Bob at EuroTubes went through my Marshall yesterday!!!

[kid klash]

Fortunately, I live in the same town where EuroTubes is located, and Bob was kind enough to go through my JCM 900 2500 Mk III yesterday, re-biasing and re-tubing it with a matched pair of E34L's in the power amp section, a pair of high gain ECC83S's in the gain chain of the preamp section and a hand-selected balanced ECC83S next to the power tubes, and IT KICKS ASS!!!

I fired it up this morning with my 1960A, and my mild mannered modern 50 watt Marshall turned into a fire-breathing dragon!!! Holy shit!!!

It's got balls and bottom end for days, and the roundest, smoothest top-end of any modern Marshall I've played. I'm totally knocked out with the "punchyness" too. I used it today to track a guitar part today (through a Sennheiser e609S, into an M-Audio Octane, direct to ADAT) and it sounded almost "3D"... the tone "shimmers"... smooth and fat, with no "iceyness".

I'm really glad I changed the power amp section from a pair of original Tesla EL34's to the new JJ E34L's... I love the added headroom they give me, and the extended, tighter bottom end really kicks.

The ECC83S's sound really great... smooth, dynamic, tight, with a nice, distinct clarity that the old tubes couldn't even come close to.

Now the amp is the quietest it's ever been, hum and noise-wise, too...

Mega-thanks to Bob!!!

 

[Rokket]

Congrats! I am glad that you're digging your tone! I don't have a good amp with me (my Fender is in storage ) so I am a bit jealous, too!

 

[kid klash]

Bob only charged me $60 for all the tubes AND re-biasing my amp!!!

 

[Rokket]

Bob only charged me $60 for all the tubes AND re-biasing my amp!!!

Sweet deal, now hurry up and record something so we can hear it too!

 

[sepsis311]

Bob hooked me up with a retube for my 5150. He even explained how to wire in test leads to bias my amp. He turned this amp into a monster! Now it will rip apart any high gain amp... except the VHT pitbull or bogner uberscall.

 

[timmerman]

Hi Kid Klash,

I thought you meant: Bob stood on my Marshall and then the Marshall caved in.................... Oh well that is a different subject eh

Congrats with the great sounding amp.

Eddie

 

[AlfredB]

I got my sovtek Mig-60 lead head loaded w/ bob's "JJ" stuff ...

and people normally fall on their backs when they hear the dirty channel ...

it screams CLASSIC ROCK !!!!!! (just think of "the who - live at leeds" sound

I live outside the US where marshalls are not that common, but yet i have to hear a head that sounds better than mine ...

 

[kid klash]

Hi Kid Klash,

I thought you meant: Bob stood on my Marshall and then the Marshall caved in.................... Oh well that is a different subject eh

Congrats with the great sounding amp.

Eddie

Nah... Bob doesn't weigh THAT much (I'm guessing he weighs less that me), and my Marshall has been stepped on by many roadies without caving in!

 

[kid klash]

I got my sovtek Mig-60 lead head loaded w/ bob's "JJ" stuff ...

and people normally fall on their backs when they hear the dirty channel ...

it screams CLASSIC ROCK !!!!!! (just think of "the who - live at leeds" sound

I live outside the US where marshalls are not that common, but yet i have to hear a head that sounds better than mine ...

Cool! I've heard some great-sounding Mig-60's, and I can just imagine how great one would sound with good tubes in it!

 

[WERNER 1]

I'm glad to see your new found love for your Marshall!

It's really amazing what some good tubes AND a nice "hot" bias will do to your old stale amp tone!

I've been rebiasing my own amps for a little while now, and the results are unbelieveable!

Kid - You say that you recorded with a e609s? What has been your experience(s) with this mic? (I've got 2 of the older "original" e609's, but I've not had a chance to record with them yet.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[kid klash]

Kid - You say that you recorded with a e609s? What has been your experience(s) with this mic? (I've got 2 of the older "original" e609's, but I've not had a chance to record with them yet.

Thanks,
Rick

Compared to an SM-57, the e609S isn't quite as fussy regarding placement, or the type of preamp it's going into. It also seems to be more accurate and detailed to my ears too, with a smoother midrange and extended bottom. But I like (U.S. made) SM-57's too, and own eight of them. I haven't compared the e609S to the original 609 like yours, but I've heard lots of good things about the original 609, such as being even smoother, and being a bit darker sounding.

 

[mrface2112]

i think the e609 is the yin to the sm57's yang. where the sm57 is aggressive in the mids, the 609 is a little more relaxed. where the 57 is flabby in the bass, the 609 is tight. FWIW, i use the older unidyneIII 545's instead of the 57, but it's essentially the same thing.

i haven't had a lot of time for amp micing lately, what with a baby on the way and all, but what time i *have* had, i found that i tend to like some of the 57 and some of the 609, and with a little time and judicious placement, i can put both up and get a very nice sound. usually the 609 tends to be right on speaker, aimed at the center and usually the 57 is about 35 or 45 degrees off axis and pointing halfway between the center and edge.


back to the subject at hand, where is bob at eurotubes (physically)? i've got a silverface champ that i'd like given a tuneup--new tubes, check the caps, biasing and prolly a speaker replacement.


cheers,
wade

 

[WERNER 1]

Thanks guys! I did a lot of research on the e609's and SM57's in the mic forum before I purchased them, but there were limited responses about the actual miked sound.......and the variances between the two.

Did Bob give you any info as to what the bias was set at before / after? I'm always curious to see how much of a change was made.

Rick

 

[kid klash]

back to the subject at hand, where is bob at eurotubes (physically)? i've got a silverface champ that i'd like given a tuneup--new tubes, check the caps, biasing and prolly a speaker replacement.
cheers,
wade

He's in the Portland (OR) area. I'd recommend calling him and setting up an appointment.

 

[kid klash]

Did Bob give you any info as to what the bias was set at before / after? I'm always curious to see how much of a change was made.

Rick

I was standing next to him as he did it, and my early JCM 900 2500 MKIII factory-set bias was set "stone cold". The new setting (on the bias pot) is maxed out, and the only way to increase it (which it doesn't need) is to replace resistors. This might be unique to the first JCM 50 watt Super Leads built.

 

[Micter]

Bob has always been helpful to me throughout the years. He went way out of his way to find me a schematic for my Laney AOR. That is not an easy schematic to find.