jtgainor
Well-known member
Howdy y’all. It’s been a hectic few months for me, but I’ve wanted to make this thread for quite a while. As many of the regulars saw and participated in a previous NAD thread regarding the Suhr SE 100, I sold that amp, but with good reason.
Similar to fellow member and amp guru Eddy Lenz, I have always been a big Green Day fan, and have chased the recorded, live album, and media appearance tones since I was around 10 when I first picked up a guitar. Unlike Eddy, I donor have a knack for working in high voltage electronics, nor do I have a good enough ear to decipher what caps and resistors do to a circuit. Since I couldn’t build my “dream amps”, I had the opportunity to buy them, both from regulars here: cap217, and MarshallMel respectively.
The first amp is a 1979 Marshall JMP 2203 with the famous Custom Audio Electronics Crunch mod. Without nerding out, this amp was used to record almost every Green Day album, blah blah blah. The circuit was also used by Luke, landau, Scott Henderson, and just about anyone who Rob Cavallo produced in the 90’s. This amp is an interesting one for sure. This is the second crunch mod circuit I’ve owned that was modded by Martin(first was a 50 watt clone).
The amp is very similar to a stock 2203 in many ways, but has its own unique flavor. The mod adds a few things to the table that my 77 2203 was lacking in my opinion. The mod adds more gain, 3 on the amp is roughly dimed on the stock 2203. I’ve found that the gain knob also works as a high pass filter to a degree(assuming a bright cap is being engaged). Once the gain gets to 6-7, the amp gets pretty loose and flabby, but tightens up well with a sd1 or tube screamer. The amp definitely shines with the knob set lower for more of a vintage/classic rock type tone. The tone stack is tweaked as well, making it more active than a stock Marshall as well. The bass is beefed up a bit compared to 2203 specs, making the amp sound a bit bigger than stock, but not modern overwhelming amounts of low end what would get buried in a mix. The midrange frequency’s were also adjusted, providing a low mod punch that thickens up the amp a bit more over a stock Marshall as well. Comparing the midrange between stock and modded, the stock amp always reminded me of Out of the cellar with a high mid sizzle and cut, where the modded amp is more like a firm thunk that is a bit warmer and not as sharp and pokey. The adjustments in the circuit also allow the player to control the mids in a more broad spectrum. Sweeping the knob will show that 0-3 is fairly scooped with a blanket like effect, 4-6 is the sweet spot with the perfect amount of punch and roar, 7-10 I find to be a bit too overwhelming, especially with v30s that I usually play through. The treble knob is pretty standard Marshall, along with the presence knob. Admittedly, I have some significant hearing damage and can’t perceive high frequencies like I used to.
Finally, the mod adds a pre phase inverter master volume, which is very sensitive To adjustments and goes from silent to roaring in about one tiny bump of the knob. I’ve found that cranking the volume up doesn’t do much to the tone, especially when I had a Fryette ps2 to lower the db. The amp really likes v30’s running around 100-110 db, but it is fairly hard to do in my current home, but that will soon be addressed when we build our new house next year(topic for another thread involving building a studio).
The other amp is a 2002 Marshall 1959SLP modded with the SE Lead mod. The lead mod was made famous by luke(CH3 of the CAE3+SE) Tesla, Reb Beach(Winger days) and most famously Doug Aldrich. This amp was modded with 4 gain stages via a 4th preamp tube. Absolute gobs of gain. As a 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s classic, hair and punk player I find myself maxing out around 3 on the gain knob, which is ALOT of gain. To my ears the eq tweaks are similar to the crunch tweaks, but the addition of a gain stage adds compression, and it takes more adjustment of the knobs to cut. There is also a shit ton of bass added. I find this amp more satisfying to play, assuming because of the additional gain, and is easily tweaked to fit all my playing styles. I won’t drone on about this amp too much, but I will say once Suhr puts the SE100 back into production I recommend every hard rock/80’s fan pick one up because I cannot stop blasting ratt, white snake, and all the other killer high gain riffs out of it.
Here are some quick clips of the amps:
DISCLAIMER:
Out of respect to John Suhr, I will not post gut shots of either amp. If you are interested in either circuit, reach out to him as he will build a custom one of, or mod any Marshall you have to these circuits. Thanks for understanding.
Similar to fellow member and amp guru Eddy Lenz, I have always been a big Green Day fan, and have chased the recorded, live album, and media appearance tones since I was around 10 when I first picked up a guitar. Unlike Eddy, I donor have a knack for working in high voltage electronics, nor do I have a good enough ear to decipher what caps and resistors do to a circuit. Since I couldn’t build my “dream amps”, I had the opportunity to buy them, both from regulars here: cap217, and MarshallMel respectively.
The first amp is a 1979 Marshall JMP 2203 with the famous Custom Audio Electronics Crunch mod. Without nerding out, this amp was used to record almost every Green Day album, blah blah blah. The circuit was also used by Luke, landau, Scott Henderson, and just about anyone who Rob Cavallo produced in the 90’s. This amp is an interesting one for sure. This is the second crunch mod circuit I’ve owned that was modded by Martin(first was a 50 watt clone).
The amp is very similar to a stock 2203 in many ways, but has its own unique flavor. The mod adds a few things to the table that my 77 2203 was lacking in my opinion. The mod adds more gain, 3 on the amp is roughly dimed on the stock 2203. I’ve found that the gain knob also works as a high pass filter to a degree(assuming a bright cap is being engaged). Once the gain gets to 6-7, the amp gets pretty loose and flabby, but tightens up well with a sd1 or tube screamer. The amp definitely shines with the knob set lower for more of a vintage/classic rock type tone. The tone stack is tweaked as well, making it more active than a stock Marshall as well. The bass is beefed up a bit compared to 2203 specs, making the amp sound a bit bigger than stock, but not modern overwhelming amounts of low end what would get buried in a mix. The midrange frequency’s were also adjusted, providing a low mod punch that thickens up the amp a bit more over a stock Marshall as well. Comparing the midrange between stock and modded, the stock amp always reminded me of Out of the cellar with a high mid sizzle and cut, where the modded amp is more like a firm thunk that is a bit warmer and not as sharp and pokey. The adjustments in the circuit also allow the player to control the mids in a more broad spectrum. Sweeping the knob will show that 0-3 is fairly scooped with a blanket like effect, 4-6 is the sweet spot with the perfect amount of punch and roar, 7-10 I find to be a bit too overwhelming, especially with v30s that I usually play through. The treble knob is pretty standard Marshall, along with the presence knob. Admittedly, I have some significant hearing damage and can’t perceive high frequencies like I used to.
Finally, the mod adds a pre phase inverter master volume, which is very sensitive To adjustments and goes from silent to roaring in about one tiny bump of the knob. I’ve found that cranking the volume up doesn’t do much to the tone, especially when I had a Fryette ps2 to lower the db. The amp really likes v30’s running around 100-110 db, but it is fairly hard to do in my current home, but that will soon be addressed when we build our new house next year(topic for another thread involving building a studio).
The other amp is a 2002 Marshall 1959SLP modded with the SE Lead mod. The lead mod was made famous by luke(CH3 of the CAE3+SE) Tesla, Reb Beach(Winger days) and most famously Doug Aldrich. This amp was modded with 4 gain stages via a 4th preamp tube. Absolute gobs of gain. As a 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s classic, hair and punk player I find myself maxing out around 3 on the gain knob, which is ALOT of gain. To my ears the eq tweaks are similar to the crunch tweaks, but the addition of a gain stage adds compression, and it takes more adjustment of the knobs to cut. There is also a shit ton of bass added. I find this amp more satisfying to play, assuming because of the additional gain, and is easily tweaked to fit all my playing styles. I won’t drone on about this amp too much, but I will say once Suhr puts the SE100 back into production I recommend every hard rock/80’s fan pick one up because I cannot stop blasting ratt, white snake, and all the other killer high gain riffs out of it.
Here are some quick clips of the amps:
DISCLAIMER:
Out of respect to John Suhr, I will not post gut shots of either amp. If you are interested in either circuit, reach out to him as he will build a custom one of, or mod any Marshall you have to these circuits. Thanks for understanding.
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