Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: gwEm on November 21, 2008, 12:36:06 PM
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i got a marshall 20/20 on ebay. the power tubes might not have much life left, but overall i'm quite happy with it, sounds nice.
you can plug a guitar straight into the poweramp for a good and warm clean tone, with alot of headroom. it works quite well if you go straight in via a crunchbox too.
it does get quite warm, i can see why overheating problems have been spoken of. on the other hand, its been fine for me so far. obviously at 40w it is rather loud
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and here you see the whole rack with the 9001 preamp and my thiele cabs.
they sound good together :) the 9001 isn't the same as my 2204 - but this rig is a lot lighter and more expendable.
not sure if i really need this alternative rack rig... but anyway it wasn't too expensive and as i got it secondhand i should be able to sell it decently. the 20/20 warms up the sound nicely.
i wonder how another preamp would sound, for example the jmp1 or the famous ada mp1
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I like your rack ;)
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I have a 20/20 in my rack along witha JMP1 pre-amp, so let me know if you want anymore info etc :)
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Rig's getting bigger and bigger, gwEm. Come over to the Dark Side!! :)
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Rig's getting bigger and bigger, gwEm. Come over to the Dark Side!! :)
>Jedi mindtrick voice< "You will sell your rack and your JMP50 and buy a Splawn Competition"
;)
though i hate to say it - that actually might not be a bad idea - too bad about the current exchange rate
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Rig's getting bigger and bigger, gwEm. Come over to the Dark Side!! :)
>Jedi mindtrick voice< "You will sell your rack and your JMP50 and buy a Splawn Competition"
;)
though i hate to say it - that actually might not be a bad idea - too bad about the current exchange rate
Well, what goes up must come down. Fortunately, it goes back up again, or at least will a little better than it is right now, lol..
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Rig's getting bigger and bigger, gwEm. Come over to the Dark Side!! :)
>Jedi mindtrick voice< "You will sell your rack and your JMP50 and buy a Splawn Competition"
;)
though i hate to say it - that actually might not be a bad idea - too bad about the current exchange rate
Well, what goes up must come down. Fortunately, it goes back up again, or at least will a little better than it is right now, lol..
is that the album cover of the march Jonny? Awesome album I must say.
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Nice job. Does it do the sounds you want though?
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Nice job. Does it do the sounds you want though?
in fact... i'm not sure. i played it most of the weekend. its not as good as the 2204, but its still better than alot of stuff out there. i suppose i'm after the 80s hod rod marshall sound, and an extra dose of portability vs a head. that 9001 is no doubt good, and its amazing considering the price you pay on the 2nd hand market. but on the other hand its a tiny bit undefined, and its more compressed/less reactive than the 2204. on the other hand again, the 9001 is really versatile compared the 2204, and theres considerably more gain on tap. the 9001 has knobs for everything, so its easily adjustable compared to many preamps, though i can't store 'presets'
was discussing with HTH, and he reckons the sound from the 9001 is a bit harsh. and it is in a way. the 20/20 is really good though, and the presence control and bass boost switch work well to even out the sound. i'm really impressed by the 20/20.
so was thinking about another preamp - and just missed an bargain ADA MP-1 on ebay by 20 mins (was christmas shopping and forgot it) and was a bit grumpy for a bit ;) as this is an experiment i'm being extremely tight fisted. people say the jmp-1 is bland, but maiden and priest use it, and i like the many youtube clips of it. hard to say until its in the room with you, anyway the jmp1 is quite expensive on the 2nd hand market, and is likely to be alot more than i want to spend.
with all these tone experiments i'm beginning to get the feeling that any bright p90/humbucker guitar driving a mid-gain marshall type amp through my thieles will get me the sounds i want ;)
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:lol: you have been converted by the high powered speakers :P
I'm sure you have already thought about putting a Sansamp british through it ? :D
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:lol: you have been converted by the high powered speakers :P
I'm sure you have already thought about putting a Sansamp british through it ? :D
yeah, high-powered speakers are where its at :twisted: i thought the novelty would wear off, but it hasn't. i think i do actually like them ;) means i should sell my marshall 1x12 at some point
i'd love a sansamp british. i tried my gt2 through the 20/20, and it doesn't sound as good as i expected, but i'm not sure my gt2 is in full health, its taken alot of abuse over the years though.
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I looked at the JMP1 too and thought the same thing - a bit too expensive, even second hand. I paid £60 for my 9001 - thats a bargain and a half!!!
The 9001 isn't harsh, it's just a bit fizzy in the low end run direct into a power amp (imo). I thought it sounded best run into the front end of a low-gain amp like a plexi. It's not as nice as a 2203/2204 though, no way. I can get close with the 9001, but the 2203 has the edge.
I'd love to try an ADA MP1 - remember those sounding REALLY nice back in the day.
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sorry for misremembered quote ;)
i paid 93.50 for my 9001, but still a bargain IMO.
i'd love to check out your workshop someday HTH.
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Yep the MP-1s sound nice in modded and unmodded forms. Sadly mine sits on the shelf since I split up the rack. Bit of overkill for the office these days.
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I was going to bid on that MP-1 too, gwEm, ended up going for a good price! They're certainly good units, i love my pair :) The clean chorused sound is pure Nothing Else Matters, and the distorted sounds are really versatile; from just breaking up, all the way through to high gain stuff.
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Maybe I define 'bargain' differently than everyone else, but to me a bargain is something that's value outstrips its cost.
To me, that doesn't seem to be true with the 9001, judging by what you guys are saying.
Just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it's a bargain, just as something more expensive doesn't denote a rip-off.
Buying multiple wrong preamps will cost more in the long run than one right preamp. Where's the bargain in that?!
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I was going to bid on that MP-1 too, gwEm, ended up going for a good price! They're certainly good units, i love my pair :) The clean chorused sound is pure Nothing Else Matters, and the distorted sounds are really versatile; from just breaking up, all the way through to high gain stuff.
yeah, was pretty gutted about that MP1 ;)
anyway - regarding the MP1 - do they sound nice stock, or do you have to mod them to get a good sound?
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Maybe I define 'bargain' differently than everyone else, but to me a bargain is something that's value outstrips its cost.
To me, that doesn't seem to be true with the 9001, judging by what you guys are saying.
Just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it's a bargain, just as something more expensive doesn't denote a rip-off.
Buying multiple wrong preamps will cost more in the long run than one right preamp. Where's the bargain in that?!
the value of the 9001 does outstrip its cost (IMO etc). i've brought more expensive pedals.
and not to forget, i can easily sell it, and maybe make 20quid profit, or at least not lose too much money... due to it being secondhand.
plus, most importantly i have some fun playing round with it :)
if someone wants to get into rack stuff in a cheap way, i absolutely recommend it, not everyone can afford a gold plated mesa preamp or whatever.
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They sound good stock, one of mine has the MDRT transformer upgrade, and that helps it, i'd recommend it :)
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I only brought up the subject because neither you nor HTH sounded over the moon with it.
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They sound good stock, one of mine has the MDRT transformer upgrade, and that helps it, i'd recommend it :)
You lucky sod - I wanted the MDRT for a couple of mine
I have a couple of modded ones and some would say too many for my own good (5)
Bought my first one back in 1988
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I only brought up the subject because neither you nor HTH sounded over the moon with it.
I'm happy with mine - just needs mated to the right poweramp.
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I only brought up the subject because neither you nor HTH sounded over the moon with it.
i guess you're right - maybe we're just being british ;)
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yeah, high-powered speakers are where its at :twisted: i thought the novelty would wear off, but it hasn't. i think i do actually like them ;) means i should sell my marshall 1x12 at some point
What difference in sound do high powered speakers give? I was thinking of trying something other than the G12H30s in my cab just for a change really. Woogie got me interested in EVM12Ls.
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yeah, high-powered speakers are where its at :twisted: i thought the novelty would wear off, but it hasn't. i think i do actually like them ;) means i should sell my marshall 1x12 at some point
What difference in sound do high powered speakers give? I was thinking of trying something other than the G12H30s in my cab just for a change really. Woogie got me interested in EVM12Ls.
what is 100% true is they distort less at high volumes. everything else i'm about to say is 100% personal opinion/conjecture.
i personally think this gives better definition with gainier amps, and a more modern sound (well, compared to a 60s greenback anyway) since it seems the old time artists relied alot on creamy speaker breakup distortion.
i think a heavy magnet (your G12H30 already has one of these) is also important in giving that more modern edge - i believe most high powered speakers would be fitted with a heavy magnet (though not all - eg G12T100, Scumback etc).
philking, will and feline like celestion sidewinders - also high powered speakers. but a few of them are keeping eagle eyes out on ebay for some more. i was looking out myself, just to try them - but i can't be bothered anymore. i got used to the EV12Ls in the thieles and i like the tone now. it think it just gives a slightly different take on the whole marshall thing. i mistook them for being a little mid scooped when i first got them, thats not really true in fact (as woogie pointed out), they just have different mids to celestions. finding the EV12Ls have a bold sound (perhaps due to my cool cabs), not sure how this translates to EQ curve - but these are heavy speakers - in terms of weight. the sidewinders are lighter and louder, but of course are celestiony. i'd love to A-B both speakers in a fair scenario.
G12B-150 is a pretty shitee speaker fitted as default to marshall 1912 cabs - avoid these. G12H-100 speakers are a nice high power take on the G12H, i like them alot. I have two for sale in fact, though they can be found cheap. i should probably try mine in my thieles, but its a question of time. if you want a complete change the G12H-100 won't be the ones to try since they are still a G12H
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See if you can find a Digitech Twin Tubes preamp - they are a bit noisy but have great tones. if you can get the controller for it that would be great too as they use an old Appletalk connector (though you can use a midi controller with them).