Author Topic: new toy - marshall lead 12 (Read 12772 times)

gwEm · « **on:** January 30, 2008, 02:32:06 PM »

you might remember this post i made a while ago:

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10336

anayway, i researched online and found alot of hype about the Marshall Lead 12 model... lots of rock stars connected with them, for example ZZ Top.

I brought one in decent original condition on ebay. later on i'll try it and see if the hype is real. so why post now? excitement I suppose ;) i really hope it doesn't sound like complete 1980s solid state arse. its very well constructed at least (particularly the 1x10" speaker) - not like a contemporary marshall.

more later...

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2008, 09:27:13 PM »

Try it through a bigger cab and you'll find it sounds MUCH better.

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2008, 09:41:54 PM »

I have the same amp but with reverb
I have loved mine but the gain pot has gone dodgy and I need to have it fixed.
Doesn't sound bad but I agree would be good through a bigger cab

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #3 on:** January 30, 2008, 10:01:17 PM »

I've got one too with reverb. Mines tucked away in the lounge and is used for jamming to the telly! It sounds realy good for a small amp.

PoshCollins · « **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2008, 10:11:22 PM »

How much can you pick one up for?

shaman · « **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2008, 03:30:53 AM »

YES...bigger cab! I gigged with one for years, but ONLY after I cabbed it!!!only SS amp I have actually liked.....a fun little amp

Henk · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2008, 08:52:28 AM »

Wasnt there an earlier version with a larger cab and an off-center 12" speaker? Cant find it anymore but i remember seeing one. It sounded quite rough though.

You can put a really big load of bass trough(without too much mud) it when you use a 4x12, very much fun actually..... solid state power amp distortion rules :lol:

gwEm · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2008, 10:40:22 AM »

Posh: You can pick one up on ebay for between 40 and 80 pounds.

So yeah, I tried it this morning and its quite nice. Definately worth what I paid for it. Mine is in top condition cosmetically, but electrically it needs a bit of work (neon switch, capacitors and pots).

Nevertheless I quite liked it, even with the built in speaker. Its true, if you set the controls like a w**ker it sounds solid state and horrible. But equally, if you work with the controls you can get a decent 80s Marshall tone out of it - quite good. Much nicer than an Epiphone Valve Junior! :) Sounds better than the Orange Crush clips I heard too - I wonder how it compares to a modern AVT or MG.

I tried it with my MI Crunchbox, and it makes a nice improvement, but even with the amp's overdrive things are ok. Volume level is perfect for home practise I'd say. Its a nice little unit indeed!

So I thought my next steps should be:

1) Fix pots
2) Speaker output - how much better is it?
3) Change IC1 opamp (apparantly a common mod to make the drive sound a bit nicer)
4) Capacitors
5) Neon switch / euro plug mains input (maybe)
6) G10 Greenback speaker (maybe)

gwEm · « **Reply #8 on:** February 03, 2008, 08:27:54 PM »

ne5532 opamp working very well in this circuit

Ted · « **Reply #9 on:** February 03, 2008, 08:31:54 PM »

I had an AVT 20, my bro has it now and that is a huge step up from the MG series.

Some sweet tones there. Has a CD input so you can run 2 guitars through it for jamming.

The lead 12 looks nice.

gwEm · « **Reply #10 on:** February 04, 2008, 11:15:38 AM »

don't know if anyone is following this thread, but some observations as i mod this thing:

the tone stack is a bit different, but with the 5532 op-amp it pretty much nails a JCM800 preamp. the 5532 removes almost all the solid-state fuzz from the bass frequencies. noise performance is better too.

i added an external speaker output, and it sounds totally gig-able with a 12" speaker. only some valve-like compression is missing which harms a bit the mojo connection between the speaker and the guitar strings. a compressor pedal helps this. even with 12 'soild state watts' it caused complaints from my neighbours.

i wanted a g10 greenback for this amp, but by sheer chance i picked up a g10 vintage really cheap. it might be a a bit too high powered (60w), but it was a great price (the g10 greenback isn't yet available anyway) and it has great sensitvity from a 10" speaker - probably due to the magnet which is the size of a small village. i'll try it later, but i have high hopes.

gwEm · « **Reply #11 on:** February 04, 2008, 02:02:18 PM »

G10 Vintage was extremely loud (i had to really shout to be heard over it), and hi-fi.

it has a decent low end too, but its not really a rounded one, i guess due to the 10" format. sounded really excellent for clean jazz work.

didn't really like it though, despite its volume and clearness. it adds nothing to the sound (probably as its too high power rated really), doesn't really beat the 'boxiness' of the small lead 12 cabinet. with overdriven guitar tone it was also quite modern and harsh on the ears (i dont know if this was because it wasn't broken in - though its had 20 hours use apprarantly).

it is better, but not really a worthwhile upgrade for the money... i might sell it.

noodleplugerine · « **Reply #12 on:** February 04, 2008, 02:14:13 PM »

You're really going to town on this aren't ya!!

Wish I had the knowledge to mod like this!

Know any places where you can learn this sort of thing? And super cheap amps, like £30-40 where I could start learning stuff?

gwEm · « **Reply #13 on:** February 04, 2008, 02:31:17 PM »

i have a Masters and a PhD in electronic engineering ;) but i'm not using any of the stuff i learnt for these mods thats for sure.

theres alot of very informative sites about modding tube screamers and boss sd-1. i suggest this would be a good place to start with modding. other than that i just google around and see what other people have done, and combine with my own ideas.

my lead 12 was 45 pounds plus 15 delivery. reverb 12s are about the same price, or a bit cheaper. they are built like tanks, sound quite good already without mods, and are easy to work on. it might be a bit expensive for you, but i would still suggest it as a good place to start. with a few simple tweaks, like an external output and a new opamp you can hear the difference instantly.

i wish i could suggest the epiphone valve junior, but i'm really not keen on that amp :( i'd quite like to put my lead 12 up against a modded valve junior.

my next move for this amp would certinally be to play around with the tone stack. but the vintage 10 was a bit of a dissapointment, so i've lost a lot of motivation. the lead 12 tone stack works a bit less powerfully than the one on my JMP50.

i'd really like the oppertunity to design a practise amp one day. i have alot of ideas to design a quite nice sounding low cost amp. if they could do it in the 80s, we should be able to do /better/ today - not worse.

gwEm · « **Reply #14 on:** February 16, 2008, 06:52:30 PM »

well i ordered a load of opamps from farnell. i've tried 9 different ones in the circuit. difference is quite startling. from all the new ones i tried - the burr brown opa2277 is now the one i prefer.

edit: just put a clip in the players forum