Blackmore's Majors

[supershifter2]

So they used a US PA for the early 70's tours in the States? Because in Europe they used the Marshall PA (in the early 70's Marshall was trying to get into the PA business then) and the had an exclusive deal with Marshall to use their
PA equipment. And even the Japan tour in 1972 they used the Marshall PA. That's interesting, because in 1974 at Cal-Jam the house PA was a Tychobrahe that was the only time I saw them with Tychobraehe.

Here you go !

 

[dreyn77]

see! the horned speakers are the way to go!

 

[dreyn77]

I've had the made in japan tone and I wasn't using a major pain in the arse.

Blackmore knows the BS is all untrue! the guitar just makes a sound that's it. doesn't matter what amp you or he uses.
he was playing stadiums, the amp was fashion too. it was the same sound just bigger.
These sounds came from marc bolin and he got the chicks so smart arse guys like ronson went for the fashion and blackmore had to play along with the BS, RR was a child of the time and had the cool cats at marshall give him the best sound. then marshall capitalised on the sound and made the DSL. then they went mad and made the JVM, VM etc...

 

[Codyjohns]

I've had the made in japan tone and I wasn't using a major pain in the arse.

Blackmore knows the BS is all untrue! the guitar just makes a sound that's it. doesn't matter what amp you or he uses.
he was playing stadiums, the amp was fashion too. it was the same sound just bigger.
These sounds came from marc bolin and he got the chicks so smart arse guys like ronson went for the fashion and blackmore had to play along with the BS, RR was a child of the time and had the cool cats at marshall give him the best sound. then marshall capitalised on the sound and made the DSL. then they went mad and made the JVM, VM etc...

Hey dreyn, you ever work on a farm ??

You sure know how to shovel shit really good.

 

[usednabused]

if the economy was better, would we all thrash our gear???

 

[Sturmbannführer]

Achtung-Incoming; 1971 Major 1 owner original tubes and Dead Mint.

It has been a long 3 year search has come to a happy end.

Pics and upskirt to follow!

 

[Melodyman]

Just a factiod for this thread. I was playing in a top 40 band in Oxnard CA circa 1975 when in walks Ritchie B with a his roadie. The guy comes up to me on our break and says its RB;s birthday and he would like to sit in with our band.. He has brought his white strat and I have a 1972 50 half stack.. He plugs in and turns the presence all the way down.. He look over at me and says 'never use the presence on a Marshall amp" He then proceeded to tear it up with us for the next hour or so..

 

[proxy]

I love his sound, thick and articulate. And with a Strat, too! The treble booster and the reel to reel were his version of stomp boxes. I've seen his Rainbow shows four times (70's and 80's) just below the bass pedals. VERY loud! Migraine loud to be honest, but wouldn't have missed it for anything.

I agree.
Sound from California jam is the best strat sound ever.So thick and nasty:

 

[usednabused]

Shame there were no camera phones back then like there is today...!
I was in the process of being made in 72, born 73. Wish i was older.....

NOT!

No offence to the old rockers here...

Nice pics, what would have been the low watt combo at the time of Machine Head? I want to do a build for a practice amp as the JMP is a bit overboard for just jamming.

Any thoughts?

now there are camera phones but the great gear isnt on stage anymore!

 

[66SuperTremolo]

Marc Bolin used Solid State H/H heads and Vampower amps. Love Blackmore, Mick Ronson. Killer Tone.

 

[Mats A]

Okay here we go Ritchie Blackmore mysteries. Okay for a long time Ritchie really liked that Vox amp from the mid-60s right until 1970 and claim to the end it was his favorite amp. I've seen early 70s TV shows were deep purple where the main attraction and the big bad Marshalls were on the stage but as the camera panned sideways you could see Ritchie's Vox amplifier behind them. I think the only reason Ritchie went to the big amplifiers is because as they got more and more popular in the early 70s the venues got bigger and bigger, so of course the Vox amp was not cutting it. Hence he started using the gorilla amplifiers. Then as Ritchie's ego grew along with the popularity of deep purple than the telling stories and bullshit started flying. Now on machine head Ritchie used a combo amplifier but not the Vox it was a low wattage Marshall Combo. After machine head Ritchie started using the Marshall Majors in the studio also. But again Ritchie is infamous about lying about its equipment and practical joking about it. Now there are all the stories of Ritchie patching the Vox amplifier through the majors and using them as slaves, who knows could be true most likely a lie. There's also use of the Hornby skewes treble booster. And these are the tape deck. Which he did use but who knows when. My favorite Blackmore tone is that Made in Japan tone about 1972. And that tone is all Marshall Major with the cascaded channels and during that time period He also used a Marshall fuzz/reverb unit and I'm not positive of that was just to make noise with or if he actually use the fuzz or not. So overall I think it was a transitional change and in seeking a different tone, by the time he got to the rainbow album I started disliking his tone at that point that's when the cascade mod was removed and an extra 12AX7 was added to the Marshall Majors. And they became very bright and brittle sounding after that.

I know This is a very old thread but from where did you get this info? Seems very strange that Ritchie if he didn’t use his Majors in the studio should have used a Marshall Combo wich is much like a Standard Marshall amp wich Ritchie has said he hates on like Machine Head. If he wich we’re not certain of used a Combo amp wouldn’t the Vox wich he liked be a much more likely choice? Then if they did fit another preamp valve what’s the point in removing the cascading? Adding a preamp valve was probably for more gain why then also reduce gain? I’ve red he could get all the gain he needed from his AIWA tape recorder when he started using that so why more gain?

 

[junk notes]

Old thread irrelevant ;-) Blackmore and Majors always relevant

over 45 years and there are literally or not even - 2 people that have his DP tones.
An incredible musician. A curmudgeon individual.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

A friend of mine owns a Major that, so the story goes, used to be one of Blackmore's. And he has the story and chain of names, places, and dates to back it up.

The mods done to it (a loop for a tape echo) were removed before it left the Blackmore compound, so to speak. Of course the extra holes in the back panel are still there.

Supposedly it's now in its stock configuration. I've heard it. My friend is a bass player and it works exceptionally well for him.

 

[IOSEPHVS]

Blackmore's Majors = KT88s

 

[mAx___]

I know This is a very old thread but from where did you get this info? Seems very strange that Ritchie if he didn’t use his Majors in the studio should have used a Marshall Combo wich is much like a Standard Marshall amp wich Ritchie has said he hates on like Machine Head. If he wich we’re not certain of used a Combo amp wouldn’t the Vox wich he liked be a much more likely choice? Then if they did fit another preamp valve what’s the point in removing the cascading? Adding a preamp valve was probably for more gain why then also reduce gain? I’ve red he could get all the gain he needed from his AIWA tape recorder when he started using that so why more gain?

I've been looking into his sound for a long time and tried several different theories and gear combinations, including the AC30 and AIWA preamp circuits. My opinion is that from around 1970 to early '73 he used a factory-modified Major amp with a modded Hornby Skewes booster for In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head, Made In Japan and WDWTWA. Then the same Major and the AIWA TP-1011 for Burn all the way to Dio's Rainbow.
I believe that the modded amp remained mostly untouched with the difference in sound between MKII and MKIII being the use of the Hornby Skewes (sweeter, thicker) or the AIWA (harsher, thinner).
I suspect also that he had to replace his G12H Greenbacks at some point after 1973 to whatever was new at the time so that would make a difference too since Celestion had to start using different cones in their speakers.

 

[Mats A]

A friend of mine owns a Major that, so the story goes, used to be one of Blackmore's. And he has the story and chain of names, places, and dates to back it up.

The mods done to it (a loop for a tape echo) were removed before it left the Blackmore compound, so to speak. Of course the extra holes in the back panel are still there.

Supposedly it's now in its stock configuration. I've heard it. My friend is a bass player and it works exceptionally well for him.

I somewhat wonder if he really used the tape recorder in a loop on his amp since he also used it as a booster.

 

[Mats A]

I've been looking into his sound for a long time and tried several different theories and gear combinations, including the AC30 and AIWA preamp circuits. My opinion is that from around 1970 to early '73 he used a factory-modified Major amp with a modded Hornby Skewes booster for In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head, Made In Japan and WDWTWA. Then the same Major and the AIWA TP-1011 for Burn all the way to Dio's Rainbow.
I believe that the modded amp remained mostly untouched with the difference in sound between MKII and MKIII being the use of the Hornby Skewes (sweeter, thicker) or the AIWA (harsher, thinner).
I suspect also that he had to replace his G12H Greenbacks at some point after 1973 to whatever was new at the time so that would make a difference too since Celestion had to start using different cones in their speakers.

I think I’ve red he switched to 80W Celestions in the later 70’s but i’m not totally sure on this.

 

[mAx___]

FWIW, new video of his Made In Japan sound using the modified Major and HS booster.

 

[Appetite4distortion]

I have a 71 bass major (stock), if I slam the HS in front and a big head late 60s/early 70s strat, Made in Japan come to papa, it's all there (save for his playing skills LOL).
I need to push amp a bit over the cliff, though, to get that nice tube compression going.
In California Jam he is using the AIWA, you can clearly see it in the video. At the very end, when he slays the gear around, he is plugging back into the amp and there is no volume, then he is fiddling with the AIWA and suddenly the sound comes back. So, the Aiwa was surely in the soundchain.
Also, judging by the much higher gain and much more hi-mids tone than MIJ, I am also inclined to think it's a lead major and not a bass anymore. Though, the ash 3 bolts strat vs the 4 bolts alder one in MIJ may play a part in it.
What the guy used in the studio then I have no idea (who does for sure?), neither I need to know: his live tone was good enough already to me. Getting near there makes me happy already.

 

[DaDoc]

Just a factiod for this thread. I was playing in a top 40 band in Oxnard CA circa 1975 when in walks Ritchie B with a his roadie. The guy comes up to me on our break and says its RB;s birthday and he would like to sit in with our band.. He has brought his white strat and I have a 1972 50 half stack.. He plugs in and turns the presence all the way down.. He look over at me and says 'never use the presence on a Marshall amp" He then proceeded to tear it up with us for the next hour or so..

Awesome! very cool..

Would you happen to remember what the other amp settings he used were?