What's your favorite modded / hot rodded Marshall?

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glpg80 said:
Cameron high gain/low gain Jose are diode based clipping. You can assume anything Jose is diode based unless the builder gives you the option to take them out of circuit (not common)

Cameron aldrich is all tube 4 gain stages hence why I own one.

Splawn amps are original designs and 2203 inspired. His newest builds sound amazing but it’s not Bogner/cameron/Moab/Enmity levels of gain. He tries to capture a wider audience with gig friendly features and wider tonal pallets. He does a great job and I would own a Splawn if I didn’t already have a lot of overlap with what I currently own.

Larry is all original designs with a proprietary negative feedback design that made iced earth’s tones as aggressive as they are. His attention to detail and circuit theory knowledge is proven and solid.

Soldano SLO was actually created from modding Marshalls but is it’s own thing. Mike also had his hands in Yamaha designs too which most people don’t know.
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Awesome overview. Do you know anything about Todd Langer's mods?
 
glpg80 said:
Cameron high gain/low gain Jose are diode based clipping. You can assume anything Jose is diode based unless the builder gives you the option to take them out of circuit (not common)

Cameron aldrich is all tube 4 gain stages hence why I own one.

Splawn amps are original designs and 2203 inspired. His newest builds sound amazing but it’s not Bogner/cameron/Moab/Enmity levels of gain. He tries to capture a wider audience with gig friendly features and wider tonal pallets. He does a great job and I would own a Splawn if I didn’t already have a lot of overlap with what I currently own.

Larry is all original designs with a proprietary negative feedback design that made iced earth’s tones as aggressive as they are. His attention to detail and circuit theory knowledge is proven and solid.

Soldano SLO was actually created from modding Marshalls but is it’s own thing. Mike also had his hands in Yamaha designs too which most people don’t know.
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That is really good stuff. So Cameron had both.
Larry's proprietary NF design was the one ripped by Fortin that caused all that uproar right?

In this example, since we are talking modded Marshalls, you have Marshall at the top of the tree right? Basically JTM45/2203 as a starting point? If you start branching off below that then who's next? That's what I'm getting at. I know I could find this online, I just thought it would be fun for this thread. Is it Soldano and Randall Smith below that and is mostly diodes vs no diodes?

PS: I get that Randall started with a Fender but was he going for something completely different then Marshall correct? Those are completely separate designs right (not including things like the Stilleto, TransAtlantic, Royal Atlantic, etc. correct?

Or am I just messing things up :LOL:
 
glpg80 said:
Also thanks for the comment and yes it was meant to be easy to play and inspiring. If you’re wanting brutal it’s likely not the amp best suited for that requirement but it can hold its own.
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To me it does sound like it can get quite brutal, if the player can play that way. That's what I go for, amps that are 'heavy and just compressed enough' on their own, allowing the playing technique to take it over the top. I don't like amps that are so compressed that my pick attack doesn't change anything.
 
thegame said:
To me it does sound like it can get quite brutal, if the player can play that way. That's what I go for, amps that are 'heavy and just compressed enough' on their own, allowing the playing technique to take it over the top. I don't like amps that are so compressed that my pick attack doesn't change anything.
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I wasn’t happy until it could hang 1 to 1 with my aldrich but still clean up with your volume knob which unfortunately with hot pickups my aldrich can’t do. Gain, but not compression. Sounds like you’d like it.
 
311splawndude said:
In this example, since we are talking modded Marshalls, you have Marshall at the top of the tree right? Basically JTM45/2203 as a starting point? If you start branching off below that then who's next? That's what I'm getting at. I know I could find this online, I just thought it would be fun for this thread. Is it Soldano and Randall Smith below that and is mostly diodes vs no diodes?
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It’s all designer preference. The chassis has to have plenty of room. Some are more comfortable gutting and some prefer to mod. Depends on the shape of the donor too - you can’t go super high gain if there’s bad wiring or other issues.

I prefer a chassis that is large such as 2203 or SLO kits. I don’t personally really care.

311splawndude said:
PS: I get that Randall started with a Fender but was he going for something completely different then Marshall correct? Those are completely separate designs right (not including things like the Stilleto, TransAtlantic, Royal Atlantic, etc. correct?

Or am I just messing things up :LOL:
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Yes correct. To add, Mesas started as modded fenders. Mesa rectifiers are also a modified SLO.
 
I kinda prefer diodes than an extra gain stage...
Feels more raw...and as mentioned diodes feel amazing under the fingers...
 
thegame said:
To me it does sound like it can get quite brutal, if the player can play that way. That's what I go for, amps that are 'heavy and just compressed enough' on their own, allowing the playing technique to take it over the top. I don't like amps that are so compressed that my pick attack doesn't change anything.
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For amps that too compressed to get it like you want I tight gate them , then I add a boost but keep the volume on the boost really low . Like half way or less . It’s like a reverse boost . It adds aggression and less compression.It’s my new go to thing . It’s been an interesting thing and makes every amp useful for me
 
Techdeth said:
For amps that too compressed to get it like you want I tight gate them , then I add a boost but keep the volume on the boost really low . Like half way or less . It’s like a reverse boost . It adds aggression and less compression.It’s my new go to thing . It’s been an interesting thing and makes every amp useful for me
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I'm anti gate. Not to be confused with the unfortunate, prevailing RT anti gay sentiment.
 
Its almost stock Super Lead but has a couple of slight gain tweeks. It's got good gain for a Super Lead. VHII or thereabouts straight in and variac'd.

IMG-20220913-102213.jpg
 
thegame said:
I'm anti gate. Not to be confused with the unfortunate, prevailing RT anti gay sentiment.
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Man I can’t even judge an amp until I gate it . It’s such a huge part of my tone being chunky and all my favorite tones are gated . But I know everyone is different . But what the gate cuts out it will allow you to push your eqs and gain harder on the amp to hear the amp in full go and then get the same tone but tight and richer . Just sharing . I showed a couple this and they liked it
 
Techdeth said:
Man I can’t even judge an amp until I gate it . It’s such a huge part of my tone being chunky and all my favorite tones are gated . But I know everyone is different . But what the gate cuts out it will allow you to push your eqs and gain harder on the amp to hear the amp in full go and then get the same tone but tight and richer . Just sharing . I showed a couple this and they liked it
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What gate do you like? I’m pretty happy with my smart gate but open.
 
denialist said:
What gate do you like? I’m pretty happy with my smart gate but open.
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I just use ns2 mostly . With a battery which is important to the chunk part . Thing is after you set your tone will feel restricted. Then just turn the eqs up and gain until you’re back to where you were . But the gate will make it tighter and crisper . Even Angus Young used a Hush gate to keep it clear and crisp . With a battery burnt in about an hour it does something really great for my tone . At first the battery sounds too much like plugged in to the wall . After it’s burnt in it does a cool chunk thing for about 5 or hrs of use . I find I can make most gates work . Sometimes you got to tinker with it more . But after the gate I do the boosting it the reverse boost . Depends on the amp
 
glpg80 said:
Only if someone else wants what I can offer. Enmity is a ground up build from scratch. It’s not a copy of anything that’s existed prior. All of the added gain but without clipping diodes and without the loss of body/growl of a Marshall. Guarantee no one else has figured this out.



The amp in this clip is footswitchable 4/3 stage, footswitchable dual master volumes, dual bias, shared pre-gain or independent, resonance, and pre-master true footswitch bypass metro effects loop. Once again no clipping diodes - that’s all tube and not even cranked yet.

I plan to design a footswitchable 5/4 stage design next. I also plan on offering a new rack poweramp that’s stereo 150W all tube 12x 6550.

There’s a short unofficial waitlist. A few are just waiting on the green light.
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Sounds killer!
I didn't know you were deep diving on these mods at all, well done :cheers:
 
This is my 1996 1987RI BFG Marshall Law Modded Marshall Absolutely Killer.



100_6541.JPG
 
JTyson said:
Sounds killer!
I didn't know you were deep diving on these mods at all, well done :cheers:
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Much thanks :cheers:

Before I moved, I invested thousands in recording gear to setup and characterize things properly so I don’t have anymore videos like the above. I’m still no professional at recording but I hope to offer repair/refreshing/customization sometime mid next year.
 
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