The Bear Jew Posted January 27, 2003 Posted January 27, 2003 About eight years ago, the singer for my then relatively new band came to rehearsal with a bit of news. His good buddy, who happened to be a guitarist, had decided to sell his 100 Watt Marshall JCM 900 and Horizon 4x12" cabinet. The singer asked me if I was interested. I decided to check the amp out on a "test run" basis. I tried it out. Everyone in the band (especially me) loved the way it sounded. Classic. $550 later, I had a whole new rig. The band rejoiced. One year later, I met an amp specialist who said he could get more "crunch" out of the amp by replacing the tubes and doing a little modification to the amp. I had this mod done, wondering what the difference would be... It was not the same -- it was even better. It no longer had a cliche'd Marshall sound. It was wider sounding and deeper -- wholly individual. A new animal altogether. I was happy. Years passed like a magic trick; perhaps the only trick that really IS magic. Things happened. The amp followed me around. It toured with me. It fell offstage in New York (no real damage, just a little scar). It got totally drenched in Virginia (new tubes, and it's good as new. After this, I bought the amp a very nice waterproof roadcase.) It got sprayed with Whipped Cream in Maine. It gained stickers. It played on beaches, in basements, on gorgeous showcase stages, in squats. I was happy, and I can only imagine that the amp was happy as well. More time passed. I wondered if I was "fully exploring the available sonic possibilities available in the modern technological age" and bought some rack-mounted Mesa stuff. It set up so quickly. It sounded pretty nice... but there were so many controls. I was a little confused. Still... the sounds were nice... so the Marshall sat in its road case. Months pass. One day at rehearsal, I happened to glance at the old road case and wondered if the Marshall still sounded sweet. Out comes the ol' pal. We were reunited... it felt so good and sounded sweet. We toured again. Times were good. However... after one more tour, the Marshall wouldn't make sounds at all. I bought new tubes to no avail. The Marshall was in a coma, and only a serious financial investment could bring it back. The Marshall sat in the road case again, and the rack came back for another year and a few tours. I wasn't nuts about the rack. It's big, clumsy and sort of annoying. I missed the Marshall. One day recently... I had a couple of bucks to spare, so I took the Marshall back to visit my old buddy, the amp repair person. Turns out the Marshall needed an output transformer in order to work again... $400 (and a new, better output transformer) later the Marshall is back. Like the bionic man, it's now even less like it was in its original state -- it's stronger, faster, better than it was before. Man. I love this amp. I'm so glad I have working again. If my wife reads this... she'll be jealous. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu
JDL Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 Great story CMDN. I love the stories between a man and a special piece of equipment. :cry: touching. But, what was the point of this? Just to tell it to us?(not in a rude tone) So, how big is the Marshall? Got a pic? How many watts? Peace, JDL JDL on Purevolume Bird\'s Eye View on Purevolume
Gtoledo3 Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 That's a beautiful story, and one that I can totally relate to (my beautiful 66 super reverb really needs some work). It brings a tear to my eye. ;) Want mix/tracking feedback? Checkout "The Fade"- www.grand-designs.cc/mmforum/index.php The soon-to-be home of the "12 Bar-Blues Project"
joegerardi Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 My bad! I thought the title of this thread was: "My Baby Got Back!" :D :p :D :p :D Setup: Korg Kronos 61, Roland XV-88, Korg Triton-Rack, Motif-Rack, Korg N1r, Alesis QSR, Roland M-GS64 Yamaha KX-88, KX76, Roland Super-JX, E-Mu Longboard 61, Kawai K1II, Kawai K4.
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 Cool. I've been using the same JCM 900 for a long time now. It, with my Les Paul, is the key component to "my" sound, whatever that is. All I know is that I've played thorugh other great amps and...not the same. Need my baby. Congrats on getting yours back from the coma. - Jeff Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon
Sylver Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 I got my babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback babyback ribs. I really don't know what to put here.
Botch. Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 Erik, one of the few things I really envy about guitarists is the "character" of that special axe and amp. A modern keyboard that has to be "rebooted" at least once a night just doesn't have that same magic. Thanks for a great story! :thu: Botch "Eccentric language often is symptomatic of peculiar thinking" - George Will www.puddlestone.net
phaeton Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 yeah really... what a great short-short tale.. from a literary aspect. :thu: Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper . WWND?
Tedster Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 To echo JDL..."That's beautiful, man"...sniff... Okay, but, on to more important issues. We've got a guy here in KC who does great work on Marshalls, but, uhhh...he, uhhh..takes forever. I'd like to get mine worked on, but sheesh, I don't want to farm 'em out til spring planting, either... "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
The Bear Jew Posted January 28, 2003 Author Posted January 28, 2003 [quote] Great story CMDN. I love the stories between a man and a special piece of equipment. touching. But, what was the point of this? Just to tell it to us?(not in a rude tone) So, how big is the Marshall? Got a pic? How many watts? [/quote]JDL... Well, I decided to tell this story because I just got my amp back last week, and I was SO hyped about having it again that I wanted to share the feeling with folks I knew would understand. That's all. OK... so on to the tech aspects: It's a late '80s JCM 900. 100 watts. It's LOUD. I had it modded afew times, and now the only stock components inside are the pots (which I'm told will have to go pretty soon, since they're filthy.) The last surgery -- the "output transformer-ectomy" -- pretty much effectively got rid of the last bits of standard equipment in there. It really doesn't sound like any Marshall I've ever heard. It's much richer and less "throaty" than most. It's got some "boogie" like qualities, but it has more harmonic richness and note definition. I took off the Marshall logo (I hate logos!), so it's just black. I'll have to find some pics for everyone to check out. BTW, Tedster, My amp guy works fast. Had my amp diagnosed, parts ordered, repaired and back to me in two days. He's also a good friend and a luthier. Someday I'll tell you guys about the mods he does on my guitars so that I don't destroy them. He calls them "Erik Mods" and does them to all my guitars as soon as I buy them. He always sees me out the door of his shop saying, "Try not to put your hand through this one, OK?" I'm not gonna spam for him, but he does AWESOME work. If you want his info, PM me. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu
Wewus432 Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 I got my baby back. I got my baby back ribs. from Chili's
strat0124 Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 yEAH you can get amp parts shipped within two days easy. Negates the need to stock, and eliminates the overhead as well. Marshalls and Fenders both have great docs and marked pcbs. Hear that Peavey.....???????? :) Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
JDL Posted January 28, 2003 Posted January 28, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by TheWewus: [b]I got my baby back. I got my baby back ribs. from Chili's[/b][/quote]A little late there.................................................................... CMDN, get some pics! JDL on Purevolume Bird\'s Eye View on Purevolume
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