Marshall JMP 2203 stock vs Soldano HotMod

Lasse Lammert

Lasse Lammert

New member
Everyone knows that the classic Marshall JMP and JCM 800 are not only killer amps, but also great platforms to mod and take into high gain territory.
Yet some people might not wanna mod their good old 2203/2204, some even scream blasphemy.
In my opinion nothing is ever blasphemy that improves things for you personally..but tastes do not only vary, they might also change over time and you might wanna keep your old 2203 stock but still like the tone of a modded Marshall...
This is where the Soldano HotMod saves the day.
it's a plug'n'play solution that replaces the regular dual triode in the v2 slot with a triple triode system, so it essentially adds another gain stage to the amp, much like many mods to with an additional 12ax7, just without the permanent changes. It's literally plug'n'play and can be undone in the time it takes to take the back panel of the amp off.

Unfortunately Soldano doesn't build this neat little thing anymore because
A) the tubes are getting rare
and B) sometimes the ground connection to the tube socket got a bit loose after time which led to dropouts etc which in turn led to people writing/phoning Soldano....and that turned out too much service effort for a little device that was less than 200$ new...
Also did Soldano come out with their GTO, and the Hot Mod was a direct competitor, so it was discontinued after a while.
but if you search ebay you can still find them every now and them...and they're SICK!

Here's a little comparison of a stock JMP 2203 (more info below) and the same amp with the HotMod installed.
Both clips were recorded with exactly the same settings (see pic), same DIs, same microphone and no post processing.

The chain was:
EMG89
Maxon od808
Marshall JMP 2203 (1978, stock except for new filter caps and a conversion to KT88 instead of el34)
Mesa Rectifier 4x12
Audio Technica AT250DE
API 3124+
Apogee AD16X
Pro Tools

 
So when you say the GTO became the direct competitor, does that mean that they give similar results?
 
fek":35xk5gzm said:
So when you say the GTO became the direct competitor, does that mean that they give similar results?
Click to expand...

I don't think so, but that's at least what I read somewhere (from Michael Soldano himself, I'm gonna try to find it)
 
Just found this quote:

"Here's the story on the HotMod, starting with a little history. It was originally designed by my head technician, Bill Sundt, before Soldano Custom Amplification even existed. In the early to mid eighties we were both working at (now defunct) Stars Guitars in San Francisco. In addition to the guitar work, I was doing amp mods and repairs there, mostly on Marshalls. Bill worked in the machine shop, but was, and of course still is, an avid amp tinkerer. In the course of our numerous gab sessions, we'd talked about how cool it would be to have a high-gain amp mod that you could just toss in a Marshall with little or no effort. "Amp Mods While-U-Wait!" - we figured it could be a real moneymaker. Before we had time to give this idea much more thought, I'd decided to move back to Seattle to concentrate on an amp design that was kicking around in my head (the now legendary SOLDANO 100w Super Lead Overdrive). A while later Stars Guitars went out of business, and shortly after that, Bill mailed me a device that he'd been working on - a plug in mod for a Marshall! I stuck it in my '77 Marshall model 2203 100w master volume and it sounded great.

A year or so later I moved to LA and started Soldano Custom Amplification. When business got going, Bill came out to Hollywood to join the fun, and brought the HotMod with him. Actually, it wasn't yet called the HotMod, that name was provided by our friend Ed Simione (now of TC Electronics fame) who helped us get the HotMod in production.

The HotMod is no longer made. In it's final form, it was a plug module with a tube that replaced a specific 12AX7 preamp tube in certain Marshall and Fender amps, and a few others as well. The fact that you could hot rod your amp without having to physically modify the amp itself proved to be especially handy if you had a "collectable" vintage amp and didn't want to ruin its value. It worked by inserting an additional gain stage into the preamp circuit of the amp it was plugged into. Conceptually, it was a really great product and, when properly applied, worked quite well. Ultimately, however, there were a few problems that led to my decision to quit making it. The first one was that it only worked in specific amps. That, in itself, didn't really bother us since we only had Marshalls in mind when designing it. The problem was, some users either ignored or lost the instructions that came with the HotMod, and put it in amps it wasn't designed for. It never hurt their amps - but it didn't work either! Another problem was with non-master volume amps (like your '77 Super Lead, if it were stock). Since the HotMod boosted the gain after the volume controls, by the time it started working, the amp's volume was essentially wide open. Of course, adding a master volume to the amp would solve this problem, but that sort of defeated the whole "no tools required" aspect of the HotMod. The final problem was cost and parts availability. There were several different tubes that we used in the HotMod, but all of them had been out of production for quite a while, so we had to rely on surplus stocks for our supply. That always bothered me. Also, as simple as the HotMod was, it was tedious and costly to assemble, and when all was said and done, we couldn't make any money on it and still have it be affordable. Now you all know more about the HotMod than you probably ever wanted to!

Getting back to your question - even if you could find one, I would not recommend the HotMod, simply because there are better options available to you. My first recommendation is the SOLDANO Supercharger G.T.O. (shameless plug number one). If you're not familiar with it, it is an all tube line driver/overdrive pedal that really works. Plugging one of these into your Marshall will give you all the gain you could ever want, plus huge tone and switchability to boot! If you'd rather not use a pedal and want to have your amp hot rodded instead, I still offer a high-gain mod for your Marshall that sounds amazing (shameless plug number two - ha,ha,ha!). It's as close as you can get to the lead channel sound of my 100w Super Lead Overdrive without owning one. If this interests you, give me or Bill a call at (206) 781-4636 and we'll take care of you."
 
Had one... sold it for a profit. Much prefer the Marshall with slight push from TS in your clips and in my own room when I A/B'd them. The gain is fizzy and a bit bloated with the hotmod. You end up dialing back the gain which defeats the purpose... in my opinion anyway.
 
I have one in the original case with instructions somewhere. Cool little thing. My langner 800 made it obsolete. Several of my Marshall freak friends tried it when I got it. One or two kinda dug it.
 
Kapo_Polenton":2q7m8xf3 said:
Had one... sold it for a profit. Much prefer the Marshall with slight push from TS in your clips and in my own room when I A/B'd them. The gain is fizzy and a bit bloated with the hotmod. You end up dialing back the gain which defeats the purpose... in my opinion anyway.
Click to expand...
I tried one once, you had to keep the preamp down a bit or this would happen. Liked it a lot, should have kept it. Sold it for a profit. I was having a difficult time finding backup tubes.....sounds killer Lasse! :rock:
 
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