Which Kit Do I Get?

Discuss your builds of MetroAmp Kits.

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FourT6and2
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Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by FourT6and2 » Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:28 pm

I want to build a "1959" late-70's Superbass or Superlead. The sound I'm after is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U97dcXykcH0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That amp is a '76 1959 Superbass modified to Superlead spec. with a few other minor component changes. And I'd like to get close to that tone, whether it be 50 watts, 100 watts or a master volume version.

Will any of the Metro kits get me there?

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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by stump » Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:01 pm

If he's using a Super bass modded to Super lead specs then I guess a 100 watt Super lead, 70's spec would get you close to there. The amp could have other mods though. The biggest thing is the sum of all parts, not just the amp, but the guitar, any effects, speakers and of course the player himself. A friend of mine was in a Tool tribute band and he sounded identical using a Mesa Triple Rec. It really does come down to the guitar player ultimately.

FourT6and2
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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by FourT6and2 » Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:45 pm

stump wrote:If he's using a Super bass modded to Super lead specs then I guess a 100 watt Super lead, 70's spec would get you close to there. The amp could have other mods though. The biggest thing is the sum of all parts, not just the amp, but the guitar, any effects, speakers and of course the player himself. A friend of mine was in a Tool tribute band and he sounded identical using a Mesa Triple Rec. It really does come down to the guitar player ultimately.
In that video he is using only a Les Paul Silverburst (probably a '79, which I actually own) into a Boss DD-3 delay, straight into the amp. The cab is loaded with either Greenbacks or V30's. That's it.

As for its mods, this is what Dave had to say:
RACKSYSTEMS wrote:Its a 1959 late 70s with jj el34s and chinese preamp tubes. It is super lead spec w/ 100k feedback on the 4 ohm tap it has a .68 cap for the presence and a .68 for v2 also the caps out of v1 are both .022s. The amp is biased to 25ma and he jumps the channels with a cable. Dave
I'm just trying to figure out what kit to go with since I assume the ones Metro offers are not 1959 models? Or does it not matter? I don't really know the history of Marshall amps well enough to distinguish between all the different Super Lead and Super Bass versions.

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demonufo
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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by demonufo » Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:00 pm

Super Lead is 1959 and vice versa. Probably best to start with the '69 spec kit and go from there.
George's kit will give you the same amp, same presence circuit.
The things you'll need to add, are one more .022uF in the place of the .0022uF that's on the board, and a 100K resistor to replace the 47K on the board to the left of the 10K and 8.2K that are on the board in series. That's about it from what I can tell, if Dave's information is correct (which I don't doubt)

Edit: Oh yeah, and check that the purple wire leading from that 100K resistor goes to the 4ohm tap on the impedance selector, once installed.
Last edited by demonufo on Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
So I like purple, okay!!!!!!

83.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot!

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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by FourT6and2 » Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:59 pm

Thanks! So getting the 100 Watt Plexi kit (which is a '69 Super Lead?) and modifying it to what Dave mentioned will be equal to a 1959 Super Lead (which is also called a JTM100?)?

There are too many different names for the same amp, it's confusing. And don't some of these amps say JMP on them?

Is there somewhere that definitively lists out the different amp versions, names and sonic differences by year?

Plexi, Super Lead, Super bass, JTM, JMP, MKII, etc... Are they all based off the same circuit?

Thanks for the help!

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demonufo
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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by demonufo » Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:24 am

FourT6and2 wrote:Thanks! So getting the 100 Watt Plexi kit (which is a '69 Super Lead?) and modifying it to what Dave mentioned will be equal to a 1959 Super Lead (which is also called a JTM100?)?

There are too many different names for the same amp, it's confusing. And don't some of these amps say JMP on them?

Is there somewhere that definitively lists out the different amp versions, names and sonic differences by year?

Plexi, Super Lead, Super bass, JTM, JMP, MKII, etc... Are they all based off the same circuit?

Thanks for the help!
From what you have quoted of Dave's description it sounds like a JMP circuit, not a JTM. The JTM 45/100 would have been slightly different in circuit. More like the bass circuit, but with slight changes. As were early superleads, in fact, but with slight changes.
70's amps were all JMP's, so unless it's been more heavily modded than Dave describes.....
So I like purple, okay!!!!!!

83.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot!

FourT6and2
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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by FourT6and2 » Sat Jul 17, 2010 10:50 am

So a '76 1992 Superbass modified to Lead spec. is the same as a 1959 Super Lead, which is called a "metal face" non-master volume JMP?

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demonufo
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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by demonufo » Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:30 pm

That's about the size of it.
So I like purple, okay!!!!!!

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FourT6and2
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Re: Which Kit Do I Get?

Post by FourT6and2 » Sun Oct 17, 2010 5:56 pm

Looks like I'll be ordering a kit! Just gotta decide between the 50 or 100 watt version. I'll build it according to the kit specs and then mod it to what Dave said Adam's amp is. Last question:

Is there any difference between the circuit of the '68 and late '70s ('76 to be exact) Superlead?

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