Finally…Plexi 100W in collection (paging the experts)

[Heavy Cream]

Excellent thread Shakti! I forgot I had an account here and had to log in to see those beautiful pics. I think this is my first Marshallforum post. Lol.

That ‘67 1992 into your 25w T1281 tall cab is Marshall heaven! Congratulations man! I’m blown away by the killer tones and tasty chops. Straight smoke! I want to be like you when I grow up.

Seriously though, that’s a rig I dream of owning. Good show.

Pardon my ignorance if this is common knowledge in these parts… what LP? Pups?

 

[shakti]

Thanks man! This amp and cab is a perfect match for sure. Those 25w G12H speakers are a touch brighter and woodier than the later 30W ones which are more…rubbery? by comparison. They match extremely well with this amp which is very warm and slightly compressed but crunchy as a biscuit. One thing which doesn’t come through is the playing feel of this amp, which is spectacular. That is one thing I’ve never heard a clone match entirely, great as they can be.

The guitar is a 2002 R8 which was one of the first three completely done over by Historic Makeover, so hide glue, Brazilian board etc and a beautiful refinish. It has a pair of very early Throbak SLE101+ pickups.

I am always a little hesitant about making and uploading clips like these. Playing completely solo with no backing exposes every little flub and poor timing to the max. I also tend to tense up once I hit record, especially when trying to play something line by line like in the record, which I did here with the Jeff Beck clip (Let Me Love You). The Hendrix track is a little looser, but I try to throw in some of the signature licks since the aim was to show how close I think it sounds to those particular recordings. In all humbleness, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone present a clip which is closer in tone to that original Voodoo Child (SR) tone.

 

[AndyD]

Once again, fantastic sounding amp. May I ask what valves you have in it and do you recall what the B+ is? Brilliant thread, thank you.

 

[shakti]

xf2 Mullards, probably rather well worn and some spread in idle current, not very well matched. Still better and just right for this amp rather than RFTs and old Teslas. I like those tubes in certain amps, but the xf2s killed everything else in this amp.

Preamp tubes are i63 Mullard in V1 and V2, Telefunken in V3.
Plate voltage is right around 490V.

 

[AndyD]

xf2 Mullards, probably rather well worn and some spread in idle current, not very well matched. Still better and just right for this amp rather than RFTs and old Teslas. I like those tubes in certain amps, but the xf2s killed everything else in this amp.

Preamp tubes are i63 Mullard in V1 and V2, Telefunken in V3.
Plate voltage is right around 490V.

Brilliant, thank you. I have been wondering how these higher voltages would translate in a 50W amp.

 

[Whatwhatringrang]

Sounds nice. No bright cap on 1st volume ? Both ways are cool. I would say you did well on getting that. I wish there where more around from this time period .I never see them for sale that often . Mostly later ones and earlier jtm45‘s I see for sale. Then whenever I do see this period for sale ,it is a overpriced lash up .Rock on

 

[shakti]

Yes, I consider myself very lucky to have found this in such original condition. I don’t care about the cosmetic issues with the head box as long as the chassis itself is in excellent condition technically.

I want to try to find the brass caps for the knobs, which are all missing. The knobs themselves appear to be original and untouched. Are these the real deal, or are these just caps from the same kind of knobs that Valvestorm used to sell up until recently? I’m not gonna pay the asking price and I might sacrifice a set of those Scott(?) knobs from Valvestorm that I might spare if these are just the same. I think those were up to $10 each in the end, but these EBay ones are outrageously priced.

Marshall Knob Caps x 6 for 60’s JTM 45 / Plexi / Super Lead / Super Bass | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Marshall Knob Caps x 6 for 60’s JTM 45 / Plexi / Super Lead / Super Bass at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Whatwhatringrang]

Yes, I consider myself very lucky to have found this in such original condition. I don’t care about the cosmetic issues with the head box as long as the chassis itself is in excellent condition technically.

I want to try to find the brass caps for the knobs, which are all missing. The knobs themselves appear to be original and untouched. Are these the real deal, or are these just caps from the same kind of knobs that Valvestorm used to sell up until recently? I’m not gonna pay the asking price and I might sacrifice a set of those Scott(?) knobs from Valvestorm that I might spare if these are just the same. I think those were up to $10 each in the end, but these EBay ones are outrageously priced.

Marshall Knob Caps x 6 for 60’s JTM 45 / Plexi / Super Lead / Super Bass | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Marshall Knob Caps x 6 for 60’s JTM 45 / Plexi / Super Lead / Super Bass at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

I actually prefer old amps that look to have some miles on them in most cases. Lots of lash up done very very convincingly out there.When a amp is almost to clean ,I wonder you know. It’s like everyone makes a repro panels now and everything thing else.

Why can’t they source up some rs 33uf caps . There are certain components I look for in old amps when everything else is really clean but when it missing those components that harder to find I often wonder. I would not be surprised if someone actually has the real green tolex they used in the early days. New or even old. Or even same AL and fold the chassis. Even stuff like posts who knows. Makes you wonder how many purely fabricated amps are sold for big bucks.

Anyhow I have A set from valve storm I got sent by accident when I ordered the grey feet. I need to go to the post office tomorrow to send something else. If you would like them Pm me And I will mail them to you . They are the valve storm knobs. I would avoid the others just my opinion . Those cap ends he is selling are pretty much identical to the real ones but expensive. let me go check with value storm compared to a amp with for certain original caps.

If you ever Happen to have red square pilot for a old 45/100 call it even lol new or old . I need to order from valvestorm again as they have them.

 

[Amadeus91]

Congratulations my friend, on a fabulous find.
It sounded particularly good with both the Strat and Les Paul.
Your Les Paul is beautiful, what pickups do you have in her?

 

[shakti]

Thank you! The LP has a pair of early (2008?) Throbak SLE101+ pickups.

 

[Garth Rocket]

I picked up this one over the weekend. It has a cool little story, and also some odd little details worthy of discussion.

I got my first Marshall amp back in 1993, a Bluesbreaker reissue. Around 2000 I got my first vintage Marshall, a ‘71 50w tremolo. Over the next few years I got several early 70s metal panel amps - a ‘71 50W Bass, a ‘72 Super Lead and a ‘73 Super Bass. They were all great, but of course I would have preferred a Plexi. Somehow those always eluded me. I probably wasn’t looking too hard as they were already considerably more expensive than metal panels, but in retrospect I could probably have done very well back then with some effort.

Then in early 2006 I decided to do my first amp build which was a Metroamp JTM45. It sounded great and I was completely hooked. Over the next five years I built probably 12 different amps, going ever deeper in detail level. The ones I kept were the most accurate ones using mostly NOS parts and Merren transformers.

I was so taken with this hobby that I completely stopped looking for vintage Marshalls. Why do that when you can build your own, with modern reliability, to the exact specs you want? I built pretty much every iteration of Plexi era Marshall, so every major variation in the 100w and 50w lines. Lots of fun, great sounds and great looks.

Around 2006 I also remember a fellow Marshall friend telling me a story about a kid who just found a ‘67 100W Plexi tucked away in a cupboard in a church. I seem to remember he even asked if I was interested in buying it, so the finder might have looked to sell it. I passed, as I thought I could just build my own.

Over the years though I’ve just come to the realisation that as good as clones are, there’s no substitute for the real thing. Putting them side by side, an accurate clone will come very, very close, and in certain respects I might even prefer the clone, but with vintage tone as the benchmark, the vintage amp will win the shootout every time.

So, slightly reluctantly, I’ve started to replace at least some of my clones with originals. I’ve scored a ‘66 JTM45 and a ‘68 50w Bass over the last couple of years, both through friends, but a 100W has proven very hard to find. Prices are generally also horrific.

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. I’ve had an auto-search going with the major Norwegian classifieds site for a loooing time. Frankly, I was getting tired of umpteen alerts per day for Marshall Bluetooth speakers and broken Valvestate amps. And after some more little tweaking, I had pretty much decided just to be content with my very decked out clones. I was going to delete the auto-search, but was too busy that day.

Then bam, an alert comes up for a ‘67 Marshall JMP Super Bass 100W Plexi. One glance at the photos reveals that this is, in all likelihood, virtually all original and almost untouched. Price is good (as in really good). This is when I start to get dizzy and palms sweaty. I can almost not hit the right numbers on the phone to dial, and I have to work really hard to contain my excitement on the phone, but a deal is secured, I put a deposit down and the guy takes down the ad (lesson learned long ago!).

When I went to pick it up I asked him if he knew the history of the amp. Pre-68 Plexis are really scarce in Norway, so it’s fun to trace the history of each and every one. He didn’t know much about the previous history, but he found it in a cupboard in a local church back in 2006 when he was still in his teens, and got it for free! So finally, 16 years later I buy the amp I was offered back then via a friend.

Stay tuned for photos as we go over it. I haven’t had a chance to plug it in yet and am away on travel until next weekend, so I can’t tell you yet how it sounds, but it’s looking really promising.

That’s the best story I’ve heard in a long while! I love stories like that, but I must admit I get jealous. Looking forward to the pics and thanks for the story!

 

[79 2203]

That’s a flat out amazing sounding amp shakti. Congratulations

 

[shakti]

Thank you! I have been so busy I haven't had time to re-tolex the head cab. Finding good looking piping, particularly the thin gold piping, is difficult.

 

[Marcomel79]

Both guitars sounded incredible! Congratulations

 

[hawg427]

I had been looking at YouTube clips and this one struck me as particularly nice sounding:


Guess what - that amp has about identical specs as mine, and even has that same odd preamp filter cap placement:

1967 Marshall Model #1992 JMP Super Bass

Amp Archives is a photographic archive of audio amplifiers for reference.

www.amparchives.com

Nice sound & tone to it

 

[Kats]

Man, I don't know how I missed this thread - but that amp sounds great! It's pretty much exactly the amp I built a replica of - same filtering, transformers (Marstran replicas) etc. So it's really cool to hear the original. I actually have SLE 101+ pups in my CS LP as well, so I have a good reference point (except that I run G12M/25 pulsonics). Are you running as a SB or do you have a bright cap on?

 

[Kats]

Ahh just noticed in the pics no bright cap,