Could you elaborate on this? A bomb as in "da bomb" or a bomb as in fire, shrapnel, explosions, etc...
(Sorry... I know this has nothing to do with Blackmore).
Blackmore tone?
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Could you elaborate on this? A bomb as in "da bomb" or a bomb as in fire, shrapnel, explosions, etc...
(Sorry... I know this has nothing to do with Blackmore).
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
The Major was a great idea for its time, but the actual amp was a nightmare. It was designed with four KT88's and it should have had six. The amp was jacked up to get 50 watts per tube. This made the amp very unreliable and yes, you could get a KT88 to pop, burst or explode. Maybe not like a hand grenade, but you get my point.
This is why Ritchie had Marshall expand the power section to include six KT88's in all of his Majors. Those were one of a kind amps, heavily modified per Ritchie's instructions. The regular Majors were only made for a short time and discontinued due to customer complaints and excessive warranty work.
HOT TUBES 70
Well-Known Member
1971 , man !!! i was still shiting in diapers back then .
you guys got to see some cool old shit .
you guys got to see some cool old shit .
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Glad to hear that your digestive system was up and running back then.
:eek2::eek2:
:eek2::eek2:
:eek2::eek2:
:eek2::eek2:
Hey I was just talking to a buddy of mine about this amp & these tubes. He said the same thing.
Weird...
MajorNut1967
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Hey I was just talking to a buddy of mine about this amp & these tubes. He said the same thing.
Weird...
.
Ya ask Jerry over at FJA mods he pretty smart about the Majors too.
I just asked Jerry some questions about my amp hehe. Wait'n to hear back from him.
Marty and I were just talking about this same stuff last night. Uncanny hehe.
donkost
Active Member
I missed them in the early 70's (too young) but I did see them at the Spectrum in Philly on the Perfect Strangers tour- that was a great lineup. We had no tickets and decided to go at the last minute on a whim. My friend drove his '71 Chevelle SS at 80 to 100mph on the P.A. Turnpike. We bought scalper tickets at only a little above face value between the parking lot and the entrance and didn't miss a step. Only missed the opening song... excellent show.
All this talk about Blackmore has me jonesing for a Strat... early Xmas present?
All this talk about Blackmore has me jonesing for a Strat... early Xmas present?
LOL! I missed them on the Perfect Strangers tour because the gears jammed on my friend's '73 Nova (I still hate column shifters) somewhere on I-24 south of Nashville.
Strangely, it did it again on the way home from Bob Seger. I wish I'd missed that show - I slept through half of it. I never did understand why people liked quaaludes.
Strangely, it did it again on the way home from Bob Seger. I wish I'd missed that show - I slept through half of it. I never did understand why people liked quaaludes.
MajorNut1967
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Oh nice the perfect strangers tour! How was RB's sound at that show?
donkost
Active Member
I recall that the entire band was tight, Jon Lord's keyboard playing was great, but I don't recall anything particular regarding Blackmore's tone that night. He was nailing the key licks and he had a nice extended solo.
I saw a ton of shows between the late 70's and mid 80's. I'm pretty sure I saw Blackmore in Rainbow in the late 70's. If a time machine is ever invented (joking of course), I would like to revisit some of these old shows I saw just to take in all of the details. At the time we were just partying, having a good time, and usually somewhat inebriated. haha Anyone who attended concerts in the late 70's probably remembers what the parking lots were like.
MajorNut1967
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Thanks Don,
Great to hear those stories from back then. I never got to see Rainbow live.
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
That is a fact that a lot of the great shows I went to, I was tanked and probably more interested in the girls in front of me. There were some major shows that I went to and I don't remember anything about them.
That sort of sucks nowadays.
That sort of sucks nowadays.
MonstersOfTheMidway
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Thanks for the info, Marty. I like reading about these kind of details regarding those classic amps. It also helps to remind me that usually, but not all the time, those great amps used by artists back in the day were modified in some way (Blackmore's, Van Halen's, Hendrix, etc.). Thanks again for the info.
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Well I was talking this over with Major Nut and he is a Blackmore and Hendrix fan big time. Now...even though I quoted Ritchie word for word, it seems that Ritchie is a lot like Billy Gibbons, that is, they don't always tell the truth about the gear they are using.
According to the Major, Ritchie's amps probably did not have 6, KT88's. This would be proven by the size of the power tranny that would be needed. On top of that, a 300 watt ultra-linear output tranny would have to be found. Conclusion? Ritchie had an extra 12AX7 added to the front end. If anything, they probably detuned the amp to make less power, but be more reliable. That would have been doable.
Sometimes it's hard to get the truth out of a rock star.
According to the Major, Ritchie's amps probably did not have 6, KT88's. This would be proven by the size of the power tranny that would be needed. On top of that, a 300 watt ultra-linear output tranny would have to be found. Conclusion? Ritchie had an extra 12AX7 added to the front end. If anything, they probably detuned the amp to make less power, but be more reliable. That would have been doable.
Sometimes it's hard to get the truth out of a rock star.
Back in the day, I had a Major on loan (complete with Anvil cases) and was able to try it out for a while... I do remember that the MKII's just plain SOUNDED BETTER when compared to that factory-stock Major...
It just seemed like the extra wattage of the Major did nothing but increase the speaker excursion... And the perceived volume level was NOT noticeably increased over that of the 100 watt MKII Superlead at all... I'd have to say that given the state of speaker technology in those days - the MKII was just a plain "better sounding" amp, IMO... (Possibly it was just more compatible with those Celestion 25-watt Greenbacks that were then in all Marshall cabs...)
Those old NMV MKII's were really hard to beat...
P.S. - I did buy those Anvil road cases, though...
It just seemed like the extra wattage of the Major did nothing but increase the speaker excursion... And the perceived volume level was NOT noticeably increased over that of the 100 watt MKII Superlead at all... I'd have to say that given the state of speaker technology in those days - the MKII was just a plain "better sounding" amp, IMO... (Possibly it was just more compatible with those Celestion 25-watt Greenbacks that were then in all Marshall cabs...)
Those old NMV MKII's were really hard to beat...
P.S. - I did buy those Anvil road cases, though...
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Yeah, the blunt reality is that a 200 watt amp is 3dB louder than a 100 watt amp. So not much there except some added "clean" headroom. As I've said in other threads, I'm intrigued by the Major, but I wouldn't want one. Nowadays, the primo one's are just trophies, never meant to be played again. I mean there are guys on the forum who have them and they play them, but as you said, who needs 200 watts? I'd be afraid of it crapping out on me in the middle of "Space Trucking."
What I would like to know is how the lead engineer got Jim Marshall to approve the Major's design? It went against everything they had come out with and that was all deviations of a Fender Tweed Bassman. The big/main difference was the amps were tubed with EL34's.
The Major had a special OPT (ultra-linear) and these types of transformers work much differently than a regular OPT. A lot of different circuits and a completely different amp. It just didn't fly for long. I hate to say it, but it was Marshall's "Edsel."
What I would like to know is how the lead engineer got Jim Marshall to approve the Major's design? It went against everything they had come out with and that was all deviations of a Fender Tweed Bassman. The big/main difference was the amps were tubed with EL34's.
The Major had a special OPT (ultra-linear) and these types of transformers work much differently than a regular OPT. A lot of different circuits and a completely different amp. It just didn't fly for long. I hate to say it, but it was Marshall's "Edsel."
Reginald
Member
Hi,I don't know almost nothing about,but let me ask a few of question..
What do you mean for 'ultra-linear' Output section? is it the OT?
Why 'crappy' OT? Why does it will blow,explode?is it delicate so? .............Are the JMP 100W's OTs better,more reliable,stronger? is this why them have a no ultra-linear OT? What's the difference and which between both will work less hard....and no explode when I will set them on 10 ?
MajorNut1967
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Hey Marty,
The Major's circuit wasn't designed in-house at Marshall, it was a GEC design that was handed to Marshall. And because the circuit was property of GEC Marshall could not redesign or modify it with out consent from GEC. GEC never thought that anyone would ever want to turn an amp up full blast and play Space Truckin. The engineers at GEC, in typical British fashion "We don't turn the amplifier past 3 and we don't depress the accelerator past half on the Jag, therefore it's perfect!". It's my understanding that Ken Bran at Marshall disliked the Major's circuit immensely. But with the Rose-Morris thing and all the strain that put on Jim and his staff it ended up being an "oops" for Marshall.
They should have stayed with the Marshall 200 (The Pig) design and went from there!
