Mxxxxn 12000 series vs classictone 40-18026

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crumb
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Mxxxxn 12000 series vs classictone 40-18026

Post by crumb » Wed Dec 19, 2018 5:14 am

74 superlead 100, someone had changed out both transformers to some hammond ( i think they're hammond, oldish ones..maybe 20 yrs)...reason unknown.
This suited me as i got the thing cheap and i would have liked to lower the B+ anyway, the 74 and the 69 are pretty close otherwise, changed presence cap to .1, without lifting feedback resistor out of board i changed the value to 27k and left it on the 16 0hm tap.
Changed the four clustered Daly filter caps out cause the tops were bubbled up a bit. Used some old LCR on the first stage, and some new jj 32's on the second. The P.I and the preamp filters are still good.
The power xformer is the right one for the job..same size as original..460v on the plates.
Bright cap is stock 5000pf
The o/t sounded awful, too bright...went through my stockpile of old o/ts, lots of old vintage iron from projects, spare NOS etc..they all had too much headroom.
Then I jumper leaded in this 40-18026 classictone this bloke left here as he wanted to upgrade to whatever it was I can't remember, anyway, I hit paydirt with this one..lots of dirt. I was in love.
Today I substituted in this mxxxxn 12000 series to see how different it is, and it is different.
The Mxxxxn is a different beast, plenty of saturation/dirt but it sparkles, harmonics fly out of the thing..it's articulate in the mids and highs, I've never heard that before in a shitty old marshall.
The thing is though, the classictone has more lower mids..more balls...lower end grunt.
The classictone is a good transformer guys, very good.
If you're a lead player, I suggest go the Mxxxxn , if you like chugg, I suggest the 40-18026 classictone.

crumb
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Re: Mxxxxn 12000 series vs classictone 40-18026

Post by crumb » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:38 pm

I've been noodling this morning on this 74 s.l 100 with the mxxxxn o/t connected by jumper leads.
I've decided that this o/t is astonishing, with master vol turned low, bridged channels maxed, bass knob down to about 3 everything else on full, guitar vol rolled down to about halfway, I'm hearing special tone, the bass response is extended and it rings out like a piano, but it's not at all overpowering, no woolly tone that the classictone exhibited here.... while the upper mids and highs push and bloom out, this really is something.
The lower mids are definitely dipped. but it's just perfect as it allows the bass to ring out clearly..this is an extremely musical o/t.
Now I want one of Georges 12000 series o/t's.

crumb
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Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:47 am

Re: Mxxxxn 12000 series vs classictone 40-18026

Post by crumb » Sun Dec 23, 2018 9:33 pm

ok so I ripped the classictone out of the amp, and bolted the mexxxn in.
Interestingly, because this o/t is so rich up high, I had some issues with lead dress I had to attend to..the thing oscillated..buzz tones and strange ghosting.
I was going to build a new amp to fit this o/t into, but I'm now too lazy and too curious with it in this 74 superlead.
I quickly solve the lead dress problems and this morning I'm noodling away, still trying to get my head around this new sound generating weapon, and I plug in a fuzz pedal, an anologman with genuine reproductions of nkt275 transistors inside. He says they're genuine old ones, I say they're fake. But they do sound good. The reason I say they're fake is because the bloke who was tasked with rubbing the old brand off the side of the transistors wasn't too flash at his job.
Anyway i'm one of these people that just can't get that sound I want to hear from my amp when it comes to fuzz pedals. Unfortunately for me, my elder brother used to play Hendrix records so by the time I cared about guitar, I was entrenched..ensared in that beautiful tone he got.
So I start making/buying fuzz pedals, playing each one and being disappointed each time as they just didn't sound right. I've got a few ' good' ones here, fulltone 69..early one with smooth paint and black knobs..analogman sunface..blah blah..I kept buying/making them because I thought the last one was crap because it didn't sound right.
Anyway, this morning I plug in the closest one and ...there it was..Pure Hendrix tone.
So I've spent probably a grand and weeks of work building different pedals trying to get that sound i liked, and all the time it was the o/t i should have changed.
I'm speculating that all my amps were too rich in the lower mids, the fuzz just turning to inarticulate sludge.
I could change to another fuzz pedal and I don't think it would make a difference..they're all the same..kind of.
Incidentally the analogman sunface pedals have one of the pots at a different spec to the original arbiter circuit, that's why they're so bright. I changed mine back to the proper value..better.

Mykkus
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Re: Mxxxxn 12000 series vs classictone 40-18026

Post by Mykkus » Sun Apr 07, 2019 12:48 pm

I found that the ****** is thinner in the low end as well

On a lead spec amp I just use bass spec values for PI caps to offset and that makes up enough low end bump.

On a bass spec it just clears the low end up a little

These were both 50 watts

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