NAD - one I’ve always wanted is now mine

shaunm

I have only gone and got myself a Marshall JTM45.

I know this is old hat to a lot of people of the forum but I’ve always wanted one and now I have and I’m over the moon with it. 

As it stands I am pretty damn happy with my set up

https://imgur.com/a/mn3xOSk

camf

Nice rig!

sweepy

Just need a Telecaster, LP, SG etc etc

blobb

Nice one

shaunm

@sweepy the thought had crossed my mind but I can’t justify it. I thought maybe get a Tele deluxe and then it’s a mix of all three in one? 

sweepy

shaunm said:

@sweepy the thought had crossed my mind but I can’t justify it. I thought maybe get a Tele deluxe and then it’s a mix of all three in one? 

With a Bigsby

shaunm

sweepy said:

shaunm said:

@sweepy the thought had crossed my mind but I can’t justify it. I thought maybe get a Tele deluxe and then it’s a mix of all three in one? 

With a Bigsby

Of course, I don’t have one on my other guitars

wellsyboy

Nice!!!!!!!!! The sound that makes you weep and smile all in one breath - 

zepp76

shaunm said:

I have only gone and got myself a Marshall JTM45.

I know this is old hat to a lot of people of the forum but I’ve always wanted one and now I have and I’m over the moon with it. 

As it stands I am pretty damn happy with my set up

https://imgur.com/a/mn3xOSk

Nice one! I have one too, I hope you enjoy it.

shaunm

Thanks @zepp76 I have read a few of your threads. Do you use yours with an attenuator?

zepp76

shaunm said:

Thanks @zepp76 I have read a few of your threads. Do you use yours with an attenuator?

Hi @shaunm  yes I use a Rivera Rockcrusher attenuator with mine but it also has a PPIMV too so that helps with the volume at home as it's a very loud amp, especially through a 4x12! It is without doubt the best guitar based purchase I've ever made, i hope you gel with it as much as I have mine.

ICBM

There a couple of things you can do to the amp itself to reduce the volume without modding it or using an attenuator, as well - you can replace the GZ34 rectifier with a 5V4 or 5Y3, which will give more sag and compression, and replace the 5881/6L6/KT66s with 6V6s which will roughly halve the power. It's a good idea to do both together since the voltages are a little too high for 6V6s with the GZ34, and the current draw is too high for a 5Y3 with the big valves. Ideally you also need to set the amp's impedance to half that of the cab when using 6V6s as well. You will need to adjust the bias, but there should be enough range on the trimmer.

shaunm

ICBM said:

There a couple of things you can do to the amp itself to reduce the volume without modding it or using an attenuator, as well - you can replace the GZ34 rectifier with a 5V4 or 5Y3, which will give more sag and compression, and replace the 5881/6L6/KT66s with 6V6s which will roughly halve the power. It's a good idea to do both together since the voltages are a little too high for 6V6s with the GZ34, and the current draw is too high for a 5Y3 with the big valves. Ideally you also need to set the amp's impedance to half that of the cab when using 6V6s as well. You will need to adjust the bias, but there should be enough range on the trimmer.

I can just use it as is I think. I tried it this morning and it is loud but it’s not silly loud. It’s not 70’s silver face twin loud.

I think it’s a manageable volume in a two guitar band. Much less and I’d have the same problems as I have with an 18 watt where it doesn’t cut through at all.

p90fool

JTM 45s are the perfect volume for a gigging pub band in my experience, they just get into the sweet spot but with some headroom left.

They are nowhere near the volume of a 50 or 100w plexi. 

shaunm

p90fool said:

JTM 45s are the perfect volume for a gigging pub band in my experience, they just get into the sweet spot but with some headroom left.

They are nowhere near the volume of a 50 or 100w plexi. 

Of course I haven’t hugged it yet but it would seem right in theory. The 18 watt amps I have struggle to cut through in a twin guitar set up. The 20 watt Laney does cut through but it’s still clean at nearly max volume on the clean channel which is great for cutting through (also 4xel84 and 4x10). 

I am hoping this this has the volume to keep me where I want in the mix and the headroom so that it can take fuzz pedals and not get lost totally.

I was gigging a Supersonic 60 Combo and that was way way too loud. It was ferocious. In a bar with 300/400 people in I still never got it past 3 on the volume.

ICBM

shaunm said:

The 18 watt amps I have struggle to cut through in a twin guitar set up. The 20 watt Laney does cut through but it’s still clean at nearly max volume on the clean channel which is great for cutting through (also 4xel84 and 4x10). 

I am hoping this this has the volume to keep me where I want in the mix and the headroom so that it can take fuzz pedals and not get lost totally.

I was gigging a Supersonic 60 Combo and that was way way too loud. It was ferocious. In a bar with 300/400 people in I still never got it past 3 on the volume.

This is largely because of compression. Bear with me, this is a bit technical...

The 18W-type circuit compresses heavily because it's a cathode-biased Class AB, like almost all cathode-biased push-pull amps - they are *not* the same thing as Class A despite popular/manufacturer myth. In fact, the characteristic sound of a typical cathode-biased amp (AC30, Fender 5E3 Deluxe, 18W etc) is exactly *because* it's Class AB and *not* Class A.

But - and this is the surprise! - the 20W Laney Lionheart is actually very unusual and runs the four EL84s in parallel-single-ended, unlike any other 4-EL84 amp I know of. Although this is not technically quite the same thing as Class A, it does have one important matching characteristic - constant current draw, and hence no compression. This gives it a much more dynamic sound, which makes it louder in a mix.

The Supersonic is a fixed-bias amp (with a solid-state rectifier, so no compression from that either) and hence is extremely dynamic as well as far more powerful. It might not actually have got a *lot* louder beyond 3 on the volume control (I can't remember - it might just go into overdrive), but the bigger transformers also help to avoid compression and retain bass and treble better, which also increases the perceived volume.

The JTM45 is going to be somewhere in the middle of all this lot... it's a fixed-bias amp, but valve rectified so it has an in-between amount of compression, and at 30W it's probably going to be about the same volume or slightly louder than the 20W Laney. It also has quite a 'dirty clean' sound so it's warmer and less cutting than the Fender.

Try it and see, anyway . You don't need to know all this stuff, but it might help understand why there is sometimes apparently not very much correlation between power and volume - and that's even ignoring speaker efficiency, which is at least as important as amplifier power.

shaunm

Thank you @ICBM as usual an absolute font of knowledge. 

It does make sense. 

In a two guitar band 18 watts just wasn’t enough and when it came to fuzz, forget it. Too much compression. In a studio though, brilliant. 

The Supersonic, it does get louder up to 5/6 at that point it starts to compress. Now I’ve never done a gig where that amount of volume would be acceptable.

The Lionheart I have said for years is a near perfect amp for me. Plenty loud enough to gig with, the tone is great, takes pedals extreamly well, I like the reverb and it’s 4x10. Actually that last bit is also a negative as it’s a bitch to move. Not because it’s heavy, it’s just awkward.

The JTM is going to be used with a 2x12 with G30H 70th Aniversay speakers. I don’t know much about these, it’s what we’re in it when I bought the cab. It might sound good or it might be that I put a couple of Greenback/Creambacks in? Any experience of these speaker @ICBM ?

ICBM

Yes, they’re very good - a little on the dark side compared to vintage G12H-30s, but good - full-sounding and quite smooth. If you find it a bit too much so, replace one speaker with a Greenback, that’s pretty much the perfect ‘vintage’ Celestion combination.

The Creamback 65 and 75 are tighter and slightly darker than the Greenback and H30, and I probably wouldn’t want that with a JTM-45.

shaunm

Thank you.

Just to answer questions on volume. I just turned it up full in the house. My Mrs went funking mental. 

Turns out its a gigging amp

zepp76

shaunm said:

Thank you.

Just to answer questions on volume. I just turned it up full in the house. My Mrs went funking mental. 

Turns out its a gigging amp

Gets a bit loud doesn't it!

57Deluxe

I hope your conservatory is climate controlled??