NAD - Plexi Reissue (clip & pics)

[RockNRun]

Not sure how the Plexi RI (1987x) is viewed on gear boards, but who cares, trends come and go and I've been searching for something complementary for my QR. I stumbled onto this amp yesterday, the tone was great, the price even better and its condition was incred for a roughly 21 year old amp (this is a '90 model, no loop)...so I nabbed it!

I wanted something that could gimmie legit vintagey tones, from cleans to blues to light crunch (and maybe more with a pedal, haven't tried that yet). It is friggin' loud, make no mistake, but it sounds so tasty, especially cleaner stuff, and I have a sound treated 'iso-room' where I mic my cab anyway, so volume is not an issue here, lol.

A nice plus about this purchase - it sounded great to me in the store and I was sold already 'as is', never entered my mind the amp may have been tinkered with, lol....so of course when I got it home and inspected it much closer, turned out it has been modded a bit, THIS being the most noteable...and I'm not a "purist", if modding gets the most outta an amp, I say go for it. The reason this is cool for me is that I have shaky hands, I've never bothered with modding stuff myself (hell, biasing is a challenge)...now I don't have to (for now).

Light Crunch Tone Testing / Download

 

[Nico]

Nice! I had a plexi but ended up selling it because the thing was so freakin loud...

 

[romanianreaper]

Good snag!! I have a 1959SLP reissue and really like it, however it is modded...a few times. It started out as a 2003 Marshall 1959SLP Reissue and was modded by Scott Splawn of Splawn amps (before he even started his own amp line). I recently had it modded by Dave Friedman at Friedman amps and got the Kitchen Sink mod done with the Saturation, Fat, and C45 mods as well. He did an awesome job.

Your amp is in unbelievable condition. I mean mine looks nowhere close to that good (especially the headshell which was destroyed twice). Not sure how you feel about modding that thing in the future but I highly recommend it, especially a Friedman mod. It would give you a great tone having Splawn coming out of one side and Friedman out of the other.

 

[Marshall Law]

sounds great, I have 96 1987x no loop, that david bray modded, I was just looking at some pictures of mine and sure enough c17 c18 are gone and he has a couple different caps on the high treble pot too, mine has a master volume in the back, and I love it, great amps

 

[Chris6870]

Nice! I have really been thinking about getting one of those. I have a QR also but thought it might be redundant to own both. How do they compare? Does the plexi give you anything the QR can't?

 

[RockNRun]

Thanks, all! I may have a few more mods done to it in time, but if I did, it wouldn't be too drastic, I'm liking things as is so far. I even tossed the FDII Mosfet in front today just for a goof and it gave it a little more hair without altering that great bark. (=

Bonesaw, I couldn't answear that one so soon, simply haven't had it long enough to compare - I will say that the cleans on the Plexi are much more full and rich sounding, a big reason I knew I liked it when I first sampled it. Not knocking the QR cleans, but they don't inspire. I honestly picked this up with the intention of using it for different things from the Splawn. I won't even bother trying to make either amp cover the others territory, yes, that would be redundant. Now I have the Plexi for cleans, lightish crunch, bluesy leads. The QR for heavy crunch rhythm, shreddy leads, nastier blues. I can always use both for doubling rhythms as well, think that will sound nice. With both of these amps and using them the way I mentioned, I think I'm covered for the kind of music I make.

edit: romanian and marshall law - what is the word on tubes, what have you guys settled over time? I know it's subjective, just looking for suggestions...wouldn't mind a little more grit as long as it doesn't sacrifice the nice (surprisingly nice) cleaned up tone. Also, when looking at the first pic above, which is V1? Closest to the input jack side or closet to the pwr tubes? Thanks! I have several new (and tested) EH 12ax7's and 12au7's), wonder how'd they work...

 

[Marshall Law]

marshall law - what is the word on tubes, what have you guys settled over time? I know it's subjective, just looking for suggestions...wouldn't mind a little more grit as long as it doesn't sacrifice the nice (surprisingly nice) cleaned up tone. Also, when looking at the first pic above, which is V1? Closest to the input jack side or closet to the pwr tubes? Thanks! I have several new (and tested) EH 12ax7's and 12au7's), wonder how'd they work...

the tube farthest away from the power tubes is V1 as far as tubes, I have JJ's in mine and it sounds great

 

[70strathead]

sounds fantastic, like the way a cranked old Marshall should sound like...nice lickage too

 

[gibson5413]

That was awesome! Great playing and the amp sounds great!

 

[sled]

Sounded Great...

 

[RockNRun]

Thanks again!

Thanks for the info, Marshall Law, very helpful.

peace

 

[dstroud]

sounds good man! I've got an older 1959SLP reissue with no loop - great amps!

 

[Digital Jams]

Congrats, the clip sounds great as well with some nice playing

Every guitar player should own a marshall

 

[romanianreaper]

edit: romanian and marshall law - what is the word on tubes, what have you guys settled over time? I know it's subjective, just looking for suggestions...wouldn't mind a little more grit as long as it doesn't sacrifice the nice (surprisingly nice) cleaned up tone. Also, when looking at the first pic above, which is V1? Closest to the input jack side or closet to the pwr tubes? Thanks! I have several new (and tested) EH 12ax7's and 12au7's), wonder how'd they work...

I have used several different tubes over the years. Right now, I have Chinese preamp tubes (can't remember the name but Dave Friedman put them in when my amp was modded) and JJ power tubes that I had laying around. Chinese tubes are a bit brighter than some types of tubes but also more aggressive, but most agree that it is a good thing.

I used JJ preamp and power tubes in my Splawn Competition I owned a few years ago and really liked them. Someone years ago recommended using a few different brands rather than just one. I have some Electro-Harmonix preamp tubes and those are great.

I tell you one of the best tube upgrades I ever did was from an EL-34 to a KT-77. Not sure how much you know about the KT-77 but it is from the EL-34 tube family so it requires no adjustments to your amp. You can just plug them into an EL-34 spot. When I used them in my Splawn Competition, it increased the gain a tad, gave the high end more sizzle, increased the low end, and brought out the low mids a bit more. It basically improved everything. I loved em'!

 

[RockNRun]

Didn't wanna bump this but I'm several days in and still really luvin' this amp! The cleans are what initially sold me on it so I recorded a quickie clip (1 min), thought I'd share it...

I also have a question about preamp tube covers - the previous owner obviously thought the amp sounded better without them because they're not there (that or he took 'em off at some point and forgot to put them back). Does it really make a difference one way or another tone wise? I doubt I could even find some if I tried.

Plexi Clean Sample / Download