Suhr SL67 MK II/ Charvel

CarlF

Well-known member
It figures, the one time I get a new guitar from Sweetwater, and don't get it Plek'd (price is now $300) I discovered my Charvel had a high fret.
I got the Fret Kisser from StewMac and some fret-polishing tools and gave it a shot. Turned out it was easy enough.
A couple of minutes of noodling-

 
Very nice! I have come so close to pulling the trigger on one of those Suhr's a few times. Would be using it with a PS2 as well.
 
Back for another Suhr Mr. Carl?????? Didn't your old one have a blown Output transformer due to the Boss TAE issue?

How does the new SL67MKII with the new mods compare to your old one?

You always make the plexi's sound great!
 
Back for another Suhr Mr. Carl?????? Didn't your old one have a blown Output transformer due to the Boss TAE issue?

How does the new SL67MKII with the new mods compare to your old one?

You always make the plexi's sound great!
The SL68 kept blowing fuses. I figured it was cause I ran it thru the Boss TAE. I took it to a good tech on Long Island and he couldn't find anything.
I was moving soon, so I sold it.
The main issue on the earlier models, IMO, was no bright cap. That high-mid spike that defines a Marshall wasn't there. If you're going for dimed volume it really doesn't matter.

That said, I had the Volume on this vid about 8. At that point the bright cap is not audible too much. I usually run the Volume a bit lower to get the effect of the bright cap.
 
The SL68 kept blowing fuses. I figured it was cause I ran it thru the Boss TAE. I took it to a good tech on Long Island and he couldn't find anything.
I was moving soon, so I sold it.
The main issue on the earlier models, IMO, was no bright cap. That high-mid spike that defines a Marshall wasn't there. If you're going for dimed volume it really doesn't matter.

That said, I had the Volume on this vid about 8. At that point the bright cap is not audible too much. I usually run the Volume a bit lower to get the effect of the bright cap.
Alot of people don't think the 5000pf bright cap doesn't do anything except ruin the volume pot taper until they take it out......then something seems to be missing.....ie: aggression/raw/bite/crunch...........I have heard some Super Bass's that sound good but I tend to miss the SL bright cap for most of the Marshall tones that I like. Max bright channel volume on my 68 and 72 is 7-8 that's pretty much full volume with a 5000pf stock bright cap anything more and the tone can get less defined although some like em dimed.......so YMMV.

Is the MKII PPIMV better than the MKI? Suhr eludes that it's more transparent at lower volumes now.
 
I'm curious about the new PPI master volume control as well. I really like the way a standard PPI master on a plexi works, where you can start it on 10 so it's out of the circuit, then once you dial in your sound you can slowly back off the master to get back some brightness and clarity due to the poweramp clipping a bit less, while the phase inverter stays driven and distorted so the amp retains saturation.

Does the new PPI master retain this ability to tweak the high end as you adjust it or does the amp sound more or less the same through the whole sweep now?
 
I'm curious about the new PPI master volume control as well. I really like the way a standard PPI master on a plexi works, where you can start it on 10 so it's out of the circuit, then once you dial in your sound you can slowly back off the master to get back some brightness and clarity due to the poweramp clipping a bit less, while the phase inverter stays driven and distorted so the amp retains saturation.

Does the new PPI master retain this ability to tweak the high end as you adjust it or does the amp sound more or less the same through the whole sweep now?
Pretty sure it’s a post master volume on these guys not a pre-phasing burger

….. I had to leave that alone because Apple is terrible. Speech to text made it so much more fun this way…

It also fucked up my explanation…🤗
Must be my toilet acoustics.
 
Alot of people don't think the 5000pf bright cap doesn't do anything except ruin the volume pot taper until they take it out......then something seems to be missing.....ie: aggression/raw/bite/crunch...........I have heard some Super Bass's that sound good but I tend to miss the SL bright cap for most of the Marshall tones that I like. Max bright channel volume on my 68 and 72 is 7-8 that's pretty much full volume with a 5000pf stock bright cap anything more and the tone can get less defined although some like em dimed.......so YMMV.

Is the MKII PPIMV better than the MKI? Suhr eludes that it's more transparent at lower volumes now.
The MV is better in the MK II. The MKI the more I reduced the MV I’d have to compensate with the tone controls. The MK II I don’t have to do that. The MV was at 9:00 on this vid.
 
Pretty sure it’s a post master volume on these guys not a pre-phasing burger

….. I had to leave that alone because Apple is terrible. Speech to text made it so much more fun this way…

It also fucked up my explanation…🤗
Must be my toilet acoustics.

lol yeah Apple's speech-to-text does that.

But yep I realize it's a post-phase inverter master, which allows the phase inverter to retain its saturation even when the PPI master is turned down.

HOWEVER, turning down a PPI master traditionally still has an impact on the tone. As you turn it down, yes the phase inverter will retain distortion and saturation, but the load on the power tubes themselves will continuously lighten, which means the power tubes won't clip as hard, which means you'll get back treble detail as you turn it down. Personally I like the feature. I generally keep PPI master controls around 6 or so to get some crispiness and detail back while also retaining the saturation of the phase inverter.

I'm just wondering if the new master volume on the MkII retains this character or Suhr has somehow minimized this effect in pursuit of a "perfect" sounding master volume that doesn't change the amp's tone as it's turned down, because personally I like how the tone brightens as you turn down a standard PPI master, and wouldn't want to lose that.
 
sounds great Carl!!! I gotta get one of those fret kissers too. I think last time I looked they were out of stock. sounds like a handy tool!!
 
sounds great Carl!!! I gotta get one of those fret kissers too. I think last time I looked they were out of stock. sounds like a handy tool!!
Me too..got a high first fret for the A string. How the fuck am I able to play Can’t Live Without You with that rattling nonsense..☺️
 
sounds great Carl!!! I gotta get one of those fret kissers too. I think last time I looked they were out of stock. sounds like a handy tool!!
It’s pricey but it saved me from looking for a tech. The Fret Kisser and the Crowning tool was around $125.
 
Which crowning tool did you use?
Stew Mac sells the Fret Kisser or the Fret Kisser with the Crowning tool.
Which crowning tool did you use?
1710881382528.png
 
Back
Top