+johncartelli yup! to me, the fender reverb amps always feel "bogged down". i guess what i mean is that the attack is kind of slow. i think this has something to do with where the tone stack is in the circuit (but i'm no amp tech so take what i say with a grain of salt). right after i posted my comment, i bought a nicely made JTM45 clone and am digging it: the cleans have a fast attack and are kind of "aggressive" and the amp responds really well to touch. it also has this bouncy feel to it that is addicting.
It does have a GZ34/5AR4 tube rectifier and KT66 power tubes. I bought it off Reverb from this guy in Florida who used a 1966 schematic. As far as I can tell, it's a "lead" circuit. This means that there's a 470 picofarad capacitor soldered to the bright channel's potentiometer. Remove the capacitor and you have a bass circuit, I believe.
NoyzyBoyZ3 The bass and treble channels affect each other in these non-master circuits. In a nut shell, they are loosely tied together due to the fact that they share the signal. Turning up the volume of the channel you're not using adds what we call "ghost notes" or underlying harmonic content under the initial signal you hear.
Blake Kobiska is right. It's part of how these amps circuit is made; both channels are mixed together using mixer resistors after the volume controls. The treble channel mix resistor has a small capacitor in parallel, and forms a high pass filter with the normal channel mix resistor, the lows and low mids are attenuated. When normal channel volume is on "0", the filter is working at it's best. The more the normal volume is turned up the filter becomes less active in attenuating lows and low mids. On a Marshall 2204 or 2203 this filter is fixed, like if the normal volume always was on "0".
Love playing my Knaggs Severn through the JTM45 RI running into a 65 Amps 2x12 with Alnico Gold and G12H30....killer guitar and amp/cab combo....have a set of Zexcoils on the way for the Severn to replace the SD APS-1 stock pups....should be able to drive the JTM45 better....great playing, sound, and demo!!! Cheers!!
I would prefer a 5U4 rectifier in that amp to get a little more sponge in the bottom end. I played an original JTM and yours definitely sounds very close to it.
Earl Heath More of a classic sound you’re chasing. Regrettably I sold this JTM45 reissue. I’ve not had the skills nor materials at my disposal to mess around with different rectifiers, transformers etc.. Enjoyed some of your videos. Do you still do amp mods yourself?
how loud is the jtm45 compared to say, a 50 4 input marshall amp? is there a significant volume drop between the jtm45 and a 50 watt marshall? thank you
Uncle Dave I have a 100W Marshall JVM410HJS running only two power tubes. So kinda like 50W. Sorry I couldn’t tell if one was louder because they’re both pretty loud. The tones are different with the JTM45 a one-trick authentic rock tone and the 410HJS being a jack-of-all-trades master-at-none. That being said they both sound their best, and by that I mean awesome, fully cranked.
these amps are deadly loud..in a bedroom i cant turn it up past 1...way too loud....but i also have a Marshall power brake the lowers volume to a whisper....Im thinking the 18 watt marshall is the way to go.....
You have to remember that the circuit is modeled from the fender bassman. Bass heavy. you’ve got to run the bass somewhere between zero and two. Presence and treble must be high. Mids to taste. Jump the channels and crank the volumes. The normal volume can be 2 to 4 notches lower than the high treble volume. This amp is also capable of the most beautiful cleans you’ve ever heard. Incredibly rich. And it swallows pedals whole. It’s just a glorious amplifier in the right hands. It’s loud but not too loud. There is no master volume so it’s not a bedroom amplifier. It is also not a metal amp. This was made for blues and rock. it is the missing Link of all rock ‘n’ roll amps!
Sounds great but there isnt any emotional content to the tone. There is a certain mid-treble frequency range that softly spikes the ears and triggers emotion that is in the old amps/new amps made with old parts that just isn't present in new circuit board amps. I cant explain it, but I can hear it, its the difference between "this amp sounds good" and "this guitar player knows how I feel" or "Lord I know that feeling"
I've heard and read of this about the reissued classic amps. Can't quite capture all of that old magic. My playing style is more suited to a slightly higher gain amp, most would say. So that doesn't help either. Can't beat the original.
If you want to achive that you have to plug into the normal channel and crank volume, treble and mid. The bright channel is just to cold, if you want brightness, put all the controlls at 5-6 and a rangemaster on full
dont forget the ear protection as when these are dimed its at ear drum damage guarantee levels...i use a Marshall Power Brake to keep that cranked tone when its turned up but at any level from wide open to a whisper.
they do i run the delay and reverb through the fx loop thats on the back of mine. then run a noise suppressor, compressor/sustainer, and a T-9 through the front. also i use a short jumper cable from one on the right group of inputs into one on the left...this mixes the treble and normal channels, plug your guitar into any input not used then adjust each channels level with both volume controls to add or cut high end
ao, ia a Marshall JTM -45 the real name for the plexi? Or were there other plexis also? How does this compare to the original old JTM-45 amps? Do they make it in a combo amp? How much would a JTM-45 combo re-issue go for? How about the old ones? So, is this the amp Hendrix used most of the time? Is this what he got those great, huge tones out of? Does anyone know?
I think of it as a small plexi. The combo version might be the blues breaker? Experts will tell you that the originals sound better. I don't think the reissues have the same power transformer which has a big impact on the sound.
+Michael Craig JTM-45 is 30 watts with two KT66 output tubes and basically is a Fender Bassman copy with British components. The (later) plexis are the 1959 SLP and 1987x from 1967 to 1969 (the 1959 is the model number!). They have four EL34 with 100 watts of power and two EL34 with 50 watts of power respectively, and solid state rectifiers along with some component changes for more gain.
+George Kollaros well where can I get one of the combos, or a Fender Bassman also? One of the originals.. I want to get that huge Hendrix, Stevie ray, Trower tone.. go as huge as possible.. how much do they go for, give me a general idea? Of course I play Stratocasters so I am part of the way there... now I need the rest of the combination.. I do not want to lug around a stack or 1/2 stack.. no need for all that.. any ideas?
+Michael Craig The originals sell for 10,000 euros and up! You can get a reissue in most big instrument selling stores. Go to one and try one out! Fender Bassman LTD (the reissue) sells for 1400 euros, Marshall Plexis for 1600 (head) and 700 for a 4x12 cabinet. All these prices are approximate in euros, I don't know where you live. Mind you, you can't play on 10 at home or in a club, or even in outdoors concert! It's extremely loud, Eric Clapton when in Cream walked right in front of the cabinet in a concert once and almost went deaf! You better go to a music shop, talk to the salesperson and try out several amps. Good luck and enjoy!
Loudness 1 is for channel 1. It is the control for the power tubes. Loudness 2 is for the other channel. I turned them both up because I didn't know what I was doing. Only needed to turn Loudness 1 up. Good amp when everything is up to 11.
+BradPham hum!! Nice. Never played one of this. And when you jump the channels, anyone of these loudness knobs work as a gain knob? Must be hard to cranck it, man!!!!
+Del Rei doesnt work like that, channel 2 sounds a lot bassier than channel one, handy if youre using a strat, but if you jump the channels than you can use the knobs to dial in high end and low end like the body and detail controls on a marshall vintage modern, but the only way to get that classic rock distortion on these types of amps is to turn them up, you would need something like a 2204 or 2203 amp to get gain with a master volume control, the upside to the non master volumes like the jtm45 is that when they get to about 5 or 6 they dont get much louder but you can get more gain as you keep turning up, so you can gig easily enough with a great rock tone without making your ears bleed
Similar chord structure but not the same. What gives it the Purple Rain vibe is the Asus9 chord - I think that’s what it’s called. Wendy Melvion plays the riff a step higher with Bflat sus9.
@@BradPham Thanks for your review. What do you think about adding an fx loop to these wonderful amplifiers, it somehow changes the plexi tone that we're looking for, what would be the pros and cons of using fx loop, and what kind of loop would be the best?.
@@Summer69. There are plenty of threads from last few decades in this but not as much these days. Focus has shifted, through changes in tech and also the corona virus, to virtual amps, line 6 helix, two notes, axe fx, boss waza, and the list goes on. Purists want the Marshall hand-wired reissues of the JTM45 and 1959SLP. An fx loop is seen as a dilution of the signal, effects should go before the amp, and don’t bother with delay & reverb with the plexi. I’m of that opinion. Want reverb? Get a Fender Twin Reverb and turn the volume up to 11! If you just have delay, use an instrument level signal analogue delay pedal (mxr carbon copy?) and put it after your fuzz & wah pedals. You probs agree that this is the purist view.
@@BradPham You're right about the focus given to all those new software (Helix,. Fractal etc). Personally I dont like them. I'm old school tone. It would be great if Marshall re-edited the jtm45, 1959slp, JMP plexis, but handmade point by point, the problem would be the cost hahaha. I was asking you about the fx loop, since I was planning to buy in the near future a clone of the jtm45 or a 1959superlead, but I had doubts about the loop, more than anything about the use of the delays in front amp. I only used 2 delays (dd3 and a carbon copy). My pedal chain is very small and classic only used wha - phase 90 MXR - chorus small clone - MXR carbon copy - boss dd3 - and sometimes Marshall reflector reverb but very light, although I was thinking of removing it from the chain. About the fx loop it was only my doubt if the delays or the chorus, but I wanted to keep the tone of the amplifier as pure as possible.
@@Summer69. You’re talking yourself into a corner there. If you want the pure amp tone it’s best you go into the front of the amp with your fx. My view is that the cranked plexi sound doesn’t want reverb at all. It doesn’t need delay either, unless you like it for solos. In which case your solo is going to be so awesome that it won’t need delay! I recall a period where the 1959SLP reissue had a built in fx loop. I see the Marshall website only has the 1959SLP available only in the hand wired version at present. Obviously, no fx loop in it.
There can be a lot of "sag" if you have too much signal in the pre-amp in my opinion. This Knaggs Steve Stevens has the right amount of output to get this 45w amp cranking at full volume.
BradPham ... and I've got to say, there is a warmth and richness to the live sound of one of these amps, as compared to more modern high gain/distortion amps. Horses for courses.
Nathan Adkins I did some reading on upgrading the transformer. Had I have been able to hear a comparison in person I may have forked out for one that better resembled the original. A few good comparisons on RUclips of stock versus transformer upgrade. But some folks think the sag is what the amp is all about. If you're after a modern sound you're probably best to look at the ... is it the 2061x?
BradPham These reissues are a bit different from the originals circuit wise. They require a few tweaks to get them sounding right. Replacing the transformer is the last part I'd change as obviously its the most expensive. The other tweaks are just replacing capacitors and resistors. But I will say this reissue sounds pretty decent as it is now :) One thing you can try is keeping the treble and presence at 5 but pushing the mids up to 10 and bass down to 0. Some people then link the channels and bring up the channel 2 volume a bit to bring back some nice low end.
Man, this thing sounds so good. The JTM45 bug has bit me thanks in large part to your demo. Those chiming clean sounds are very cool. Thanks for this!
nods this amps clean puts any twin reverb to shame
+johncartelli
yup! to me, the fender reverb amps always feel "bogged down".
i guess what i mean is that the attack is kind of slow. i think this has something to do with where the tone stack is in the circuit (but i'm no amp tech so take what i say with a grain of salt).
right after i posted my comment, i bought a nicely made JTM45 clone and am digging it: the cleans have a fast attack and are kind of "aggressive" and the amp responds really well to touch. it also has this bouncy feel to it that is addicting.
pseudmaged ... Does your jtm clone have a solid state rectifier vs a tube rectifier in the org.?
It does have a GZ34/5AR4 tube rectifier and KT66 power tubes. I bought it off Reverb from this guy in Florida who used a 1966 schematic. As far as I can tell, it's a "lead" circuit. This means that there's a 470 picofarad capacitor soldered to the bright channel's potentiometer. Remove the capacitor and you have a bass circuit, I believe.
Why you turn up the normal volume if there is no bridge with the high treble?
Sooo exactly, how loud is that to your ears? Awesome tone!
You can tell how good it sounds by the way you're stomping and jumping around :)
agreed the bouncing knee says alot
you are cool energetic guitarist
salute!
The best marshall
Why do you have the normal channel turned up,with nothing plugged into it?
habit
10-4! Nice amp BTW!
NoyzyBoyZ3 The bass and treble channels affect each other in these non-master circuits. In a nut shell, they are loosely tied together due to the fact that they share the signal. Turning up the volume of the channel you're not using adds what we call "ghost notes" or underlying harmonic content under the initial signal you hear.
Blake Kobiska is right. It's part of how these amps circuit is made; both channels are mixed together using mixer resistors after the volume controls.
The treble channel mix resistor has a small capacitor in parallel, and forms a high pass filter with the normal channel mix resistor, the lows and low mids are attenuated.
When normal channel volume is on "0", the filter is working at it's best. The more the normal volume is turned up the filter becomes less active in attenuating lows and low mids.
On a Marshall 2204 or 2203 this filter is fixed, like if the normal volume always was on "0".
Love playing my Knaggs Severn through the JTM45 RI running into a 65 Amps 2x12 with Alnico Gold and G12H30....killer guitar and amp/cab combo....have a set of Zexcoils on the way for the Severn to replace the SD APS-1 stock pups....should be able to drive the JTM45 better....great playing, sound, and demo!!! Cheers!!
Hi man, great sounding amp, but why are you cracking the loudness 2 if you are not using a patch to bridge the channels..?
See above answer.
I would prefer a 5U4 rectifier in that amp to get a little more sponge in the bottom end. I played an original JTM and yours definitely sounds very close to it.
Earl Heath More of a classic sound you’re chasing. Regrettably I sold this JTM45 reissue.
I’ve not had the skills nor materials at my disposal to mess around with different rectifiers, transformers etc..
Enjoyed some of your videos. Do you still do amp mods yourself?
Bogan Con Lai ruclips.net/video/Xl-ii3v-2fU/видео.html
I build amps and mod them as well. I also wound the pickups in the video above.
@@Earlvis Hey, that's a tough sounding amp. 6L6?
@@Earlvis Yeah, that's a pretty tough looking amp.
Bogan Con Lai Peter Mather built the cabinets for me in Scarlet Red with Mesa Cane grille cloth. My bandmates call it the Red-Headed Step Child.
how loud is the jtm45 compared to say, a 50 4 input marshall amp? is there a significant volume drop between the jtm45 and a 50 watt marshall? thank you
Uncle Dave I have a 100W Marshall JVM410HJS running only two power tubes. So kinda like 50W. Sorry I couldn’t tell if one was louder because they’re both pretty loud. The tones are different with the JTM45 a one-trick authentic rock tone and the 410HJS being a jack-of-all-trades master-at-none. That being said they both sound their best, and by that I mean awesome, fully cranked.
AMAIZIND
TONE! How many watts do you got there? Is it bearable?
these amps are deadly loud..in a bedroom i cant turn it up past 1...way too loud....but i also have a Marshall power brake the lowers volume to a whisper....Im thinking the 18 watt marshall is the way to go.....
I borrowed one of these once for a week and it sounded nothing like this one. So I returned it.
I spent a bit of time with this one before I got a decent sound out of it. The guitar has very high output pickups too.
You have to remember that the circuit is modeled from the fender bassman. Bass heavy. you’ve got to run the bass somewhere between zero and two. Presence and treble must be high. Mids to taste. Jump the channels and crank the volumes. The normal volume can be 2 to 4 notches lower than the high treble volume. This amp is also capable of the most beautiful cleans you’ve ever heard. Incredibly rich. And it swallows pedals whole. It’s just a glorious amplifier in the right hands. It’s loud but not too loud. There is no master volume so it’s not a bedroom amplifier. It is also not a metal amp. This was made for blues and rock. it is the missing Link of all rock ‘n’ roll amps!
Golden Delicious = Great Classic Marshall Tone that only a JTM can deliver !!
do you always mirror the presence knob with the volume?
I felt the presence knob worked better as the volume got louder. High level presence at low volume was a bit 'tinny' to my ears.
Sounds great but there isnt any emotional content to the tone. There is a certain mid-treble frequency range that softly spikes the ears and triggers emotion that is in the old amps/new amps made with old parts that just isn't present in new circuit board amps. I cant explain it, but I can hear it, its the difference between "this amp sounds good" and "this guitar player knows how I feel" or "Lord I know that feeling"
I've heard and read of this about the reissued classic amps. Can't quite capture all of that old magic. My playing style is more suited to a slightly higher gain amp, most would say. So that doesn't help either. Can't beat the original.
If you want to achive that you have to plug into the normal channel and crank volume, treble and mid. The bright channel is just to cold, if you want brightness, put all the controlls at 5-6 and a rangemaster on full
dont forget the ear protection as when these are dimed its at ear drum damage guarantee levels...i use a Marshall Power Brake to keep that cranked tone when its turned up but at any level from wide open to a whisper.
Hi, did you use any pedal?
Sounds great!
No pedal. Seemed to respond well to pedals, though.
they do i run the delay and reverb through the fx loop thats on the back of mine. then run a noise suppressor, compressor/sustainer, and a T-9 through the front. also i use a short jumper cable from one on the right group of inputs into one on the left...this mixes the treble and normal channels, plug your guitar into any input not used then adjust each channels level with both volume controls to add or cut high end
Marshall JTM45's do not have an Fx loop, unless yours has been modded (or is a clone).
Hi, very nice play and also a sound, but.. why are you turning the "normal" knob, when you've got nothing plugged in "normal holes:)?
Thanks for the tip. Used to having jumper lead that's why I'm turning both knobs.
ao, ia a Marshall JTM -45 the real name for the plexi? Or were there other plexis also? How does this compare to the original old JTM-45 amps? Do they make it in a combo amp? How much would a JTM-45 combo re-issue go for? How about the old ones? So, is this the amp Hendrix used most of the time? Is this what he got those great, huge tones out of? Does anyone know?
I think of it as a small plexi. The combo version might be the blues breaker? Experts will tell you that the originals sound better. I don't think the reissues have the same power transformer which has a big impact on the sound.
+Michael Craig JTM-45 is 30 watts with two KT66 output tubes and basically is a Fender Bassman copy with British components. The (later) plexis are the 1959 SLP and 1987x from 1967 to 1969 (the 1959 is the model number!). They have four EL34 with 100 watts of power and two EL34 with 50 watts of power respectively, and solid state rectifiers along with some component changes for more gain.
+Michael Craig, what George said, I guess. All's I know is that the tone sounds great when the dials are all at 10!!!!!!!!!!
+George Kollaros well where can I get one of the combos, or a Fender Bassman also? One of the originals.. I want to get that huge Hendrix, Stevie ray, Trower tone.. go as huge as possible.. how much do they go for, give me a general idea? Of course I play Stratocasters so I am part of the way there... now I need the rest of the combination.. I do not want to lug around a stack or 1/2 stack.. no need for all that.. any ideas?
+Michael Craig The originals sell for 10,000 euros and up! You can get a reissue in most big instrument selling stores. Go to one and try one out! Fender Bassman LTD (the reissue) sells for 1400 euros, Marshall Plexis for 1600 (head) and 700 for a 4x12 cabinet. All these prices are approximate in euros, I don't know where you live. Mind you, you can't play on 10 at home or in a club, or even in outdoors concert! It's extremely loud, Eric Clapton when in Cream walked right in front of the cabinet in a concert once and almost went deaf! You better go to a music shop, talk to the salesperson and try out several amps. Good luck and enjoy!
Nice, man!!!
These "Loudness" knobs... Do they work as a "Gain" and "Master" knobs?
Loudness 1 is for channel 1. It is the control for the power tubes. Loudness 2 is for the other channel. I turned them both up because I didn't know what I was doing. Only needed to turn Loudness 1 up. Good amp when everything is up to 11.
+BradPham
hum!! Nice. Never played one of this.
And when you jump the channels, anyone of these loudness knobs work as a gain knob?
Must be hard to cranck it, man!!!!
+Del Rei Benefit of these simple amps is a more "pure tone". Downside is that you can't get any distortion at low volumes.
+BradPham
Yeah, I get that. Thank you for helping!
+Del Rei doesnt work like that, channel 2 sounds a lot bassier than channel one, handy if youre using a strat, but if you jump the channels than you can use the knobs to dial in high end and low end like the body and detail controls on a marshall vintage modern, but the only way to get that classic rock distortion on these types of amps is to turn them up, you would need something like a 2204 or 2203 amp to get gain with a master volume control, the upside to the non master volumes like the jtm45 is that when they get to about 5 or 6 they dont get much louder but you can get more gain as you keep turning up, so you can gig easily enough with a great rock tone without making your ears bleed
I don’t trust a man if I can see his feet!
I'm assuming you look at your own feet. Do you trust yourself?
El mejor de los mejores para mí de Marshall. Cable de la guitarra al equipo y a tocar, punto.
si si
its only 30 watts,but yes..can hurt........
Purple Rain intro
Similar chord structure but not the same. What gives it the Purple Rain vibe is the Asus9 chord - I think that’s what it’s called. Wendy Melvion plays the riff a step higher with Bflat sus9.
@@BradPham Thanks for your review. What do you think about adding an fx loop to these wonderful amplifiers, it somehow changes the plexi tone that we're looking for, what would be the pros and cons of using fx loop, and what kind of loop would be the best?.
@@Summer69. There are plenty of threads from last few decades in this but not as much these days. Focus has shifted, through changes in tech and also the corona virus, to virtual amps, line 6 helix, two notes, axe fx, boss waza, and the list goes on.
Purists want the Marshall hand-wired reissues of the JTM45 and 1959SLP. An fx loop is seen as a dilution of the signal, effects should go before the amp, and don’t bother with delay & reverb with the plexi. I’m of that opinion.
Want reverb? Get a Fender Twin Reverb and turn the volume up to 11!
If you just have delay, use an instrument level signal analogue delay pedal (mxr carbon copy?) and put it after your fuzz & wah pedals.
You probs agree that this is the purist view.
@@BradPham You're right about the focus given to all those new software (Helix,. Fractal etc). Personally I dont like them. I'm old school tone.
It would be great if Marshall re-edited the jtm45, 1959slp, JMP plexis, but handmade point by point, the problem would be the cost hahaha.
I was asking you about the fx loop, since I was planning to buy in the near future a clone of the jtm45 or a 1959superlead, but I had doubts about the loop, more than anything about the use of the delays in front amp. I only used 2 delays (dd3 and a carbon copy). My pedal chain is very small and classic only used wha - phase 90 MXR - chorus small clone - MXR carbon copy - boss dd3 - and sometimes Marshall reflector reverb but very light, although I was thinking of removing it from the chain. About the fx loop it was only my doubt if the delays or the chorus, but I wanted to keep the tone of the amplifier as pure as possible.
@@Summer69. You’re talking yourself into a corner there. If you want the pure amp tone it’s best you go into the front of the amp with your fx.
My view is that the cranked plexi sound doesn’t want reverb at all. It doesn’t need delay either, unless you like it for solos. In which case your solo is going to be so awesome that it won’t need delay!
I recall a period where the 1959SLP reissue had a built in fx loop.
I see the Marshall website only has the 1959SLP available only in the hand wired version at present. Obviously, no fx loop in it.
Move your mic bro. off axis, right in-between the cone and dust cap.
Next time.
try jumpering he channels bonehead LOL hahaha
Lol. Yes! Where were you 7 years ago?
@@BradPham LMAO.....now I know LOL
mont john Even one channel sounds better than your average amp. Also, more articulate in expression than with channels jumped.
Sorry, but I can't take any man seriously that wears flip-flops...
haha, it's funny 'cause it's true :-)
The distortion on these amps always seems a bit flabby & farty !
There can be a lot of "sag" if you have too much signal in the pre-amp in my opinion. This Knaggs Steve Stevens has the right amount of output to get this 45w amp cranking at full volume.
BradPham ... and I've got to say, there is a warmth and richness to the live sound of one of these amps, as compared to more modern high gain/distortion amps. Horses for courses.
Ed Berger Man I hate to say it but I think it is the transformer in the amp. That is what makes it sound so farty and flubby
Nathan Adkins I did some reading on upgrading the transformer. Had I have been able to hear a comparison in person I may have forked out for one that better resembled the original. A few good comparisons on RUclips of stock versus transformer upgrade. But some folks think the sag is what the amp is all about. If you're after a modern sound you're probably best to look at the ... is it the 2061x?
BradPham These reissues are a bit different from the originals circuit wise. They require a few tweaks to get them sounding right. Replacing the transformer is the last part I'd change as obviously its the most expensive. The other tweaks are just replacing capacitors and resistors. But I will say this reissue sounds pretty decent as it is now :)
One thing you can try is keeping the treble and presence at 5 but pushing the mids up to 10 and bass down to 0. Some people then link the channels and bring up the channel 2 volume a bit to bring back some nice low end.