I have a confession to make ....... ( 2203x related ) and also a build quality confession .

griff10672

griff10672

Well-known member
I have never plugged a SD-1 into a 2203 style circuit until last night .... I'm 51 years old ....
I always thought The Mesa Mark series were the be all end all amps for me .... for obvious reasons ... like growing up in the eighties and being infatuated with Master of Puppets / And Justice ..... I didn't mind the tones on the earlier albums ... but it was those two that really caught my attention ...
but after last night ...... now I realize that the 800 boosted tone is probably responsible for all the other albums I love ... I've heard it my whole dam life ... and never tried it .
I still might mod it with a extra gain stage tube ... we shall see ... I have to do a bunch of research . and try a bunch of stuff in front of the amp before I punch a hole in the chassis . but ... that's also a big reason I bought a reissue ... so I wouldn't fudge up a original .
 

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Unless you really, really know what you’re doing, you’re going to have a hard time building a mod that will do as well as an SD-1 into a 2203 that doesn’t thin it out, remove the touch response, remove the big character, etc. It took me literally 3 years to come up with a circuit from scratch that outdid the SD-1 boosted Marshall thing. It’s not all roses and candy-canes and adding a tube is definitely not beginner level by any stretch.
 
glpg80 said:
Unless you really, really know what you’re doing, you’re going to have a hard time building a mod that will do as well as an SD-1 into a 2203 that doesn’t thin it out, remove the touch response, remove the big character, etc. It took me literally 3 years to come up with a circuit from scratch that outdid the SD-1 boosted Marshall thing. It’s not all roses and candy-canes and adding a tube is definitely not beginner level by any stretch.
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I couldn't agree more. Also the most popular mod for a Marshall is to remove mods. Even if you add the extra tube stage and it works perfectly you are going to sacrifice something. Either the noise floor is going to get worse or you won't be able to get cleaner tones or no longer have a usable crunch tone, etc.

I learned this the hardway
 
ClintN667 said:
I couldn't agree more. Also the most popular mod for a Marshall is to remove mods. Even if you add the extra tube stage and it works perfectly you are going to sacrifice something. Either the noise floor is going to get worse or you won't be able to get cleaner tones or no longer have a usable crunch tone, etc.

I learned this the hardway
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I lost all ability to a rolled clean tone on my 4 stage setup and had to design the ability to switch from 3 to 4 stages on the fly. I have a padding switch on the back that shunts a resistor to ground that turns that 3 stage design into either a crunch or a clean (my preference). This amp has kicked my ass. It’s in pieces right now and I need to put it back together.
 
ClintN667 said:
I couldn't agree more. Also the most popular mod for a Marshall is to remove mods. Even if you add the extra tube stage and it works perfectly you are going to sacrifice something. Either the noise floor is going to get worse or you won't be able to get cleaner tones or no longer have a usable crunch tone, etc.

I learned this the hardway
Click to expand...
it will be a while for me to consider actually modding the chassis itself .... I will first go down the rabbit hole of trying and building different boosts / overdrives for it . I will also probably try some of the mods I can remove and leave the circuit original after I try them . the JEL mod comes to mind first
 
griff10672 said:
it will be a while for me to consider actually modding the chassis itself .... I will first go down the rabbit hole of trying and building different boosts / overdrives for it . I will also probably try some of the mods I can remove and leave the circuit original after I try them . the JEL mod comes to mind first
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I would personally leave the Marshall stock then just build your own then mod it. I had so much fun using the headfirst pcb to build a 2204 then modding it to the JEL. I basically did each step then played to hear the changes and it taught me a lot. Are you new to building or an old pro? I think I have built like 7 or 8 amps and I still consider myself to be very much a newbie.
 
ClintN667 said:
I would personally leave the Marshall stock then just build your own then mod it. I had so much fun using the headfirst pcb to build a 2204 then modding it to the JEL. I basically did each step then played to hear the changes and it taught me a lot. Are you new to building or an old pro? I think I have built like 7 or 8 amps and I still consider myself to be very much a newbie.
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I've built a ton of pedals and have worked on all my own amps for years now .... just never built from the ground up ...
Headfirst Amplification definitely caught my attention ...... I'm super interested in Building a VH2 or 4 ...
 
ClintN667 said:
I couldn't agree more. Also the most popular mod for a Marshall is to remove mods. Even if you add the extra tube stage and it works perfectly you are going to sacrifice something. Either the noise floor is going to get worse or you won't be able to get cleaner tones or no longer have a usable crunch tone, etc.

I learned this the hardway
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Yeah def not always true. Both Monos and my Cameron are pretty quiet.
 
I love Jason's boards and he is responsible for probably 60% of my knowledge on building. His ST1 based boards are great too for 800 and plexi builds. I am going to try AA Electronics Marshall boards for my next build. I have one of his BE boards around here somewhere and it was good quality. Just didn't get the courage up to build a multichannel amp.

Check out
AaElectronicspcb.com if you are ever looking for a Fender or BE based board
 
Mikeyboyeee said:
Yeah def not always true. Both Monos and my Cameron are pretty quiet.
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Well I'm a huge fan of Monomyth and Shea does great work but I'm talking more along the lines of diy modders. A lot of guys who have been selling mods have put in a ton of time and energy to get their mods to where they are. A lot of trial and error that most who are just wanting to mod their amp won't invest. But even then in my experience you are still losing something from the original marshall. I mean thats great if you bought the amp with that intention but if you are wanting an 800 then most often then not leave it as an 800 vs modding it.

I'm planning on getting another Skeleton Key after the Atla run but in the meantime I'm getting a 2203 reissue modded by gower. After it's modded I wouldn't consider it an 800 anymore if that makes sense.
 
glpg80 said:
Unless you really, really know what you’re doing, you’re going to have a hard time building a mod that will do as well as an SD-1 into a 2203 that doesn’t thin it out, remove the touch response, remove the big character, etc. It took me literally 3 years to come up with a circuit from scratch that outdid the SD-1 boosted Marshall thing. It’s not all roses and candy-canes and adding a tube is definitely not beginner level by any stretch.
Click to expand...

Didn't Cameron also famously say himself that it is hard for any mod to beat an SD-1 kicking the front end of a Marshall? If you want an extra tube just try that hot mod that slots right into your preamp tube socket.
 
Racerxrated said:
Cheap if you find the perfect boost right away….or where you buy has a great return policy 😂
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I try to buy everything at GC .....unless it's something I know I like and won't ever want to return .
but I've built numerous clones of all the favs .... sometimes I'll tweak the circuit .... or mod something to Keeley or Wampler specs ... or some other ideas I find online ...
 
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