Mods And Other Questions

[Voodoo Child]

Hey I’m new here but I have been surfing this forum for a while now, I have a few questions regarding my Vintage Modern 2466. First off, I want to say that I love this amp. From the unique pre-amp controls to the Blue L.E.D. light, everything about it is great. It’s simple and responsive, yet mean at the same time. I have a few questions regarding some mods that I’m planning on doing, nothing that will alter the tone, just a few “add-ons”. It’s kind of long, I tend to ramble a bit, but I appreciate you guys taking the time.

1. I’m sending my amp to Jerry at FJA mods. I’m thinking of installing a choke, the Vintage Modern doesn’t come with one stock. I’ve heard from several sources that installing a choke can improve the bottom end, noise levels, and give the amp more of a “punch”. Now this all sounds great but will a choke affect the dynamics between the guitar and the amplifier? I love how responsive the amp is too how hard you strum, dynamics defined. I also love how it cleans up or distorts depending on how you set your volume pots on your guitar. Will installing a choke affect this? And what are your thoughts/experiences with using a choke on this amp?

2. I was also thinking of installing the added gain stage that FJA offers for this amp, but I wanted to be able to switch between the added gain and the stock gain. Jerry said that his mod doesn’t do that; it just adds more gain to the high range. Now I’m sure it sounds great, but I don’t want to lose what I already love. I don’t like using distortion pedals, because most of them suck the original tone. So here is my question, how well does this amp react to an on-board gain boost from a guitar? I have a BC Rich Mockingbird with Seymour Duncan 59s, and I’m planning on ordering the After Burner gain boost from EMG. The After Burner is an on-board gain boost that you install on your guitar; it works for both active and passive pickups. It is a push/pull booster with up to 20 dB of preset variable gain. How well will the amp handle this? And can this be enough to push the gain to a decent thrash metal sound? Hence Metallica (Master Of Puppets) territory. I’m sure having the choke installed would help that heavy sound as well.

3. I’m swapping out my Seymour ‘59s in my Mockingbird for some hotter active pups. I know that a lot of the experienced veterans here might get on my case about that, but don’t worry I prefer passives; I have a Gibson with Alnicos. I’m just looking for something heavier, with more of a “metal” edge. Now I know this amp isn’t made for that but I play both rock and heavy music, so hopefully with the After Burner and Active Pups I can make it happen. I just can’t decide between EMGs, EMG Xs, or Seymour Duncan Blackouts. I know I’m going to have to swap and compare until I finally decide, but I’ve heard that EMGs or active pups in general don’t work well with the Vintage Modern. Seymour Duncan Blackouts and EMG Xs are both active and passive, or more like active with passive qualities. So will the EMG Xs and Blackouts work better? Since they have passive qualities. And how come active pups such as EMGs aren’t considered a good match with this amp? I’ve played my friends Mockingbird (N-EMG 60, B-EMG 81) through my stack and it still sounded great. Hey maybe my ears are shot, but it seemed pretty good to me. Maybe the volume knobs and dynamics between the guitar and the amp weren’t as proficient, but the overall sound was fine. How will this amp react to the After Burner and active pickups on my Mockingbird? I’m sure somebody here uses Actives with their Vintage Modern…

4. My next question is about installing a “half power switch” on my amp, so I can switch between 100 watts and 50 watts. This mod is very important because in order to really get this amp cooking you have to set your volume to at least seven, especially if you play a 100 watts. Now let me say it sounds incredible when I get to crank it, playing outdoors allows me to do that. But unfortunately I can’t when we play at smaller venues, or even at home. Jerry at FJA offers a half-power mod for most Marshalls, but he doesn’t offer one for the Vintage Modern. So can it be done? And will it work well? And if so, who would be the man for the job?

5. My final question actually refers back to some of the questions I asked above regarding certain mods. I have found a few “add-on” mods by Voodoo amps that have caught my eye:

Bottom Control (push/pull)
http://www.voodooamps.com/home/Modifica ... fault.aspx

Gain Boost (push/pull)
http://www.voodooamps.com/home/Modifica ... fault.aspx

Half Power Switch (50/100 watt)
http://www.voodooamps.com/home/Modifica ... fault.aspx

Now I’m guessing the push/pull feature on the bottom control and gain boost allows me to turn the mods on and off. Which is the way I like it. Now I don’t know if these “add-on” mods can be used on the Vintage Modern, I still have to email them and ask. But if they can be used, then the switch-able gain boost and bottom control will allow me to enter “heavier” territory when necessary, and the Half Power Switch obviously speaks for itself. Hopefully everything including all the boosts and mods will work in equilibrium and properly on both 50 watts and 100 watts.
Now my question here is just regarding Voodoo amps in general and how they compare to the mods at FJA. Because I’ve heard good things and bad things; mostly positive stuff when it comes to FJA. Voodoo offers “deluxe” and “platinum” mods for the Vintage Modern, and it seems kind of fluffed up, I’m not putting them down but that’s the impression I’m getting. I’ve heard that every amp that Voodoo mods basically sounds just like a typical Voodoo amp/mod. So has anyone here had experiences with one or the other? And how do you think the Voodoo mods I’ve listed above will work with the Vintage Modern?

Wow that took a while, I want to say thank you for being patient and taking the time to read through this, I know I typed a lot. Thanks again for helping me and I can’t wait to receive some insight from you guys.

[Ghostrider]

What I find is that it is always cheaper to sell the amp you want to mod and buy one that gives you what you want. I made the mistake of spending a lot of money to mod my old DSL only to sell it and buy a VM. I have no problem with guys that want to mod their amps it's just always still seemed to fall short of what I was looking for.

With so many great amps on the market I would argue that there is a stock amp out there that will give you what the VM won't. Sounds to me you should try a JVM

[Slashwannabe1]

I don't know, I believe the stock VM to have an unlimited ammount of Gain on tap for all music genres, especially for what I play: Hard Rock that Flirts with the idea of Metal.

Honestly I think the gain mod is a waste of cash and if I were you I'd have FJA mod a Lead Master volume pot on the amp and call it a day. If it were a JCM 800 I'd say go nuts with the gain mod but the VM has TONS and TONS of Gain on tap, you just have to unlock it, say with a mxr or boss eq pushing the front end for metal tones :)

[Taz5150]

Why.....??? Why not buy another amp ? JVM etc... if the VM cant match your spec ? I feel you are just chasing tone. I hope you have the funds to be happy with all those mods because afterwards you may not like what you end up with. Rob

[slash-ed]

IMO modding the shit out of the VM and adding 4,000,000 switches and push pulls is a bit pointless. I feel like most of the attraction of the VM, personally, has been its simplicity. I have no idea whether this is based in fact or not (but I suspect it is, to a point), but I also think that the lack of "clutter" in the VM's signal path, without adding heaps of stuff, is part of what makes it sound great.

I get what you're saying about wanting to push it to metal territories. I think high output pickups will take you most of the way there. Slam the front with a clean boost.

If it's not making the sounds you want at that point, I'd probably look elsewhere.

I am, however, interested in the half power mod - anyone got comments on that? Mainly because apart from V30s, I also want to run a 2x12 Greenback loaded cab, but don't have that option at the moment for my 2466.

[Voodoo Child]

You guys got me all wrong. I understand what everyone is saying about hey why not just get another amp. The answer is no, I made it clear that I LOVE the tone of this amp and I mainly play rock and blues, from Hendrix to Cream to Zeppelin. The only issue is that we've added Orion as a cover song to our set list, and sometimes we enjoy jamming out to Battery and Master Of Puppets. Rock N' Roll is my style, there's nothing wrong with trying to take what I have and PUSH it just a little bit more, remember I want to retain and be able to return to the amp's original tone. Let me make it clear again that "metal" is not my MAIN focus at all, I just want to be able to push it in that territory when needed. I understand that Steve can't answer questions about the mods, but I'm sure some of you have had some experiences with either FJA or Voodoo.

IMO modding the shit out of the VM and adding 4,000,000 switches and push pulls is a bit pointless.

4,000,000 switches huh? lol I'm thinking of adding "two" my friend, which falls a bit short of your estimation. Gain Boost and Body Control from Voodoo, will it work well? Thats why I'm asking you guys to see if someone has any experience with Voodoo amps.

And once again no actual gain "mods" would be needed if the After Burner pre-amp guitar boost can push me into heavier territory. Anybody have any experience those?

And remember the only actual mod that I'm set on is the choke, but I do have some second thoughts about that if someone wouldn't mind answering my first post.

Thanks again

[SteveD]

Welcome to the forum Voodoo Child.

Unless you can speak to someone who has had these mods done to their Vintage Modern and get their opinion (and it will only be their opinion), the only way you will ever find out is just to do it. It's a bit like guitar pickups , the only way you'll ever truly hear what they sound like on your guitar with you playing them is fitting them to your guitar and giving them a try.

You can have a choke fitted to the Vintage Modern but the effect is not dramatic at all. It's up to you if you want to spend the cash.

The Vintage Modern should work with any guitar/pickups/booster if it's dialled in right!

[pillagethesound]

To me it seems a bit silly to spend that kind of money on modding the amp that extensively. And mod had a good shot at changing tone, because adding a knob adds caps and/or resistors, adding a gain stage adds caps and resistors and maybe a tube...anything added into a signal chain has the definate possibility of changing tones. If you are trying to mod to possibly do a metallica cover or two and jam in the same area.

why not add a second amp to your backline? its a very common thing to run two amps for one player, i worked a band that the guitar player ran five seperate amps for a set. You can pick up a used mesa or orange amp to get the high gain you are looking for for the price of you are looking at for those mods

[Voodoo Child]

Welcome to the forum Voodoo Child.

Unless you can speak to someone who has had these mods done to their Vintage Modern and get their opinion (and it will only be their opinion), the only way you will ever find out is just to do it. It's a bit like guitar pickups , the only way you'll ever truly hear what they sound like on your guitar with you playing them is fitting them to your guitar and giving them a try.

You can have a choke fitted to the Vintage Modern but the effect is not dramatic at all. It's up to you if you want to spend the cash.

The Vintage Modern should work with any guitar/pickups/booster if it's dialled in right!

Thanks Steve, you're right, in the end it all comes to down to how I hear it. Even though I'm sure some people with experience with either FJA or Voodoo can give me some insight. I'm pretty dead-set on installing a choke, would the amp still retain the dynamics in relation to the guitar? And what do you think of me installing a half-power switch?

[pillagethesound]

voodoo child, i am half interested in the half power switch. if you do end up getting it done, you should post the end results. I wouldnt mind being able to switch my 2466 down to 50w from time to time

[Slashwannabe1]

Man I dialed in a tone even death metal freaks would cream for today... especially combined with 2 step down tuning it sounds as if Satan himself is ready to jump out of my 4x12.

I used a Boss GE-7 to push the gain through the roof,dimed the detail and combined with 2 full steps down tuning it was just barking with the most insane metal tone I'd ever heard. If you don't believe me thats fine, I'm enjoying the hell out of this new metal tone for metal sake tone that I'm getting now. This tone was so insane with that tuning that my $120 mic couldn't even record the badassness of it without the mic severly clipping, not to mention the vibrations jarred one of our house light glass pieces right out and broke it and not to mention the cops were called for the first time ever on me for jamming that loud. Yes this escapade was inspired by reading this post, so I had to find a good metal tone to rock out with.

The Vintage Modern does whatever style of music I want it to do, from sparkling cleans to light blues to full on metal.

I recommend a eq pedal to boost the gain, it works like putting your guitar volume up to 20! and you still retain the stock voicing of the amp!.

[surfnorthwest]

As far as I know the only person to do the FJA mods on the VM was member Zappatista. Jerry has come in here to post before but basically to clairify some posts about his mods. From what I have heard from his work it has been very good.

I have personally used Voodoo before and while expensive their turn around time was good and they did good work. The mods I had done was a "package" type mod and thought the difference was so minimal I was disappointed.

[Green Manalishi]

Just get a Boss Metal Zone

[slash-ed]

4,000,000 switches huh? lol I'm thinking of adding "two" my friend, which falls a bit short of your estimation. Gain Boost and Body Control from Voodoo, will it work well? Thats why I'm asking you guys to see if someone has any experience with Voodoo amps.

And once again no actual gain "mods" would be needed if the After Burner pre-amp guitar boost can push me into heavier territory. Anybody have any experience those?

And remember the only actual mod that I'm set on is the choke, but I do have some second thoughts about that if someone wouldn't mind answering my first post.

Thanks again

Hey, hey, hey, "my friend" - no need to be a douche :ahole

Just sounded like you were considering a whole heap of mods, think it seems that way to everyone else.

I personally never liked the After Burners, I found them to be pretty noisy and not that useful.

[StephenRutledge]

Voodoo Child... I like the VM because it is a really cool circuit design with the old school way of playing in mind - player interaction of volume and tone controls on the guitar - and man this amp excels at that. A great variety of tones can be extracted from the VM. But it may have some limitations for some people and that's to be expected.

You need to talk to the people doing these mods to really get a better understanding of what your thinking about doing and the reasons why you need them done? The half power switch is an interesting idea but why not just get 50 watt head?

Like many on here, I love chasing tone and have been chasing tone for over 20 years now... IMO a lot of what I'm chasing is in my head (perception of sound/tone) and a great deal of tone is produced through my hands... I believe it's more than half of my sound - in the hands alone. Just my opinion of course.

Your best options are to either get a second amp running something like EL34s or get a peddle that can get you in the areas you're thinking about - EQing the VM to your satisfaction is something that can take time because there are so many options when pairing up with other components in your rig. Other less obvious details to think about are the type of wood your guitar has, pickup types (active EMGs non active), stop bridge vs floating bar, string gauge, volume & tone control settings on your guitar, pick thickness and material type etc. etc. ... and the list goes on.

Talk to the guys that do these mods... I reckon that's your first port of call.