Murfdog, why change all the valves unless you know they're either faulty or not to your taste soundwise? (Which I have to guess you don't, if you're asking for recommendations!) There is absolutely no reason to change valves in a two-year-old amp, unless it's been thrashed and the power valves are w...

I find that running them *much* cooler than is currently fashionable sounds better, but that's just my opinion. I like around 13.5W for EL34s in a Marshall circuit, or only about 55% of rated dissipation at idle - which at typical plate voltages is only about 30mA. I know this is *far* cooler than t...

There's no such thing as a 'matched set of power and preamp tubes'. You can (and should) get matched sets of power valves, which are electrically tested for the same performance parameters, but simply having the preamp valves made by the same company does not make them in any way 'matched'. Differen...

Ha, I know about the different opinions on the Beano tone, which is why I didn't offer one :-). It's almost impossible to tell for sure what anything is in a recording anyway. Move the mic half an inch and you could probably hear it as a different type of power valve. After all, most of Brian May's ...

SteveD - no bashing here. Read what I've said again if you think so. I *did* come to the Vintage Modern expecting it to sound like a vintage Marshall with modern features and hence I was disappointed, but after reading what you said about it yourself I realised that that's not what it is. I think it...

The problem with the Super Lead is the 'bright' cap on the volume control for Channel 1 - the value is far too large, it's effectively a 'bright and most of the midrange' cap, and it means that as soon as the volume is cracked open, the treble and upper mids are at essentially the same volume as the...

And it also stops people accidentally (or even worse, experimentally) switching to the wrong voltage setting for their supply - yes, there really are people that careless, and in a few cases that stupid. It's not such a risk if you live in the US, since running an amp set to 230V on a 120V supply sh...

Having restored an original 'black flag' JTM50 a couple of years ago, and worked on many '68-'69 Plexis, both 50s and 100s, I agree with you! And also that a '76 2203 is one of the greatest - and most under-rated - amps ever made. The last one I worked on is a serious candidate for the best-sounding...

No, the loop is *not* post-distortion. It's within the distortion circuit since the amp has a post-phase-inverter master volume and the loop is before the phase inverter. Some distortion may come from the tone stack driver, but the limiting distortion is from the phase inverter. This is an inherent ...

The Phase 90 has very low headroom and will often overdrive in an effects loop (even set to -10dB) which makes it sound muddy and squashed on an overdriven sound - you'll know if this is happening if turning the pedal *off* makes the amp louder and clearer - or audibly dirty on a clean sound. It wil...

The plate voltage has nothing to do with it. The simple proof of this is the mid-1970s JMP 50s, which have even lower plate voltage at around 370V - but they sound massive, full and dynamic. (As well as putting out almost as much power as a 2466.) In fact, the guitarist in my band has two, one with ...

All JTM45s. I've never played any of these clones or copies, but I have played and worked on both many original 60s JTMs and a few reissues. The reissues don't sound as good as the originals, but they do sound basically 'like' them. The circuit is nearly identical both in overall layout and componen...

I'd have the JTM45 and a decent overdrive pedal - possibly a Marshall Guv'nor, since that's what Gary Moore used with his, but there are literally hundreds of choices. No I'm not kidding. I love the sound of the JTM45, and I don't like the sound of the Vintage Modern... it's really that simple! Sorr...

It *is* definitely a 1936 - it was just made before they changed the design. From the early 70s onwards, this is what the 1936 looked like - first with checkerboard grille cloth and Levant vinyl (and the earliest ones with no corner protectors), and then with black grille cloth and Elephant vinyl af...

It would be nice if it did turn out to be as simple as this! I have to say it was the first thing I saw in that pic of the insides - it actually looked like the wiring bundle stuck out further than where the back panel would be, and it was a definite candidate for the rattle. As such it's an assembl...