To de-mod or not to de-mod

[FutureProf88]

I tried that. His company is no longer in business. Apparently he used to build an amp called an OmniTone, but Cauble Amplification is no more. I tried to find him just to get the backstory on it.

Now the settings in that video are the reverse of how I normally set Marshalls. Bass is way up, mids are about 5 and treble is around 2. Normally I run bass about 3 mins at 5 or 6 and treble about 7. If I do that with that 800 it is just ear piercing.

 

[TheSunShinesThrough]

I finally found a tech that would remove the gain modification from my 2204. If you've read my rants about it before, you know this, but to recap it has what appears to be some sort of SIR 34-ish mod consisting of an extra 12AX7 on the high input. It has truckloads of gain, lots of fizz and no clean headroom. Now the fizz is accompanied by mile-wide body to the sound. It was great when I played 80's style metal. But I don't do that anymore. I found a tech who is willing to dig in to it and seemed relatively certain that he could revert the amp back to its stock, 1988 JCM800 2204 guise, albeit with an extra hole in the chassis.

So, JCM peeps, should I do it?

Some instruments will never sound the way you want to, even after multiple modifications. At some point you have to cut your losses and move on to something better. Why not be patient, sell your amp for max dollar and then invest that money into something you'll enjoy without any modifications? I wish I would have done this myself before I sunk $350 into my HSS American Strat. No matter what I did to that guitar, I could never get it to sound the way I wanted it to. I sold it, moved on and now I don't buy something if it doesn't sound exactly the way I want it to. I think deep down you know what you should do, otherwise you wouldn't have started this thread. Time to move on.

 

[FutureProf88]

Well at the time it was exactly what I wanted. Plus I like 2204's so it sort of seems foolish to me to get rid of one when it may be a few hours on a bench away from being exactly what I want now.

 

[dslman]

I thought the amp had great tone from what I could hear. I would not get rid of it. Not sure I would even have it tweaked,as long as it has good headroom,then it's a awesome amp. Some less gain preamp tubes might tame it just right for ya. I prefer a dedicated clean channel for cleans anyway,but for highgain--you got it.

 

[roycaster]

Just have it returned to stock. If your tech baulks, run and never use him again. This is basic electronics, with the proper schematic it should be no big deal to return it to original…

 

[dreyn77]

mate I'll spell it out for you!

we all know and remember YOU didn't mod the amp.

we all know something about marshall amps YOU don't.

it's time you learned what marshall knows about their product.

plug the number 1 test guitar into the marshall amp and test out the gear. this guitar will make clear to you the amp is working fine and it does what marshall claims it does.

if marshall says the cab product and there amp product makes a unique sound from it, then THIS number 1 guitar will make the gear show you the marshall trademark sound effect.

this guitar will also expose what all the added new amp circuits are doing to the sound and so what the amp has to offer as EXTRAS.
that's right, the old sound with more features.

You now need to realise the number 1 guitar for testing is the vintage strat. end of story, no argueing. each string has had it's magnetic pole adjusted for perfect volume for each string.

that means you set all amp EQ's on max power and hear the sound.
a DSL amp will at this setting make perfect hendrix tone.
there's NO argueing this tone.

a JVM will make the same perfect hendrix tone at this setting too.

If you're hearing metallica's tone with this testing of the gear method then what YOU say is right and marshall and I are off to a lunni rubbish bin somewhere. to have a few cocktails.

 

[dreyn77]

once you learn that marshall has done ALL THE POSSIBLE BEST MODS to the amp and you can get them with a few dollars, you're going to realise you old amp ain't worth touching again EVER.

at the push of the deep switch button a DSL amp reverses all the tone of the speaker so the bright trebles and weak bass sound becomes weak trebles and powerful bass. without you needing to swap speakers.

the deep switch reverses all tones from the same speaker setup.

does your amp have that mod????

the DSL amp user can run with malmsteens early career tone and then push a button and play with his exact late 90's tone.
just by pushing a button.

BANG! famous greenback tone is GONE, hello bass heavy powerful new marshall tone!

your stock 800 won't do this trick. neither will the modded 800.

your amp has been useless since 1997.

 

[JAC]

F--k what people post! Go ahead and do it! It is your amp homie!

 

[Adrian R]

Ugh...didn't like that clip..too soupy for me..

Return it to stock and just use a good boost when you want more saturation...it'll stay much tighter too...

A healthy stock 2204 is very bright, clear, and articulate sounding amp..

It's best for it to remain that way...boost the preamp to get to overdrive naturally...

 

[hazmat7719]

I would vote for saving up for an unmodified 2204. If you get lucky, you might find one for $800-$900.

 

[johan.b]

If you like the amp but prefer 2204 specs. Revert the mods. Your going to take a hit financially either way, but if it's a keeper and you don't mind the holes, the hit will probably be much smaller returning it to stock specs and living with it
j

 

[Guitar-Sam]

Maybe try rolling a couple lower gain tubes in it,might bring your gain down were you want it. JAN Sylvania 2 mica 5751 can be had nos for $30 from kca

 

[dreyn77]

all good advice guys! I like the idea of using the different valves. I didn't think of that myself.
many heads are better than 1.

(unless we hear from 5 million heads cause then we'd get all the possible combinations) lol.

you'll have to come up with an internet technique for deciding the answer.

 

[RussBert]

It looks to me as if 2 tubes were added. One is just the for the FX loop, and the other has only half of the tube being utilized.

Swap the circuit back to a stock 2204, and keep the loop. Shouldn't cost more that about $100

 

[Masliko]

If you mod for no reason,that means your a "gear geek" and music is generally irrelevant.

If your modding to achievement something(different tones,reliability issues)than that means your a musician (possibly)