Tech Guys...Does Adding A Choke To A Marshall Really Matter?

[angelspade]

I was just going down a bit of an internet rabbit hole on adding a choke to a Marshall head. I currently own a Marshall JVM410H and a DSL100HR and neither have a choke installed stock. The variance of opinions on what adding a choke actually does is pretty staggering. Just no discernable consensus at all. Here are some of the opinions I am reading echoed repeatedly in various forms on the various boards:

"it's a must as it changes the tone and feel of the amp dramatically"

"it's complete waste of time and money"

"you will certainly notice some low end tightening and a more immediate response to pick attack"

"it may help a bit, but only matters at high volumes"

"it doesn't change how the amp sounds, but definitely changes how it feels"

"most players would never notice the difference"

So, for you tech guys out there...Or guys who have tried this mod...What's the truth (in your opinion)?

 

[FourT6and2]

There's a reason modern amps moved away from using a resistor and started using chokes... If builders thought they were useless, they wouldn't spend money on them in favor of a $0.02 resistor.

 

[glpg80]

Adds another reactive pole to the supply filtering to remove common mode noise such as ac ripple. Chokes definitely tighten up an amplifier in the feel category especially at lower frequencies. Better is subjective. If you want a greasier amplifier then you’ll have to compensate for the changes the choke will make elsewhere in the preamp. Amplifiers are the sum of their parts not just the preamp itself as Internet folklore likes to assume.

 

[jasonP]

I’ve never er been able to tell a difference honestly between the resistor and choke having done it to a couple DSLs. I always wanted to put on a toggle switch so you could quickly tell.

 

[BeZo]

That's the only mod I've consistently done to my 5150s (besides the bias mod). I feel the choke really tightens up the response of the amp.

 

[fusedbrain]

I agree with all of the above posts.
glpg80's comments about the power supply and the low end are bang on.
I've done a choke mod to a DSL and, for whatever reason, didn't notice much difference, but the improvements to a 5150 were significant.

Also, if modding an amp, consider that the typical DC resistance of a choke is usually between 80 and 120 ohms, vs the resistor you are replacing, which is usually much larger.
This changes the voltages in the rest of the amp, so that can affect the tone as well.
The other thing to watch are your screen grid resistors. For example, on a 5150, the og screen grids are 100ohms, so if you remove the 400 ohm screen dropper and install a choke, those 100ohm screen grids need to be changed to 470ohm, to maintain the screen protection.