I have been building valve amplifiers for a while using turret boards and making clones or modern versions of old amps. Five different Fenders, two Kalamazoos and then this week I build a 2204. Wow what a classy amp this is. I found your video quite interesting and will be watching part 2 shortly. Thanks for your work.
I happened on the Video of the 2204 (old style) and I was watching it, right after I subscribed. And while I was putting the chassis back in the case, you mentioned cleaning the grounds on the caps. Whoops. I had cleaned the grounding points of the output tubes when I was installing 1ohmers. But I had forgotten to do the cap grounds. Thank you for the timely reminder. It's back out of the case and getting those points cleaned and burnished. Might have been fine, but as you said, why gamble. By the way, I admit to the newer version of the 2204, being my weapon of choice. Being an old beat up Rock-n-Roll front guy/rhythm guy , what else could it be......
I have 69 smallpox 50 bass 1986 circuit that is the best sounding Marshall I have ever played. I had a loose impedance socket thingy so I just hard wired it. Do they make original replacement for those? I didn't want to put in a modern looking one. My Bulgin chord will vibrate loose once in awhile when the head is on top of cab. Maybe I can just replace the chord end part of it or tighten it somehow. I'm not sure they make those female Bulgin receptacle parts on the end of the power chord??
You talk about fuses in this video and in a lot of videos. I too understand how important they are. My question: I have an Amp with 3A slow blow. I blew it accidentally. Didn't have any slow blow at the time. I put a regular one in. It's been fine for a few years. Is it alright to leave it? I'm guessing it's fine so long as it's not blowing. But it bothers me every time I use the amp because, I know it's not right.
This amp doesn't need mods. I change one resistor on V1A from 10k to 4k7. This amp sounds perfect stock with one tiny change to the first gain stage. Add an overdrive if you need more gain. The 2204 is absolutely the best amp ever made. I have a '77 and a '78. The '77 sounds better than the '78.
Regarding fuses starting @2:30, I saw that other video about the Bogner that a road crew put a 30 amp fuse in. What is the deal with people putting wildly inappropriately fuses in guitar amps? It seems these people have either zero understanding or very flawed understandings of what the purpose of fuses are for in the first place. Just barely enough knowledge--because they figured out where to get those fuses and put them in--to be dangerous.
The truth is that the Daly capacitors are of incredibly high quality and are safe to keep in the amp if there is no sign of overheating or label shrinkage, or crackling, buzz, or hum in the amp's output. I'm generally very militant about replacing old filter caps but I've literally NEVER seen a bad Daly cap in a Marshall unless it had those signs that I mentioned.
And this amp had a sourness to the sound that new filter caps fixed. It's amazing how much better amps sound when working as designed. That's the truth.
I had the filter caps go out on a Hiwatt and somehow it cased it to take out all four four original Fanes in my cabinet. Ouch! I’m not familiar enough with the subtleties of failure signs to be confident enough to to spot them.
I took my 2204 to a tech in 1997 and he took my Daly caps!!! I immediately heard the difference and called him in a rage!! He said they were blown. He's a liar. I called him back about 5 years later and he didn't know who I was. I gave him hell and he apologized and told me I was right and you shouldn't change out caps unless they have failed. I have F&T caps in both my JMP 2204 heads now. After a few years they sound great but not the same as the originals. Take photos and initial your components before you take your stuff to a tech. Tell them not to make any repairs or changes not authorized without calling you first. I do all my own work now but 25 years ago I had to use amp techs for my stuff and I deeply regret it. Unethical techs are evil people.
@@PsionicAudio Reread my comment. I restate, I've literally never seen a bad Daly cap in a Marshall unless it had the clear signs of reaching the end of its useful service life that can be expected. Label shrinkage due to overheating, vent bubble, or of course, actually vented/leaking. And boy, do some of the more militant vintage Marshall collectors ever lose their minds when you suggest that you dare replace an original part, unless it's actually puked its guts out inside the amp! Even then, they'll protest and say "But it's still working! I don't want to lose originality! Waaah!!!" Personally I always recommend cap replacement on a 10 or at most 15 year cycle, but in the case of old Marshalls I've more or less been forced to take it on a case by case basis or risk pissing off my customers. They want to keep their original parts and think that new parts can't possibly have any mojo in them. Which is not true, of course....
I really don't understand why some people replace a blown fuse with a way-overrated one, they are just as bad as the people who wrap a blown fuse with tinfoil.
WOW! SMOKED a $3000 amp with a $0.25 wrong fuse!! Very stupid error. Haven't had anything like that....yet. Worst thing I had was someone take out an Output Transformer by getting stoned and plugged the output into the input and then fired up!!! :O People NEED to get off the stupid era-specific component horse. Old components, at least resistors and electrolytic caps NEED to be replaced on ALL amps 40+ years old (80's and before). The capacitors go out of tolerance and eventually short to ground and have catastrophic effects (as you shown). Old resistors drift and have measure components 25% to 200% of their value! All over the place and end result is loss of tone, design intent, and consistency between amps! STOP BEING STUPID PEOPLE and change those components out!
I have been building valve amplifiers for a while using turret boards and making clones or modern versions of old amps. Five different Fenders, two Kalamazoos and then this week I build a 2204. Wow what a classy amp this is. I found your video quite interesting and will be watching part 2 shortly. Thanks for your work.
I happened on the Video of the 2204 (old style) and I was watching it, right after I subscribed. And while I was putting the chassis back in the case, you mentioned cleaning the grounds on the caps. Whoops. I had cleaned the grounding points of the output tubes when I was installing 1ohmers. But I had forgotten to do the cap grounds. Thank you for the timely reminder. It's back out of the case and getting those points cleaned and burnished. Might have been fine, but as you said, why gamble. By the way, I admit to the newer version of the 2204, being my weapon of choice. Being an old beat up Rock-n-Roll front guy/rhythm guy
, what else could it be......
I never knew that Marshall made a MV amp without the cascaded gain stages. How interesting.
There is also the "Rock'n'Roll Baby" (four holer combo with MV).
Great info in this one. Like learning something I didn’t know.
I have 69 smallpox 50 bass 1986 circuit that is the best sounding Marshall I have ever played. I had a loose impedance socket thingy so I just hard wired it. Do they make original replacement for those? I didn't want to put in a modern looking one. My Bulgin chord will vibrate loose once in awhile when the head is on top of cab. Maybe I can just replace the chord end part of it or tighten it somehow. I'm not sure they make those female Bulgin receptacle parts on the end of the power chord??
I have a 76 JMP50 4 holer rocker switch. it sounds great!
That is a 1987 or 2187 if a combo
Oops I didn't realize this video was a year old. I still gave it a like.
You talk about fuses in this video and in a lot of videos. I too understand how important they are. My question: I have an Amp with 3A slow blow. I blew it accidentally. Didn't have any slow blow at the time. I put a regular one in. It's been fine for a few years. Is it alright to leave it? I'm guessing it's fine so long as it's not blowing. But it bothers me every time I use the amp because, I know it's not right.
A fast blow may give you a false failure mode, but it's safe. Like, ultra safe. So safe it might be annoying.
This amp doesn't need mods. I change one resistor on V1A from 10k to 4k7. This amp sounds perfect stock with one tiny change to the first gain stage. Add an overdrive if you need more gain. The 2204 is absolutely the best amp ever made. I have a '77 and a '78. The '77 sounds better than the '78.
You changed it on a 76 or a 77? I agree about 77's btw
@@marshallmajor6019 77 2204 and a Ceriatone clone. They sound a lot alike but the vintage Marshall has something special in the highs and the lows
Wow, can't agree more, and I have a '77 and a '78 as well! Never found anything better.
Are the plastic shaft pots stock?
Surprising, I thought they only used the plastic stuff on later amps.
I saw a late 79 Mark II 2203 with plastic pot shafts and one was broken off short. What should a person do that issue?
Regarding fuses starting @2:30, I saw that other video about the Bogner that a road crew put a 30 amp fuse in. What is the deal with people putting wildly inappropriately fuses in guitar amps? It seems these people have either zero understanding or very flawed understandings of what the purpose of fuses are for in the first place. Just barely enough knowledge--because they figured out where to get those fuses and put them in--to be dangerous.
I think they put in whatever they have lying around. And it's terrible.
@@zbaby82 Yeah... Perhaps that's what happened, and they should have known there was 0% chance it would work fine. It's a shame.
The truth is that the Daly capacitors are of incredibly high quality and are safe to keep in the amp if there is no sign of overheating or label shrinkage, or crackling, buzz, or hum in the amp's output. I'm generally very militant about replacing old filter caps but I've literally NEVER seen a bad Daly cap in a Marshall unless it had those signs that I mentioned.
I have seen bad Daly caps. They aren't magic. All things must pass, even the really pretty blue things.
And this amp had a sourness to the sound that new filter caps fixed. It's amazing how much better amps sound when working as designed.
That's the truth.
I had the filter caps go out on a Hiwatt and somehow it cased it to take out all four four original Fanes in my cabinet. Ouch! I’m not familiar enough with the subtleties of failure signs to be confident enough to to spot them.
I took my 2204 to a tech in 1997 and he took my Daly caps!!! I immediately heard the difference and called him in a rage!! He said they were blown. He's a liar. I called him back about 5 years later and he didn't know who I was. I gave him hell and he apologized and told me I was right and you shouldn't change out caps unless they have failed. I have F&T caps in both my JMP 2204 heads now. After a few years they sound great but not the same as the originals. Take photos and initial your components before you take your stuff to a tech. Tell them not to make any repairs or changes not authorized without calling you first. I do all my own work now but 25 years ago I had to use amp techs for my stuff and I deeply regret it. Unethical techs are evil people.
@@PsionicAudio Reread my comment. I restate, I've literally never seen a bad Daly cap in a Marshall unless it had the clear signs of reaching the end of its useful service life that can be expected. Label shrinkage due to overheating, vent bubble, or of course, actually vented/leaking. And boy, do some of the more militant vintage Marshall collectors ever lose their minds when you suggest that you dare replace an original part, unless it's actually puked its guts out inside the amp! Even then, they'll protest and say "But it's still working! I don't want to lose originality! Waaah!!!" Personally I always recommend cap replacement on a 10 or at most 15 year cycle, but in the case of old Marshalls I've more or less been forced to take it on a case by case basis or risk pissing off my customers. They want to keep their original parts and think that new parts can't possibly have any mojo in them. Which is not true, of course....
I really don't understand why some people replace a blown fuse with a way-overrated one, they are just as bad as the people who wrap a blown fuse with tinfoil.
WOW! SMOKED a $3000 amp with a $0.25 wrong fuse!! Very stupid error.
Haven't had anything like that....yet. Worst thing I had was someone take out an Output Transformer by getting stoned and plugged the output into the input and then fired up!!! :O
People NEED to get off the stupid era-specific component horse. Old components, at least resistors and electrolytic caps NEED to be replaced on ALL amps 40+ years old (80's and before). The capacitors go out of tolerance and eventually short to ground and have catastrophic effects (as you shown). Old resistors drift and have measure components 25% to 200% of their value! All over the place and end result is loss of tone, design intent, and consistency between amps! STOP BEING STUPID PEOPLE and change those components out!
If he wanted a cascaded 2204, then he should have just bought a newer one. These non-cascaded ones are pretty rare and sought after by some.