underappreciated in the real world.

There are other differences between the FE and SE, but they are harder to quantify - supposedly it has been revoiced, and the clean/crunch channels on the FE have a mid shift and bright switch, while the SE has a bright and ultra bright switch. However, based on my knowledge of other ENGL stuff, I think it’s more likely these switches do the same things on both amps and have simply be renamed - perhaps the exact value of the resistor or capacitor it puts into the circuit has changed, but it’s still going to be effectively the same function.

Ok, features aside, I am absolutely thrilled with how this amp sounds. All of the channels are absolutely superb - I can see how someone could get this amp and replace an entire collection of other amps - I very rarely feel that way about channel switchers, and looking at my collection of course in most cases I’d rather have multiple single channel amps than one channel switcher - so that’s especially high praise coming from me. Both of the lead channels are nearly the same, in a good way, with Lead II having a hair more gain, but a separate treble control which is very useful. The clean/crunch channels share the same layout, with shared bass and mid controls but separate treble controls. Even the “bypass” channel, which is just a raw tube drive with no shaping designed more as a straight through power amp channel, sounds great - and can be enabled with or without the EQ. It’s hard not to talk about the features at the same time - all four of these channels have a high and low gain mode and multiple switches that can color the tone - and even better, all of these switches can be controlled via saving the setting on the footswitch or midi controller. It really feels like you could do anything you desire with a nice 10 button midi switch and this amp, from all ranges of gain, voicing, power amp settings (there are 2 presence controls and 2 master volumes to switch between as well, plus depth and low punch, and more).

Some might think well, this amp isn’t for me - too much tweaking, and that’s fine - especially in contrast to the 3rd Power HLH100 I picked up last month, two amps with completely opposite design philosophies. However, I have to say, I spent about 2 hours dialing in this amp and saving 10 really great sounds to the Z9 footswitch, and I don’t think I’ll ever touch another control on the amp again besides the power and standby switches. Yes there’s tons of tweakability, but if you find some great tones you can just save them - probably an exciting new concept when this amp was introduced in 2008 but these days we’re a bit spoiled by digital modeling which accomplishes a similar goal… but this amp keeps the real tubes cooking. Definitely a winner in my book, I’ll have to compare it to my favorite ENGL (the Savage 120 MK1).

New Amp: VHT Pittbull 50CL with Graphic EQ

This is actually my second Pittbull 50CL from nearly the same time frame - this is a 2005 model, and I already had a 2003. However my 2003 has a spring reverb tank, and no graphic EQ - the classic early Pittbull CL voicing, a bit dark, but just a killer sound. Easily one of my all time favorite amps. So when the opportunity to buy what is essentially the same amp, but trading the spring reverb for a built-in 6-band graphic EQ, I jumped on it.

I’ve already done some extensive A/B testing between the two, and they definitely have the same core tone and feel. However I do feel the GEQ model has a bit less gain, and a little more brightness as well. The EQ is exactly as I’d expect - it can take the dryer, tighter feel of the amp from reserved to extremely aggressive and it works fantastically. I do occasionally miss the spring reverb, but I’m also perfectly happy to use a reverb pedal in the effects loop.

The interesting thing about the non-EQ Pittbull is that the feel of the amp is a little bit sloshier, a little more saturated. I love the way lead lines and gainy palm mutes jump out of that amp, and the “voicing” switch adds a little more highs and lows to fill out the spectrum more without sounding too aggressive - something about it still really speaks to me. The EQ model needs the gain up a little higher to achieve the same effect, although I suppose the tubes are a factor here too, but the ability to customize the tone with the EQ adds far more versatility than the on/off voicing switch. The EQ is also footswitchable, and there's not a huge volume difference on or off which is perfect the way I use it. It’d be impossible to pick a favorite between the two, that’s for sure.

New Amp: 3rd Power HLH100

I’ve heard great things about the Third Power Amplification line, and had eyes for a “Kitchen Sink” for a while - but it’s a bit out of my usual spending range. The Citizen Gain seems to be highly regarded as well, maybe I’ll find one of those someday - but today, I’ve added a very early 3rd Power amp to my collection: the HLH100.

The HLH100 is a hand wired, point to point on turret board, British style amp, complete with a full set of Mercury Magnetics transformers and choke and the top of the line components. The front panel has a little bit of a Silver Jubilee appearance - an LED light over a lead master, another volume, and a preamp gain control. However, it’s not like a Jubilee at all - either in tone or function. Instead, you have a single channel - no rhythm or clean modes, and the two volumes are simply different levels so you can footswitch to a louder or quieter sound for leads or rhythm - gain remains the same as you set on the preamp gain control.

It’s pretty light on features, but definitely not on sound - the single channel design has tons of touch sensitivity at lower gain settings, and it can be dialed from near clean to fully saturated distortion with ease. A player who isn’t much of a tweaker would love this amp - dial in a great tone, set and forget.

Of course, there is one switch on the amp to add some versatility, the “Smooth” or “Bold” switch near the guitar input jack. The smooth mode is modeled after the 60s Marshall Plexi sound, and I actually prefer this voicing even with the gain turned up well past what a Plexi can do. The bold setting is a bit more direct feeling, dryer, punchier, but a little less fluid feeling to me. The amp also has a series preamp out and in jack - effectively an effects loop.

According to the previous owner, this particular amp was used on tours with Katy Perry, Janelle Monáe, and even played live on the 2011 Grammy Awards with Bruno Mars. Back then, it was paired with its trademark triangular guitar cabinets - you can actually spot it in the background of this video clip, stage right:

This model evolved later into the RPO100 Head, which has the same basic look but with a few additional features such as dual mids voicing switches and a “push” control which affects the low end in the power amp.

New Amp: Mesa Dual Rectifier Rev G

Yep - another one. I couldn’t resist the price, plus the opportunity to compare the Dual vs my old Triple Rev G. It’s in really great condition as well, unlike my Triple which is on the rough side visually.

This one is from roughly the same year as well, only a few hundred away in serial number, and equipped with the tell-tale knobs with the pointers. It sounds like it should - crushing on the red channel, super smooth and articulate on Orange variable high gain, and even the clean channel on these is endearing to me. I can’t wait to do some more comparisons with it, Rev F vs Rev G Dual for example.

I’ve since cleaned off the previous owner’s settings marks, but it is interesting to see that they ran this amp on the red channel with the mids and gain absolutely maxed out. I tried these settings and it was pretty good, although not how I normally use it.

New Amp: Stephenson Lead 30R

This Canadian made amp is a very unique, point to point wired… Plexi-ish head. I’d hesitate to call it a Marshall clone of any kind, despite the visual appearance.

It’s equipped with both a pair of 6V6 and a pair of EL84 power tubes, and each tube can be individually switched on and off from the rear panel - including down to running the amp on a single EL84 or a single 6V6, or asymmetrically with one half of the waveform being say, a 6V6+EL84 and the other half a 6V6 alone.

Going further, the phase inverter utilizes a 6SN7 tube, and the spring reverb is driven/buffered by a 6SN7 tube as well. This amp has no effects loop, although there are other similar Stephenson amps that do.This tube has a gain of “20” when compared to a regular “100” 12AX7, and has an octal base - that’s one less pin than a 12AX7, more similar to octal power tubes like a 6L6, 6V6, or EL34. How this affects the sound exactly… it’s hard to say without knowing more about the circuit. Either way, it’s very unique - I can’t think of any other guitar amps that use this tube type, especially in a phase inverter position. It also has some very unique looking transformers - this one has one large round cylinder, a “toroidal” transformer. More recent Stephenson designs feature two of these, for both the power and output positions.

The front panel has some other quirks. The gain control is self explanatory, but the EQ section has the mids control 3rd in line, after treble and bass - like a Hiwatt (well, sort of, a DR103 goes Bass>Treble>Middle). Maybe I’m reading into the control positions too much, but I wonder what the reason for that is, or if there’s something unique about the EQ circuit.

Going further, there is a Reverb mix control, which works as expected, but then a Drive, Fat, and Powerscale knob. These three controls are very interactive, the power scale works as an overall amp volume and can get down to whisper quiet, or crushingly loud. The Drive control is meant to retain the full volume tone at lower settings, and the Stephenson website recommends matching your drive setting to the same as the power scale control. However I’ve enjoyed tweaking this a bit, higher drive settings add a bit more of a saturated, elastic feel for solos which I really enjoy, although it can get muddy if turned too high while at lower volumes.The FAT control stands for Feedback Attenuation, which is just a way to control the power amp negative feedback circuit, to increase tightness in the low end, which works great alongside the drive control.

There are also a few switches, such as a 3-way gain, 3-way bright, and a 2-way cut switch. The gain control takes the amp from more polite, nearly clean plexi tones, up to what I’d call “classic high gain” sounds, and plenty saturated depending on the gain, drive, and FAT controls. The bright switch has an “off” setting (center), as well as two different values in the up or down position, which change the frequency that is most prominent in the gain - likely great for cutting through depending on the rest of the band, or the room you’re in, or the cabinet you are using. The cut control chops off some of the upper mids and highs, pushing the low end and low mids forward in the mix a bit - useful for low volume playing, but I find the amp sounds its best with this switch off (down position).

On the rear panel, there is an EQ bypass switch, but this doesn’t have as big of an effect on either tone or volume compared to the EQ bypass of the Hook Captain 34 I acquired a few months ago. It’s more subtle on this amp, adding a little bit more grit and punch but preventing some fine tuning of the core tone. Also on the rear is an Ultralinear power mode - I’d love to know what this actually does, it sounds a bit like the Class A/AB switch on some other amps, so I suspect it is doing something similar in the power amp section.

This amp is no longer offered, but it’s a great sound. I suspect the current Deluxe is the most similar to this, and I’m intrigued by the Dual-Plexi, which is similar but with separate “Normal” and “Bright” volumes, like a jumpered 4-hole Marshall. Neither has Reverb, and they’ve all gone down to 3 power tubes instead of 4 - considering how much I like the all-four-on sounds from this model, I feel lucky to have it.

See https://stephensonamps.com/ for more information about current offerings.

New Video: Marshall JCM800 2203X

Here’s a video where I demonstrate some tones from my 2005 Marshall JCM800 2203X. I’m trying a slightly new format with this one, starting off playing the amp and talking about dialing it in right off the bat. I still get into the technical details, schematic, and some of the differences between 2203’s over the years (1975-present) such as the HT Voltage and Filter Capacitor changes, but that’s a little later in the video, so stick around if that interests you.

New Amp: Bogner Ecstasy 101B with Mercury transformers

This one is a wild ride - I was sitting in the airport to kick off a work trip when I spotted this 101B on the Guitar Center used listings for a just, totally absurd price. I’ve been on the hunt for an Ecstasy for a long time now, waiting for the right one to pop up - I really wanted an early model with Mercury transformers, but I also wasn’t willing to pay $3k for one - a unicorn really. Anyway, I called the store, who put me on hold for almost an hour when I asked if they could tell me if the serial was numbers, or symbols (and I even described the symbols and where it was on the panel). Finally I’m on the phone, boarding the plane, and I end up in an exit row somehow - I can’t stay on the call, so I get frustrated and hang up and figure I won’t get it.

A few hours later, I land, and I call again. Another 45 minute long hold, but at least I get the info I want - it’s a serial sign, not number. Then I get put on hold again… I’m not waiting, so I hang up and go to buy the amp online (even though I specifically offered to pay over the phone so the sales person would get commission). Too late - it’s no longer listed online. So I’m definitely a bit upset, but that’s just how it goes sometimes, back to the hunt. I tried to call back, but got put on hold immediately again - just an exercise in frustration, so I headed to my hotel to get ready for work the next day.

The next day, the amp pops up again, and this time I don’t hesitate - immediately purchased.

So I anxiously await the arrival, praying the amp isn’t damaged in transit. It arrives but I’m not home yet, so I have my girlfriend open it and send me a picture… it’s a Shiva. They sent the wrong amp! So I immediately call the store, and they say I have to send back this amp and once they receive it, they’ll ship the Ecstasy out, luckily they still have it in the back. I can’t ship until Monday anyway, so I get home and spend the weekend with the Shiva - nice amp, extremely nice amp actually. But it’s still wrong, and extremely overpriced for a Shiva, so I ship it back.

Another long wait, and finally the correct amp arrives.

And yes, it’s everything I ever dreamed of. Amazing tone, tons of customizability. The blue channel for which these amps are so well known is amazing sounding, but I even enjoy the red channel quite a bit. The red channel introduces a cold clipping gain stage (total of 4, compared to the blue channel’s 3) and I could see an argument for this being Soldano-like, but a bit smoother, less bright and aggressive - but still plenty capable. The Plexi Mode can be engaged on either the blue or red channels, which cuts it down to just two gain stages - like a real plexi - so you can also use either channel as a lower gain crunch. Very nice!

A few interesting bits about this amp. It has the Class A/AB switch, and I really love Class A mode. The strangest thing is the serial number, which is dash-triangle-triangle. This is their way of saying “033,” which is a very low serial number, and the amp has Mercury Magnetics transformers just like the earliest 95-96 era Ecstasys. However, everything inside this amp, including the transformers, dates from 2001-2002. This is a bit confusing, because usually amps from this era are much higher in serial number, and do not have the Mercury equipment. Not long after this, the serial signs disappeared and went to more standard alphanumeric serial numbers (2004 and later). I suppose it is possible that the transformers were upgraded, or special ordered, but that doesn’t explain the serial number - very strange. I did quite a bit of digging through old sales listings and pictures and this isn’t the only amp like this either, but most have numbers in the 800ish range by 2002.

One stroke of luck throughout this whole painful process, a local player was selling an Ecstasy with two footswitches, one more modern sparkly one, and one old black one. I was able to buy just the old black footswitch, so now I have that missing component and it should be roughly period correct.

New Amp: Egnater Vengeance

This amp has been at the back of mind for a while - I’m a bit slow on videos, but in my mind I’m always working on ideas and one of them was “good budget amps” and this was one I wanted to compare with the Peavey XXX and Blackstar HT-100. I remember playing one of these in a store a decade ago and thinking it was pretty good, so when one popped up online for $395, I couldn’t resist.

It’s the little brother of another 120w Egnater head, the “Armageddon,” which shares the same basic design and tone, but that amp has an extra set of gain/volume controls for a 3rd channel, a built in ISP noise gate, and critically a “mid cut” feature with two knobs (level and depth) - much like a Diezel Herbert. The Armageddon lacks the “mids” switches that this Vengeance has, ostensibly because the mid cut already handles that.

The tone is darker, smooth, and another amp in a long line of recent amp acquisitions I’d argue are not quite aggressive enough for bright metal chugga-chugga tones out of the box. That said, it’s a really great sounding amp for smooth leads, and the various switches make it quite versatile - channel 1 can even do a solid crunch tone very well. It contrasts a little with the appearance of the amp, which has “gothic” looking font and a murdered appearance - all black - which gives me the impression of an amp aimed at metal players. I think it would disappoint the most aggressive metal enthusiasts, but would really please classic rock players sonically - but not aesthetically.

Both channels have tight, bright, gain, and the 3-way mids switches. The amp also has two master volumes, presence, and depth controls, as well as the usual host of modern features (effects loop, XLR output, etc). These switches are integral to getting the tone you want out of the amp - even without adjusting the EQ section, getting a good base tone to work with by adjusting them seems to be the way to go. The mids switch especially is quite useful, going from scooped, “flat,” and boosted settings. I actually praise the designer here, the mids switch is usable at all 3 settings, and since either channel can be set differently, it covers a lot of ground. Too often these mid shift/contour/scoop switches are completely unusable because the effect on the sound is too extreme - not the case here. On this amp, it’s noticeable, but doesn’t fracture the core tone of the amp to achieve it - which also means some of the best sounds are interactive, such as setting the switch to scooped mode, but boosting the mids in the tone stack, or vice versa.

I’d still like to try the Armageddon and compare it, but considering this amp runs about half the price, it’s hard to justify. Maybe if the right deal pops up.