Amp Deal

[ido1957]

Ok so I found some details I had posted in an old thread at HR (2007) - looks like my JCM900 does have EL34's. I think I read somewhere a long time ago that Canadian models got EL34's and US (or UK) got 6L6's ?)

Repair Details:
Replaced second preamp tube.
Replaced low voltage supply zener diodes and master volume switching opamp.
Replaced factory installed (in 1990) 56K bias resistor with 47K bias resistor as per 1994 schematic to lower increase the negative bias voltage from -50V to -38V to properly bias the EL34 tube configuration.
Resoldered misc components and organized wire layout to help with noise further.
Rtv

Some other stuff which I am not familiar with was done - seemed to fix a hum issue I was having which was why I had initially taken it to the tech at Long and McQuade.

[WhiskeyJack]

Anything with more knobs than this is a complex amp in IMHO

[Greg_L]

Ok so I found some details I had posted in an old thread at HR (2007) - looks like my JCM900 does have EL34's. I think I read somewhere a long time ago that Canadian models got EL34's and US (or UK) got 6L6's ?)

Repair Details:
Replaced second preamp tube.
Replaced low voltage supply zener diodes and master volume switching opamp.
Replaced factory installed (in 1990) 56K bias resistor with 47K bias resistor as per 1994 schematic to lower increase the negative bias voltage from -50V to -38V to properly bias the EL34 tube configuration.
Resoldered misc components and organized wire layout to help with noise further.
Rtv

Some other stuff which I am not familiar with was done - seemed to fix a hum issue I was having which was why I had initially taken it to the tech at Long and McQuade.

Ah ok. Yeah the 5881 is in the 6L6 family, and if that was a US only thing, then that's why I thought yours might have had 5881s. Cool, thanks.

[Greg_L]

Anything with more knobs than this is a complex amp in IMHO

Those things are wicked bad ass cool.

[WhiskeyJack]

Anything with more knobs than this is a complex amp in IMHO

Those things are wicked bad ass cool.

If i had the money i'd buy us both one.

[Greg_L]

If i had the money i'd buy us both one.

Someone else buying it is probably the only way my wife would let another amp into the house.

[WhiskeyJack]

If i had the money i'd buy us both one.

Someone else buying it is probably the only way my wife would let another amp into the house.

ditto. My wife's repsonse the new two new amps in the basement was "I hope you didn't buy those"

no love, they are rentals.

[Tadpui]

I think that I'd have to agree to just save up until you can get an amp that you LOVE, instead of settling for interim solutions. If that means waiting until January and being rewarded with a sweet amp that you're gonna love, I'd say wait it out.

[WhiskeyJack]

I think that I'd have to agree to just save up until you can get an amp that you LOVE, instead of settling for interim solutions. If that means waiting until January and being rewarded with a sweet amp that you're gonna love, I'd say wait it out.

These are words of wisdom.

[liv_rong]

I waited about 4 years for mine. It was worth it.

[JD01]

Well I've got 4 hours this morning to try out just about every sub 40W sub 1000 quid amp in bristol. I know they don't have any Victory or H&K amps anywhere though.

[JD01]

This is amazing

[rayc]

Anything with more knobs than this is a complex amp in IMHO

My Kustom Defender 5H has one less knob - only comes with Vol + on/off.
Interestingly a lot of folk who bought little watt amps - & those amps, generally had fewer knobs/functions - have had them modded to add in tone stacks, MV and such like. Mods that cost more than the original amp.

[Greg_L]

This is amazing

Miner just got one of those.

[JD01]

Tried a few amps this morning.
Fender Bassbreaker 15.. this was alright, got some decent sounds out of it but it's not versatile enough for me and I couldn't quite get what I wanted out of it. It's a pretty simple amp too so dialing it in wasn't a problem, just doesn't do what I want.

The Marshall that I posted the pic of was fucking great. Immediately got the sound I wanted out of it, decent clean too. Seems like it just had that big old Marshall tone, not the brittle fizz that I didn't like with the small DSL. Great sound, the controls on it are fucking weird though. Half a an hour messing about with it and I'm still clueless about how the channel selection worked but it sounded good pretty much all of the time.

I also tried the Mk2 blackstar HT50.
https://www.andertons.co.uk/blackstar-h ... AsQAvD_BwE
That one.
I was really skeptical about this cos of my previous experience with the muddy low mid in my MKI Blackstar.

Well... wow. Whatever they've done has really worked. The mid control is now an agressive upper mid that you can enjoy messing with instead of a muddy low mid that you have to work out what to deal with. Also got two voicings on the clean and two on the dirty channel. Also I'm familiar with the control layout and stuff, the ISF is also far more versatile now. Switchable down to 5W too.

So, the Blackstar is 600 quid. The Marshall is nearly 800 quid. The Marshall sounds special although I need to read up on how the controls work.

The Blackstar is simple and sounds good. I didn't want to like this amp but whatever they've done has really improved it.

[Greg_L]

The Jubilee is easy. Clean channel, push/pull rhythm clip (mild crunch), output master push/pull for lead channel.

[JD01]

The Jubilee is easy. Clean channel, push/pull rhythm clip (mild crunch), output master push/pull for lead channel.

Didn't seem that simple at all. There was more to it than that. The controls and what the knobs did changed as you pushed and pulled. With the clean know in one position one of the lead knobs did fuck all, the clean knob and the lead knob started doing something.
Same the other way around too when you're on the lead channel the clean channel still did something depending whether it was pushed or pulled and then there's also the middle knob that sometimes did fuck all but sometimes worked.

Both amps immediately sounded good with all the knobs at 12 o clock though. The blackstar felt more robust than the Marshall with those push pull things.

[Greg_L]

Didn't seem that simple at all. There was more to it than that.

No there isn't. It's a stupid design for sure, but it is pretty simple once you wrap your head around it. The amp is kind of like a semi-three-channel amp.

Input gain is pretty much basic gain for every mode.
The input gain knob is a push/pull that engages the rhythm clip, which is a little extra crunch. Sort of like a "channel two". Push in for clean, pull out for rhythm clip.
Lead Master is the volume for the lead channel
Output master is the overall volume, and it's also push/pull to engage the lead channel. Pushed in is basic volume for clean channel, pulled out engages the raunchy channel and that can be balanced with the Lead Volume.
The standby switch is standby/low power/high power

[JD01]

Didn't seem that simple at all. There was more to it than that.

No there isn't. It's a stupid design for sure, but it is pretty simple once you wrap your head around it. The amp is kind of like a semi-three-channel amp.

Input gain is pretty much basic gain for every mode.
The input gain knob is a push/pull that engages the rhythm clip, which is a little extra crunch. Sort of like a "channel two". Push in for clean, pull out for rhythm clip.
Lead Master is the volume for the lead channel
Output master is the overall volume, and it's also push/pull to engage the lead channel. Pushed in is basic volume for clean channel, pulled out engages the raunchy channel and that can be balanced with the Lead Volume.
The standby switch is standby/low power/high power

I need the scanners head exploding smiley. That might aswell be fucking Greek. The guy in the shop was stumped by it too.

[Greg_L]

I need the scanners head exploding smiley. That might aswell be fucking Greek. The guy in the shop was stumped by it too.

Lol. I know dude it is dumb for sure. It's probably the dumbest control layout ever put into an amp.

I actually like explaining the Jubilee to people because it's always the same response - exploding heads. It's really very simple once you get it though.

Forget "Lead Master" for a second. Ignore that knob. Let's focus on "Input Gain" and "Output Master".
"Output Master" is the overall master volume. It works globally all over every option you choose. It's the volume. This knob can be pulled out to engage the Lead Channel. More on that later.
"Input Gain" is just a regular old gain knob. The Input Gain knob works globally all over every setting you choose. It is the gain knob.
The Input Gain knob can also be pulled out to engage the "Rhythm Clip" function, which adds a little crunch to the clean channel.
So...Input Gain knob pushed in, Output Master pushed in - clean channel.
Input Gain pulled out (Rhythm Clip engaged), Output Master pushed in - Clean Channel with some dirt. Or a de facto Crunch Channel, if you will.

Now for the lead channel....
Push the Input Gain back in, and pull out the Output Master knob and you engage the Lead Channel. This is the magical 80s shred sound.
The Output Master still controls the overall volume even when pulled out to engage the Lead Channel.
The Input Gain still controls the gain. The pulled out Rhythm Clip feature still adds even more shit to the sound.
Now you can use the "Lead Master" to blend the clean channel and lead channel to match. It's basically just a Lead Channel volume control before the master volume. Set your clean volume witht he Output Master, pull out the Output Master to engage the Lead Channel, and balance the Lead Channel volume to the Clean volume with the Lead Master knob.

Guys that just stay on the Lead Channel usually leave the Lead Master knob dimed and control the overall level of the amp with the Output Master.

Simple!