New Amp: Orange Rockerverb 50 Mark III

Yes - that’s right - two Oranges on the same day. The Thunderverb arrived from UPS (had to go pick it up at the distribution center because the package was marked return to sender… I wasn’t going to let that happen) and this amp popped up at a Guitar Center about 50 miles away.

I drove down and took a long lunch break to pick this amp up. Disappointingly, the local GC was a bit of a mess but they did try their best to help me - basically I’d placed the order online and they had to cancel it, but I wanted to use Paypal because I got 5% cash back that quarter. When they cancelled, it didn’t appear back online and I couldn’t just pay with Paypal in store. Finally we worked around it by buying a GC Gift Card online with paypal, which I then immediately redeemed in-store for the amp. Kind of a roundabout way to solve the problem but either way, I got my 5% cash back which is what I really wanted (especially on an amp in the $1000+ range!).

Unlike the Thunderverb, this amp also has two channels but the dirty channel has an extra gain stage - 4 total - while the clean channel only has 2. The tube complement between these amps is the same and if I had to bet, the circuit is probably very similar as well.

However, the Rockerverb is voiced quite differently to the TV. It’s hard to describe exactly, but the Rockerverb is more modern and when I think of current bands using Oranges this is closer to that tone for sure. It’s a bit brighter, maybe a tad more scooped, definitely smoother sounding. That’s not to say this is a scooped amp, this is still a British ultra-strong mids machine, but the mids have a different character to their grit than the Thunderverb.

This being the Mark III model, the reverb mix control is dialed back to more sane levels, and I can easily turn it up to around half before it starts to get too crazy. The Thunderverb has the same Reverb setup as the earlier Rockerverb Mk I, and even the 9 O’clock mark is usually too much reverb and as much as the Mark III has set to full.

One cool features I was not expecting is that all of the front panel knobs on this amp have soft detents. As you turn the knob, it very softly clicks into place a number of times during its travel. The clicks really add a feeling of high quality to this amp and it’s really a pleasure to dial in, and the detents are spaced apart just enough to feel like they have an appreciable effect, but not so far that you can’t fine tune your sound. It’s also really great for home playing, for example I know in my head that up 3 notches (6 or 7 total) on the master “attenuator” volume control is as loud as I can reasonably get away with at home, so when I’m alone I click up 3 notches from where I was then back down 3 when I’m done… really convenient.

I can see why the Rockerverb is Orange’s top seller (as far as the “big” amps go) and it isn’t even close to stepping on the toes of the Thunderverb and really does completely different tones. It’s a shame the Thunderverb is discontinued since I think it really does the more classic Orange tones better, and with the recent discontinuation of the OR50/OR100 models it really only leaves the Custom Shop 50 for true classic tones. Maybe Orange will have something up their sleeves on the way - but I’ll certainly be on the lookout for a classic OR of some kind now.

New Amp: Orange Thunderverb 50

I’ve been wanting and Orange for a long time, and the OR15 has become one of my favorite amps to test out guitars since they are so commonly found in Guitar Centers and the like. I’ve read the OR15’s single channel is derived from the Rockerverb, so that amp made my list. However, I’ve also been interested in the AD30HTC, Thunderverb, Rocker 30, and OR50/80/100/120’s for various reasons. I have played the AD30 extensively and found it to be great at the classic rock mid-gain crunch tones, and it’s very bright and cutting - a bit different from the 70s darker Orange tones. I really couldn’t figure out the exact differences between the Thunderverb, Rocker, Rockerverb, and OR50’s so I would be happy to get any of those models and start collecting a few of them to compare to each other.

This Thunderverb popped up for a reasonable price, though I wish it had the Orange colored headshell instead of black. Cosmetics take a back seat for me though, especially for amps, so I placed the order.

It’s a great amp and I’ve learned a lot about Oranges in the process. This one has 3 gain stages on either channel, so it can be dialed to be two clean channels, or two overdriven channels in any combination you please. I am loving this for classic rock covers, and it doesn’t really get all that high gain - certainly not as much gain as the OR15’s I’ve played. It really needs a boost to get into metal territory, even classic metal.

The amp is dark, but has a very meaty midrange. A brighter boost like my Boss SD-1 really wakes this up and unlike some of my other amps, adding this boost also adds a lot of treble detail to the tone and helps give it more presence. This is awesome to me as it’ll do the more polite classic tones but just kick on the boost and suddenly I’m in 80s metal territory, or even modern metal tones if I want to go there, especially with Channel B’s shape feature which is essentially a V shaped EQ anywhere above about 11 O’clock.

New Guitar: Charvel Model 4 Rainbow Crackle!

Wow! I spotted this one online at GC, and it had no picture - but it was described as a Model 3DR “Rainbow Crackle.” I figured for the price, I’d risk the purchase and find out what kind of condition it was since I can always return it if I don’t like it.

Luckily, there’s no danger of that, this is a fantastic guitar. It’s not a 3DR, it’s a Model 4, but that is fine with me. In fact, I might prefer that because I’m a big fan of the shark tooth inlay necks and the HSS pickup config is so useful across a variety of styles. This came with the factory J50BC and J200 pickups, the JE-1200 mid boost circuit, and JT-6 trem - just like my other two Model 4’s - but in the interest of a change of pace, I’ve already swapped out the J50BC with a zebra Dimarzio Super Distortion. This pickup previously lived in my Charvel Fusion, but has been unused for a while since I sold that guitar months ago.

I think this pickup might have too strong of a midrange to really cooperate with the JE-1200 mid boost, but that’s ok. Since the mid boost is not that clearly different sounding in the bridge position, it means I can set it however I like for the neck and middle single coils and not worry about how the sound will change when I need to use the bridge position.

The real highlight here is the finish of course, otherwise it’s just a standard and great sounding Model 4. The finish is a transition from blue to red to yellow crackle, and there is a little bit of a fade in between them. There are some purple and orange hues visible in thinner stripes between the colors, but it’s not as clear as the primary colors.

This is my first crackle job Charvel, and I’m also surprised to see it has a very slight texture visible through the top finish when looking at it under the light or at a shallow angle. Overall this is one of the coolest finishes on any guitar I own, and I think the very tight pattern looks great. Looking around the web, I’ve seen other crackle jobs that are a bit more spread out with more black in between the colors, I think those look really cool too and I’d love to have both variations someday.

New Amp: Marshall JCM800 Model 2205 Split Channel

I am on quite the streak with Marshall amps lately. On the same trip returning that Blankenship Plexi, my local GC happened to get this amp in stock, also on a customer return - they actually had to pull it from the back because it was not out on display.

I’m not sure why this amp was returned - I gave it a complete playthrough and tested every feature at every reasonable volume before taking it home for myself. A nice bonus, no shipping charge for once!

While we most commonly think of the “JCM800” as the sound of the 2203 and 2204 amps, the moniker “JCM800” is actually a range of models. You could buy a 1987/1959 circuit plexi circuit in a JCM800 shell, as well as your popular 2203/2204 circuits, or even this “split channel” circuit.

Lots of conflicting information floats around about these split channel JCM800 amps, model numbers 2205 (50w) and 2210 (100w) and their combo amp equivalents. Officially introduced in the year 1982, though I have seen some units with 1981 serial numbers, these were designed to push guitar tones and amp design into the next decade. With louder and higher gain tones demanded by artists of the time, and Eddie Van Halen’s famous Marshall Powered “brown sound” at the forefront of everyone’s mind, this amp was designed to offer both more gain as well as a more classic clean-ish normal channel, plus an effects loop and direct preamp line out for studio and modern PA usage.

Early models (82-84/85ish) had an odd placement of the EQ section, resulting in quite mixed reviews compared to the classic 2203/2204 models, which continued on from the JMP range that preceded the JCM800 range. With slow sales and mixed reviews, the split channel range was completely redesigned sometime in 1984 or 1985. The exact time is difficult to pin down but I have done my research and talked with others on the Marshall amp forums and found a few examples of 1985 and even 1984 models with the new circuit design. This redesigned circuit has less channel bleed, more gain, and the gain is structured differently - a bit more the Marshall sound we know and love, but darker and more saturated.

The premise is still the same though - both channels run in parallel much like a Plexi, but instead of separate inputs, they share the same input jack and can be footswitched to alternate between them. The “normal” channel is very much a stripped down non-master volume circuit (and can get extremely loud) and has only bass, treble, and volume controls. The “boost” channel is the evolution of the “high treble” channel on a plexi, and gets a lot of gain plus has the addition of a clipping diode circuit for even more gain. This channel has the usual 3-band EQ, a channel volume, and gain control. Both channel share a master section with an overall master volume, presence, and a reverb control which mixes in a tube driven spring reverb tank - groundbreaking features at the time.

My experience in the past with a 1982 model was disappointing, but I had played a 1988 model in a store long ago but didn’t have the money for it. This 1985 unit has the later circuit and sounds every bit as good as I remembered. It has a good amount of gain, but not so much that it gets overly saturated with a boost, and even the clean channel is bright and snappy and sounds great, if a little loud and hard to control at times. The master volume makes it surprisingly easy to get a decent tone at home studio volumes too. My only complaint is the reverb implementation is a little weak sounding, but it is the first attempt ever from Marshall at this sort of design. It can be turned off from the knob or footswitched off as well. The real highlight is the boost channel, which is just a killer 80s rock and metal tone, though I feel it really has to have the bass maxed out to sound good. The treble control is incredible sensitive, I usually set it around 3 for most music but if I take it up to 5 or 6, and especially if I lower the mids as well, it becomes a very aggressive thrash metal tone machine.

New Amp: Blankenship Variplex 1959 Clone (Kruse Modded)

I’ve been thinking a nice Plexi would be a great addition to the quiver, and I spotted this one online at Guitar Center’s used listings (big surprise!). The Kruse mods listed was a volume control, and since I’d likely be adding a master volume anyway I figured that’d be one less thing I’d have to deal with.

It finally arrived and just… wow. This thing is trashed. First of all, the amp came with no tubes at all, and no power cable. I borrowed a spare power cable and tubes from my stash and powered it up. It sounds like a wet fart and any volume level - and that’s not an exaggeration. I’m not sure how else to even describe it, it sounds like a broken speaker flapping around, especially on the lower strings. The modifications include removing the standby switch for a rotary selector with different wattages indicated (a variac style volume?) as well as another master volume that replaces the presence knob.

It’s really a shame to see this modifications done to this amp. I didn’t know much about Blankenship before, but after some digging I’ve found them to be highly expensive, true to component Marshall 1959 clones with impeccable quality and top of the line components. Inside are Mercury and Classic Tone transformers/choke, high end Sozo caps, and a beautiful red point to point turret board. Sadly, the mods are pretty shoddily done and caked in some glue/epoxy making it difficult to even tell what is wrong with it.

Another screw up saved by Guitar Center’s return policy, though still sad such a special amp is essentially going into the trash/repair bin.

2021 Update: This one has a happy ending! The new owner contacted me, and Roy himself even chimed in and this amp has been fully restored to its former glory. My only regret is that it’s not mine anymore!

New Amp: Marshall JCM900 Mk III Model 2501

After my great experience with the JCM900 SL-X head, I knew the next on my list would be the Mk III in some form. I spotted this one online for a great price and had to have it, despite the combo form factor growing increasingly less appetizing for me (my music room is starting to get very tight on space!).

This one dates from 1990, is equipped with EL34 tubes, and is essentially the 50w Model 2500 head in a short chassis mounted into a small combo amp. It also comes equipped with one of my all time favorite speakers, the Celestion G12H-100 from the same year. Despite its compact size, it is fairly heavy and kind of cool for a combo amp, comes equipped with inset side handles much like the Marshall 1960 cabinets do, so moving this amp around is a breeze. Really, it’s the ultimate single channel “jam” amp and couple with a 2x12 or 4x12 speaker cab could likely cover just about any gig (the larger speaker cab only needed to fill out lower frequencies in the room, the 1x12 gets plenty loud on its own!)

Much like the SL-X, this was the continuation of the single channel Super Lead Mk II amps of the 70s and 80s. It has a single channel, but two footswitchable master volume controls and a second gain control - in this case controlling the amount of clipping diode distortion added in the preamp. The nice thing about the Mk III is that you can turn this extra gain completely off by rolling the knob down to zero, essentially lowering the voltage passing through the clipping circuit so the diodes never reach minimum voltage to activate. This gets you the classic 3-stage gain structure of your favorite 2203/2204 JMP’s and JCM800s. While the overall circuit does have some differences, this is very authentic sounding and can nail those classic tones as well as a few new ones with the additional controls and effects loop.

Amp Room Reorganized

As my collection of amps has grown, I’ve been struggling with the best way to configure my studio to allow me to get good use out of them all, and maybe spend less time moving cables and power strips around.

I’m limited by the height of some shelves I installed (not strong enough to hold an amp head), so I picked up a storage rack that fits a few heads - but just barely. Glad I measured first!

Next to those, I brought my Fender 4x12 cabinet out of retirement, but with a twist. I removed the speakers, and installed 4 different models of Celestion 12” speakers, each with their own speaker jack wired behind. The great thing about this is I can test different amps with different speaker types easily, or I can mix speakers in pairs like an oversized 2x12, or I can even leave 4 heads all hooked up at once and ready to go.

On the other side, I’m just barely able to fit my 1x12 combo amps.

Here’s a look at the room now that everything is set up:

New Amp: Marshall JCM900 SL-X Model 2100

It’s really hard not to habitually search the Guitar Center used listings. It gives you access to a completely haggle free experience - some items grossly overpriced but others so underpriced it’s criminal. This is the latter - a beautiful SL-X head dating from 1993 complete with EL34 tubes - the most desirable in the SL-X run. The only issue I can spot is one of the plastic caps on the top handle cracked away - talk about a minor issue barely worth mentioning.

This is my first single channel Marshall amp and it’s a blast. This is the continuation of the Mark III, and by extension the Mark II series Super Lead amps. You get the bare bones features - one channel - with some cool modern features like two gain controls, two master volumes (footswitchable) and a high/low power switch - in an amp with just incredible tone.

Interestingly, it doesn’t feel “high gain” by modern standards - it’s certainly not the high gain metal monster I was led to believe by internet reviews and really it’s no slouch at classic Marshall tones. I can see why bands like Kiss used these on tour in the 90s - they are great at nailing those classic tones they were known for but can go just a bit further if you want them too.

Despite having 5 gain stages and a second gain control to dial them in, this is not going to replace a modded Marshall, or a Marshall with a boost. Instead, it allows you to dial in a bit more saturation to use with that same boost or a subtle variation on the classic Super Lead Mk II sounds. It has far less gain than my Splawns or the Mesa Marks and Rectos of the same era, for example. It really is your favorite classic Marshall tones, just pushed to 11… or maybe 12.

New Amp: Splawn Quickrod (2006)

Yet another Guitar Center acquisition, this one popped up and I noticed the 3 preamp tubes and the offset input on the front. I’ve read before that these earlier models had a different circuit, this being the “second” iteration of it (the “first” being the two-input no gears model). I wanted to hear just how different this would be from my 2008 model, which sounds far different than the 2012+ models already.

This one got some pretty serious damage during shipping - the headshell actually broke so badly that the top half of the shell disconnected from the bottom/chassis. As an added bonus, Guitar Center packed this amp without a power cable and the fuses removed - including the fuse holders!

Luckily my local GC is “one of the good ones” and after I gave them my information and waited a few days, they sorted it out for me and got me a hefty partial refund to cover the cost of a new head shell and the fuses.

An added shout out to Scott Splawn, who answered my email and pointed me in the direction of the current fuse holders they are using on their amps. Unlucky for me, I ordered 3 of these fuse holders and they are not the same as installed on this amp - but I’m perfectly capable and just removed the old ones and installed two brand new fuse holders + fuses into this amp. It works and sounds fantastic, so no complaints from me there.

I also took some time to wood glue the top of the head shell on, and “clamped” it by placing two other heads on top of this one. The original screws do not quite fit anymore, but it feels plenty solid after a week of drying time. I’m able to pick up the amp and move it around by the handle, although usually for the sake of my back I’m picking up my amps by either side underneath “forklift style.” Since I’m not touring or anything, I’m happy with this temporary solution as long as I’m keeping the amp. If I ever were to sell this, I most likely would go ahead and just purchase a new headshell or have this one professional repaired and retolexed at the least.

On the other hand, I have no intention of selling this amp now that I’ve played it. It is brighter, more aggressive, yet somehow more classic sounding than my 2008 model. It’s also much more capable of 80s rock and metal tones than my 2018 Streetrod, and really it’s my favorite Splawn by a wide margin now. The clean channel is really more of a crunch channel though, and turning up the gain on the drive channel also increases the gain and grit on the clean channel so they are definitely tied together.

This is the first iteration of the Quickrod circuit with “gears.” I am in love with 3rd gear on this amp, it has a good extra push in the bass without getting flubby or loose, and just a tone of usable gain with great crunchy mids. This has to be one of the best modded Marshall tones on the planet and I see why these amps captivated guitar players at the time of release. This particular unit has been back to Scott’s shop as well, and has the loop master volume installed, which makes it easy to dial in these killer tones at home studio levels too, which is a great bonus. He also mentioned that it got a new headshell at that time, so I think it’s safe to say that this poor thing has been housed in a broken headshell for the second time now!

New Amp: Mesa Triple Rectifier 2 Channel Revision G

I spotted this one online at Guitar Center in fairly rough shape but for an absurdly low price and I couldn’t resist. I’ve been loving my Triple Rectifier 3 channel and was really interested to hear just how different these older 2 channel models sound in comparison.

In short - wow. At times I felt the 3 channel rectifier was both too bassy and too piercing, overall a fantastic amp but it couldn’t quite nail some of the late 90s/early 00’s tones I think of when I think “rectifier.” Well, this being the same amp circuit used on so many recordings of that era it nails the tone perfectly. Anytime I pick up a low tuned guitar to play some Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, or Incubus this THE go to amp. As an added bonus, it also nails a lot of those 90s punk rock tones like Unwritten Law, Blink-182, Lagwagon etc plus rock bands like Foo Fighters. Really, we could list pro bands all day that used these amps as they are extremely popular and great both recorded and live - and now I see why.

Find your very own 2ch Recto on Reverb here

Anyway, the tolex is in rough shape and I’ll attempt to re-glue the edges where it is peeling up, and it needs a good cleaning inside as it’s very dirty and rusty - well traveled for sure but sounds as good as new. Definitely a keeper as far as amps go and a great option to have in the deck.

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