Oh, and FWIW, you can get loads of distortion out of a V4, at least I could. All you have to do is have the input sensitivity switch set so it's not attenuating the input signal, and crank your volume up to about 8 or 9. Nice thick doom sludge distortion. That's what I got anyway. One thing though, you're gonna maybe wanna put a fan in there. The V4 will red-plate its output tubes in a heartbeat if you crank it up that much. Stock, anyway.

scott wrote:Steve, you are a lucky MF'er. That's a nice price for it being in such good condition cosmetically. Of which I'm sure you're well aware.

But that's a 50W head, not 100.

Totally tmh'd.

scott wrote:Oh, and FWIW, you can get loads of distortion out of a V4, at least I could. All you have to do is have the input sensitivity switch set so it's not attenuating the input signal, and crank your volume up to about 8 or 9. Nice thick doom sludge distortion. That's what I got anyway. One thing though, you're gonna maybe wanna put a fan in there. The V4 will red-plate its output tubes in a heartbeat if you crank it up that much. Stock, anyway.

Input Sensitivity Switch?! You gotta tell me where that is. I don't have a V-4 anymore, but George from B.G. still does. However, I can vouch for the thick, doomy distortion when you dime it.

Ditto on the Fan, but we ran ours at 5-6 (that sweet spot mmm mm mmm) and then used clean boosts for distortions, and there were very little problems.

wiggins wrote:Input Sensitivity Switch?! You gotta tell me where that is. I don't have a V-4 anymore, but George from B.G. still does. However, I can vouch for the thick, doomy distortion when you dime it.

They're the two black switches on the top left (the two on the right are the midrange frequency switches) in this pic:

Re the link: that would be too expensive for me even if steve hadnt already got dibs hehe..

I keep hearing mixed things about marshalls!
I played an old jcm800 in rehearsal and it was REALLY difficult to dial in a good sound. It was sort of bright but muddy at the same time, and only liked being used for one channel as far as levels go. Are there only a few that are any good?

At least one person on here seems to like the dsl2000 Any thoughts on that? I Guess its one of the few cheaper amps I can actually demo in a shop. Other than that its kind of guesswork and recommendation to stuff thats going on ebay (for an amp novice such as myself). I will get to borrow a mesa mk1 for a demo next week which should be sweet! Also, I do like the sort of edgy bright sound I get from a blues driver in front of a valvestate half stack (which is what Im usually stuck with in the rehearsal rooms), but would need more power, better tone and ideally a slight natural crunch (rather than the blues driver) that could work nice with a rat or sth similar for distortion. Access to some sparkling cleans is nice too especially with the loops and reverbs.

It would be cool to find a v4 near me that can be demo'ed. There is also SC 100mk3 here http://twotribesmusic.co.uk/ going for about 450 which looks nice. Realistically although Im sure the sound of a cranked v4 is amazing I probably need a bit more control over the level via pedals! That sounds like I would have to start a whole new doom/sludge side project just to do service to the sound of a v4 on full!! Its tempting though...

Blame Game sounds cool btw, in a us maple kind of way!

www.myspace.com/ghostronica

wiggins wrote:
Input Sensitivity Switch?! You gotta tell me where that is. I don't have a V-4 anymore, but George from B.G. still does. However, I can vouch for the thick, doomy distortion when you dime it.


They're the two black switches on the top left (the two on the right are the midrange frequency switches) in this pic:

the one time i hit one of those switches on my V-4b it made the loudest, most screechy sound i've ever heard.. and then it quit working for a week or so. i should probably have that looked at..

good amp otherwise!

You can crank the V4 and get distortion from it, and then bring down the volume knob on your guitar to clean it up. That's a pretty common way to play a single-channel amp and use its own distortion and also get clean. A different approach would be to set the amp so it's clean, and use a stompbox (or boxes) to get your distortion sounds. A 3rd way would be to set the amp so it sounds good clean, and then use a clean boost pedal (like the Z.Vez Super Hard-On) to cause the amp to overdrive.

Rodabod is the one who speaks well of the new Marshalls. A lot of other people have had bad experiences with quality issues, but with as much as Rodabod knows about gear, his assessment of quality holds as much weight in my mind as just about anybody's.

I like the Marshall JMP MkII, the first Marshall with a master volume control, which is what later became the JCM800. There are multiple variations on the JCM800, some of which rule and some of which suck. Also, lots of them get modded in weird ways that you may not be aware of. One of my best friends just found out the reason his JCM800 sounded so weird was because somebody had done some funky shit to it before he bought it and he didn't know about it. So unless you see pics of the circuit board, and know what it should look like, you're not gonna know if it's performing the way it was intended to.

The best Marshall, I think, is the 2203. That's the 100W JMP w/ master volume, and also the earliest JCM800. They were the same amp at one point right around 1980 or so, with a different name. The amp linked above, that Steve has dibs on, is a 2204, which is the same amp but in a 50W version. I had one of them for a bit, got it for $850 on eBay and sold it for $950 or $975 or so, I forget, a couple months later. It was a great amp.

I took a Traynor YVM-1 VoiceMate (one of the first tube PA heads made) and modified it so it has the preamp section from the JMP, and kept the power amp section from the YVM-1 which is the same as the power amp from the late 60's YBA-1. I got that amp for under $300. The mods would probably have cost a good $200 or $300 for parts and labor if I was paying a tech to do it for me.

You can also just get a YBA-3 with master volume. They're similar to the V4, but I like the sound better. It's a little more lively, to my ears. I think YBA-3's are still selling for under $500, when they come up on eBay. Forum user Ebeam just got on one eBay a few weeks ago for cheap, I think it was under $300 even.

bwaaaahhhhh



T!

R!

E!

X!

Looks like I'm going to have to rob a bank before I go out to the UK next time.

Redline wrote:
http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/inde ... opic=15224


Dibs! I just sent a PM to this guy. This amp will probably end up here at Electrical. Sweet!

Merry Christmas to YOU! Those are great heads. I prefer the 50 watt mojo. Believe me, they are loud enough. They are even too loud for outside loud enough!

I'd set it up w/ 6550's, but that's ME.

O/T, I know, but that is a great site, I sold my 4 digit Hamer Standard on eBay and got to know some of those guys, nice folks. Like here!

I would definitely be looking at traynors if it wasnt for the uk/us issues of voltage, shipping and random 30% customs tariffs. For off the shelf stuff with switchable voltage I would probably still have change from a plane ticket though

I've been loooking around on google and beginning to wonder if a very efficient 50-70 watts might be beter for rehearsals and small venue gigs? I know this subject has been covered but after seeing a few comments like "Im not playing large venues anymore" as reason for selling 100w heads on ebay I have to wonder if thats going to be too much headroom? My Mesa subway blues is not so far off being loud enough at 20 watts!
That said I do like extra BASS! I suppose it depends on the amp, for example the v4?

Using the guitar volume wouldnt work so well for me as we have lots of frantic changes and dynamics that can only be managed with footwork! I would probably like to have a boost and an overdrive cos Im greedy like that. Kind of why I like the idea of 2-channel amps, and using both at the same time for noisy feedback and stuff. I guess having a clean + headroom with pedals also means you can get the same sounds at different volumes

__________________________

www.myspace.com/ghostronica