Voodoo V-Plex 50 watt Van halen 1 sound

[nitro]

Would the 50 watt Voodoo V-Plex(master volume) have enough gain to achieve the aggressive crunch that Edward achieved on Van halen 1

 

[TTripp]

In my opinon, yes. It seems to have an edge that other Plexi circuits don't have. Trace would have to answer the tech stuff on why that is, but maybe the amp they cloned for the V-Plex was just one of those "juicier" schematics from back in the day. The master volume works wonders as well.

 

[voodooamps]

We have about 35 different schematics we have Mod from older Plexi's we have serviced. Everything varied on those amps. The cap and resistor values varied (which is commonly known) but the transformers varied a great deal.

Back in the day Marshall was a small business and as a means to save money they would go into the local military surplus store and purchase a dozen transformers from the cut out/bargain bin. They would build a dozen amps, ship them out and then go back and buy a dozen different transformers. Some times it was mix-n-match, etc. Add to this that the capacitor values and type (what they are made of) also varied a great deal. Resistor values varied as did the over all power supply design. When you add up all these variables it makes perfect sense as to why it's so difficult to find two old Marshalls that sound or feel the same.

When we found a Marshall that sounded stunning we decided to offer it as a production model so that others could have a great sounding plexi right out of the box

If you have any other questions please feel free to post them or email me directly at trace@voodooamps.com. Questions are more than welcome and also please feel free to call us.


Thanks!
Trace

 

[Jakub]

I do love my V- Plex 50!!!

 

[voodooamps]

I do love my V- Plex 50!!!

Very glad to hear you are enjoying it!!

All the best;
Trace

 

[Nico]

We have about 35 different schematics we have Mod from older Plexi's we have serviced. Everything varied on those amps. The cap and resistor values varied (which is commonly known) but the transformers varied a great deal.

Back in the day Marshall was a small business and as a means to save money they would go into the local military surplus store and purchase a dozen transformers from the cut out/bargain bin. They would build a dozen amps, ship them out and then go back and buy a dozen different transformers. Some times it was mix-n-match, etc. Add to this that the capacitor values and type (what they are made of) also varied a great deal. Resistor values varied as did the over all power supply design. When you add up all these variables it makes perfect sense as to why it's so difficult to find two old Marshalls that sound or feel the same.

When we found a Marshall that sounded stunning we decided to offer it as a production model so that others could have a great sounding plexi right out of the box

If you have any other questions please feel free to post them or email me directly at trace@voodooamps.com. Questions are more than welcome and also please feel free to call us.


Thanks!
Trace

So a regular plexi was imitated or did you add a little extra something to the circuit, moregain etc ???

? I have not tried a V-Plex, but all of the regular Marshalls of that era that I did try lacked a little gain to achieve that brown sound.

Can the V-Plex achive those hotrodded 80s Marshall tones ala George Lynch without a boost??

 

[Nico]

 

[voodooamps]

So a regular plexi was imitated or did you add a little extra something to the circuit, moregain etc ???

This is a two part answer - A.) There is no such thing as a "regular" plexi (they were not all created equal my any means – see my post above) which is why it is so hard to find any 2 older plexis that sound the same. B.) No we did not add anything extra to our V-Plex and nor did we add extra gain.

I have not tried a V-Plex, but all of the regular Marshalls of that era that I did try lacked a little gain to achieve that brown sound.

Yes our V-Plex is a bit gainer than most other replicas and this is due to the plexi we modeled it after. By the same token it also cleans up amazingly well and has a beautiful clean tone.

With regards to the brown sound - Yes you should be able to get pretty close to Ed's tone, more so VHII and the following few records. VH1 is a lot gain'ier and this was due to the way he was running his rig at that time. If you want the low down on that please call me and have a pen/paper ready to takes notes

Can the V-Plex achive those hotrodded 80s Marshall tones ala George Lynch without a boost??

Yes, with a boost you can get in the same ballpark as Lynch's tone in the 80's. If memory serves he used the yellow Boss SD-1 overdrive pedal.


Happy Holidays!!
Trace