I run through a selection of guitars showing the tones that this kit is capable of. The raw kit is available from Modulus Amplification. / rubberducktech / rubberducktech
Fuuuuuuuuuudge that is an astonishing sounding amplifier. 🤯 Wowee! Excellent playing and also excellent handy work with the modulus kit - really tidy inside You must be proud 😃 In all the excitement I missed what IRs you were using with reactive load - sounds like 4x12 greenbacks... Yes?
Really great playing and tones. The mods make noticeable difference and give a touch more grit to the sound. Around 6 on the volume, it really nails that Angus / Malcom tone. Modulus are a great supplier and I use them myself a lot. Great stauf and thanks for sharing.
What an awesome build, sounded killer with every guitar but because I'm completely biased I think to my ears it came alive most with the Les Paul and SG. The Baja Tele got an awesome rock rhythm tone to be fair. Also incredibly surprised by the metal tones coming out of it towards the end! Not as 'tight' as your usual high gain amp but more interesting for it. Great stuff.
What a fantastic amp!..mods are awesome.. Mal and Angus certainly had their own amps for the job.. I have a Splawn quickrod and a 1970 Marshall major I had modded by David Bray to a super lead circuit with a split bias.. 2 x KT88 and 2 x EL34..and really has a huge fat sound with the marshall punch.. I also have the solodallas storm which does Angus great.. love the black flag.. a builder in Nova Scotia does a great reproduction with a PPIMV.. Dr. Dan.. also rocks.. your mods are what I imagine the Marshall Vintage Modern w/KT66 to sound like.. I was sorry they discontinued that masterpiece.. love the old Marshall bark.. and great playing.. thanks for posting this!!! We're you running IR cab or pushing air?.. what speakers? Oh crap.. and btw.. the gretsch G6131MY is a fantastic guitar if you can find one used .. worth every penny.
OMG, I came across an individual in the early 80s who owned a Marshall Major ! He invited me to see the Major after seeing my stage rig when I was in a Cover Band playing outdoors with a Marshall Super through 4 cabs ! He told me to watch the electric meter on house when he cranked the Major ! OMG 😳, I freaked out ! That Major destroyed the power grid ! LoL ! I remember the amp head was in a White Marshall tolex ! Godzilla!
My tech is starting our JTM50 BF build in red tolex. After seeing this I'm thinking of going with a shared/split carhode switch. We had already decided on a bright cap switch. I really like the breadth of voicings in your JTM and how nice it sounds with a tele.
The heavy tones at the end really remind me of Adam Jone's early Tool sound, which makes sense considering he used a super bass modded to super lead specs.
Nice demo! I appreciate you giving the settings throughout the video. First a comment on the tele demo: I thought I could hear some fret buzz on the G string? Maybe I was imagining it? 'm surprised the amp stays tight with the channels jumped with the lower filtering you described in part 1. A couple questions on this build. I read in the comments that you used a bright cap; I thought the SuperBass did not have the bright cap? What value and type does it have? Perhaps that's the why the ch jumping is working so well here.... It still sounds very full and clean on the lower volume/shared cathode settings. I have two Plexi clones and if I ran the Bass on 7 it would be way too flubby. I usually run the bass at zero if the gain is cranked. Second, what pre/power tubes are you using? What NFB resistor value are using and which tap did you use? My understanding is the 67 spec used a 27k NFB resistor and in my amp with that value it stays clean until 8 and never gets that mean even on 10. My other amp will get more gainy but I believe it's NFB is 47k. I would like to figure out how do the mods you did as well as a switchable NFB. If you get a chance I would love to hear the same type of demo but with some more of the lower gain tones to hear the effect of the switches on cleaner (more bluesy/Hendrixy/single coil) tones. I would be curious to hear the lead channel by itself as well as jumped. Thanks!
Man that sounds good, really good ! I'd like to hear it with a original klon in front of and some vintage Mullard ecc83/it may be a smooth plate telefunkin in the phase inverter position or perhaps even in v1 position .
The amp sounds great! What a great blend of JTM45 & later... crunchier Marshalls! I will be building one of these soon, and can see myself following your lead. Thank you! QUESTION: It seems that Sozo caps typically give an amp a bright, and sometimes excessively bright/brittle tone. Have you found you have to work hard to avoid an overly bright tone on the JTM50 with the Sozo's? Thank you again!
Not really, if anything I’ve been trying to brighten this amp up a little more. I personally find sozo’s fairly smooth. Output transformer choice may be key here and have a bigger impact.
@@RDamps When you run into the bright input only, does that not give the right kind of brightness you're looking for? Any chance of maybe doing a follow up video to this, it was a good one. Maybe demo it running through the bright channel only?
I may just get a Modulus JTM45 kit as the template for the DS40 mod if it doesn't make sense to do it with my JTM50. I also am planning a 63' bassman build so I don't want to have bassman overkill happening in my studio with 2 JTM's, etc. This is what keeps me up at night.
Beautiful sound. But then again I grew up with a Superbass mk.2 ;-). I'm getting more and more convinced that this would be the amp I would use, should I have the option to play loud again ;-) I've been looking at Ceriatone for the future. A 2 x 50watt half stack setup is my dream ;-) Also a Helix user here.
My JTM50 build is ready to pick up. My amp guy did the shared to split cathode mod, as demonstrated, also a switcheable 100p bright cap, in hopes of adding some more Super Lead accents. I'm not exactly sure what the mod to V2A was, other than switching to a different cap. I think you said it was a cathode bypass cap. Does that mean the signal is bypassing that part of the circuit?
I noticed Modulus also has a radiospares repro transformer on their site. Have you heard it by any chance? I'm thinking of going with that for when I do my JTM45 build.
Very nice build, with such clean wiring. I have a similar circuit in my Ceriatone. I'm surprised the cheaper cathode cap worked out better. I'm a bit curious about the effects of cathode bypass cap composition has on tone. I think the switching was a good idea. I might try it.
Do u find it hard to adjust your playing going from a Les Paul to an SG? I just got an SG, am used to LP's and I mis-fret a lot when I first sling on an SG.
@@RDamps Are those Dagnall's made for Modulus ? Another question I have is about the head cabinet sold in their kits , are there accurate to vintage ones ? Man I love your channel ! Here to stay !
Unfortunately I've had the pleasure of hearing the Friedman DS40 and fell in love with it. Kind of a hefty price tag on her, however I saw a mod that the Headfirst guy does where he takes a JTM45 kit to DS40 spec. I'm considering having my tech do the same with the awesome JTM50 he built me. I'm wondering if I would lose some of it's essential character along with the mod though. Any thoughts?
@@RDamps Mine has a switch between both SS and tube rec. Do you think, as a DS40 it will still produce all of the JTM50 tones you got in the original, along with everything a master volume amp does? Will you do a vid demo?
@Rubber Duch Tech, You said Alnico 4's on the LP, I just put a new set of A4's in one of my LP's. I don't see A4's offered that often from winders, I'm curious, what make are they?
Great tones here but using a real speaker cab will produce completely different results. You'll actually get more headroom before breakup. Blackbacks go perfectly with this head.
The tech who built mine thanked me for 'letting' him build such a majestic beast.
Post a video of it dawg!
@@ryancopley7967 I should. I have a CaptorX and an interface. I'm fn' lazy though.
Fuuuuuuuuuudge that is an astonishing sounding amplifier. 🤯 Wowee! Excellent playing and also excellent handy work with the modulus kit - really tidy inside
You must be proud 😃
In all the excitement I missed what IRs you were using with reactive load - sounds like 4x12 greenbacks... Yes?
such a great amp. Particularly love it for those big+round fender style cleans, but it has a lovely bit and compression when the gain is cranked
Really great playing and tones. The mods make noticeable difference and give a touch more grit to the sound.
Around 6 on the volume, it really nails that Angus / Malcom tone.
Modulus are a great supplier and I use them myself a lot.
Great stauf and thanks for sharing.
I’m currently modding this be a Dirty Shirley now
Is that done by changing the preamp to that of a jcm800 ?
Sounds great - Angus Young-ish tone late 70s to my ears
What an awesome build, sounded killer with every guitar but because I'm completely biased I think to my ears it came alive most with the Les Paul and SG. The Baja Tele got an awesome rock rhythm tone to be fair. Also incredibly surprised by the metal tones coming out of it towards the end! Not as 'tight' as your usual high gain amp but more interesting for it. Great stuff.
great playing, great amp, thats why angus loves it !
Angus plays a jtm45 or a Wizard amp.
Sounds amazing. Great tones, soulful playing. Great demo!
Can really feel those AC/DC and Kossoff sounds come through. Beefy. *Drool*
What a fantastic amp!..mods are awesome.. Mal and Angus certainly had their own amps for the job.. I have a Splawn quickrod and a 1970 Marshall major I had modded by David Bray to a super lead circuit with a split bias.. 2 x KT88 and 2 x EL34..and really has a huge fat sound with the marshall punch.. I also have the solodallas storm which does Angus great.. love the black flag.. a builder in Nova Scotia does a great reproduction with a PPIMV.. Dr. Dan.. also rocks.. your mods are what I imagine the Marshall Vintage Modern w/KT66 to sound like.. I was sorry they discontinued that masterpiece.. love the old Marshall bark.. and great playing.. thanks for posting this!!! We're you running IR cab or pushing air?.. what speakers? Oh crap.. and btw.. the gretsch G6131MY is a fantastic guitar if you can find one used .. worth every penny.
OMG, I came across an individual in the early 80s who owned a Marshall Major ! He invited me to see the Major after seeing my stage rig when I was in a Cover Band playing outdoors with a Marshall Super through 4 cabs ! He told me to watch the electric meter on house when he cranked the Major ! OMG 😳, I freaked out ! That Major destroyed the power grid ! LoL ! I remember the amp head was in a White Marshall tolex ! Godzilla!
@@marshallohio5512 they are so loud..!!!
My tech is starting our JTM50 BF build in red tolex. After seeing this I'm thinking of going with a shared/split carhode switch. We had already decided on a bright cap switch. I really like the breadth of voicings in your JTM and how nice it sounds with a tele.
The heavy tones at the end really remind me of Adam Jone's early Tool sound, which makes sense considering he used a super bass modded to super lead specs.
That amp sounds great!
Also some great playing too!
Thanks Jeff
I fished around for NOS tubes for mine. Got a nice 65' Mullard for V1 and a couple 60's ampirex for 2 & 3.
Nice demo! I appreciate you giving the settings throughout the video. First a comment on the tele demo: I thought I could hear some fret buzz on the G string? Maybe I was imagining it? 'm surprised the amp stays tight with the channels jumped with the lower filtering you described in part 1. A couple questions on this build. I read in the comments that you used a bright cap; I thought the SuperBass did not have the bright cap? What value and type does it have? Perhaps that's the why the ch jumping is working so well here.... It still sounds very full and clean on the lower volume/shared cathode settings. I have two Plexi clones and if I ran the Bass on 7 it would be way too flubby. I usually run the bass at zero if the gain is cranked. Second, what pre/power tubes are you using? What NFB resistor value are using and which tap did you use? My understanding is the 67 spec used a 27k NFB resistor and in my amp with that value it stays clean until 8 and never gets that mean even on 10. My other amp will get more gainy but I believe it's NFB is 47k. I would like to figure out how do the mods you did as well as a switchable NFB. If you get a chance I would love to hear the same type of demo but with some more of the lower gain tones to hear the effect of the switches on cleaner (more bluesy/Hendrixy/single coil) tones. I would be curious to hear the lead channel by itself as well as jumped. Thanks!
I'm impressed with the Modulus transformers. Solid tone!
Best JTM50 video out there ! Do you still have it ? i'm surprised on how old it sounds .
Thanks for demoing a tele!
Man that sounds good, really good ! I'd like to hear it with a original klon in front of and some vintage Mullard ecc83/it may be a smooth plate telefunkin in the phase inverter position or perhaps even in v1 position .
Fantastic tone. Did you have any parts values changes to fatten the tone?
No, only added some options on the switches as mentioned. I’m going to be converting this into a Dirty Shirley soon
The amp sounds great! What a great blend of JTM45 & later... crunchier Marshalls! I will be building one of these soon, and can see myself following your lead. Thank you! QUESTION: It seems that Sozo caps typically give an amp a bright, and sometimes excessively bright/brittle tone. Have you found you have to work hard to avoid an overly bright tone on the JTM50 with the Sozo's? Thank you again!
Not really, if anything I’ve been trying to brighten this amp up a little more. I personally find sozo’s fairly smooth.
Output transformer choice may be key here and have a bigger impact.
@@RDamps Cool. Thank you. Good insights.
@@RDamps When you run into the bright input only, does that not give the right kind of brightness you're looking for? Any chance of maybe doing a follow up video to this, it was a good one. Maybe demo it running through the bright channel only?
I may just get a Modulus JTM45 kit as the template for the DS40 mod if it doesn't make sense to do it with my JTM50. I also am planning a 63' bassman build so I don't want to have bassman overkill happening in my studio with 2 JTM's, etc. This is what keeps me up at night.
I'll have to try cranking the mids on my Tele with my JTM50 build. I usually stay away from the mids because they are a bit much.
Beautiful sound. But then again I grew up with a Superbass mk.2 ;-). I'm getting more and more convinced that this would be the amp I would use, should I have the option to play loud again ;-) I've been looking at Ceriatone for the future. A 2 x 50watt half stack setup is my dream ;-) Also a Helix user here.
HI cool Amp build and sound. Do you tried or have thought about a Master Volume?
My JTM50 build is ready to pick up. My amp guy did the shared to split cathode mod, as demonstrated, also a switcheable 100p bright cap, in hopes of adding some more Super Lead accents. I'm not exactly sure what the mod to V2A was, other than switching to a different cap. I think you said it was a cathode bypass cap. Does that mean the signal is bypassing that part of the circuit?
No what it does is reshape and adjust the eq of the gain stage. In this case shaving off some bass and boosting mids and highs.
@@RDamps That's a great idea, I might ask my tech to add that mod as well.
I noticed Modulus also has a radiospares repro transformer on their site. Have you heard it by any chance? I'm thinking of going with that for when I do my JTM45 build.
Very nice build, with such clean wiring. I have a similar circuit in my Ceriatone. I'm surprised the cheaper cathode cap worked out better. I'm a bit curious about the effects of cathode bypass cap composition has on tone. I think the switching was a good idea. I might try it.
Well, your signal isn’t actually going through that capacitor. It’s just affecting gain and frequency cutoff of the gain
@@RDamps Which is why I asked.
Do u find it hard to adjust your playing going from a Les Paul to an SG? I just got an SG, am used to LP's and I mis-fret a lot when I first sling on an SG.
Hi i have a JTM 50 and it's too clean and I was hoping you could just do a really short video A/B the MOD you show in Part one
Thanks...
Sure, I was actually considering tweaking that amp a little.
WITH a Solodallas. To be earned a subscription sir. Thank you.
P.s. i have a JTM45, would it take much modding to get it to this spec?
Not at all. Angus used the JTM45 reissues modded to JTM50 spec during the late 90’s quite often
Seems like with those mods it covers a ton of ground. It's like the every Marshall Marshall. BTW, tube screamer not necessary.
That sounds really good! Very good! Did you use the pedal or the attenuator (which are placed on top of the amp)? Thank you for a reply.
Yes I used the Suhr load box all the time. . And the Storm Pedal with the SG
Thank you for reply. I just ordered the 69 kit...
Fantastic! Can you tell me what brand of transformers were used?
Dagnall
@@RDamps Thank you!
The Modulus Transformers seem high quality.
I just noticed, that's not a Gibson LP. Is it a kit or did you build it from scratch?
Awesome tones! What transformers are in your build? Do you have a bright cap?. I have a 68 50 watt jmp clone head.
Dagnall transformers and yes indeed I have the bright cap.
@@RDamps oh nice what value bright cap did you go with?
@@KyleSG88 100p Look part1 at 25 seconds
@@VintageDaedalus ah ok thanks!
@@RDamps Are those Dagnall's made for Modulus ? Another question I have is about the head cabinet sold in their kits , are there accurate to vintage ones ?
Man I love your channel ! Here to stay !
I'm building the same amp,too. What PT (690V?)/OT(?kOhm) and brand did you use? Thxs alot for help.
Sorry for the late reply Zenator. I used a Dagnall custom which are available from Modulus Amplification.
@@RDamps thanks for the information
WOW!!! So its completely stock JTM50 except the two switches? What values for the bright cap on the lead channel?
Unfortunately I've had the pleasure of hearing the Friedman DS40 and fell in love with it. Kind of a hefty price tag on her, however I saw a mod that the Headfirst guy does where he takes a JTM45 kit to DS40 spec. I'm considering having my tech do the same with the awesome JTM50 he built me.
I'm wondering if I would lose some of it's essential character along with the mod though. Any thoughts?
I’m currently converting this to a Dirty Shirley right now. Although I’m going to keep the ss rectification
@@RDamps Mine has a switch between both SS and tube rec. Do you think, as a DS40 it will still produce all of the JTM50 tones you got in the original, along with everything a master volume amp does? Will you do a vid demo?
I'm begging you to do a vid diary of the mod!
I'm surprised you were clipping at just 2. Mine needs at least 6 or 7.
@Rubber Duch Tech, You said Alnico 4's on the LP, I just put a new set of A4's in one of my LP's. I don't see A4's offered that often from winders, I'm curious, what make are they?
They are Tone City pickups. Great value inexpensive pickups
Apologies they are: Tonerider Pickups
Does it have a tube rectifier, what kind of tubes?
I emailed modulus about this exact unit. They haven't gotten back to me yet.
Awesome! Do you build and sell those? Thanks
I can and do
@@RDamps I'll ask for a quote, thanks
@@RDamps Thanks, I sent you an e-mail. 🤟❤
Great tones here but using a real speaker cab will produce completely different results. You'll actually get more headroom before breakup. Blackbacks go perfectly with this head.
But you need a power attenuator in either case.
I'm building the same amp at the moment, what choke did you use? 3H or the 20H?
I used the 3H choke.
Love it is this tube or ss?
All tube my friend!! (except the rectifier)
Are those UK made g12m green back 25's in that cab?
Yes sir
@@RDamps man what do you charge to build one of those? I'd like to get one with Kt 66's
Is it suitable for the Adam Jones kind of percussive style?
I would say so.
Is it called that way because of Black Flag (the band)? For some reason I don't think so. 🤣
I used to think that too!! But no, its because the J.T.M. is written in a black block or "flag". check the thumb nail of the vid and you'll see
WHAT IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JTM BLACK FLAG AND 68 PLEXI?!?
The JTM is only 50 watts and closer to a JTM45 / SuperBass circuit
Angus Crossing
is that a Modulus headcase too?
No it is my 1987x head shell