Marshall JCM 800 Mods: Worth the Money?

silverwulf

silverwulf

Ghost in the Machine
Mar 6, 2002
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I've seen a lot of guys having their Marshall JCM 800 models modded in some way. mostly with an extra tube/gain stage. I was wondering who here has a modded Marshall and what their thoughts on the tonal difference was?

Andy, you have a Marshall that was modded by Soldano I think? How much gain would you guys say that a modded Marshall pushes (in comparison to other amps)?
 
The soldano mod is called a hot mod, they dont make them any more, and the two Ive had have both died now. The other mod I have (extra pre amp tube) was done by Chandlers Guitars in London by the same guy who did Scott Gorhams amps (don't know his name sorry) but that one sounds great. Gary from Exodus has a similar mod done by Tod Langner.

My modded marshalls have absolutely shit loads, if not too much gain.
 
I've seen a few of those Hot Mod's lately, but I was always skeptical about how good they were. I thought of giving one a try.

I'm actually talking to a tech right now who has detailed layout of the mods from countless guys like Lee Jackson, and the infamous Jose Arrondondo (pardon my spelling) mod that Jose himself did for Eddie Van Halen, James Hetfield, John Sykes, etc. That mod is pretty intricate though, adding another gain stage, anothe rpreamp control, etc...and costing $950 (USD) because of all the additions!
 
Hey Andy...aren't those Soldano Hot Mod's you have just adapters that plug into the V2 preamp tube slot so they can accomodate a 6C10 tube and give the amp another gain stage? So, couldn't you just replace the tube in the adapter with another and still have it work just fine?

Would you recommend one of those Hot Mods?
 
Nope! you can't, Ive have 2 die now, I have replacement tubes, and my amp guy is trying to copy it for me. Theres something in the sealed part that eventually burns out.
If you've got any info, let me know.
 
>The other mod I have (extra pre amp tube) was done by Chandlers Guitars in London by the same guy who did Scott Gorhams amps (don't know his name sorry) but that one sounds great. Gary from Exodus has a similar mod done by Tod Langner.<

Hi Andy
Any idea where I can get the schematics for that extra tube stage. Would be interesting to do that mod on an old JCM800 top that lies around here in rehearsal room.
 
Hey Andy,

I talked with Bill Sundt today at Soldano (the guy who created the Hot Mod). He said that having the tube burn out shouldn't damage the unit, and that you can replace the tube with another 6C10 or a 6K11/6Q11 and it should work like new.

So, the tubes can be replaced and you can recycle the adapter. He said that your adapters must have other issues if they stopped working.

I see that you have a 50W and a 100W model, and both have 6550 tubes...any reason you prefer the 6550? Also, do you like the 50W or 100W better for high gain metal stuff?
 
Yeah I know NECROTHREAD, but I'd like to find the schematics to the extra preamp tube mod. Especially what I need to do the mod and where to put the extra t00b. less noise, more preamp gain is what I'm seeking. I already use a tube screamer, but the noise gets a bit too loud when cranking that shit.
 
From what I understand, you can change a few components inside without adding another gain stage and still have some nice gain! In my opinion, my JCM 800 2203, when used with hot pickups, needs juuuuust that extra hint of gain and compression to be able to us it for \m/. I do this easily with my Maxon OD808.

I'm sure some of the mods are great! I just want to keep my amp stock for now.

-Joe
 
I was thinking that an extra t00b would work better than just another component pushing the ones that are in already. I'd imagine that adding noise and other bullshit as well.
 
Keessi said:
I was thinking that an extra t00b would work better than just another component pushing the ones that are in already. I'd imagine that adding noise and other bullshit as well.
Click to expand...


Well, I believe it's just replacing different valued components. As far as I know, the JCM 800 circuit is a bit more refined and not prone to as much noise as say a Plexi circuit which is a bit more primitive.

-Joe
 
J.DavisNJ said:
From what I understand, you can change a few components inside without adding another gain stage and still have some nice gain! In my opinion, my JCM 800 2203, when used with hot pickups, needs juuuuust that extra hint of gain and compression to be able to us it for m/. I do this easily with my Maxon OD808.

I'm sure some of the mods are great! I just want to keep my amp stock for now.

-Joe
Click to expand...

I've heard the same exact thing. Really, when you think about it, a stock JCM 800 is dumping off gain between stages anyway, so changing the values of...I think it's the coupling capacitors so that it's throwing away less will mean that there's more in the end.
 
I have a 50 watt 800 modded by Custom Audio Electronics (CAE) that absolutely fuckin rules. I use it for leads quite a bit and everyone that plays it cant believe it. I think its totally worth every penny i spent on it.

The mutiny within album im working on right now, the kids "hate" marshalls (they are all young... so i cut em some slack). And they came in and described this lead sound they wanted. I said you want the marshall right there and pointed to my 50 watt... "Awww no marshalls suck, blah blah blah" I said dude check it out, i guarantee if you set it like this (turned a few knobs) you will have exactly what you want.

Low and behold, they now love at least one marshall, and got the exact tone they wanted.
 
axeman720 said:
I have a 50 watt 800 modded by Custom Audio Electronics (CAE) that absolutely fuckin rules. I use it for leads quite a bit and everyone that plays it cant believe it. I think its totally worth every penny i spent on it.

The mutiny within album im working on right now, the kids "hate" marshalls (they are all young... so i cut em some slack). And they came in and described this lead sound they wanted. I said you want the marshall right there and pointed to my 50 watt... "Awww no marshalls suck, blah blah blah" I said dude check it out, i guarantee if you set it like this (turned a few knobs) you will have exactly what you want.

Low and behold, they now love at least one marshall, and got the exact tone they wanted.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a sweet amp. I'd LOVE to have them mod an amp for me.

Although I want one of those production model Cameron amps more than anything!

-Joe
 
axeman720 said:
I have a 50 watt 800 modded by Custom Audio Electronics (CAE) that absolutely fuckin rules. I use it for leads quite a bit and everyone that plays it cant believe it. I think its totally worth every penny i spent on it.

The mutiny within album im working on right now, the kids "hate" marshalls (they are all young... so i cut em some slack). And they came in and described this lead sound they wanted. I said you want the marshall right there and pointed to my 50 watt... "Awww no marshalls suck, blah blah blah" I said dude check it out, i guarantee if you set it like this (turned a few knobs) you will have exactly what you want.

Low and behold, they now love at least one marshall, and got the exact tone they wanted.
Click to expand...

The reason us young'ns tend to hate Marshall nowadays is that most of us started out with those 10 watt Marshall MG combos, then we upgrade to like a 50 or 100watt (still at the point where we equate ANY Marshall to having good tone...) then we upgrade to something decent, most likely a tube head or something, and realise that our old gear sounds truly fucking awful.

Most of us kids end up fairly alienated to Marshall, but us play through any older, decent Marshall and our opinions change pretty sharpish.
 
TheXRatedDodo said:
The reason us young'ns tend to hate Marshall nowadays is that most of us started out with those 10 watt Marshall MG combos, then we upgrade to like a 50 or 100watt (still at the point where we equate ANY Marshall to having good tone...) then we upgrade to something decent, most likely a tube head or something, and realise that our old gear sounds truly fucking awful.

Most of us kids end up fairly alienated to Marshall, but us play through any older, decent Marshall and our opinions change pretty sharpish.
Click to expand...

That's a good part of what happened to Kramer guitars. Except that the little 10-watt Marshalls actually sound pretty good for what they are, while the cheap beginner Kramers in the late 80s were generally steaming heaps of crap.
 
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