Amp Ideas

nailz100 · December 2004

Bogner makes closed back cabs, so if I can drive down to Calgary sometime in the near future I can try out a few different amps that they don't sell here in Edmonton. Traynor is a good amp....for clean sound. I have never heard good distortion through a traynor. Anyways, I've got a pretty good Idea of what to look for now guys...thanks for all your help, I'll let you know when I get one.

nailz100 · December 2004

I'm still looking at that GT cabinet on E-bay...MIG how good do you think that would sound with a Bogner head on it, or even through my older Marshall valvestate? I also noticed that it only has one 1/4" input on the back of it...is that all it takes to run it line-out from my existing Marshall or a bogner head? MIG, you think that cabinet is a good deal?

LemonYellowSun · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

Bogner makes closed back cabs, so if I can drive down to Calgary sometime in the near future I can try out a few different amps that they don't sell here in Edmonton. Traynor is a good amp....for clean sound. I have never heard good distortion through a traynor. Anyways, I've got a pretty good Idea of what to look for now guys...thanks for all your help, I'll let you know when I get one.

For the price, Traynors are pretty damn good. I have a YCV40 running through a 2x12 cab with greenbacks and I can get a really impressive overdriven sound out of it. I will agree that the clean channel is the best part of the amp, but the drive channel on this bad boy is much smoother than say a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, IMHO. With that said, it doesn't necessarily give you an ultra high gain sound like a Mesa unless you push it with some pedals.

I tried a couple different amps before I bought this one and, while it's no Bogner or other high end amp, it is a really good amp for the price.

Pacomc79 · December 2004

LemonYellowSun wrote:

For the price, Traynors are pretty damn good. I have a YCV40 running through a 2x12 cab with greenbacks and I can get a really impressive overdriven sound out of it. I will agree that the clean channel is the best part of the amp, but the drive channel on this bad boy is much smoother than say a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, IMHO. With that said, it doesn't necessarily give you an ultra high gain sound like a Mesa unless you push it with some pedals.

I tried a couple different amps before I bought this one and, while it's no Bogner or other high end amp, it is a really good amp for the price.

Traynor is just not going to work for him. Traynors are more in line with the Fender Hot Rod series than anything else I can think of. While they are good amps, this just isn't the sound he's looking for.

The reason I say Bogner, is because you can get a 2x12 closed back cab and head or 2x10 closed or 2x12 open combo for around the same price as you can say a marshall 4x12 stack, the difference is that Reinhold Bogner has specialized in fixing the problems over the years of Marshall Amplifiers. Marshall has people that spend time finding out how to squeeze more money out of their amps by cutting corners to be cost effective. Companies like Bogner, spend the time finding out how to squeeze every ounce of silky sweet tone out of the basic Marshall tone structure and they build them to take the abuse of touring. In senior nails situation, I think Bogner should work out perfect since he wants to upgrade from his VS Marshall (also a decent amp for the cash) but he likes that overall tone and not so much the Mesa. Bogners oooze beautiful fat wooly clean and silky smooth crunch. While I also lust after the tone of blackface and tweed Fender amps, this man here I feel is a EL-34 modern marshall fan. As much as I ramble here, I feel if you guys ever get a chance to play a Bogner (and refrain from a glance at the price tag first) you will absolutely love it.

nailz100 · December 2004

I am really looking forward to plugging into a Bogner sometime soon Paco...I do have to drive 2 1/2 hours to do it though...(yes we Canadians refer to distance in hours). Did you take a look at that GT cab they are selling on E-bay? I wonder how that would sound powered by my existing Marshall for now until I can save up enough money to buy a Bogner/ or other type head?...would you just plug it into the line-out? Any ideas? Also, what are the major differences between the Celestion Vintage 30's and the Greenbacks??...which speakers sound better, or are they both good?

Pacomc79 · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

I am really looking forward to plugging into a Bogner sometime soon Paco...I do have to drive 2 1/2 hours to do it though...(yes we Canadians refer to distance in hours). Did you take a look at that GT cab they are selling on E-bay? I wonder how that would sound powered by my existing Marshall for now until I can save up enough money to buy a Bogner/ or other type head?...would you just plug it into the line-out? Any ideas? Also, what are the major differences between the Celestion Vintage 30's and the Greenbacks??...which speakers sound better, or are they both good?

there should be a (cab out) on the back with an OHM number attached to it, in the case of your amp probably 4 or 8 ohms. It would certainly sound more full and rich than the internal speaker in your combo but you have to make sure the OHM's match up with your amp. It's less important with transistor amps but you can still cause a fire.

both speakers sound great,

Greenbacks are 25 watt speakers earlier breakup and a more crunchy loose sound.

V30's are a bit tighter with slightly later breakup, both are extremely popular rock speakers but the V30's are the choice with more of the modern manufacturers and players. The Ceramic Greenbacks are associated with Vox amplifiers and damn near every legendary classic 4x12 cabinet in existance including Orange, Marshall and the lot of them save Hiwatt because Hiwatt traditionally used Fanes (who's ceramics sound damn close to the greenbacks anyway)

If you like ceramic mags you probably love Greenbacks and V30's

There are several other higher wattage models that you may also like.

http://www.celestion.com

casper leblanc · December 2004

Here's a nice looking amp for sale in good old Belgium

edit: link don't work: it's a BEDROCK 600 AMP. Head+Cabinet

nailz100 · December 2004

So its would be just a single 1/4" line-out (cab out) from my existing marshall into that cabinet? This one says it has similar speakers to the vintage 30's. Item # on E-bay again is 3769912862 that is if MIG doesn't mind me possibly purchasing this one?

Pacomc79 · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

So its would be just a single 1/4" line-out (cab out) from my existing marshall into that cabinet? This one says it has similar speakers to the vintage 30's. Item # on E-bay again is 3769912862 that is if MIG doesn't mind me possibly purchasing this one?

yes, it should be a quarter inch jack on the back panel of your amp but you need to check what ohm rating your amp is rated for and find out the ohm rating of that cabinet before you buy. I can't vouch for the speakers, I don't know, but likely they are ceramic magnet celestion copies so yeah it's probably similar to a V30. That should be a great price for that cab, and hell you may like that set up as it is. Just make sure it's possible first.

nailz100 · December 2004

Okay, here it is. On the back of my Marhall in the head are (3) 1/4" plug-ins. (1) for my Marshall footswitch. (2) direct outs (1 for left and 1 for right) The OHM's are 4 OHMs per channel....speakers say (G12T) Main output of amp is 120W and the model is 8240 LR3065. Will this work with that cabinet if it is 8 OHM? 4 OHM? Do I need a 1/4" splitter to make it left and right because the cabinet only has (1) 1/4" plug in?

Pacomc79 · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

Okay, here it is. On the back of my Marhall in the head are (3) 1/4" plug-ins. (1) for my Marshall footswitch. (2) direct outs (1 for left and 1 for right) The OHM's are 4 OHMs per channel....speakers say (G12T) Main output of amp is 120W and the model is 8240 LR3065. Will this work with that cabinet if it is 8 OHM? 4 OHM? Do I need a 1/4" splitter to make it left and right because the cabinet only has (1) 1/4" plug in?

Do you have the manual?

How are the speakers in your combo connected? 1/4" jack or is there a wire hanging down internally?

The 2 direct outs, are for stereo direct injection (DI) for recording sans speaker. You need to consult the manual there I think.

nailz100 · December 2004

Paco, I don't have the manual...the amp is almost 8 years old. The seller just e-mailed me and said that the cabinet is 8 OHM 120 Watts....so I might be SOL hey? Again my amp is 4 OHM per channel and 120 Watts....The speakers are connected internally by wire clips. So I wouldn't be able to use the direct outs for the cabinet?...am I SOL?

nailz100 · December 2004

HERE YOU GO....this is the EXACT same amp that I have E-bay# 3769844867 Will it work with that cab?

Pacomc79 · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

Paco, I don't have the manual...the amp is almost 8 years old. The seller just e-mailed me and said that the cabinet is 8 OHM 120 Watts....so I might be SOL hey? Again my amp is 4 OHM per channel and 120 Watts....The speakers are connected internally by wire clips. So I wouldn't be able to use the direct outs for the cabinet?...am I SOL?

no you're actually ok at 8 ohms. 4 ohm's times 2 is an 8 ohm load if wired properly (I'm fuzzy on whether that means series or parallel sorry it's been a while)

What I'm concerned about is you having the ability to run an extention cabinet with that amplifier.

What model is the VS?

nailz100 · December 2004

If you look at the pictures on that E-bay item you can see the model number and some details on the picture that shows the back of the amp. Model #8240. Where's MIG when you need him?

Pacomc79 · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

If you look at the pictures on that E-bay item you can see the model number and some details on the picture that shows the back of the amp. Model #8240. Where's MIG when you need him?

http://www.marshallamps.com/images/handbooks/pdf/vsmk1.pdf

I'm not seeing a cab out. you may look around in the other marshall handbooks too.

mccreadyisgod · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

I'm still looking at that GT cabinet on E-bay...MIG how good do you think that would sound with a Bogner head on it, or even through my older Marshall valvestate? I also noticed that it only has one 1/4" input on the back of it...is that all it takes to run it line-out from my existing Marshall or a bogner head? MIG, you think that cabinet is a good deal?

It's a pretty good-looking cabinet, seems to be in good to great cosmetic condition. The Celestion Classic 10's are great speakers, gives you the tone of a Vintage 30 with the focus and punch of a 10". It's one of those funky cabs that most people won't recognize, but it has the name "Groove Tubes," a very reliable and recognizable name. The best feature of the cab, in my opinion, is that it has a removable back panel so you can go for open-back or closed-back tone. You could modify any cab to do this, but this one comes that way from the factory. The one input on the cab would connect to the speaker output of your Valvestate, or any amp for that matter. Just a 1/4" speaker cable (NEEDS TO BE SPEAKER CABLE, NOT GUITAR CABLE).

The only question I'd be concerned about is the impedance of the cab: 4-ohms, 8-ohms, or 16-ohms? Most new amps run at 8, older amps run at 4. I don't remember exactly, but I believe Bogner can change it's impedance on the outputs. The important thing to consider here is that you should always match the impedance of the amp to the impedance of the cab, but if there has to be a mis-match, have the speaker be HIGHER than the amp. If the cab is 8-ohms, that would be ideal.

But, just for the record, I'd buy that cab if I didn't already have two 4x10 cabs and a looming debt.

nailz100 · December 2004

We all have looming debts MIG....hahaha...I just bought a house, but I really need/ Want a new amp. I just found out that I can't run this cab off my existing combo, so I would have to get something new. I can't decide if I want to get something really similar to this cab (if not exactly the same) and a Bogner head, or just a Bogner combo. Oh, and the cab is rated at 8 OHMs and 120 Watts. I can't get the bogner sound out of my head ever since I heard the sounclips on their website....even the matchless didn't impress me nearly as much.

mccreadyisgod · December 2004

Pacomc79 wrote:

http://www.marshallamps.com/images/handbooks/pdf/vsmk1.pdf

I'm not seeing a cab out. you may look around in the other marshall handbooks too.

Yeah, I started diggin' around, that's what I came up with. If your amp is the EXACT one in that eBay auction, it's model 8240, which does not have an external speaker output. It's also a stereo amp, so you technically have two power amps that run into each of the two speakers. There is a way to wire your amp to work with an extension cab, but it would require some modifications and such, and it would probably not be worth the trouble.

To be fair, that has to be just about the only Marshall amp I've ever seen without 1/4" speaker output jacks.

There is one further option, but I only suggest it because it exists. You could get an extension cabinet and a separate power amp, and take the Line Out signal from your Marshall, into the external power amp, and then into the cab. But it seems kinda pointless, all things considered.

Sorry this didn't work out for you... like I said, most amps (Marshalls especially) have separate outputs for external cabinets.

mccreadyisgod · December 2004

nailz100 wrote:

We all have looming debts MIG....hahaha...I just bought a house, but I really need/ Want a new amp. I just found out that I can't run this cab off my existing combo, so I would have to get something new. I can't decide if I want to get something really similar to this cab (if not exactly the same) and a Bogner head, or just a Bogner combo. Oh, and the cab is rated at 8 OHMs and 120 Watts. I can't get the bogner sound out of my head ever since I heard the sounclips on their website....even the matchless didn't impress me nearly as much.

Want my advice? Get the Groove Tubes cabinet, and get a Sovtek Mig to power it. That'll get you by for quite a while, and then you can upgrade to a Bogner amp in a couple years.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10171&item=3770124658&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10171&item=3770809913&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Sovtek patterned it's amps off the original Marshall head, affectionately known as the "plexi". They are simple, hand-wired, built with military surplus components. They are fairly cheap, and they have a phenomenal tone. All-tube, single-channel. You'd need a good distortion pedal with this one, but you'd be happy with the result.

It's just an option that I'm throwing out there. After you got a Bogner, you could always keep the MIG as a back-up (a good idea with any tube amp).

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