Clips of Marshall MXL 2001 MOD!!

I

imacgreg

New member
Hey,
I finished the mod of my 2001 tonight and it sounds great. I used the Scott Dorsey mod that was in some recording magazine. I have recorded before and after clips of me playing the guitar. Here's the signal chain: Mic->Millenia Media HV3 pre->Gadget Labs 824 soundcard->computer w/n-track. Only problem is that I don't know where to put the files where you guys can hear 'em. let me know where they should go and I'll post them...


Ian
 
Wow, first impressions are that there's quite a difference. I'm not in a place where I can listen critically yet though.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you were consistant in guitar tone and mic placement (etc) between the two recordings? I'm guessing they were done a while apart.

This is a mod I was really wanting to try. Very cool of you to do it and post clips! I'd also like to hear about your overall experience doing the mod if you don't mind!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Actually the two guitar tones were very consistent! That is what is so surprising about this test. I changed NOTHING on the amp or guitar (didn't even turn the amp off). I recorded the first test with the mic at a set position, left everything how it was except took the mic to the garage and took about an hour to replace the circuit board, then I came back, and with everything in its original place, rerecorded the same riff.

What a difference
ian
 
I hear a little more 'bottom end'....but wouldn't a little EQ do close to the same? I'll need to go relisten. Walking into the room, "cold", and telling you which is which...I couldn't. I must be deaf:(....and you've got the Marshall! :D

Extremely interesting test....thanks a million
 
Another thing not illustrated by the test is the drop of noise in the modified mic. It's hard to tell in this clip cause that Marshall amp is buzzing away. There were two distinct differences in sound that I noticed right off the bat.
1. There was increased low end. This was a nice surprise cause this tone was WAY closer to what the amp actually sounds like (the millennia pre didn't hurt either!). Most likely a factor of getting rid of the transformer.
2. There is a kinda high end crackle that goes away with the mod. Listen to both the tracks and you'll probably see what I mean. In the unmodified mic it almost brings out a little prescence, but is too crackly to be useful as well as being totally inaccurate to the original sound source.

Ian
 
thanks for the tips on what to listen for...I'll recheck....subtle though, to me.

btw,[and off subject] I just got back from the http://www.VG-8.com forum, listening to some audio clips of the Roland VG8, as played by Paul Hanson, Steve Vai, etc....makes me wanna throw away ALL my mics and even quit playing guitar too...simply incredible. Blows away the POD, Jstation...in my book....or maybe it was just the players...:rolleyes:
 
Keep in mind that these are only 128kpbs mp3's; not the best quality for mic comparisons. If anybody wants .wavs let me know.

ian
 
Hmmm... huge difference. The scary thing is, I'm not sure which I like better. I kinda like the unmodified ones extra high end, kinda makes it stand out more, but the modified one would actually probably end up sitting in a track better. Be sure to post more stuff of the modded version, vocals in particular, through that good preamp. Very interested to see how they come out.
 
So how much will you be charging for an Ian modded 2001?

You could be the Steven Paul or Klaus Hien of crap mics.
 
i dont think the original 2001 is a bad mic on a guitar cab....i think for the full effect of the mod to be realized, it has to be done with a very clean pre in a nice room......
 
Last edited:
Gidge,
I see what you are saying, I probably should have done more of a traditional use of a LD condenser like vocals or far micing a cab. I will be doing vocals soon, and I think I'll have a 414 I can compare it to. As far as being the "Steven Paul or Klaus Hien of crap mics," I think that title is deserved by Scott Dorsey, who designed this mod and made the circuit board, as well as David Royer, whose mod I really want to try.

Ian
 
I don't know what y'all are hearing, but to me the difference was striking. That mic flat-out rocked for guitar afte the mod, and to me the high end was harsh pre-mod.

Ian, what was the total cost of the mod, and how hard was it to do? keeping in mind that most of us are not electronically gifted...
 
The mod cost around 30-40 bucks total. The circuit board you can order from Scott Dorsey ( kludge@panix.com ) for 20 bucks. Then, you need to order about 10-20 bucks worth of parts from digikey.com. The mod wasn't difficult at all, just soldering all the parts in the board and putting it in the mic. I would recomend finding the article that Scott introduces this board in, it helped a lot in clearing a few things up. Maybe there is an online version you could find. As far as the guitar track, I liked the mod WAY better, it sounded just like my amp in the room.

Ian
 
I agree, the difference is obvious and I like the modded mic much better.

Ian did a lot to maintain consistency, so I don't think you'd find that much difference in results with "a very clean pre in a nice room."
 
I listened to it cranked...soft, good speakers, cheapie speakers, in the hallway...setup a situation, pull up fader A, now fader B..(actually I pushed the solo and/or mute buttons) so to get a quick comparision...

I don't hear it. ...at least the "big" difference...albeit, there is a difference. I'll just resort to living with crappy ears, I guess. In a mix, I don't think it would make a difference. I always thought I had half decent ears...but..
..So....it's me...Mixmkr with ears of tin:(

On a side note. I have used the 2001 quite a bit on vocals. Most of the time (on three particular singers) it worked out very well for me. And on different days, I think the mic distance was a little more, and the results were pretty bad....real metallic sounding....and it has happened with all three of them. I think they were getting a bit off axis,(hey...I'm not always watching!!) or like I said, the distance was getting too great...but up close, it sounded great to me......man with ears of tin;)
I must say, an RE20 proved far superior sounding on one singer (female) ...and has also become "their" mic of choice, for them as well.
 
Last edited:
Dude, in a mix they would be entirely different, and would totally change way freq's complimented and or walked on each other. There really is a pretty good difference there, the modded one seeming smoother and or warmer, sorry you dont hear it. I think now that MF has them for $150 including the mxl 603s, that its a pretty good deal to have modded. I want to hear the Royer mod, too.
 
At NAMM I got to meet David Royer and I told him I wanted to try his mod. He then directed me to the ADK booth which actually had one of their mics modded by him. I can't really say how it sounded, I was listening through headphones in a noisy booth, but it didn't sound bad at all and sounded better than ADK's unmodded mic.

Ian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top