Amp Build: Marshall 1959T – "Bay Area Thrash" Langner Mod

  • Thread starter Thread starter FourT6and2
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harddriver said:
Here is my 4 gain stage build I did in 2010 that I just used the filtering on the V1 B+ node. It went through alot of changes since these pictures until it ended up in it's final form. It got elevated heaters, NFB control, Depth mod.
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Nice work! You're halfway to a Langner mod haha... just add the 5th stage.

And yes, that's how I've done the B+ for this amp. The other option is to run that wire from V1 allllll the way back to the PI node. It's a bitch to snake it, but it's possible without lifting the board. The way I did it here was to thread some string down the hole in the board by the turret, tie a slip knot to the end of the wire, and pull it down the length of the board back up through the hole. Took about 30 minutes, but it looks factory now.

The difference would be higher vs lower plate voltage on V1. And if I add another filter cap, I suppose it would be slightly tighter feel. Will have to play the amp as it is first and then see what's better and what @Racerxrated prefers.
 
braintheory said:
I don’t have any evidence, but was told the Langner modded Marshall I had was made for/owned by Vicious Rumors and listening to that song you mentioned, it sounded just like that when I had. To me it was kind of like a more pissed off, greasy Cameron Aldrich mod I had with some of its own thing. I actually AB’ed it with quite a few Cameron modded Marshall’s and thought it was like a better, angrier version of them in sound and feel. For a while after having gone through almost all the known Marshall modders felt a good stock Marshall boosted was just better and less distant sounding, but then that Langner changed my mind in that the right mod actually can be better (for aggressive high gain tones at least)
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That’s cool!
You still have that amp?
 
JTyson said:
That’s cool!
You still have that amp?
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No I solid it a while ago now. It was definitely to me the best Marshall mod I've had so far. The only issue, which I'm guessing isn't the mod's fault (or all of it at least) is that it sounded kinda small without a ton of lows or highs. It was all really aggressive, juicy, grindy midrange. Plate voltage was only in the 380's iirc. Donor amp was a 1980 JMP2204 50w. If a 100w high plate voltage donor amp like this 1972 Marshall SL can counter that one part missing for me then it should be incredible and no one will need to care about Cameron anymore lol

The only Langner item I still have is the Brutus power amp. 200w mono via 4x6550's. Loaded plate voltage close to 600. Best power amp I've tried so far even for me over my VHT 2150
 
thegame said:
I’m old so cut me some slack! That type of tone is still modern to me lol. Amps you term modern now I call futuristic, as in they’re not in my present or future
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Oh man if '80's flavor is modern for you I can only imagine what you'd think if you tried the Uber Ultra 🤣, but I know you also hate Hermansson's. I didn't care for some aspects of them either. Most of those amps I don't want in my future either
 
braintheory said:
Oh man if '80's flavor is modern for you I can only imagine what you'd think if you tried the Uber Ultra 🤣, but I know you also hate Hermansson's. I didn't care for some aspects of them either. Most of those amps I don't want in my future either
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I had an OG Uber whose cons outweighed the pros for me. Never tried a Hermansson so the jury’s still out on that one
 
98% done. Just need to source one final part. I fired it up tonight to test it. Crossed my fingers, burned some sage, and flipped the power switch... No issues! Works like a dream, at least in the 10 minutes I got to play it at low volume since it's 10pm. No apparent noise issues outside what's normal for a typical early '70s Super Lead.

It's chunky and has tons of gain! Feels pretty good under the fingers.

Once this final part arrives, I'll test a few things like NFB and tone stack to tailor overall aggression and mid range. I need to play it more and at high volume first. Will report back once I do that.

IMG_8260.jpg


IMG_8261.jpg
 
FourT6and2 said:
98% done. Just need to source one final part. I fired it up tonight to test it. Crossed my fingers, burned some sage, and flipped the power switch... No issues! Works like a dream, at least in the 10 minutes I got to play it at low volume since it's 10pm. No apparent noise issues outside what's normal for a typical early '70s Super Lead.

It's chunky and has tons of gain! Feels pretty good under the fingers.

Once this final part arrives, I'll test a few things like NFB and tone stack to tailor overall aggression and mid range. I need to play it more and at high volume first. Will report back once I do that.

View attachment 397804

View attachment 397805
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Isn’t this supposed to take years with several ghostings along the way? You’re doing it wrong. 🤣

Looks killer!
 
Man your work is so meticulous thanks for walking us along :rock:

What are those glass looking components with an H on them? Never seen those before
 
FourT6and2 said:
Polystyrene caps
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I could tell they were caps (context of circuit) but never seen those either. Do you feel they work better as snubbers? I generally call any cap from signal to AC ground a ‘snubber’.
 
SpiderWars said:
I could tell they were caps (context of circuit) but never seen those either. Do you feel they work better as snubbers? I generally call any cap to AC ground a ‘snubber’.
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Nah, I'm just using them because that's what Langner liked to use and I figured why not give 'em a shot. When it comes to small value caps used in this context, there aren't a lot of choices. I prefer not use to ceramic disks in this part of the circuit because they can be microphonic, so you're left with silver mica (which can be leaky), or film/foil (polypropylene, polyester, etc.). But those can be hard to find in specific values. So polystyrene make a good option. They are supposedly quite stable, but are physically delicate, so you need to know what you're doing when soldering and bending leads.
 
Looking real good!:2thumbsup:

Did Langner also like to use .68uf electrolytic caps on the cathode bypass cap positions?

Friedman likes to use them as well.
 
FourT6and2 said:
Nah, I'm just using them because that's what Langner liked to use and I figured why not give 'em a shot. When it comes to small value caps used in this context, there aren't a lot of choices. I prefer not use to ceramic disks in this part of the circuit because they can be microphonic, so you're left with silver mica (which can be leaky), or film/foil (polypropylene, polyester, etc.). But those can be hard to find in specific values. So polystyrene make a good option. They are supposedly quite stable, but are physically delicate, so you need to know what you're doing when soldering and bending leads.
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My 72 Marshall had an original polystyrene .0022uf cap on V1B, I guess they ran out of stuff alot in 1972.:LOL: I swapped it out for a Mustard.:yes:
 
Racerxrated said:
Yep, SIR #39...that no one can find now. Someone posted a clip of the first leg of that tour, that tone sounded monstrous.
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The purplexi had a failed output transformer that was replaced. The amp never sounded the same after the repair though and no documentation at the time existed to rightfully fix it. I know Aspen Pittman owned it at one point and he sold it (among many other things) to start groove tubes. I also know eventually it was unfortunately parted out to never be seen again.
 
glpg80 said:
The purplexi had a failed output transformer that was replaced. The amp never sounded the same after the repair though and no documentation at the time existed to rightfully fix it. I know Aspen Pittman owned it at one point and he sold it to start groove tubes. I also know eventually it was unfortunately parted out to never be seen again.
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The purple plexi wasn’t the amp on ULAK or the tour, it was a Caswell modded Marshall Super Trem, rented from SIR.
 
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