High Gain 1974 Marshall Goodness - Finally Tuned!

[glpg80]

I literally spent all of this year tuning this thing to where it’s at now and needless to say it’s been challenging but fun. Now to make it all permanent.

You can certainly have your high gain in 3 stages and also have plenty of aggressive mids if you are careful and meticulous about what is tuned

Two small things, first I’m sorry it’s recording somewhat clipped. The mic gain was set correctly and the amp was only on 2.5 but it was enough to overpower the Shure room mic. Next year I plan to get a proper recording setup with a 57/421 and software.

Two, I haven’t played that skid row song in many years so sorry for flubbing up the interlude.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

 

[RedPlated]

Killer man, finally get to hear it. I know you've been spending a lot of time dialing that amp in.

The mids sound just about perfect. Very growly and full. Fantastic sustain on the high single notes too!

 

[dstroud]

sounds awesome dude!!!

 

[DanTravis62]

dude, @glpg80 sounds GREAT, man. I absolutely love those 18w marshalls for lead tones - you can tell on the sustained notes and how it reacts to vibrato, that thing is tuned super well. Even though it clips once in a while its still clear enough you can totally hear what's going on.

Awesome job!

 

[psychodave]

I like it.

 

[glpg80]

There’s some heavy hitters of amp tweakers on the forum so it’s great to see it gets the stamp of approval

Yeah it sounds a lot more aggressive under a mic than it does in the room. I created a knob called the bark knob that allows you to dial in that Marshall bark regardless of where the depth, pre gain, or even the guitar you’re using are dialed in. I use the mids knob on the tonestack to then dial the level of it in the cabinet.

It’s a very tight amp tone wise, it’s not forgiving. I wanted something that still retained JCM800 roots but was just turned up to 11.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Hell yes. Perfect Marshall tone right there, imho. Very nice playing well.

 

[harddriver]

Hell yes. Perfect Marshall tone right there, imho. Very nice playing well.

Yep.... unmistakble Marshall upper mids...I like it... sounds great, gainy but not over the top gainy. Very Nice!

What guitar are you using? Is this your new refretted Norlin LP Custom, it that the stock Shaw pickups we are hearing?

 

[psychodave]

There’s some heavy hitters of amp tweakers on the forum so it’s great to see it gets the stamp of approval

Yeah it sounds a lot more aggressive under a mic than it does in the room. I created a knob called the bark knob that allows you to dial in that Marshall bark regardless of where the depth, pre gain, or even the guitar you’re using. I use the mids knob on the tonestack to then dial the level of it in the cabinet.

It’s a very tight amp tone wise, it’s not forgiving. I wanted something that still retained JCM800 roots but was just turned up to 11.

You mention something LOTS of people dont realize.... more gain/aggression under a mic. In the room and recorded will sound VERY different.

 

[Racerxrated]

That's a job WELL DONE! Sounds killer....love it.

 

[LP Freak]

So this is also boosted ?

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Killer!

 

[glpg80]

So this is also boosted ?

Yes correct 3 stage and boosted with an SD-1. You can get some serious, serious blues tones out of this amp without the SD-1 and with your neck and bridge pickups dialed in. It is NOT a one trick pony

The guitar is the 1976 LPC with stock T Tops.

The 84 LPC is still getting worked on. I requested a no rush order on it. It’s basically done but we are waiting on parts from overseas due to covid.

 

[glpg80]

You mention something LOTS of people dont realize.... more gain/aggression under a mic. In the room and recorded will sound VERY different.

In the room the sizzle isn’t as noticeable and the bark knob isn’t as prevalent as it is under the mic. Granted I haven’t played in over a week due to traveling over the holidays, even then I didn’t feel the need to have to turn any knobs. Just fire it up, turn the boost on, and go.

 

[glpg80]

Yep.... unmistakble Marshall upper mids...I like it... sounds great, gainy but not over the top gainy. Very Nice!

What guitar are you using? Is this your new refretted Norlin LP Custom, it that the stock Shaw pickups we are hearing?

I was afraid I’d gained it up too much since the last video. It’s definitely more gain on tap than prior videos but in doing so it sucked out a lot of the character of a Marshall. That’s why I created the bark circuit to bring the character back in.

Yes it’s the refretted 76 LPC with SS frets and stock T top pickups.

The bridge is hot in tone but in playing it’s pretty weak. The amp is doing all of the work in the sustain department.

 

[DanTravis62]

You mention something LOTS of people dont realize.... more gain/aggression under a mic. In the room and recorded will sound VERY different.

This is my "Secret" for how I get really good close miced sources with the larry. There's way less gain than you'd think, in the room - its just volume and good circuit design.

It sounds like GLPs amp has the same sort of thing going on, you can tell even with the SD1 on.

 

[glpg80]

This is my "Secret" for how I get really good close miced sources with the larry. There's way less gain than you'd think, in the room - its just volume and good circuit design.

It sounds like GLPs amp has the same sort of thing going on, you can tell even with the SD1 on.

Yeah you can’t dial in aggression in a tonestack alone, the amp has to be balanced phase to phase and tonally balanced in spectrum as well as a whole. It sounds HUGE in the room because it’s covering low mids with the depth circuit, high mids with my bark circuit, and I’ve over voiced the lows in the amp so that when the SD-1 is kicked in and takes lows out, it still sounds full and aggressive without being honky. Remember there’s still only 3 stages here, so it’s been challenging to get that boosted tone to where it’s at and still be stable/functional and super pissed off and aggressive.

The last battle I had to climb were the highs. I reintroduced a mod I’d tried earlier this year and wrote off as it was a tone sucker, but now the circuit sounded better with it in after gaining it up the last time I did around late August.

I’m sure it will sound even better soldered up and done. This is with gator clips spilling all over the place outside the amp.

 

[DanTravis62]

Yeah you can’t dial in aggression in a tonestack alone, the amp has to be balanced phase to phase and tonally balanced in spectrum as well as a whole. It sounds HUGE in the room because it’s covering low mids with the depth circuit, high mids with my bark circuit, and I’ve over voiced the lows in the amp so that when the SD-1 is kicked in and takes lows out, it still sounds full and aggressive without being honky. Remember there’s still only 3 stages here, so it’s been challenging to get that boosted tone to where it’s at and still be stable/functional and super pissed off and aggressive.

The last battle I had to climb were the highs. I reintroduced a mod I’d tried earlier this year and wrote off as it was a tone sucker, but now the circuit sounded better with it in after gaining it up the last time I did around late August.

I’m sure it will sound even better soldered up and done. This is with gator clips spilling all over the place outside the amp.

Can't wait to hear when it's done man, first test was a success ?

 

[TheRealDonnie]

Shades of Gary Moore with that long sustained note.
Love it!

 

[ericb]

DAMN!!!! That's all I've got. .