master vol mod`

[washburn 1]

This plea goes out to SteveD....
Is there any chance you would you grace us proud MA owners with a proper MASTER VOL` mod that we could incorporate into our amps (with pot values/wiring etc) Hopefully you could give us a more permanent arrangement than the `OD`pedal trick. I know we would all really appreciate it. ( go on) Your/everyones` views please ?? cheers , Kev.

[Crunchifyable]

My thought on the Master vol is that it may improve things slightly, but it will also bring with it issues even if it's done perfectly (by issues I mean possible phase inverter distortion at lower volumes, or prescence controls not working at lower volumes, etc. Everything you add to an amp has an effect.) There are different ways of doing it. Lar/Mar PPI MV sounds interesting http://metroamp.com/wiki/index.php/Lar/Mar_PPI-MV, as do generic PPI MV (Might google "1 wire mod").

Now that I've had more time to play with the amp with an external volume control and without it, I can say the difference is subtle. But yes, external volume control is very helpful if you want to have good tone on say 1 or less on the dial, or ideally, 3-4 or less on the dial.

The el-34s need a bit of power no matter what. But the bright cap on the OD channel doesn't help matters, or at least, isn't perfect. Cutting the bright cap (if you can find it) might help, or it might make the amp too bassy at many volumes.

The amp itself isn't perfect. Mine is 2009, pre-revoicing as far as I know. It wasn't really meant to give good sounds at lower volumes, but was one of three channel switching Marshalls that fit my budget at the time. Sometimes I think I should have gotten a Haze, but the I liked the sound and look of the MA better (more like a DSL).

A master volume might help, but I don't think it's really a solution. The MA gives a marshall type sound, but for me it's hard to dial in an EQ that has the right amount of brightness and low end. Could just be the speakers.

But then again, if I had a master, I might just dime the clean channel volume and never look back

You could mod the heck out of it, but that would destroy the resale value. My thought is if you think it needs mods to sound good, you should sell it and get something else, or keep it and religate it to only a certain use, etc. Granted sometimes I wish I could snap my fingers and turn this thing into a JCM800

That being said, if I were going to add a master, I would just stick it in the spot where the reverb knob is (now that I'd heard the reverb, I don't really like it). Probably would be a pain to remove the pot from the PCB though.

Now if you really love the amp, I'd see how much a tech would want to add power scaling to it so you can run it wide open at most volumes. London power sells a kit for only $78 Canadian http://www.londonpower.com/catalog/prod ... ucts_id=27 But I really haven't the slightest idea if there is a catch and other parts would be required. Definitely something you'd want to have a tech do, I think, probably, since it deals with B+ voltages.

Third option is THD Yellow Jackets - these basically reversibly convert your amp to an el-84 amp. You lose the EL-34 sound, and probably 3db, and probably earlier power amp distortion.

Attenuators are too expensive for this, imo.

Finally, you can get a 5 watt tube amp with an effects loop input, and slave the pre-amp of the MA to it, and basically get the sound of the MA through a much lower wattage tube poweramp. Currently it seems the Blackstar HT-5 is the only amp with this ability, but maybe the AFD 5 watter we hear rumors about will solve all our volume issues.

[washburn 1]

Come on guys you MUST have some views to air on the above. Cheers, kev.

[Crunchifyable]

I had a long forum post typed, but then it made me re-log in and lost.

The short of it is, if someone likes the amp vol on 9 or 10 (with external /passive attenuator / volume box), removing / snipping 1 leg of the bright cap might be a good solution.

But if there was a reversible way of adding a master volume (that is one that didnt void my warranty or make mine unsellable), I might go for it.

For me, the bright cap isn't as much _The_ issue, as that whenever I seem to record the MA thru the 4x12, the sound is too muddy and "fuzzy." It just compounds the problem of having an unresponsive EQ, or maybe an EQ that I stink at setting. I find the bass and treble controls have very little effect on the OD channel. By getting a stable volume level, EQing might be easier.

The bright cap is basically a high-pass filter, that tosses in some high frequencies at full volume all the time. It's more of an effect, than a compensation device. For me, I seem to like most volume settings, but every setting is different. 0.25-.75 is actually interesting, because it gives a sort of no-bass Randy Rhoads type sound, but its a very much a 1 trick sound.

The bright cap is basically part of the Marshall sound, though removing them has become popular due to the brightness of JCM800s and older models. The MA is a darker OD channel, one that I find overly "fuzzy" usually when I do an off axis or 3 foot away recording with a condenser mic.

I don't think the combo had this issue, when I had it, and I'm betting the speaker sounded better as a semi-open back than as a closed back 4x12. But the combo I had was revoiced, and may have had a different sounding OD channel (same thoughts applied though - it sounded great thru my Les Paul with duncan 59s, and but sounded very bad thru everything else I owned). Never been truly happy with my head and 4x12 cab - it's always been close to what I want, but not close enough, and I'm betting changing the cab is the way to go.

I think for small spaces, an open back 1x12 or even 1x10 might be best. Even using a 2x12 instead of a 4x12 will cut the volume by 3db. I just seem to find that the closed back cabs don't sound good in smaller spaces or at lower volumes, I find I need to stand maybe 12-14ft away from the 4x12 to hear the "true" sound of it.

I think I'm going to work on making a open / closed back cab in a 1x12 , 2x12, or even maybe 2x10 or 1x10 format, that may solve some of the issues I've been having (which is a more open sound and lower volumes).

But I guess there is no magic bullet, short of getting another amp for low volume work, and even then, there is no such thing as a quiet tube amp (unless it comes with an attenuator or power scaling).