Apologies to all,I have been trying to get my photobucket to work the way I want it to unsucessfuly,I wanted to attach files,but this is not working for me yet.
So I would like to continue with my walks down memory lane in my tonequest journey.
Without being disrespectful to Marshall,Plc,I would like to add that I am choosing to live in the past as far as their products go.
I am very excited to hear of George's new output transformer,my ideal setup would be a three stack setup comprising,the 12000 series '68 head,the JTM 45/100 Superbass spec,and the '67 100 watt head.
Using an amp splitter this would give the best of both worlds,to quote EVH.
I think Edward need to tour with George's amps as his backline,since he is back into recreating his olde style setup,re: the recent Charvel EVH art series,which I tried one of with my HW in the store and was severely dissapointed with.
This is a very exciting time for an old Marshall enthusiast like myself,I can't begin to express how fortunate I was to get my computer and discover Metropoulus Amps.George is doing it right and much success to him.
Thinking back to my old Fuzzface,I remember when I cranked the fuzz control up all the way I would pick up AM radio signals;usually some other European stations,but the overdrive I had then with my original Superlead Plexi was incredible.
I could get the multitonal feedback like on BOG Hendrix when he moves his guitar around,also on the Woodstock video the same thing.
I remember the day Jimi died,I was in downtown London,had gotten off the underground train and was walking home to my house in Wembley Park,a suburb of NW London near the famous Wembley Stadium.
I saw on a newspaper newsbill,on the outside of the newspaper vending machine"Wild man of pop dead,Hendrix dies".
I was in a state of shock as I walked home,my world of guitar seemed to have ended at 16 years old.
I couldn't have been more than 7 miles from Jimi's place of death at Monika's flat.
I have read a few posts regarding obtaining the Hendrix tone from various eras.During the sixties and seventies I religiously listened to all the Hendrix recording I could,all the bootlegs I special ordered from the States to England.
The key to the early '67 Experience sound is,as is always the case with Jimi,the use of the guitar volume control,controlling stacks of out of control early Marshalls on the verge of self destructing themselves.All the while Jimi fighting to keep his Strats in tune.The between songs raps show his frustration with the tone he was getting,knowing that it was not what he had in his head,the way it came out.
The Isle of Wight is a classic example,I have the original bootleg LP's and the aforementioned Fuzzface radio frequency bleed through is evident throughout the 2 LP set.You can hear the local police shortwave walkietalkies through his speakers as he fights to tame the amps.
In those days as I have stated before,the music stores in London did not stock valves.You had to buy them at radio/electrical supply stores.
I remember buying original Mullard EL-34's at such a shop,placing them in my amp,not knowing about rebiasing at the time,and getting squealing,horrible noise!I rember the original Marshall supplied speaker cables being white and being quite thick.
On my HW reissue,the speaker cables are a skinny cheap moulded joke.
Why didn't the Guvnor go all the way in recreating the original setups,I'm sure the original cable manufacturer could be tracked down,and the original blueprints found(being sarcastic here).
Probably the last true Marshall amp in my opinion was the early series JCM 800 4 input heads,try and find one! This is pre master volumes.
I have been looking through some old posts on the Metro Amp forum,and found some about Ken Fischer,the Trainwreck specialist in New Jersey.
I had quite a few memorable conversations with Ken about my vintage Marshall's and Vox amps.This was in the late eighties and early ninteties.
Even then Ken was suffering from the chronic fatique syndrome,which is still plaguing him to this day I believe.Ken was very helpfull about my 1966 JTM 45/100 watt Superbass at the time,I was trying I believe at the time to get a later type Plexi tone out of it,but just had as I described to George,just an immensly powerful,loud clean amp.No EVH tones out of this baby.I have mailed George my photo cd with all my pictures on it of my Superbass,and I think it is a JTM 45/100 with the JTM 50 watt transition reverse logo front panel.It had the JMP era real plexi panel with Superbass 100 watt.On the front the volume controls were labeled loudness,and it had the flat lip box,with the long thin vent on the top.
I bought this in England from Music Ground,my JTM 45 head I carried from London on the plane under my seat,not risking it in baggage!
The London music store scence was very exciting from the mid sixties through the seventies,and I loved going into town and goin down Shaftsbury Avenue from store to store,seeing famous musicians popping in and out all the time.
I have seen some great concerts in the early seventies,the Jeff Beck Group from the Rough and Ready era at the Roundhouse,which was a converted railway engine turntable roundhouse as it was called.
It had multitierd galleries and great swing open doors on the sides which were often opened in the summer as it was so bloody hot!
I had a drink with the pre Humble Pie Peter Frampton at a music venue/pub,and he was great in the Herd,his first group.How about Performance,Rockin' the Fillmore as an example of great early Plexi tone,they used 50 watt heads with single 4X12 cabs,as did the Allman Bros.I remember when I went to see bands then if I saw Marshalls in the backline I made sure to get near the stage in front of them!
My most deafening experience was at a Robin Trower concert at the Lyceum Theater,when Jeff Beck was seated up in one of the opera boxes.
I was right in front of the PA bins,and remember Robin had 3 or 4 100 watt stacks,with an amzing pedalboard setup even for those days.
When this pedal board when awry,Robin had to walk off the stage,as he could not play unaffected!I remember everyone booing,this was during the Bridge of Sighs era.On the train home I could not hear anything ,it was like I was underwater and my 'normal' hearing did not return until the next day.In those days PA systems were not used to mike up little guitar amps,the singer needed them,with the drummer and keyboard players,just to keep up with the guitarists and bassists.
Even in a small pub venue the guitarist would have at least two full Marshall stacks.The exception was Rory Gallagher,who played with a lone AC-30 propped up on a chair with maybe a blonde Bassman head and cab,miked up.
Rory's concert was one of the most memorable in my history of concerts,he was an incredible showman,on acoustic slide,with the battered,even then, Strat.Simply brilliant.
Beck,Bogert,Appice was another great gig at the Imperial College London,it was general admission only.I remember having a few pints of Guiness and having to take a leak ,but hanging tough as I would lose my place.
I was literally 3 feet away from Jeff the whole show as he played the famous '54 Les Paul Oxblood with those funky Univox amps at that time.I remember thinking 'what the hell amps are these?'
When Tim's bass setup quit working mid concert Jeff played an amazing scat type blues improvisation,unaccompanied which I remember to this day.Such a brilliant guitarist.
Recently last Nov I travelled to Tucson to see Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force,a description of my experience can be read on the 100% Malmsteen tribute site under Concert reviews,also on
www.yngwie.org
my concert picturesa are shown.
This was another general admission show,which felt like I had been in a war after it was over!All I could really hear was Yngwie's guitar,but that did not matter.I got to meet him before the show and get his autograph,which was cool.
Another great musician I have met was Tom Keifer of Cinderella in a music store in Springfield,Pa.He wanted to buy my vintage Marshall amp collection,but it was not for sale at the time.In retrospect I wish I had sold them to him ,as I ended up selling them to Eric Bazilian of the Hooters,Cyndi Lauper"One of Us" fame.But thats another story.
Tom was coming back to the store with his ice tea burst '59 Les Paul which I could have played,but I was working 3-11 shift as a nurse and had to leave for work unfortunately.
I will try to get back to my original topic if I had one!
Jimi's tone some claim BOG is JTM100 watt heads.All of Jimi's USA equipment were JPM plexi heads ordered through the West Coast Organ and Amp service for a US tour.
I missed seeing Jimi's Albert Hall concert as people at my high school had tickets,but I didn't want to go with them!
Alot of JMH tone is in his extremely long fingers,but his before the amp signal chain is always key to the sound.The Marshalls were always on 10.and that how I got my best tone as a young lad,the Fuzzface and wah being key components in the signal path.
Hendrix's distortion is different to the later brown EVH or even AC/DC type tones.I would like to experiment with the KT-66 equipped Metro amp and a Fuzzface to see if it can be replicated.
The simplest setups are oft times the most difficult to reproduce.When you are a player of my modest abilities, you need all the help you can get!! Nobody matched tubes in those days,yet the early valves would withstand much higher voltages.In my 'experience',pardon the pun,Marshalls were so very reliable with much road abuse,and the Warren DeMartini mystique of the plexi with such high plate voltages,that you had to set up fans in front of the head and could only record for 15 minutes before it 'blew',gives the wrong impression.I found all my original vintage Marshall heads with screen grid resistors fitted to be highly reliable.
I did buy them in England,which at the time I knew to be more desirablr than having them Stateside .where people would cut holes for cooling fans and add extra knobs and switches.You need to boost the front end of early plexi's then as you do know.Whether it is with a Hot British Tonebone,Tubescreamer,Marshall Guvnor or Rat,whatever.
Yet you need power tube distortion in the mix for the best tone,so amp power attenuators seem to be key for the dimed sound.
Unfortunately in modern day Arizona,the Phoenix area,the music stores do not carry any THD ot Tonebone type products,so I cannot try before I buy as it were.I did this with my HW stack,hence my compounded dissapointment.
Now broke after the HW experience,I saw the JH100 watt stack for sale,but am skeptical about it's tone after my 1959 HW experience.
I will not buy another Jim Marshall new product ever again,only Metro amp products from now on,thak you very much!
If Jim Marshall is the 'father of loud',velvet George must be the"king of tone",in my estimation.Thanks to George and this forum for keeping the dream alive.Thanks to all for reading the ramblings of an old man,with a young heart.
Thanks to all
Dave Talkin/Yngwie 308
