Modding my 900! (All tube, with clips)

[iron broadsword]

Thanks! Y'know, I really think the stock 900 DR is a misunderstood amp. I believe it was designed to be used in two ways.. a modern rock and a classic rock setup:

1 ) Modern rock - You can run channel B as your heavy tone, and use chA as your clean tone. This will give you a pretty modern sound.. and I don't think chB was ever intended to do the classic rock thing. If you set the EQ for a nice sound on channel B with the gain at noon or beyond, the chA then doesn't sound very good unless the gain is down far enough for it to be totally clean.. but once it's there it sounds great. If you try to run chA dirty while the EQ is set for chB, it will sound dark and lifeless. Anyways, in this format you'd use a tubescreamer or something on chB for leads and you're golden. Not very different from the way you'd run a plexi except you've got a dedicated clean channel.

2 ) Classic rock - Run chA dirty, use your guitar's volume knob to get your cleans, and use chB as your lead/solo sound. Set your EQ's to sound great with chA dirty and all of a sudden chB sounds great as a solo boost with excellent cut, and has separate vol/gain/reverb knobs. Go figure! ChA was built to do the classic rock thing, so use it if that's what you're lookin' for!

The stock amp sounds fantastic IMHO in these formats. On the net you always hear the classic rock gents say that chA is where the tone is at.. and they also tend to be the ones who dislike the amp entirely. And then often the modern rock guys will play chB and wonder why the amp gets a bad rap. The amp was the stepping stone between the 800's and the 2000's, so while it arguably does neither quite as good because it's a 2 channel amp with a split personality, it can do both really well and that was the whole idea.

EDIT: Well here you go.. this is from the owner's manual

HI GAIN DUAL REVERB
The Dual Reverb range was designed for versatility with two independently controlled footswitchable channels, each voiced totally differently.
Channel A is voiced for brilliant clean tones with the gain control (item 2) on lower settings and crunch to lower gain lead as you turn it up.
Channel B is boosted with enough gain (item 3), for fearsome lead tones, ranging from classic on lower settings to contemporary screaming solos on maximum.
Channel master volumes (items 9 & 11) and individual channel reverb controls (items 8 & 10) give you incredible control and all round versatility in either, head or combo form.

 

[ibmorjamn]

Thanks! Y'know, I really think the stock 900 DR is a misunderstood amp. I believe it was designed to be used in two ways.. a modern rock and a classic rock setup:

1 ) Modern rock - You can run channel B as your heavy tone, and use chA as your clean tone. This will give you a pretty modern sound.. and I don't think chB was ever intended to do the classic rock thing. If you set the EQ for a nice sound on channel B with the gain at noon or beyond, the chA then doesn't sound very good unless the gain is down far enough for it to be totally clean.. but once it's there it sounds great. If you try to run chA dirty while the EQ is set for chB, it will sound dark and lifeless. Anyways, in this format you'd use a tubescreamer or something on chB for leads and you're golden. Not very different from the way you'd run a plexi except you've got a dedicated clean channel.

2 ) Classic rock - Run chA dirty, use your guitar's volume knob to get your cleans, and use chB as your lead/solo sound. Set your EQ's to sound great with chA dirty and all of a sudden chB sounds great as a solo boost with excellent cut, and has separate vol/gain/reverb knobs. Go figure! ChA was built to do the classic rock thing, so use it if that's what you're lookin' for!

The stock amp sounds fantastic IMHO in these formats. On the net you always hear the classic rock gents say that chA is where the tone is at.. and they also tend to be the ones who dislike the amp entirely. And then often the modern rock guys will play chB and wonder why the amp gets a bad rap. The amp was the stepping stone between the 800's and the 2000's, so while it arguably does neither quite as good because it's a 2 channel amp with a split personality, it can do both really well and that was the whole idea.

EDIT: Well here you go.. this is from the owner's manual

Great amp.

 

[solarburn]

Thanks! Y'know, I really think the stock 900 DR is a misunderstood amp. I believe it was designed to be used in two ways.. a modern rock and a classic rock setup:

1 ) Modern rock - You can run channel B as your heavy tone, and use chA as your clean tone. This will give you a pretty modern sound.. and I don't think chB was ever intended to do the classic rock thing. If you set the EQ for a nice sound on channel B with the gain at noon or beyond, the chA then doesn't sound very good unless the gain is down far enough for it to be totally clean.. but once it's there it sounds great. If you try to run chA dirty while the EQ is set for chB, it will sound dark and lifeless. Anyways, in this format you'd use a tubescreamer or something on chB for leads and you're golden. Not very different from the way you'd run a plexi except you've got a dedicated clean channel.

2 ) Classic rock - Run chA dirty, use your guitar's volume knob to get your cleans, and use chB as your lead/solo sound. Set your EQ's to sound great with chA dirty and all of a sudden chB sounds great as a solo boost with excellent cut, and has separate vol/gain/reverb knobs. Go figure! ChA was built to do the classic rock thing, so use it if that's what you're lookin' for!

The stock amp sounds fantastic IMHO in these formats. On the net you always hear the classic rock gents say that chA is where the tone is at.. and they also tend to be the ones who dislike the amp entirely. And then often the modern rock guys will play chB and wonder why the amp gets a bad rap. The amp was the stepping stone between the 800's and the 2000's, so while it arguably does neither quite as good because it's a 2 channel amp with a split personality, it can do both really well and that was the whole idea.

EDIT: Well here you go.. this is from the owner's manual

I agree. And you can add a boost to channel A to juice it up not for high gain but a bit more punch for more classic tones. And it still rolls off to cleans either way. It's a great OD pedal platform. I can play straight in all day but I love how a Marshall takes a good OD boost. Remember...I'm not a high gain player. Lots of dynamics with the right pedals.

I find channel B awesome for hard rock tones and definitely goes modern heavy.

Thing about both is the tightness. Maybe people don't like this as it will show everything played But the tone is there as long as the amp is healthy(good tubes/no mechanicals). it exposes my slop but it isn't failing in tone. I really like the vintage feel of it. Like I said before this amp is not just for modern high gain applications and if you were misinformed like me who prefers Marshall vintage dynamics you'd walk away without even finding its soul. I have other Marshall's that kick ass. Glad I didn't miss out on this circuit from Marshall.

I don't know man. It's been a real treat for me having a version of it and the surprise of the new year.LOL

 

[iron broadsword]

Glad you're lovin' it. I had no idea that amp existed until you mentioned it!

 

[tubes]

I agree. And you can add a boost to channel A to juice it up not for high gain but a bit more punch for more classic tones. And it still rolls off to cleans either way. It's a great OD pedal platform. I can play straight in all day but I love how a Marshall takes a good OD boost. Remember...I'm not a high gain player. Lots of dynamics with the right pedals.

I find channel B awesome for hard rock tones and definitely goes modern heavy.

Thing about both is the tightness. Maybe people don't like this as it will show everything played But the tone is there as long as the amp is healthy(good tubes/no mechanicals). it exposes my slop but it isn't failing in tone. I really like the vintage feel of it. Like I said before this amp is not just for modern high gain applications and if you were misinformed like me who prefers Marshall vintage dynamics you'd walk away without even finding its soul. I have other Marshall's that kick ass. Glad I didn't miss out on this circuit from Marshall.

I don't know man. It's been a real treat for me having a version of it and the surprise of the new year.LOL

Makes sense to me solarburn.

Also, thanks to you guys I suppose my project to 'check out Marshall's worst amp' is not as stupid as it sounds.

Talking about versatitilty...
Have you guys played a hollow guitar with a DR?

I don't have a hollow guitar at present but my estimation is that one would sound great in Channel A.

If only I still had that nice old Yamaha.....

 

[seeker88]

Makes sense to me solarburn.

Also, thanks to you guys I suppose my project to 'check out Marshall's worst amp' is not as stupid as it sounds.

Talking about versatitilty...
Have you guys played a hollow guitar with a DR?

I don't have a hollow guitar at present but my estimation is that one would sound great in Channel A.

If only I still had that nice old Yamaha.....

Funny you should mention the hollow body through the DR. I like my DR better with single coils vs. a solid body w/humbuckers. Also I think a more appropriate name other than "Marshall's worst amp" should be Marshall's other amp. It' just different, not bad IMO.

 

[iron broadsword]

Well, still loving this amp every time I plug in. If I get channel A up to 8 and set the gain to mild crunch, it is Mind blowing for a clean/dirty channel via guitar volume or compressor set below unity. Then channel B brings the goods for leads with seperate controls and voicing. I can't run it that loud live even with my -12db attenuator though, so I'm gonna pick up a weber mass 200. My DIY resistor attenuator sucks 0 tone so I'll keep it around though, but all the clips of the weber are stellar. Can't friggin wait!

But on Sunday my power tubes finally went. It was time, I have it down to a bit of a science with this amp. Anyway, I decided to drop in some el34's this time around and so I'm about to order some parts to convert it. Looking forward to hearing the difference, and I will probably do another comparison clip. We've all heard 6l6 vs el34 before but this amp is kinda unique now so why not. Looks like I'm heading down the rabbit hole again!

 

[Kladen]

Will be keeping an eye on this thread keep up the good work mate

 

[iron broadsword]

Well, I finished the conversion to EL34, dropped in some Svetlana's, biased it and fired it up. Nothing exploded! I prefer it that way. Sounds great too.. it's got the the mid focus that it lacked with 6L6's, and even though it had noticably more bottom with the 6l6's, it sounds fuller and richer to me at first impression because the mids are stronger. Gonna try to get some clips up soon.

EDIT: wow, it is ridiculous how pinch harmonics want to jump off the fretboard now.. I didn't expect that change! Mostly happens with the bias above 30mA where 36.3 would be 70%, and that is with the master volume at 0.5 what the heck! Through this V30 4x12 it sounds like every badass 80's guitar solo I've ever heard.

 

[iron broadsword]

Alright, one quick and dirty clip.

http://www.ghostsauce.net/random/900 test 5 (el34).m4a

Clean tone at the start:
Amp is on ChA with the gain at 8, which is where it gets somewhere in the ballpark of ACDC gain levels, used my neck pickup set clean, a compressor in the loop to bring the volume up to match the bridge pickup set dirty, and a behringer VD400 delay (I know, I know..).

Crunchy part after the clean:
I turned off the compressor and delay, switched to bridge pickup.

Lead tone after the crunchy bits:
There's a small pause cause I was adjusting delay volume.. then I turned delay on and switched to ChB. Holy crap don't mind the epic bad playing. Also notice the amp wants to feedback quite a bit but the pickup was about 10 inches from the transformer for most of that section, lol.

After that I switched back to ChA and eventually maxed the gain on that channel. Played some stuff that needed a bit more gain to achieve what I was trying to do, but I can get there with a little boost out front when I want modern metal rhythms. Pretty hot amp for some low-med pickups eh?

 

[tschrama]

Great sounding tones to say the least. Tasteful playing too

 

[solarburn]

Epic nipples are hard tone man. Loved the crunch. It was all good though. Heavy tight bottom on her at the end. Good jam!

I'd rip that 900 anywhere. Nice sounding Marshall.

 

[iron broadsword]

Epic nipples are hard tone man.

 

[iron broadsword]

FRIG YEAH. Check this out!

http://ghostsauce.net/hidar.m4a

PRS Singlecut > JCM900 4100 > V30 > SM57. Amp was on ChB with the gain maxed. Master volume was 0.5.. low enough to hear my pick on the strings and it still sounds friggin amazing! Lead has some delay added after.

 

[solarburn]

Daem IB. Killah!

 

[solarburn]

I'm thinking I may throw some 34's in the Buger and see how they sound. Your amp is hit'n hard man. I'm liking it.

Have you put some volume to the EL34's to hear how it opens up?

 

[iron broadsword]

Definitely consider it.. The amp seems better able to pull off the heavy stuff with them, and of course the classic stuff too. The low mids just feel correct now, and stupid lively.

I've wigged out with the master on 4 unattenuated but that is all I can stand in the house.

 

[tschrama]

FRIG YEAH. Check this out!

http://ghostsauce.net/hidar.m4a

PRS Singlecut > JCM900 4100 > V30 > SM57. Amp was on ChB with the gain maxed. Master volume was 0.5.. low enough to hear my pick on the strings and it still sounds friggin amazing! Lead has some delay added after.

That's just epic and the best 4100 clip I've heard... ever.

Great production/dubble-tracking too. If any body ever complains about a 4100, this is the clip to make them think again......

 

[Ghostman]

 

[iron broadsword]

Yep, I think I'm done. Only thing that would make this amp better is a second channel A, but I can live with that.