Morris UK ‘78 experience

  • Thread starter Thread starter Potatoworm
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braintheory said:
but in person it could be a different story. Clips only can say so much I understand
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Yeah, even well-recorded clips... although they can give you a reasonable indication, they often don't tell you everything. So many variables.. how the amp was eq'd, speakers, how it was recorded, and the player of course. The only way to really know for sure is to play the amps. In the case of Morris builds, I've liked most of his stuff that I've tried over the years, but it's especially his more recent builds where I think he's really knocked it out of the park.
 
littleguitars said:
Yeah, even well-recorded clips... although they can give you a reasonable indication, they often don't tell you everything. So many variables.. how the amp was eq'd, speakers, how it was recorded, and the player of course. The only way to really know for sure is to play the amps. In the case of Morris builds, I've liked most of his stuff that I've tried over the years, but it's especially his more recent builds where I think he's really knocked it out of the park.
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I might have to try one at some point and compare to some of my other amps. That’s the only way for me to really know
 
jchrisf said:
My Ceriatone 2204 sounds better than that.
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Yeah based on that clip at least I can see what others mean by it lacking character in the midrange of a typical good Marshall. Not bad, but nothing really standing out either as anything special

For an amp to be worthwhile for me at least I really need to hear something special/inspiring. I don’t care about amps that are just good practical alternatives. That’s not that exciting
 
jdzialak said:
I had an early 80's stock JMP that needed so much work, I sold it and got a Suhr SL67.
The Marshalls can be great, but they are wildly inconsistent, and ofter need new caps, pots, and other stuff besides tubes to get them cooking.

I've played the Morris UK78 and it's every bit as good as a real Marshall from that era. I'm not sure who's hearing a different midrange in internet clips, but I do know the amp is the same as the Canadian (lower voltage) models from the late 70's, with a few upgrades.
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Oh hey I just reposted your clip in the thread. What are the odds. Appreciate the input.
 
Personally, I’m not concerned with vintage this or that, or nostalgia or whatever; just tone, performance, reliability, craftsmanship and so on.

These guys—Morris, Germino, Dr Dan, Metro, etc—they are so damn knowledgeable, so adept at their craft and so fucking good at what they do. That’s who I want building my amps. And I want speakers from J. Seavall, cabs from J. Wheeler
braintheory said:
Old Marshall’s have been very consistent IME. Maybe I’m just lucky, but I think this whole thing about them being inconsistent or less reliable is just marketing bs so that guys go for the current boutique offerings. I get it, but for me that experience has just been a more boring sounding and feeling amp
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I played an old JCM800 for years and it was downright magical. I’ve played others and none of them sounded or felt like it.

In retrospect, I wonder if it had been modded. Because—got-dam!—it sounded spectacular. Wish I still had it….
 
heavision said:
Personally, I’m not concerned with vintage this or that, or nostalgia or whatever; just tone, performance, reliability, craftsmanship and so on.

These guys—Morris, Germino, Dr Dan, Metro, etc—they are so damn knowledgeable, so adept at their craft and so fucking good at what they do. That’s who I want building my amps. And I want speakers from J. Seavall, cabs from J. Wheeler

I played an old JCM800 for years and it was downright magical. I’ve played others and none of them sounded or felt like it.

In retrospect, I wonder if it had been modded. Because—got-dam!—it sounded spectacular. Wish I still had it….
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I’m not concerned with nostalgia either. All this vintage gear came out before I was born. If anything I never wanted to like it (which is why I didn’t even give it a fair chance for years) as I actually prefer the sleeker aesthetic of modern gear, but what can I say it just usually sounds worse IME, especially the guitars lol, but damn some of them look so cool, but sound like furniture with strings attached

And while it’s nice that they’re knowledgeable, what actually matters to me is how their amps sounds when AB’ed vs a good vintage Marshall and I still have yet to find a Marshall-esque boutique amp pass that surprisingly difficult test for me. The guys I want building my amps are the guys that can achieve a sound that is raw and organic vs the more restrained/filtered sound. Wizard, Naylor and Alessandro among the only few I can think of and rather than just copy Marshall’s they have their own sound that borrows from them (in Alessandro’s case it’s Trainwreck)
 
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braintheory said:
I’m not concerned with nostalgia either. All this vintage gear came out before I was born. If anything I never wanted to like it (which is why I didn’t even give it a fair chance for years) as I actually prefer the sleeker aesthetic of modern gear, but what can I say it just usually sounds worse IME, especially the guitars lol, but damn some of them look so cool, but sound like furniture with strings attached

And while it’s nice that they’re knowledgeable, what actually matters to me is how their amps sounds when AB’ed vs a good vintage Marshall and I still have yet to find a Marshall-esque boutique amp pass that surprisingly difficult test for me. The guys I want building my amps are the guys that can achieve a sound that is raw and organic vs the more restrained/filtered sound. Wizard, Naylor and Alessandro among the only few I can think of and rather than just copy Marshall’s they have their own sound that borrows from them (in Alessandro’s case it’s Trainwreck)
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I hear ya. I’ve had experiences with Friedman, Bogner etc where they can sound/feel a bit refined or modern or whatever and lack some aggressive, raw, open thing—which I really dig.

I have an SL68, a Bray 4550 and some others. They deliver! I have a Metroplex MKII coming and I’m hoping and praying it’ll get me “there”—and with a MV and loop—solve my issues. I hope it’s the last amp I’ll ever buy. Yeah, right….
 
My “techs” never told me anything about Marshalls…I’ve been playing and gigging for about 40yrs. I still gig about 80 times a year. I have had so many Marshall’s I lost count.
My last 3-4 old ones needed caps, pots, and more and still didn’t perform consistently. Maybe I just got bad ones. The punch and authority was there, but they lacked sustain and fullness, or had weird frequencies going on.
My Morris amps and Suhr SL67 have been bullet proof and get me the tones I was hoping for in those old Marshalls. Maybe I’m deaf. ?
For actual reference of the tones i normally go for, here is my YT link. Mostly nonsense demo’ing gear I've borrowed or I’ve had for sale.
https://youtube.com/@jdzialak?si=6yg50alNJ0RdkqE7
 
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@jdzialak , that clip sounds great! I’ve owned more Marshall’s than I care to remember. I am definitely intrigued by Glenn’s amps.

Matt
 
jdzialak said:
Do you have a clip?
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I've been thinking recently that I really need to record my amps but right now I just don't have the time or motivation to get it done... hopefully one of these days as I'm in the middle of building my first 2204 with a Mojotone kit. Once I get some amps built and tweaked I'm sure I'll be more motivated to do it.

Actually I must apologize and retract my statement. I can't see the Instagram video above because they are blocked where I am at but I think I found the same video on your YT from the link you provided. I'm sure it sounded good in the room but the first few seconds of the video were a little to bright and harsh for my speakers so I didn't watch the whole video before I posted. I just watch the whole thing and was embarrassed to realize I turned it off right before you turned up the volume on your guitar. That sounded really good!

The video of yours above though is the Perplex'd isn't it? I'd love to hear you play the UK 78.. were you at Morris' Headquarters in that video or was that your amp? I saw on his site that you are one of his pro artists.
 
jchrisf said:
I've been thinking recently that I really need to record my amps but right now I just don't have the time or motivation to get it done... hopefully one of these days as I'm in the middle of building my first 2204 with a Mojotone kit. Once I get some amps built and tweaked I'm sure I'll be more motivated to do it.

Actually I must apologize and retract my statement. I can't see the Instagram video above because they are blocked where I am at but I think I found the same video on your YT from the link you provided. I'm sure it sounded good in the room but the first few seconds of the video were a little to bright and harsh for my speakers so I didn't watch the whole video before I posted. I just watch the whole thing and was embarrassed to realize I turned it off right before you turned up the volume on your guitar. That sounded really good!

The video of yours above though is the Perplex'd isn't it? I'd love to hear you play the UK 78.. were you at Morris' Headquarters in that video or was that your amp? I saw on his site that you are one of his pro artists.
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Thanks.
I have done several videos....perplex'd, 68 Brownout, UK78. I think the video posted here was the UK78. It must be only on IG, and not YouTube.
 
jdzialak said:
My “techs” never told me anything about Marshalls…I’ve been playing and gigging for about 40yrs. I still gig about 80 times a year. I have had so many Marshall’s I lost count.
My last 3-4 old ones needed caps, pots, and more and still didn’t perform consistently. Maybe I just got bad ones. The punch and authority was there, but they lacked sustain and fullness, or had weird frequencies going on.
My Morris amps and Suhr SL67 have been bullet proof and get me the tones I was hoping for in those old Marshalls. Maybe I’m deaf. ?
For actual reference of the tones i normally go for, here is my YT link. Mostly nonsense demo’ing gear I've borrowed or I’ve had for sale.
https://youtube.com/@jdzialak?si=6yg50alNJ0RdkqE7
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I think you nailed it: builders like Morris, Germino, Metro, Dr Dan etc are building amps that bring killer tone and performance, in some cases better than vintage gear. You can gig and tour with them, play the shit out of them—no problem, no worrying about them getting finicky or blowing up. You get all the good and none of the bad.

To me, one of the critical aspects of this is the knowledge, experience and craftsmanship these guys have. They’re not building “knock offs” or whatever. These are full-on tone machines, with all the mojo and magic. And they will never let you down. It’s the best of both worlds as it were.

I realize I’m kinda stating the obvious here. I just feel so fortunate that these guys are building these amps—with such unparalleled dedication and skill—and that I’m lucky enough to own a few. And I always wanna give them props in these situations.

All that said, I have limited experience with real, vintage Ms. So, there’s that.
 
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