What is the deal with Morris amps ?

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lessarti

Well-known member
Not many seem to know about this other boutique amp builder in Canada, Glen Morris, and his amps he builds. They look legit and clips seem to sound good, does anyone have first hand experience with them to provide their feedback on it ?
 
Well I am selling a Perplex'd S3 on here so I guess I have experience. Great Marshall tones from this amp with 3 channels. Plexi clean sound with mild breakup, dirty channel and even dirtier channel. EL34 tones with good grind and note definition. Cleans up nice when you roll off the volume knob as well. I find the loop is great too. I have interest in his other amps too like the 68 Bronwnout. That looks cool but I think no FX loop? His videos are all over his FB page and he gets some really nice tones with all of his amps I think. From his videos and posts he seems to be a pretty meticulous builder.
 
If I feel the need to go "big" on an amp again, it will likely be a Morris 69/70. Doesn't hurt that his shop is like an hour and a half from my house.
 
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MadAsAHatter said:
@EyesOfTheSouth! Looks like you have both the 100 and 60 watt Sirrom. Is there any difference in tone or feel? How do they compare to the XSIII?
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Yes they are different but can be dialed similar. The 100 has a pristine clean channel of course, but the gain side can only be set to low/high gain via toggle. I was finding that Low was not enough and High was too much. On the other hand, the 60 has a mini pot above the Master that can give you much more range on the gain. This pot was an add on at the last minute while talking to Glen.

I would say that the 100 is "bigger" and more modern sounding while the 60 has more of a vintage Marshall type snarl that I can't quite coax out of the 100. The 60 also has an updated high voltage loop that is totally transparent and doesn't overload pedals. I got the 100 first and I rarely play it anymore........but not getting rid of it!

While the SIRROM can cop a lot of tones, the XSIII has its own thing going on. I'm not schooled in Hiwatt but it is apparently a Hiwatt/Marshall hybrid vibe. It has dual gain pots labeled Drive and Crunch that make it really versatile from clean to dirty.......but it still has that unique tone. I actually think it sounds similar to an old Fryette 50/CL I had once.........but not dry or sterile like the Fryette. Has more than enough gain to get really heavy and saturated. The SIRROM 100 and XSIII both have the modern Marshall style insert loop with the level buttons............but I much prefer the new loop on the SIRROM 60.

Both have loads of low end if you want that and the best master volumes I have ever used. I have also owned the Grinder, Perplex'd, GCM-800, and 69'/70. I miss the 69/70' and shouldn't have sold it.
 
EyesOfTheSouth! said:
I agree........tons of low end in all his amps. If you are using a 4x12 then you won't be using the Depth control much. I barely crack it when using my 2x12 or Bogner Cube.
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When I had the Perplexed, I was running it through my go to setup: K100 loaded 2x12 sitting atop a 412 (I'd rotate between several 412s with various speakers). It was an Immense room filling low end. I'm sure I ran the bass and depth high in addition to boosting bass and low end with an MXR 10 band in the loop...I'm a low end junkie.
 
I’ve had the pleasure of playing through an xs III and 68 brownout last week. I gotta say both sounded phenomenal. The xs III is a great option for anyone looking for a Marshall style channel switcher. Right ratio of tightness and sag with the perfect amount of compression. The 68 Brownout will be my next amp purchase. A great sounding plexi with the voltage lowered to 35 watts still a loud sucker.
 
I have the Morris Muscle 69'/70- 50 watt single channel amp. FX loop works great and it has the best master volume I've ever used. I was specifically looking for a raw, open, punchy amp w/ great dynamics. That's exactly what I got.
 
Interesting responses, well UPDATE from when I created this thread::
Picked up a used Morris GCM008, and loaded it with jj pre and jj power tubes.

This thing is very impressive, channel 1 (named "AC") nails ac/dc crunch and light clean ranging to moderate gain (think JCM800 with gain half way?). Channel 2 (named "DC") is hot rodded JCM800 territory.

It is very open, tight tracking, bass response is unique and is big bottom but can still track tight. Still tweaking the knobs to understand how they interact, but this is like having a Marshall plexi and JCM800 in one amp. I would say it absolutely compares to Friedman smallbox in terms of build/sound quality, if not, dare I say better. It has that marshall 'bark' in the mids and kerrang.
 
lessarti said:
Interesting responses, well UPDATE from when I created this thread::
Picked up a used Morris GCM008, and loaded it with jj pre and jj power tubes.

This thing is very impressive, channel 1 (named "AC") nails ac/dc crunch and light clean ranging to moderate gain (think JCM800 with gain half way?). Channel 2 (named "DC") is hot rodded JCM800 territory.

It is very open, tight tracking, bass response is unique and is big bottom but can still track tight. Still tweaking the knobs to understand how they interact, but this is like having a Marshall plexi and JCM800 in one amp. I would say it absolutely compares to Friedman smallbox in terms of build/sound quality, if not, dare I say better. It has that marshall 'bark' in the mids and kerrang.
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On the dirty channel of that GCM008, give it a try with the toggle switch at the highest gain setting, and then run the gain knob at around 8 o'clock to 9 o'clock. That's how it sounded best to me. You'll get a tighter bottom end response that way too. Other than my old Marshalls, there's nothing I've owned or tried that I've liked as much as the Morris amps, with the XSIII (both standard and classic models) and the '68 Brownout being my favourites.
 
LP Freak said:
I’d call it bloated low end that can‘t be dialed out
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Sounds like the issue with the Bogner Telios.
That amp would have been near perfect if it wasn’t
for that damn “BLE”- bloated low end.
Carr amps succumb to this very fate with
humbuckers and gig volume.
 
littleguitars said:
On the dirty channel of that GCM008, give it a try with the toggle switch at the highest gain setting, and then run the gain knob at around 8 o'clock to 9 o'clock. That's how it sounded best to me. You'll get a tighter bottom end response that way too. Other than my old Marshalls, there's nothing I've owned or tried that I've liked as much as the Morris amps, with the XSIII (both standard and classic models) and the '68 Brownout being my favourites.
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Just an update: I tried out your settings and they sound great. I ALSO picked up a BOSS SD-1 and WOW this totally is a game changer for me, it turns this amp into a perfect old school thrash hot rodded Marshall tones on the AC rhythm ch, and DC ch for leads.. the SD1 tightens up and cuts some lows to make it very nice, and retains a very open huge sound still. Very impressed with this amp.
 
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