NAD: Marshall JMP Superlead

[Revson]

Scored this guy today for $650 and my Ibanez sz520 and I'm pretty stoked. It's the 1959 model as opposed to a 2203 or 2204. It's loud as balls, and I mean it gets unbearably loud really friggin' quick. I can't turn it up enough in the house to get it to naturally distort, but holy shit does it sound beautiful even at lower volumes.

The serial number on the back verifies that it was built in 1978 and it appears to be unmodded. I did some reading up on it and it seems that these guys are becoming a rare item so I'm gonna leave it alone and just use distortion pedals to get the gain up when I need it.

I'm thinking a new change of tubes is in order for this beast, so does anyone (Lasse?) have a recommendation for me? What about a nice distortion pedal to pop in front of it?

Enjoy a few pics

Playing together with my Mesa.

Back panel

None of the outputs were labeled with an ohm rating, which really confused me. I searched around and found that the knob on the right of the 4 outputs sets the ohm rating. I actually had to pull it out to change positions like a jumper connector. Cause that's what it is apparently.

**EDIT**

Finally got around to opening up the guts.

 

[Sloan]

fuck yeah.

 

[Manicompression]

This looks sick man. You have the right setup to go chasing some Tool tones. Make sure to post clips once you have some tones dialed in that you like, Id be really stoked to hear it.

 

[ArthurD]

sick

 

[BLUElightCory]

The 1959 has GOT to be the loudest amp on earth.

True story: I was tracking one at full tilt, and the ceiling in my studio caved in. Coincidence?

 

[Revson]

Shit, I never even thought about trying to get a Tool tone with my rig. I'll try to get it close to Aenema.

How did you stand to track it that loud? I'm pretty sure this thing could explode an sm57.

 

[Revson]

OK, I finally got a chance to take the back panel off today and give a short electronics inspection. Right now it's running JJ E34L's and both pre and power tubes appear to be fairly new. I did notice a bulging filter capacitor which might explain some of the ground noise in the amp. Fuck.

 

[Machinated]

Beautiful. A 1959 will probably be my next Marshall. I have a 2203 JMP and its a stunning amp. Just had it checked over by Marshall.

 

[TheDustbowl]

Perhaps think about an attenuator, I use a THD Hot Plate but there may well be better boxes around these days. Might even get the volume up to 2 if you're lucky. And you can pull a pair of output tubes to reduce the output so long as you understand the implications on output impedance.

Gorgeous amp!

A.

 

[Shinozoku]

Dish out for replacement filter caps from SoZo capacitors and thank me in the morning.

Power tubes: EHX 6CA7s. Think EL34 with bigger bottom end.
Preamp tubes: Try various EHX, Tung Sol, and Shuguang/Sino 12AX7's. The Tube Store has a "Preferred Series" which (along with TAD) produces a 7025 preamp tube. Grab a couple and try them in the amp. George Lynch loves them for sick Marshall tones, and so do I. All of these tubes are legendary for their sound in Marshall amplifiers. I'd get 2-3 of each and try different configs/combinations to see what you like.

 

[Revson]

Perhaps think about an attenuator, I use a THD Hot Plate but there may well be better boxes around these days. Might even get the volume up to 2 if you're lucky. And you can pull a pair of output tubes to reduce the output so long as you understand the implications on output impedance.

Gorgeous amp!

A.

I'm probably gonna snag a Hot Plate once I get some extra money. Until then I'll make my neighborhood's ears bleed.

Dish out for replacement filter caps from SoZo capacitors and thank me in the morning.

Power tubes: EHX 6CA7s. Think EL34 with bigger bottom end.
Preamp tubes: Try various EHX, Tung Sol, and Shuguang/Sino 12AX7's. The Tube Store has a "Preferred Series" which (along with TAD) produces a 7025 preamp tube. Grab a couple and try them in the amp. George Lynch loves them for sick Marshall tones, and so do I. All of these tubes are legendary for their sound in Marshall amplifiers. I'd get 2-3 of each and try different configs/combinations to see what you like.

I've also been recommended F&T caps, at least for the power filter section, which is where I have a blown cap. I still haven't opened up the amp's guts to see if anything else has blown.

Thanks for the tube suggestions. I'll check some of them out when I get some money again.

 

[Revson]

Finally got a clip of my Marshall after getting the filter caps replaced and a master volume mod done. Just recorded it on my lunch break right now. I did a quick couple of riffs from Tool's Aenema. My playing sucks. Recording chain for the guitars are in the Soundcloud description.

 

[decoy205]

love it!

 

[Revson]

Thanks! It was quick set up. I just eyeballed where I thought the mic should go and went for it. I think I'm gonna do some Mastodon clips later tonight, probably "Crystal Skull". Ugh, programming those drums is gonna suck.

 

[Revson]

Added a Maxon OD820 to the signal chain and poorly played/programmed some Mastodon.

 

[stilllifer]

Added a Maxon OD820 to the signal chain and poorly played/programmed some Mastodon.

Holy fuck dude - that sounds amazing man... I love that Marshall - wow... Did you swap out those tubes yet?

 

[Revson]

Thanks! This is quickly becoming my favorite amp. The tech put in new EL34GC power tubes, but the preamp tubes haven't changed at all.

 

[53Crëw]

Superleads sound great with just a tube screamer. I kind of miss my old one ('73 version). Those things are incredibly loud but have a nice tone.

Congrats!

 

[Revson]

It used to be the loudest amp ever, but the master volume mod really helped tame it so I can get a killer tone at a low volume. I need to get some more pedals to put in front of it now.

 

[53Crëw]

Yeah, I ultimately put a PPI master volume mod in mine too. The amps was just stupid loud... LOL