NAD 1971 SuperLead

[nickfox]

I did it. I finally got the King of rock and roll amps. I bought it from Neil, @neikeel. He restored it and got it sounding really nice. I've been using it with my 425a cab that comes with the G12C greenbacks. The Jimi Hendrix cabinet. It sounds glorious.

It's taken a little bit of time for me to learn how to use this thing and how to record it. One of the things that I've wanted to do for a long time is to play my guitar in front of an old superlead that is on the verge of feeding back. I have achieved that goal.

I also bought an Alex Attenuator. It took me a while to find the sweet spot. I did a lot of experimenting. I tried to record at -9dB on the attenuator, it was a nice healthy 123dB. It wasn't easy to record and when it fed back, it didn't feed back in a nice way...

I found that recording at -12dB gave me a volume of 115dB. This turned out to be the sweet spot. It allowed me to get feedback at a more pleasing frequency. And on a side note, I am using hearing protection, up to and including my chainsaw muffs from the hardware store.

This amp doesn't have the original case or chassis. What it does have is the original circuit board with period correct parts and original transformers. All of the important parts and all lovingly restored by Neil. I did a very little reversible mod. I added a switch (on the back top) with 5 bright caps. My favorites were the (1960) 5150pF sprague and the 100pF cap. My les paul likes the 5150 and my 335 likes the 100. Those bright caps affect the way the marshall growl and distortion sounds. They are more than just bright caps...

I did a little bit of Tie your Mother down. I'm a better singer than guitarist but I love my Marshall amps and I plan on playing and recording them for a long time.

 

[nickfox]

And here are the inside pics.

 

[nickfox]

And here is some extra stuff. My rotary pot for my bright caps. Hidden in the back and easily reversible. My Alex Attenuator. My 1960 NOS sprague cap that actually measured 5150pF and is within spec!

And the view down my house with my superlead on the left and my cabinet down at the far end in my bathroom. You can see my recording set up.

 

[Trelwheen]

Awesomeness

Let it rip, big daddy!!

 

[K2JLX]

Well I’m impressed! Nice.

 

[nickfox]

Awesomeness

Let it rip, big daddy!!

I want to take it outside and turn it up without the attenuator. I'll make a video when I do.

Well I’m impressed! Nice.

Thanks man.

 

[playloud]

Per the recording... it rocks!

Love your setup. The way the head is positioned on the chair like that is a work of art!

What's with the filtering in the power section? Looks like a couple of the caps (at least) are 220uf. Isn't that unusually high for this era?

 

[nickfox]

Per the recording... it rocks!

Love your setup. The way the head is positioned on the chair like that is a work of art!

What's with the filtering in the power section? Looks like a couple of the caps (at least) are 220uf. Isn't that unusually high for this era?

Thanks. Things can get a little tight here in my little house...

I'm not sure about the caps, maybe @neikeel can comment on that.

 

[Marcomel79]

Are you sure that Fender knob will get along with the Marshall? Lovely amp, lucky guy!!

 

[nickfox]

Are you sure that Fender knob will get along with the Marshall? Lovely amp, lucky guy!!

Thank you, I love it. Yeah, the fender knob is pretty cheesy but it's hiding inside the amp and can't be seen when I have the rear cover on. Then it's able to hide its shame.

 

[neikeel]

I used those (remember in series they are approx 100uF) I had the amp set up as a 2 in 1 with extra preamp board so channel 2 was a 223 but Nick wanted it back to stock
The extra filtering helps minimise the infamous ghosting and keeps bottom end tight.
The same set up on my sons amp (also a 71 but Superbass)

 

[jcm800gridlock]

Congratulations, definitely a dream amp.

 

[nickfox]

Congratulations, definitely a dream amp.

Thanks, I agree. Last year, it was my jcm800 4010 combo and now it's my superlead. And with that combination, I pretty much have arrived. It's time for me to make some music.

 

[79 2203]

Great sounding amp. Nice and chewy.

My 71 1987/Hotplate attenuator took a while to dial in too. I go for a very similar mid gain crunch that blooms to feedback when I dig in and the sweet spot with a LP was -8db on the Hotplate into the bottom left input and jumpered. Bright vol 3, Normal vol 6.
Not sure exactly how loud this is through a quad of 68 t1221 Greenbacks, but it’s very manageable. Probably about reasonable drummer volume.

And I absolutely recommend saving up for vintage Greenbacks. Took the tone to the next level.

 

[nickfox]

Great sounding amp. Nice and chewy.

And I absolutely recommend saving up for vintage Greenbacks. Took the tone to the next level.

Thanks, I thought about getting some old speakers from @BygoneTones but still haven't pulled the trigger. My 425a cab with G12c's are pretty nice....

 

[Crikey]

A

I did it. I finally got the King of rock and roll amps. I bought it from Neil, @neikeel. He restored it and got it sounding really nice. I've been using it with my 425a cab that comes with the G12C greenbacks. The Jimi Hendrix cabinet. It sounds glorious.

It's taken a little bit of time for me to learn how to use this thing and how to record it. One of the things that I've wanted to do for a long time is to play my guitar in front of an old superlead that is on the verge of feeding back. I have achieved that goal.

I also bought an Alex Attenuator. It took me a while to find the sweet spot. I did a lot of experimenting. I tried to record at -9dB on the attenuator, it was a nice healthy 123dB. It wasn't easy to record and when it fed back, it didn't feed back in a nice way...

I found that recording at -12dB gave me a volume of 115dB. This turned out to be the sweet spot. It allowed me to get feedback at a more pleasing frequency. And on a side note, I am using hearing protection, up to and including my chainsaw muffs from the hardware store.

This amp doesn't have the original case or chassis. What it does have is the original circuit board with period correct parts and original transformers. All of the important parts and all lovingly restored by Neil. I did a very little reversible mod. I added a switch (on the back top) with 5 bright caps. My favorites were the (1960) 5150pF sprague and the 100pF cap. My les paul likes the 5150 and my 335 likes the 100. Those bright caps affect the way the marshall growl and distortion sounds. They are more than just bright caps...

I did a little bit of Tie your Mother down. I'm a better singer than guitarist but I love my Marshall amps and I plan on playing and recording them for a long time.



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Awesome!

 

[Crikey]

And here is some extra stuff. My rotary pot for my bright caps. Hidden in the back and easily reversible. My Alex Attenuator. My 1960 NOS sprague cap that actually measured 5150pF and is within spec!

And the view down my house with my superlead on the left and my cabinet down at the far end in my bathroom. You can see my recording set up.

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Sweet. Great idea

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I note that it has a fourth preamp tube socket hole but no unused hole on the other end of the chassis, but I'd expect an unused hole atthe transformer end for a '69 to '71 spec chassis. Was this fourth preamp socket added after it left the factory or is this some weird transitional chassis where they filled in the extra cap hole but left preamp socket hole no. 4?

 

[79 2203]

Great sounding amp. Nice and chewy.

My 71 1987/Hotplate attenuator took a while to dial in too. I go for a very similar mid gain crunch that blooms to feedback when I dig in and the sweet spot with a LP was -8db on the Hotplate into the bottom left input and jumpered. Bright vol 3, Normal vol 6.
Not sure exactly how loud this is through a quad of 68 t1221 Greenbacks, but it’s very manageable. Probably about reasonable drummer volume.

And I absolutely recommend saving up for vintage Greenbacks. Took the tone to the next level.

Just a few months later and I’ve changed my settings again. I’m still into the low input of the bright channel but I’ve turned that volume up to 6 and ditched the jumpering. Unused normal vol on 5. Of course the volume went up so I’m now on -12db on the Hotplate.

And just to show how versatile these amps are, today instead of the usual 68 Greenback cab, I plugged into my 77 slant with the original 55hz 30 watt Blackbacks on top and V30’s on bottom(a much louder, brighter, cleaner, punchier sounding cab)and went straight into the top input of the bright channel and jumpered.
Volumes and EQ remained the same as the Greenback cab settings but I knew it was going to be louder so the Hotplate went down to -16db. Still about band volumes though. The tone was just a tiny bit peaky/aggressive/gainy than I’d like so knocked the guitar vol down to 8 and wowza, what a great sound.

It never ceases to amaze me how changing speakers changes the character of these amps and how well these amps react to changes in input.

Another big surprise is how well the Hotplate is performing at -12 and -16db. I guess I’ve just learnt to dial it in.

 

[nickfox]

I note that it has a fourth preamp tube socket hole but no unused hole on the other end of the chassis, but I'd expect an unused hole atthe transformer end for a '69 to '71 spec chassis. Was this fourth preamp socket added after it left the factory or is this some weird transitional chassis where they filled in the extra cap hole but left preamp socket hole no. 4?

The chassis is not original. I believe it was an aftermarket chassis. The transformers are all original.