Everyone knows that the classic Marshall JMP and JCM 800 are not only killer amps, but also great platforms to mod and take into high gain territory.
Yet some people might not wanna mod their good old 2203/2204, some even scream blasphemy.
In my opinion nothing is ever blasphemy that improves things for you personally..but tastes do not only vary, they might also change over time and you might wanna keep your old 2203 stock but still like the tone of a modded Marshall...
This is where the Soldano HotMod saves the day.
it's a plug'n'play solution that replaces the regular dual triode in the v2 slot with a triple triode system, so it essentially adds another gain stage to the amp, much like many mods to with an additional 12ax7, just without the permanent changes. It's literally plug'n'play and can be undone in the time it takes to take the back panel of the amp off.
Unfortunately Soldano doesn't build this neat little thing anymore because
A) the tubes are getting rare
and B) sometimes the ground connection to the tube socket got a bit loose after time which led to dropouts etc which in turn led to people writing/phoning Soldano....and that turned out too much service effort for a little device that was less than 200$ new...
Also did Soldano come out with their GTO, and the Hot Mod was a direct competitor, so it was discontinued after a while.
but if you search ebay you can still find them every now and them...and they're SICK!
Here's a little comparison of a stock JMP 2203 (more info below) and the same amp with the HotMod installed.
Both clips were recorded with exactly the same settings (see pic), same DIs, same microphone and no post processing.
The chain was:
EMG89 (DI credit: Marcus Hedwig)
Maxon od808
Marshall JMP 2203 (1978, stock except for new filter caps and a conversion to KT88 instead of el34)
Mesa Rectifier 4x12
Audio Technica AT250DE
API 3124+
Apogee AD16X
Pro Tools
Yet some people might not wanna mod their good old 2203/2204, some even scream blasphemy.
In my opinion nothing is ever blasphemy that improves things for you personally..but tastes do not only vary, they might also change over time and you might wanna keep your old 2203 stock but still like the tone of a modded Marshall...
This is where the Soldano HotMod saves the day.
it's a plug'n'play solution that replaces the regular dual triode in the v2 slot with a triple triode system, so it essentially adds another gain stage to the amp, much like many mods to with an additional 12ax7, just without the permanent changes. It's literally plug'n'play and can be undone in the time it takes to take the back panel of the amp off.
Unfortunately Soldano doesn't build this neat little thing anymore because
A) the tubes are getting rare
and B) sometimes the ground connection to the tube socket got a bit loose after time which led to dropouts etc which in turn led to people writing/phoning Soldano....and that turned out too much service effort for a little device that was less than 200$ new...
Also did Soldano come out with their GTO, and the Hot Mod was a direct competitor, so it was discontinued after a while.
but if you search ebay you can still find them every now and them...and they're SICK!
Here's a little comparison of a stock JMP 2203 (more info below) and the same amp with the HotMod installed.
Both clips were recorded with exactly the same settings (see pic), same DIs, same microphone and no post processing.
The chain was:
EMG89 (DI credit: Marcus Hedwig)
Maxon od808
Marshall JMP 2203 (1978, stock except for new filter caps and a conversion to KT88 instead of el34)
Mesa Rectifier 4x12
Audio Technica AT250DE
API 3124+
Apogee AD16X
Pro Tools
