Which Marshall/Clone do you prefer with a strat?

[VintageCharlie]

Dear forum members (and especially strat wielders under you),

i'm curious which amp from the Marshalls or their clones you prefer with a stratocaster, why and for what (cleans, semi cleans, drive)? I'm especially interested in the opinion of those who have tried or even built many 50w and 100w models.
I'm especially interested in the clean/semi-clean tones. I like an amp with a wide frequency response that gives a good base fundament, has a detailed, but not over-pronounced midrange and that gets a good sparkle and chime. I'd like to be able to go from round bold tones to chimey and sparkley ones that bring out the "stratty" side of the strat - especially in the in-between positions (somewhat fendery, but with the early Marshall midrange).

I've noticed many are fond of the 45/100 cleans and drive, but most of them seem to be primarily LP players. Do the strat guys have similar or a different tendency?

I'm about to pull the trigger on many parts for a 100w build and i can't decide between 45/100 and an early el34 version - something like a JTM-100, or even a JTM-50/JMP-50.

It seems to me like the 45/100 is never harsh and is somewhat soft, but gets nice details from the guitar (which appears to me as a rare combination). Do you feel the early el34 amps are much brighter, do they retain the wide frequency response and detail? Do they maybe get even more detail because they're stiffer and are not as soft (do they appear to have more clarity because of that)?

Thanks!

VintageCharlie

Edit: I added a poll for this - never done that before and seems somewhat silly to do so, but let's see what comes out.

[gutpile]

my perference for strat playing is my 45/100 followed by my JTM45 Bluesbreaker combo... The sparkly glasslike chime out of the 45/100 is about the best I've ever heard! Although, I can find a good strat sound out of my 100w and 50w, I prefer the kt66 amps with a strat over the el34's... I am sure you will get hear many different opinions on this one!! good luck!

Mike

[VintageCharlie]

Thanks for your reply Gutpile!

From some clips (for example on Germinos site) i've heard from the JTM-45 and JTM-50/JMP-50 bass spec it seemed to be like the el34 amps (though they tend to be brighter all together) can't reach for the same top end response - for the chime. The el34 amps seemed to be able to become glassy, but still quite round (a nice tone, but i think that the strat shines with amps that have a wide frequency response - and therefore sound very open and "airy").

Sofar i have the impression from clips that the JTM-45/100 retains a lot of the JTM-45 merits, but is tighter, no farty bass, can get a great sparkle and even chime very nice - it seems to have more detail, especially in the top end than the JTM-45, it is chimier, has more "edge" or whatever suitable adjectives for that might be. And it is not nearly as soft as the JTM-45? To my ear it just sounds even more balanced than the JTM-45, because to me it sound sometimes to loose and soft.

Would you guys agree on those impressions? (i haven't unfortunately heard those amps live, so i have to judge by clips, who may be very deceiving). Another impression is (at least on some clips) that the el34 amps sound somewhat "colder" or even "sterile" (this is exagerated - i mean that only in comparison to the KT66 based amps) - probably mainly due to the fact that they have more filtering.

Thanks!

VintageCharlie

[VintageCharlie]

Btw. has anyone heard the ampaholics vintage amp cd? Though it is a big time failure as far as a "demonstration" as such goes (for example, when some amps get a "demo" of the cleans on only one neck pickup and some 5 single notes (facepalm!), it is nonetheless very interesting. I just listened to the JTM 45/100 clip and the intro of it - with a strat neck pickup is just unbelievable! Huge piano tone with some nice, but subtle and somewhat soft bite underlying it - beautiful. Though it doesn't offer any of the el34 100watters, the 50w JMP's (that do have a good tone of their own) sound somewhat matally and aggressive, even harsh at some moments in comparison. The attack is very pronounced and hard and it doesn't seem to have the same oppenness. Though i don't know what spec the JMP's were - lead or bass.

From the narrow picture i could get, i'm leaning heavily towards the 45/100 myself now too.

But i'm very interested in similar or especially different opinions, as i suppose early el34's can get a somewhat similar tone to the 45/00 while offering more gain.

VintageCharlie

[Roe]

the early el34 amps can get close to the kt66 amps if you run a 16ohms cab connected to the 8ohms out and use kt66s

[VintageCharlie]

Thanks for the reply Roe!

Does this mean you'd in essence double the primary impedance that's needed for KT66 by mismatching the secondary impedance?

Your el34 45/100 has also Drake trannies Roe? IIRC somewhere you stated that your el34 45/100 is just like the KT66 version, even with the same filtering and PT (1204-43) - the only difference being the OT - was it the 119?

[Roe]

Thanks for the reply Roe!

Does this mean you'd in essence double the primary impedance that's needed for KT66 by mismatching the secondary impedance?

Your el34 45/100 has also Drake trannies Roe? IIRC somewhere you stated that your el34 45/100 is just like the KT66 version, even with the same filtering and PT (1204-43) - the only difference being the OT - was it the 119?

yes, it means doubling the primary impedance (aka Z). both el34s and kt66s can handle either impedance just fine but in order to get the classic sounds you need the high Z with kt66s and the low Z with el34s. this affects the tone alot.

my 67 45/100 has the drake 1202-119 OT - its like a black flag with the exception of the power supply (PT and rectifier). this is a clone of the very first el34 amp. its very close to the kt66 amps but there are several small differences apart from the OT: preamp filtering is a tad higher, NFB is lower. indicator light is red rather than orange etc.

[VintageCharlie]

Dear forum members,

thanks for your votes in the poll! I'd be very interested in any particular reasons for your preferences too.

My NOS part chase is almost complete. There are a few bits still missing, but soon i'll be ready to order the new production parts needed for the build - so that's the point where i have to make a decision on a particular model. So i'm still interested in any opinions regarding the various Marshall models, especially in combination with a strat.

Thanks!

Regards,

VintageCharlie

[VintageCharlie]

Wow, somehow the votes for the 45/100 keep on climbing all the time - looks like it's the favorite on the forum. So i suppose i made the right choice
Can't wait to get the build started - have all the nos stuff is here, the transformers and some other parts too and the big metro package is on it's way (probably taking a break at the customs right now )

I'm still looking for some original RS turret board material - this is what might keep me back from starting the build as i would really like to put all these goodies on a real RS board, as almost every single little part will be exactly what Marshall used back then - with all the right date codes, etc. Please let me know if you have some of that material - i have loads of NOS Marshall stuff to trade (including almost every piher and iskra value in 1/2w (also 68k's), the RS and Lemco micas, Hunts, RS electrolytics, Bulgin sockets, Belling Lee fuse holder, 2w Allen Bradleys, etc.) or, if preferred, i'd gladly trade for $ too

Regards,

VintageCharlie

[shakti]

I cast my vote for the 45/100 although the JTM100 is close too. The 45/100 with its KT66s is just a beautiful sound no matter what I play through it. The JTM100 with EL34s is a little more finnicky, it sounds killer with a Strat up to around 8-8.5, very punchy and with more girth than a 45/100, but not as sweet.

[VintageCharlie]

Looks like after the clear winner, the 45/100, the closest contestent was a JMP-50. I wonder why there wasn't a single vote for the JTM-45 (the strat clips from Germino's site and from Wallace amps with a strat, espoecially slightly dirty, sound fantastic to my ear). But i suppose that the 45/100 does a similar thing equally well or better.

I found the results of the poll quite interesting. Of course, more votes would be greatly appreciated.
I'll start the same thread for a Les Paul type guitar with humbuckers - i suppose the results should be a bit different here.

Thanks for your input!

Best regards,

VintageCharlie

[VintageCharlie]

The poll didn't work for quite some time, but it's up and running again, please cast your votes and, if you have a spare minute, drop a line or two about the reasons why you fancy a particular Marshall model with a strat.

Thanks!

best regards,

VintageCharlie

[timsmcm]

You dont have the jtm45 combo up there that is what I cast a vote for. And for what it is worth I have no farty bass at all with celestion golds and the bass up to 7. Stays tight but just loose enough to get a good woman tone. I will never part with my jtm 45 combo. It would take a war with a small army .