School Me on Plexis

[Anonymous]

It's pretty easy to use a plexi at sane vol levels, alittle more stuff to carry but worth it. You guys can have those ppimv's, they suck.

Play my amp and see if you are still saying that.

Steve

 

[Greazygeo]

It's pretty easy to use a plexi at sane vol levels, alittle more stuff to carry but worth it. You guys can have those ppimv's, they suck.

Play my amp and see if you are still saying that.

Steve

Send me one.

 

[thegame]

The bigger, tighter low end is totally worth it to step up to the 100w IMO...the volume difference is slight, the "bigness" difference is not.

+ 1

Even more fun is going from 100 to 150

 

[mixn4him]

I have a reissue that was modded to PTP and it can be used a low levels with pedals just fine. The 2 things to keep in mind are you have to remove the bright cap off the Volume pot. Most of the time it is a 500pf sometimes it is higher. This adds alot of brightness and perceived volume right from the go. once removed the amp is more balanced sounding and I can get good tone and feel from 1 thru 4 before things get crazy loud. Also use a ported 1x12 cab. This way you still get the low end feel of a 4x12 but not the added volume of 4 very efficent speakers..from there it is wide open such a great platform to mod and tweak with...

 

[thenine]

I have a late 80's 1959 JCM 800 4 holer. I use it as a pedal platform and it sounds great but its very clean and clear. Makes all my pedals sound better than when I use them on my other amps. I jump the channels (low chan 1 into high chan 2). You can dial in a bit of bottom with channel 2 and some clarity/top end with channel 1. Very nice clean tone. Then 2 gain pedals, one med gain and one heavy tone for a pseudo 3 channel rig. But yeah, all these guys are right, its so bloody loud all the stuff on my walls shake.

whats the problem with a PPIMV? I bought the metro kit and was thinking of installing it in mine. Full on it is suppsedly out of the ckt so I was thinking it might be cool to have. As of right now my amp is unmolested.

P.S. I wish my wife was a 4 holer!

 

[roodboy]

Since the title of the thread was "school me", one thing you may want to keep in mind is that not all 4 hole Marshalls are plexi's.
Plexi refers to a plexiglass panel on the front of the amp used between 65-69.
The term plexi gets thrown around pretty broadly but there are differences as others have referred to in the posts above in 4 hole non mv Marshalls.

 

[rupe]

When it comes to amps why are some 100 watters considered louder than others. 4 EL34's will only output a certain amount whether it is 100 watts or 90, or 120 possibly. In my book I always thought a 100 watts is a 100 watts. I have a Reissue and its louder than hell as soon as I crack the master. My perception tells me its output is almost max as soon as the master is on 2-3. The master volume control is the difference? Some amps have better taper in the master so they are not considered too loud as they are manageable. I am not sure what the best type of master to use is but I do know different manufacture's have different tapers. You need a different value or one with a different taper. Steve will know.

Although there are many variables such as tubes and trannies, the biggest difference maker when it comes to overall volume is probably speaker efficiency. For example the same 100w Plexi will sound noticeably louder through V30s than it will through GBs...the higher the efficiency, the louder the speaker.

 

[Anonymous]

It's pretty easy to use a plexi at sane vol levels, alittle more stuff to carry but worth it. You guys can have those ppimv's, they suck.

Play my amp and see if you are still saying that.

Steve

Send me one.

I was thinking you just come play one at NAMM or something...

Steve

 

[glip22]

When it comes to amps why are some 100 watters considered louder than others. 4 EL34's will only output a certain amount whether it is 100 watts or 90, or 120 possibly. In my book I always thought a 100 watts is a 100 watts. I have a Reissue and its louder than hell as soon as I crack the master. My perception tells me its output is almost max as soon as the master is on 2-3. The master volume control is the difference? Some amps have better taper in the master so they are not considered too loud as they are manageable. I am not sure what the best type of master to use is but I do know different manufacture's have different tapers. You need a different value or one with a different taper. Steve will know.

Although there are many variables such as tubes and trannies, the biggest difference maker when it comes to overall volume is probably speaker efficiency. For example the same 100w Plexi will sound noticeably louder through V30s than it will through GBs...the higher the efficiency, the louder the speaker.

Definitely.

 

[joepete77]

I like the reissue marshall plexis and I have now a 73 and a 75 and a recent reissue 50 watters. The reissue sounds great and I think that it may even break up a little sooner then the older ones but still insanely loud and so consider a ppimv mod that is really easy and cheap to do or have done and can be reversed if needed. I use an attenuator with my older original as it seems even louder then the ri. You can pick up a used 1987x cheap in mint condition and its a no loose situation.

 

[SFW]

Actually, I'd prefer to have the amp breakup a bit later. I mainly want it for clean tones with a good pedal for dirt tones. Will the amp stay clean a band practice levels? I don't mind a bit of hair on my cleans, but I would prefer it not not get past a gritty clean.

 

[Greazygeo]

It's pretty easy to use a plexi at sane vol levels, alittle more stuff to carry but worth it. You guys can have those ppimv's, they suck.

Play my amp and see if you are still saying that.

Steve

Send me one.

I was thinking you just come play one at NAMM or something...

Steve

No Namm for me unless they move it to Ohio.

 

[SFW]

This is what I'm going for in terms of tone. I know he uses a '78 1987 with pedals to kick the rest of the grind.

 

[Rogue]

Find whatever you can in a 1987 or 1959, clone, original or reissue for the right price. They'll all get you there. I'd also say find an Alex attenuator so you can get it under control whenever you need to. You can go cheaper than an Alex for mild attenuation.

A lot of people claim the reissue sounds better with an output tranny replacement. So keep that in mind. While it might sound better, I thought it sounded pretty good stock.

That said, I didn't think the above clips was a "gritty clean". A SL amp can get clean, with the right guitar and some pick attack adjustments and/or playing with the volume knob, but if you are more after the cleans look into a JTM45, or clone or reissue. Fantastic cleans, fantastic break up, but not as gainy or aggressive as an SL.

Some of my favorite Marshall tones come from a jtm45, but my go to is a superlead for the more aggressiveness.

 

[eljodon]

If you buy one, I suggest getting a good attenuator, there's a lot of good ones available. I have a plexi/JCM800 100 watt clone and I always use the attenuator all the time, even when I don't crank it to 10 because to me they start sounding the way I like it at 5 or 7. I also use it on my high gain amps so I can at least get it up to 4 or 5(like my Marsha)because I like to get a bit of power tube distortion.

 

[Aristocat]

Playing my 73' Super Lead (before it was sold) cranked full tilt did my right ear in for good. I have horrible tinnitus now and I'm only 22.

If it were not for modding, I'd use an attenuator all the time. PPIMV tends to have a bad reputation, but some amp manufacture's pay a little more attention to detail and treat it for what it is and not just a regular volume mod. Best two examples I have heard are Steve's Cherry Bomb and David Bray.

I personally dig the years 68-74 for what I want. It ranges from mild to wild depending on how you dial it in. Also, don't be fooled by Super Bass vs. Super Lead. I've heard it's something like a couple of resistors and capacitors that changed to convert the circuit. Don't quote me; just a laymen approach. I have a 71 SLP 100 Watt head and before I sent it to Dave F., I considered keeping it stock because it was so perfect. Never swiss cheesed and has stock transformers.

There is also this extremely organic complexity to an old Marshall's circuit that is beyond me. Not that there is some nostalgic view in my mind regarding my favorite guitar player's tone, it's just that there is a certain 'magic' to it.

Best of luck man!

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

I have decided that I really want a Marshall 1987 amp. I want the 50 because it will breakup earlier. I am not getting this amp to modify. I want to leave it stock and run a pedal or two in front of it. My question is this: Do the reissues stand up to the originals in terms of tone and feel? If I have to track down a 70s model to get the tone goods, I will... but the reissues seem to be more common. Thanks for the help!

Am thinking of getting either a 1987x or JTM45 and running a boost and or Bogner Blue or even a Red into it. Don't want metal sounds from it just juicy vintage goodness. Both the JTM45 and 1987x are supposed to be pretty nice from what I've heard.

 

[1meanplexi]

Find an old one with the Drake transformers.

 

[stephen sawall]

Some break-up a lot earlier than others .... everyone sounds different.

 

[supersonic]