The hell with modded Marshalls-just get a stock JCM 900!

[Loudness250]

I've heard the 2100, I thought it was decent, my bandmate owned it for awhile. It did have Tesla Tubes in it though. Real Tesla EL34's "the blue glass". But with that said, a local guitarshop owner that I know says the dual Reverb 900's were the best in his opinion and he knows tone.......lol. I trust him because he knows tone. I know tone so I know that he knows tone. I wouldnt bash the 900, I don't thing its the best but I don't think it's the worst. Never heard a dual reverb firsthand. I would say the worst marshall is the TSL series.

 

[riffy]

Steve Vai played the 100 watt Dual Reverb head for ages. He made it sound super, I thought at least.

Gary

 

[ericsabbath]

But isnt the Diode Clipping what Cameron uses in his amps?
If everyone drools on them........why is that a bad thing in the 900's?

you can't compare an all tube preamp section with the subtle extra bite of a jose master clipping with a full solid state driven preamp like the jcm 900
it's pretty much like a valvestate with tube power amp
there's no tube gain at all, just a tube cathode follower trying to warm it a bit before the eq
that's why people don't even bother modding dual reverbs or finding best preamp tube combos

the single channel 900 (2100 mkIII) is another story
that's a killer real tube hot rodded 2203

Actually, Todd Langner told me it was a tube preamp with solid state boost sections within the tube circuits

that's far from accurate if you're talking the 4100 dual reverb
but the 2100 is tube + diode boosting (kinda like a krankenstein)
the 2100 a lot closer to a JCM 800 2203 than a 2210 is
you could cut out the diode stuff from a 2100, which would be impossible in a 4100, since the the whole distortion and tone shaping circuit (what we call preamplification) is solid state before hitting the first tube (wired as a cathode follower)
I believe the only reason marshall did that was to save one preamp tube for the reverb, which is quite stupid

 

[JTyson]

meh, I doubt Todd Langner, someone who has been involved with building his own killer amp line, modded Marshalls for years for some heavy hitters, and did development work for ADA would tell me the 4100 was a tube preamp with SS boost stages, if it was in fact a solid state preamp, and the tubes had nothing to do with the gain. He did say finding the right tweaks was tricky because of the way the tube circuits and SS stages were tied together. He also pointed out that beefing up the voltage supply to the preamp tubes had everything to do with the gain levels being totally usable all the way to insane levels of gain without farting out, something that seems like it would be ineffective if it was just a SS preamp tied to a tube pwr section. It does use diodes for clipping, but I think they are only part of the puzzle
Further, my own expierence with the amp has shown that different preamp tubes do in fact alter the gain a bit (esp the added tube in the mod) Its true, a lot of modders dont mess with 900's but there are some who do. They are for sure not the normal Marshall MV circuit, which I prefer, as do most Marshall guys

just sayin

 

[ConcreteVampire]

Im always shocked at the lack of knowledge about 900's.....
Everybody guesses shit.

I had a 50 watt slx. Killer amp. Like my VM more..

As i understand......

Dual reverbs- 2 channel 3 pre's, diode clipping in pre.

Mk3- single channel/ dual masters, 3 pre's. diode bridge rectifier, gain sensitivity knob controlled.

SLX -single channel. Dual masters. 4 pre's no diodes.

The dual masters have op-amps in the volume controls Paths which make these a bitch to mod.

Small amps in loops, you can bridge with a patch cord for a Lil boost!

 

[thiswaythatway]

You dudes have seen the list of amps I have. I don't really need to explain myself when it comes to knowing good tone. I'm saying, that for the money, I'll take one of these anyday over a fucking $2500 mod that has very little difference in gain capability and "metalness". That's it. Enjoy spending your money!

Well then start selling the amps in your sig if you like the 900 soo much. And have fun, go ahead and enjoy your 900. If you know tone soo much what do you care what anyone here thinks of the piece o junk 900.

 

[ericsabbath]

meh, I doubt Todd Langner, someone who BLAH BLAH BLAH would tell me the 4100 was a tube preamp with SS boost stages, if it was in fact a solid state preamp, and the tubes had nothing to do with the gain.

of course anything wired in the circuit will affect tone, but the distortion circuit is solid state
there's just a small tube signal amplification after the distortion and the compression from the cathode follower, but that's after all the distortion is generated
just learn how to identify a tube gain stage and diode stages in a schematic, compare it to a regular amp and see for yourself
it's not that hard (actually pretty easy)
it's definitely not simple "diode clipping" adding bite to the tubes like some Marshalls, Kranks and Hughes & Kettners
of course you can mod a 900, just like any electronic device, but preamp mods ONLY would barely do anything signifcant (you can add or reduce the cathode follower compression and changing preamp voltage will affect that), UNLESS you mess with the solid state circuit, which is where both saturation, voicing and texture are molded
Mesa did something similar in the V-Twin
IF they used the tube right in the input stages as actual gain stages and the solid state circuitry after that, then that could be a lot more tweakable
if your amp has an extra tube, it may be wired in so many ways that comparing to a stock 4100 is pointless, unless it's just for a loop or clean channel
he could have put a plexi circuit or something in front of your 4100 with just one tube, and just for being wired before the solid state part, that would change the entire feel and response of the amp (in a positive direction)

 

[Metalhead]