EddyLenz
Well-known member
Hey Guys,
I've been chasing different Jose Arredondo tones for years.
Mick Mars, John Sykes, John Norum, and most of all, Joe Holmes.
I've had the opportunity to look inside an original Jose modded late 70s JMP that belonged to Joe and was sold in the early 90s.
That amp confirmed some of my suspicions about the circuit in Joe's Jose amps, but it was still obvious, that Joe's other Jose Marshalls were slightly different. That, coupled with some other things that I found out through the years, finally led me to this circuit, which I now have in a 1980 JMP Super Lead. There's almost nothing really special about the circuit compared to other Jose amps, but it's all in the way the differences are mixed in this one.
When talking about Joe's tone, you have to mention the Lexion Pcm41 digital delay unit, which he has been using forever.
He uses it in the passive insert loop of his Jose Marshalls to tighten up the bass and add a bit more gain. This works because of the weird placement of the loop in the amp, which makes it basically unusable for any real FX.
The fact that Joe's amps are all 1970-73 Super Leads is also important for two reasons.
1. Due to the higher voltage that most of these amps have compared to the later models. My 1980 Super Lead fortunately has 505V B+ in Germany with the voltage selector set to 240V. The heater voltage goes up to 6.6V by doing that, but it's within 5% of the 6.3V spec, so I don't care.
2. Due to the fact that Jose left the NFB/Presence circuit stock in almost all the amps that he worked on. This can make a big difference to the sound, as a late 70s spec of 100k 4Ohm tab with a 25k/.68 presence sounds way different from an early 70s 47k NFB from the output jacks or 8ohm with a 5k/.1 presence.
Another big factor are the cabs/speakers. He's using late 60s, early 70s metal handle Marshall 1960B cabs with G12m-25 Pulsonic Greenbacks. The closest I'm getting to that is my 1991 1960B, which is better than a new cab, but the Pulsonic Greenbacks are special.
Of course, I'm not quite at the end of the Journey, since I'm missing the right amp platform. The 1972 Super Lead that I had last year was awesome, but it had the rare Drake transformers instead of the Dagnall that Joe's amps have, which is why I sold it.
With all that out of the way... Here's my current shot at his tone.
Bonus pic of Joe's old 1978 JMP Jose
I might have a 1982 Marshall JCM 2204 handwired rebuild with a Full Jose mod for sale soon, in case anyone is interested. I might try to get an early 70s Super Lead for it.
I've been chasing different Jose Arredondo tones for years.
Mick Mars, John Sykes, John Norum, and most of all, Joe Holmes.
I've had the opportunity to look inside an original Jose modded late 70s JMP that belonged to Joe and was sold in the early 90s.
That amp confirmed some of my suspicions about the circuit in Joe's Jose amps, but it was still obvious, that Joe's other Jose Marshalls were slightly different. That, coupled with some other things that I found out through the years, finally led me to this circuit, which I now have in a 1980 JMP Super Lead. There's almost nothing really special about the circuit compared to other Jose amps, but it's all in the way the differences are mixed in this one.
When talking about Joe's tone, you have to mention the Lexion Pcm41 digital delay unit, which he has been using forever.
He uses it in the passive insert loop of his Jose Marshalls to tighten up the bass and add a bit more gain. This works because of the weird placement of the loop in the amp, which makes it basically unusable for any real FX.
The fact that Joe's amps are all 1970-73 Super Leads is also important for two reasons.
1. Due to the higher voltage that most of these amps have compared to the later models. My 1980 Super Lead fortunately has 505V B+ in Germany with the voltage selector set to 240V. The heater voltage goes up to 6.6V by doing that, but it's within 5% of the 6.3V spec, so I don't care.
2. Due to the fact that Jose left the NFB/Presence circuit stock in almost all the amps that he worked on. This can make a big difference to the sound, as a late 70s spec of 100k 4Ohm tab with a 25k/.68 presence sounds way different from an early 70s 47k NFB from the output jacks or 8ohm with a 5k/.1 presence.
Another big factor are the cabs/speakers. He's using late 60s, early 70s metal handle Marshall 1960B cabs with G12m-25 Pulsonic Greenbacks. The closest I'm getting to that is my 1991 1960B, which is better than a new cab, but the Pulsonic Greenbacks are special.
Of course, I'm not quite at the end of the Journey, since I'm missing the right amp platform. The 1972 Super Lead that I had last year was awesome, but it had the rare Drake transformers instead of the Dagnall that Joe's amps have, which is why I sold it.
With all that out of the way... Here's my current shot at his tone.
Bonus pic of Joe's old 1978 JMP Jose
I might have a 1982 Marshall JCM 2204 handwired rebuild with a Full Jose mod for sale soon, in case anyone is interested. I might try to get an early 70s Super Lead for it.
