Showing off the classic Marshall 1987 circuit, in reissue form. Modified with a master volume across the FX loop to make it a little more manageable at home - and the “one-wire” mod which cascades the gain stages. What a beast!
New Amp: Marshall Vintage Modern 2466
These always intrigued me, but having owned a “real” plexi like the 1987x and choosing that over the JTM45 type Marshalls, I never made this amp a priority. Well that was a mistake!
I expected it to only do a JTM45/100 approximation, and a mediocre one at that but I am pleasantly surprised. The body and detail controls allow a lot of fine tuning to the sound - just like jumpering the inputs of a Plexi or JTM - but in “high dynamic range” mode engages another pair of tube gain stages what push it into that coveted “modded” territory. While it’s no modern ultra-high gain monster, it’s surprisingly aggressive sounding, the mid boost is very effective at thickening it up for classic sounds, and like all bright Marshalls it excels when boosted too. Of course, it is still focused on the more classic JTM style sounds, so its voicing lends itself more towards those tones and it can be very loose in the bass response compared to more modern cascading gain designs. That means it isn’t a replacement for a high gain Marshall style amp on its own, since it requires pedals to get there, but it excels at classic low to mid gain rock and gets dirty enough for early metal styles too.
I’m looking forward to doing a few more comparisons between this and my 1987x, and 2203. It’ll be interesting to see which I like the most.
New Amp: Splawn Modded 1987x Plexi
I’ve always loved my Splawns - starting with the 2008, then adding a 2018. Once I got the 2006 though, I was blown away, and I was much more interested in trying out some of the older revisions of the circuit. I happened across this Marshall 1987x modded by Splawn, dating to 2003, and I had to find out.
The core tone is classic Splawn, with thick mids, and it retains the same bright cut as my 2006 Quickrod. It does have noticeably less bass response compared even to the 2006 - which itself is less bassy than the 2008 and in turn the 2018’s I’ve had. It’s cool to see how over time, more and more bass was added to the tone as players tune lower and lower.
Despite lacking the modern super-deep bass thing, it does have a killer core tone, perfect for 80s hard rock and metal. It has a footswitchable rhythm mode and solo boost, but lead is obviously the focus of this amp. The only negative I can say is that just like all of my other Splawns, the gain control is really more of a “suggestion” and panning it from 3 to 7 is hardly any different, adding a little more compression but not drastically affecting the tone. Couple that with the somewhat odd, Splawn signature mids voicing and it’s really not able to cover classic plexi crunch tones, despite what the head shell might indicate.
New Amp: Ceriatone King Kong 50
I’ve been looking for one of these on and off since the Chupacabra first hit the scene almost a decade ago. I really should’ve ordered one way sooner - but something about waiting 6-8 weeks bothered me. That was a pretty dumb attitude to have because I waited far more than that to get one, and I frequently saw them listed for sale for nearly brand new prices.
I finally located one - priced less than a brand new one - so I jumped on it. I have to say, I am extremely impressed. This may be one of if not the best amp in my entire collection. It can be dialed so many different ways and can really authentically capture classic Marshall tones, flip a few switches and it’s into 80s metal territory or further which is perfect for me. I’m very impressed with this amp and it is certainly a keeper. I think it’s time I looked at a few other Ceriatone models - the DZ30 and AH50 Deluxe both really pique my interest.
New Amp: Marshall 2555x Silver Jubilee Reissue... again
I felt that I didn’t really give his amp a proper chance, so here I am trying it again… and at a better price than I paid for the first one as an added bonus!
My first impression is that it’s very meh through my vintage G12T-75’s, which I love for most things. However, it comes alive through Vintage-30’s…. no surprise there as it was designed with that speaker in mind and Jubilee cabinets come equipped with those from factory.
I’ve since rewired my cabinet so I no longer have the G12H-100 connected that I initially played this amp through the first time I had one. I still think that’s a great speaker and I’ll have to try it back to back with the V30’s and see how it performs with this amp. The more I collect amps, the more I am finding that certain amps just don’t get along with certain speakers.
New Video: 2018 Splawn Street Rod
A little more detail after the comparison between the different circuits of Splawns I’ve owned. I loved this amp but it was just a bit too big for my studio, it’s the largest 1x12 I’ve seen! Great tone though - a bit brighter and bassier than previous circuit iterations. Overall a fantastic amp.
In this video, I play a 1989 Kramer Baretta in Snakeskin finish
New Amp: 2x Marshall JCM900 Mk III - 50w and 100w
Two lovely new Marshalls arrived this week - a pair of JCM900 Mk III’s. I have had the model 2501 for a while (50w Mk III 1x12 combo), and love it, but I’ve been trying to get away from combo amps and keep the heads instead. I spotted a Mk III for a good price on Guitar Center’s listings, so I pulled the trigger. Then the very next day, another one, this time even cheaper! I figured I could return the other one if necessary, so I ordered that one too.
The first one arrived and ended up being a 2500 model, 50 watter. It’s in pretty rough shape both externally and has a loose tube socket rivet, which makes it a big question mark even at the price I got it for… I have some time in the return period to decide. I’ve already spent some time cleaning it up and it does sound great, however.
The second arrived a day later, a 2100 model, 100 watter. I have no preference between 50w and 100w, but since I have the SL-X and a 100w JCM800 2203, I think it’d be cool to have all three of them in 100w form, even if just for the sake of comparison. This one is much cleaner condition wise - hardly any rust at all. On a closer inspection, this head shell has been recovered - a few spots lifting on the back but overall a quality tolex job though it doesn’t match the factory Marshall material. The main pause on this unit is the grid resistors for the power tubes clearly burned out internally - there are some burn marks on the PCB and it has had a professional repair internally - the resistors are now mounted directly to the power tubes like a vintage Marshall would have done. A fuse was also moved to a holder for easier replacement - overall good modifications though I wish the scarring inside weren’t so visible, just for the sake of possibly selling it on later.
After some extensive A/B testing, the 50w is brighter but punchier, but overall I think the 100w has a slight edge on the tone - but that might also be related to the replaced/new components internally (it also has several new caps - I checked the values and they are the same as the factory schematic) which warm it up a bit more. The jury is still out on these two but I’m leaning towards keeping the 100w and sending back the 50w, and someone who appreciates these will get a good deal on it.
New Guitar: Kramer Stagemaster Mach II - Flat Top
Another awesome neck-through Kramer added to the collection, and in the same exact color as my arch top Mach II Stagemaster! This color in the catalogs was called “Rose,” it’s essentially a transparent coral/salmon color. It’s a beauty - and really cool to have both flat top and arch top variations of the same guitar. I’m a big fan of EMG’s and this one is equipped with the common 81/SA/SA combination, a modification I probably wouldn’t have done myself but I’m pleased with anyway. The previous owner also added an extra, non-matching knob in place of the coil tap switch. That won’t do, so I’ll be fixing that up shortly, perhaps a vintage EMG 89 would be a great addition here, and I could keep the stock looking coil tap switch, assuming there’s no major damage under the finish where the new knob was added.
Here are some pictures comparing the flat top to the arch top.
New Guitar: Ibanez 540S Carribean Blue
Picked up this guitar from Guitar Center - again - labeled as a “540S.” This is certainly an interesting combination and one I’m still trying to figure out - it’s a 1989 Carribean Blue 540S body, complete with the Bensalem PA neck plate (blank serial number), but the neck has a serial number dating it to 1996. Even more interesting, the neck has the “S series” badging, and abalone inlays - but they are dots instead of ovals. Also, it is not an all-access neck joint… from my digging, any S series guitar with a Fujigen made neck after about 1993 should have this neck joint type. I can’t find any stock 1996 S series guitar - even in Japan or European catalogs - that has abalone ovals and a traditional neck joint.
I also took some measurements, it is Wizard dimensions as well - and a very high quality build with the flat 17” fretboard just like my others. I’m not sure what to make of this neck, but strange features and history aside, it is an amazing player like any of my other Ibanez guitars. It’s not hard to imagine why Ibanez was able to weather the storm during the 90s while many of their competitors struggled, got bought out, or went overseas during the same period.
New Guitar: 1990 ESP Horizon Deluxe
Here’s a pretty unique one - a Bolt-on neck Horizon. Picked this up browsing Guitar Center’s listings for a fair price, and it has a really sweet arched top body shape with a great neck.
This also has a later iteration of the Sinclair bridge, ESP’s take on the Floyd Rose. These are great bridges, just as good as any OFR but with one major flaw - the saddles have offset screw holes and no one I can find makes replacement saddles. So don’t break one!
To make matters worse, the angular shape of the base plate on the Sinclair means a Floyd, Gotoh, or Edge trem will not just drop in - the body needs to be routed to fit a more squared-off base plate. I’ve seen too many hack-jobs over the years where someone tried to make a different bridge fit. I’m lucky and have a spare Sinclair bridge with 5 good saddles on it, so if I ever break one I have a few - but I understand most people who own these vintage ESP’s wouldn’t have access to that. If anyone happens to know a shop that can build a replica saddle based on a sample, please let me know and I’d be happy to supply some saddles from my spare to get it made… I’d love to keep this bridges alive into the future.