JTM45 tube swap
pariah
Posts: 596
A friend of mine has bought a JTM45 without trying it (yeah, yeah, give him a hard time - he won't read this;)) and it turns out it overdrives way too fast for his style (mainly a John Frusciante-revival)... he likes the character of the amp though. Now he's thinking about swapping the KT66's for 6L6's, however he's worried that it will affect the original character of the amp too much. Would it? What would be alternatives?
Thanks on his behalf...
Thanks on his behalf...
"Until you realize the importance of the banana king, you will know absolutely nothing about the human-interest things of the world."
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Sell it or trade it. Tell him to look at old Fender Twins. 85 to 100 watts is perfect. Or find a bigger old 100 watt Marshall Major (KT 88's or JMP (EL-34) or A Hiwatt DR 504
The JTM 45's are low wattage amps their brillance is thier smooth early breakup. Tube swaps won't matter much except for the tone, If he want's more headroom he should get a louder amp.
6550's would be a better swap but it would kill it really. Don't do it. Get a different higher wattage amp with more useable headroom.
If he must change anything go for a low gain preamp tube do NOT CHANGE THOSE POWER TUBES!!!
12AT7's might work to give you a little more clarity.
http://www.thetubestore.com
Thanks anyway
see http://www.plexipalace.com they would be very interested.
What kind of guitar does he play?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040304012312150131025144963900/g=home/search/detail/base_id/36216
But what that dude really needs is a 100-watt Marshall that has much better headroom. A mid- to late-70's Fender Bassman 50, 70, or 100 will also do nicely... and the Bassman was Jim Marshall's blueprint for the JTM45.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3708599375&category=38074
He has a CS-2 comp and he linked the inputs... he also has a 4x12 cab with Greenbacks - 100w total speakers should leave a 45(/30?) watt amp plenty of headroom I'd think. He plays a Jap Jaguar... so output doesn't get much lower than that (that's what you mean right Paco?). I finally got him thinking about selling the amp and getting a '59... that would be the 100W Marshall that comes closest to the JTM soundwise I thought (Except for the 100W JTM's but they are impossible to come by here).. please, correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know shit compared to you guys
Greenbacks are desired for their early break-up... sort of the one thing he wants to avoid...
It's funny, for someone who wants a nice clean tone, he's got the ideal rig for dirty playing.
I'm telling ya, G12T-75's... clean, clear, crisp... exactly what he needs.
Greenbacks are lovely warm early break up speakers. This is what they are designed for and that is their character. It's not the wattage in this case it's the speaker construction. I just realized the RI JTM 45's are 30 watt RMS amps meaning maxxed out and fully over driven it's pushing about 60 watts, That's not a lot of headroom there even with 5881's which are not really very similar to the KT 88's they used to use before Jim hired accountants to make Marshall cost effective
The 59 SLPX (Super Lead Plexi) RI is what he wants. Well, that or a used Hiwatt DR 504 (50 watt) or 103 (100 watt Keep in mind this 100 watter will rip your head off 50 watt Hiwatts are the most desired) which he can get cheaper than a new RI SLPX. MIG is also dead on on the speaker Cab. I believe he has the beautiful Marshall TV (tall vintage) Cab. One of my favorites with the greenbacks. GT-12/75 celestions are the ones that fit the tone he desires. My guess is he's liking the character of british or Plexi amps so that's why I don't say try a Fender Bassman or whatever. Keep in mind 100 watts is loud.
show him http://www.celestion.com for more info on each of the speakers we're talking about.
Before he swaps the head have him bring both his head and guitar with him to a guitar shop and play it into different cabs with different speakers that could be all he needs is to swap the cab out for slower breakup speakers.
Middle ground would be my personal favorite the 60 watt Vintage 30 which can be found in the equally attractive 1960AX cab.
You can usually find these paired with 59SLPXRI's in guitar shops.
Hey, speakers, man...
"I'll get a 1959 Strat, run it into a TS-808 and a vintage Plexi head... and a Peavey 4x12" cabinet with Scorpions."
Morons.
Yeah, I used to sell those with Ampeg 4x12's at 299 a pop. I almost bought one, fullsize cab for 299 the speaker swap would still leave you feeling pretty thrifty. I used to push these things like with the Crate DFX1200's. I figure, they picked out a crate at 299 I think the Ampeg will do them a little better anyway. Shudder. All that volume from a crate. Makes my face twitch.
Tom Morello uses a 4x10 peavy cab but they ain't scorpions either.
Speaking of 10's did you see the new 10" celestions?
A 4x10" cab for guitar? Who would've thought of such a thing?
New 10" Celestions? Linky linky, please...
Why do so many people cut their budget at that location? I just don't get it...
Paco (and MiG too), thanks for the impressive amount of info and help so far. Nice talking to people who actually know what they're talking about... all the pointless rambling I've heard here. Guitar teachers who swear that JTM stays clean at arena volume, storekeepers recommending 6L6's and CLEAN BOOSTS for Christ sake ("yeah it will increase volume and stay clean nonetheless, no matter how loud you set it to be)...
Hell one of the loudest clean boosts I know of is the zvex Super hard on or Super Duper 2 in 1. (>5MEG output) It's got nice sparkle up to half way, anywhere over that and it's kicking the ass out of the pre amp and it will be distorting more which is still very good but no where near what your friend wants.
for a sample of the Super Duper 2 in 1 in to a Marshall no less.
http://www.zvex.com. look around. and you might check the Zvex board. Zack is always there and he can further answer your tone questions especially relating to the clean boost.