NAD, After 35 years I finally own a Marshall

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadAsAHatter
  • Start date Start date
MadAsAHatter

MadAsAHatter

Well-known member
I've played many a Marshall over the years and the bulk of my amps are Marshall-esque in tone, but I have never actually owned one. Well that all changed today. I ordered a Vintage Modern from Guitar Center yesterday and it arrived today. I'm kind of surprised it arrived safely. The box it came in was a good 3 sizes too big. Luckily whoever packed it wrapped the amp well with a bunch of bubble wrap and stuffed the box full with that paper packing stuff so nothing would move around.

I've only had about 20 minuets with it to give it a test run to make sure it worked. It sounds like a Marshall to me. I was able to bring it up to a moderate volume, but didn't get to fully open it up. The master volume works really well. Though I can tell it's an amp that needs room to breathe in order to sound its best. It's pretty easy to find a good tone right away. Of course I'll want to spend some time fine tuning my preferred settings.

A lot of the old reviews from when the VM was still in production weren't the best. Considering it came out right at the same time as the JVM that's not surprising. It's also a different style of amp from the JCM series that I think people were expecting it to be like. So I think it came down to user error from a good amount of people who didn't like it. Reading newer reviews from the last 5 years or so seem to have a newfound appreciation for the VM.

Overall it's in in pretty good condition. It's hard to tell in the pic, but it's the purple headshell. There are a couple of scuffs on the tolex here and there, but nothing major. I wasn't able to see what preamp tubes were in it since they had shileds on them and I didn't take the back off. I was able to peer though and see it has a quad of Gold Lion power tubes installed. So bonus that it came with something good.

So far it sounds good as is. I will however make some minor mods to it. I want to do the Headfirst improvement mods. It swaps out about a dozen components that will bring it more in line with classic JTM specs. So no major overhaul that would totally transform it into something else or anything. Just something that would bring out the best of what it already is.

1737246528893.png
 
Awesome, I'm very similar to you. Never owned a Marshall until about 6 or so years ago when I found a used JVM 205H for $800 in a local shop. Found a great setting that I really liked. Then about a year later found a 1984 JCM800 on Craigslist for I think $1100. Still have both and still play them regularly.

I did send the JCM800 to Friedman and he pulled out the extra gain stage that was already modded in it and added a few other mods.
 
HNAD! A solid first Marshall to own.

While the amp is open when you mod it, be sure to replace and add resistors to the pilot light to avoid it from flickering and burning out. Notorious issue with those amps.
 
Congrats!

Had one long ago before I was on RT....cool amp, but I was deep into modded Marshal heaven so it didn't stay long. Had a Cameron, Friedman and a Gower in the house at the same time lol.....
Might revisit a VM again. At that time, I didn't boost anything. Ugh. On it's own it was too low gain for my cover band. Those VM cabs are killer too, if you can find one...
 
I saw a recent episode of Tone Talk, with Friedman, Gower, and Shea. All of them agreed it was one of the best bang for buck amps to mod.
 
Erock said:
I saw a recent episode of Tone Talk, with Friedman, Gower, and Shea. All of them agreed it was one of the best bang for buck amps to mod.
Click to expand...
Dave has a mod for it that brings the high dynamic range side into JEL specs. The clips I've heard of that make it sound like a fire breather.
 
HNAD & Congrats!

I was never one for the mods/boutiques versions of Marshalls, and have always purchased actual Marshalls, except a Marshall-esq Engl Artist Edition. For modded Marshall, my SL-X and DSL get there, as does the Engl...


I finally broke that model late last year when I got my Bogner Helios Eclipse and very happy with it.
 
Would like to hear one of these modded.
 
Last edited:
67mike said:
Call me crazy, but, I prefer the stock amp to the above mods.
Click to expand...
Crazy! :LOL:

Seriously though, I get it. It does sound good stock. I had a chance to crank it earlier today. At least on mine once I hit 6 on the MV it really starts to open up and come into its own. That seems to be the threshold of where power tube saturation starts to come into play. It's pretty interesting how everything responds. On LDR with mid boost off it sounds good. Kick in a tube screamer and it's too thin. On the flip LDR sounds too fat and bloated with the mid boost on, but is just right with the tube screamer. To my ears it's the opposite on HDR. Mid boost off it sounds too thin with or without the tube screamer. With the mid boost on it's just about right with and without the tube screamer. I do however find it a bit too much gain for my taste with the tube screamer on in HDR. I'd have to drop the detail and body a good bit for it to be right.

In both the videos and in person I like the way the top end sounds better, but also hear a bit of fizz in in it too. The improvement mods seem to tame that without changing too much of the overall character. I will say the mod sounds a bit darker, but I'm thinking that's juts a matter of changing EQ settings. Like if you bumped up the treble and/or presence you'd get the exact same tone as stock but without the fizz. Worse comes to worse if I don't like the mod it wouldn't be too hard to put it back to stock.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
Crazy! :LOL:

Seriously though, I get it. It does sound good stock. I had a chance to crank it earlier today. At least on mine once I hit 6 on the MV it really starts to open up and come into its own. That seems to be the threshold of where power tube saturation starts to come into play. It's pretty interesting how everything responds. On LDR with mid boost off it sounds good. Kick in a tube screamer and it's too thin. On the flip LDR sounds too fat and bloated with the mid boost on, but is just right with the tube screamer. To my ears it's the opposite on HDR. Mid boost off it sounds too thin with or without the tube screamer. With the mid boost on it's just about right with and without the tube screamer. I do however find it a bit too much gain for my taste with the tube screamer on in HDR. I'd have to drop the detail and body a good bit for it to be right.

In both the videos and in person I like the way the top end sounds better, but also hear a bit of fizz in in it too. The improvement mods seem to tame that without changing too much of the overall character. I will say the mod sounds a bit darker, but I'm thinking that's juts a matter of changing EQ settings. Like if you bumped up the treble and/or presence you'd get the exact same tone as stock but without the fizz. Worse comes to worse if I don't like the mod it wouldn't be too hard to put it back to stock.
Click to expand...
Let us know how it goes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top