The Ultimate "Mod" AUDIO description/video thread

[reignman454]

Lets be honest, it's 2024. I am tired of reading "Lush, clip, sag, compression, bloom, sparkle, shimmer, bite"...

I think we should make a thread where either modders or guys with multiple examples can either post to help others decide which mods, which modder etc. I'll start. The amps available for me to demo (once I get a home recording interface) are:

2006 Splawn Quickrod
1959 Reissue Splawn Modded Marshall
1983 jcm800 Splawn Modded Marshall
1973 JMP Super Lead Modded by Lee Jackson
1982 JCM 800 Modded by Lee Jackson
2023 Hopkins Pandora

Amps I can reference:
1983 Marshall JCM 800 Modded by FJA Mods (#39) WORST decision to sell an amp ever....
1981 Marshall JCM 800 Modded by Michael Soldano (Prototype SLO Circuit)
1981 Marshall JCM 800 Modded by Karl Sandoval
Various Lee Jackson Modded amps (plexi, 800, jmp)
1987x Marshall Reissue Modded by David Bray
Yamaha T-100 Modded by Soldano
Peters Amplification gryphon
Peavey XXX
Peavey 5150
Peavey 5150II


Example "Hey Reignman, looking at a Splawn xxx or a Peavey XXX, I play this type of music and I want more Chug, more Punch etc,,, "


It would be nice to have a one stop shop where guys can seek who has what, get an opinion or compare. For example, My 1982 Lee modded 800 sounds "Woofy" unless you're at significant volume and NOT using the Pull Master Volume. It really sucks up the sound of the amp and sounds like you're hearing it after the sounds been muffled by a carpet draped over the speaker. WAY more bass and less mid range than my Splawns etc.

Just a thought.

 

[RaceU4her]

Guys describe tones completely opposite from one another here. Dark, bloated and gritty to me is smooth, tight and cutting to others here. The solution is everyone spend $150 and buy a 57 and 2i2 and record clips so there is no guessing what certain terms mean, we can actually hear

 

[reignman454]

Guys describe tones completely opposite from one another here. Dark, bloated and gritty to me is smooth, tight and cutting to others here. The solution is everyone spend $150 and buy a 57 and 2i2 and record clips so there is no guessing what certain terms mean, we can actually hear

Exactly. I'm proposing instead of using descriptors, guys can showcase it, link clips etc. Just naming the references of amps as I can say first hand what I am hearing. Just a thought. You think the 2i2 is the way to go for a quick and dirty clip? Not trying to be Michael Wagner.

 

[CrystalSky]

Soldano modded Marshall sounds interesting to me. First time I see something like that mentioned.

Cool idea for a thread!

 

[RaceU4her]

Exactly. I'm proposing instead of using descriptors, guys can showcase it, link clips etc. Just naming the references of amps as I can say first hand what I am hearing. Just a thought. You think the 2i2 is the way to go for a quick and dirty clip? Not trying to be Michael Wagner.

The 2i2 is fine, but really any new interface is fine these days, id grab a 57 and maybe a lewit 240 condenser, any decent set of monitors and youre good to go. i use yamaha hs5's. id guess thats probably around $800 or so new, probably $500 if you get used, and thats all you need to record pro sounding stuff. you'd have to spend probably $10k to sound any kind of significantly better. even iphone clips are cool to me, and i think theres some adapter now you can hook a mic up to one of them

 

[reignman454]

Soldano modded Marshall sounds interesting to me. First time I see something like that mentioned.

Cool idea for a thread!

Yea... moving that was a big mistake.... Phenomenal sounding marshall but it 100% did one thing.. One thing really REALLY well.

From memory, Michael said he made 3-4 amps before he made his first true "Soldano SLO" he wasn't sure without opening up mine where it fell but when I told him it had the 5 preamp tubes he was convinced it was one of the first SLO circuits he made...

 

[Dyllheaven88]

No one is modding orange amps really I only know of two people but surprised at how large they are and relatively cheap on the market they aren’t being modded more .

 

[CrystalSky]

Yea... moving that was a big mistake.... Phenomenal sounding marshall but it 100% did one thing.. One thing really REALLY well.

From memory, Michael said he made 3-4 amps before he made his first true "Soldano SLO" he wasn't sure without opening up mine where it fell but when I told him it had the 5 preamp tubes he was convinced it was one of the first SLO circuits he made...

You had your hands on some serious rarities. How you guys just let them go?

If I got something like that, I’d go great lengths to keep it and preserve for upcoming generation.

I even had a crazy idea of crowdfunded Rig Talk sanctuary where we could join our efforts to obtain unicorn amps, study and preserve them, document them thoroughly for future repairability or even reproduction in case brand succumbs to oblivion. Espicially those no more obtainable/rare/expensive. A man can dream.

 

[reignman454]

You had your hands on some serious rarities. How you guys just let them go?

If I got something like that, I’d go great lengths to keep it and preserve for upcoming generation.

I even had a crazy idea of crowdfunded Rig Talk sanctuary where we could join our efforts to obtain unicorn amps, study and preserve them, document them thoroughly for future repairability or even reproduction in case brand succumbs to oblivion. Espicially those no more obtainable/rare/expensive. A man can dream.

Was a "Pro Player".. On Tv, playing out etc. When that folded up got bitter, figured I'd spend it on other hobbies.. fiance (now wife) moved in and I was living in the third bedroom with 20+ Marshalls... she wanted the master bedroom back LOL Had 10+ Kramer Nightswans I let go of, half a dozen LP Customs from the late 60's Early 70's...

Also, this was 8-10 years ago... You could have thrown a rock and found a Plexi or 800 for sub $1,000 in my area.. most of them cool. Plenty other cool amps mixed in im not remembering from other modders. Currently have an 800 nobody knows who modded.. spoke to Dave, Lee, (believe Fortin) Jerry P, you name it... has a VERY different 800 circuit doing some cool stuff. Only guy likely who would know is maybe Cameron because it came from the West Coast and was allegedly one of Mick's.

Hindsight? I'd of kept them all... I have a few other gems in my collection I'm not naming because I don't want those to skyrocket or other dudes hunt them down while I'm busy working to try and find another....


The rarities Idea is actually REALLY cool. There was an amp circle like that back in the day, maybe HC or Marshall forum... Guy's did it with guitars and amps. Nothing cheap either... ENGL's, Marshalls, Soldano's etc. One day after gaining a solid rep, dude kept like 4-5 amps and a few guitars and bounced.

 

[CrystalSky]

Was a "Pro Player".. On Tv, playing out etc. When that folded up got bitter, figured I'd spend it on other hobbies.. fiance (now wife) moved in and I was living in the third bedroom with 20+ Marshalls... she wanted the master bedroom back LOL Had 10+ Kramer Nightswans I let go of, half a dozen LP Customs from the late 60's Early 70's...

Also, this was 8-10 years ago... You could have thrown a rock and found a Plexi or 800 for sub $1,000 in my area.. most of them cool. Plenty other cool amps mixed in im not remembering from other modders. Currently have an 800 nobody knows who modded.. spoke to Dave, Lee, (believe Fortin) Jerry P, you name it... has a VERY different 800 circuit doing some cool stuff. Only guy likely who would know is maybe Cameron because it came from the West Coast and was allegedly one of Mick's.

Hindsight? I'd of kept them all...


The rarities Idea is actually REALLY cool. There was an amp circle like that back in the day, maybe HC or Marshall forum... Guy's did it with guitars and amps. One day after gaining a solid rep, dude kept like 4-5 amps and a few guitars and bounced.

Wooooooooow! I envy you a little bit

What did you play back then? And what do you play now? From your arsenal I reckon some gainy tones being used.

Yeah, life is hard sometimes. Hope we all have less of those bitter moments.

 

[reignman454]

Wooooooooow! I envy you a little bit

What did you play back then? And what do you play now? From your arsenal I reckon some gainy tones being used.

Yeah, life is hard sometimes. Hope we all have less of those bitter moments.

Please lord don’t…. Most 11 year olds on YouTube could outplay me in my prime I bet.

Mediocre attempts at Hair metal icons, that was my specialty. Played with a NASCAR driver who had a band (seriously) played on their TV show when he got a gig on Fox, played with a semi-local touring band… other than that, not much.


Set lists ranged depending from the gig/show but outside of sessions and recording as a hired gun I did mostly 70’s 80’s classic rock to Dokken, RATT, Ozzy
I was an almost famous kinda guy oh, and I wore the “I’m huge in Japan” tshirt a lot

 

[CrystalSky]

Please lord don’t…. Most 11 year olds on YouTube could outplay me in my prime I bet.

Mediocre attempts at Hair metal icons, that was my specialty. Played with a NASCAR driver who had a band (seriously) played on their TV show when he got a gig on Fox, played with a semi-local touring band… other than that, not much.


Set lists ranged depending from the gig/show but outside of sessions and recording as a hired gun I did mostly 70’s 80’s classic rock to Dokken, RATT, Ozzy
I was an almost famous kinda guy oh, and I wore the “I’m huge in Japan” tshirt a lot

Sounds fun and cool to me man