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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Newportnobby on June 27, 2015, 09:52:10 PM

Title: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Newportnobby on June 27, 2015, 09:52:10 PM
Recorded it last night (BBC4) and watched it earlier on tonight.
If you like your music loud then turn on, tune in and drop out (at Volume 11, of course)
Plenty of archive film of great axemen.
Might be available on Ketchup or similar
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: scotsoft on June 27, 2015, 09:58:52 PM
It has been on before, so it may be one of those programs that are repeated every few months  :thumbsup:

I did not realise it was being shown last night again, otherwise it is a program I could happily watch again  :thumbsup:

At volume 11, of course  :D

cheers John.
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 27, 2015, 10:26:25 PM
Argh ! Missed it !!
and I have a pair of 15"  +  electrostatics ready and waiting , , ,
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Zogbert Splod on June 27, 2015, 11:01:51 PM
Always went for Fender amps myself. (or, lately, Randall).....


Edit:  My tablit can't spel four tofee!
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Malc on June 27, 2015, 11:31:48 PM
I remember going to see the Who in the 60's, with their kilowatt Marshal stacks. It was quite a small venue and I couldn't hear properly for about 6 hours. Seen plenty of groups since who used Marshal - Hendrix was one. Wished I'd known it was on.
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Zogbert Splod on June 27, 2015, 11:46:33 PM
Great days Malc!  Back then we were all trying to get our hands on a Vox AC30 - then along came Marshal.  The invasion of the stack!  A HUNDRED watts!?!?!?!  Holy bat doo-doo!

I saw the Who back then too.  What a show...  And Hendrix, I was at his last British concert (Albert Hall).  When the lights came up for the last part of the show there seemed to suddenly be twice as much equipment on the stage.  Strange, we all thought - then the Experience became Experience + Cream.  Aye, it was a pretty fine show altogether.....
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 27, 2015, 11:47:52 PM
Quote from: Malc on June 27, 2015, 11:31:48 PM
I remember going to see the Who in the 60's,
Nice one,
That brought a smile - If you can remember the 60's you wer , , ,
oh never mind ,,
I can remember them and the anecdote is not true ;)

heheee, they dont make 'em like that no more :(

Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 28, 2015, 12:20:11 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on June 27, 2015, 11:46:33 PM
Great days Malc!  Back then we were all trying to get our hands on a Vox AC30
Back then were we not discovering the inadequacies of the 6V6 and 6L6, then the EL (oh heck I forget the number 34?) and moving on to a bank of 807s ?
813s were reserved for serious business, like communicating via rf with foreign personages :)
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Zogbert Splod on June 28, 2015, 04:27:21 AM
Quote from: MalcolmAL on June 28, 2015, 12:20:11 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on June 27, 2015, 11:46:33 PM
Great days Malc!  Back then we were all trying to get our hands on a Vox AC30
Back then were we not discovering the inadequacies of the 6V6 and 6L6, then the EL (oh heck I forget the number 34?) and moving on to a bank of 807s ?
813s were reserved for serious business, like communicating via rf with foreign personages :)
Wasn't it EL81's and EL83's?  Don't remember much about the jam jars to be honest.....
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: port perran on June 28, 2015, 08:22:15 AM
Saw it about 6 months ago. Excellent programme
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Malc on June 28, 2015, 09:11:46 AM
Quote from: MalcolmAL on June 28, 2015, 12:20:11 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on June 27, 2015, 11:46:33 PM
Great days Malc!  Back then we were all trying to get our hands on a Vox AC30
Back then were we not discovering the inadequacies of the 6V6 and 6L6, then the EL (oh heck I forget the number 34?) and moving on to a bank of 807s ?
813s were reserved for serious business, like communicating via rf with foreign personages :)

I think it was the EL84, IiRC. There was also the KT66
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 28, 2015, 11:15:33 AM
Quote from: Malc on June 28, 2015, 09:11:46 AM
I think it was the EL84, IiRC. There was also the KT66
:idea: :thumbsup:
Well done Malc, better memory than I, them's the ones :)
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MikeDunn on June 28, 2015, 11:23:50 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on June 27, 2015, 11:01:51 PM
Edit:  My tablit can't spel four tofee!
Shirley that's tofu ?
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Malc on June 28, 2015, 11:54:52 AM
I remember building a 30watt class B power amp, using valves. I scrounged all the bits from second hand radios. Unfortunately, no one had told me about ageing capacitors then. When I switched on, there was a very loud hum for about 10 seconds, followed by a sharp crack and a spray of tin foil. End of amp.
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 28, 2015, 12:10:32 PM
Quote from: Malc on June 28, 2015, 11:54:52 AM
I remember building a 30watt class B power amp, using valves. I scrounged all the bits from second hand radios. Unfortunately, no one had told me about ageing capacitors then. When I switched on, there was a very loud hum for about 10 seconds, followed by a sharp crack and a spray of tin foil. End of amp.
Tell me about it !!!
I still have some valve radios in the attic, dare not turn them on without first doing some serious re-polarising or even replacing :(
and a mono amp with them newfangled all glass bottles (you know the new ones without the bakalite base ;) )
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 28, 2015, 12:13:22 PM
Quote from: MikeDunn on June 28, 2015, 11:23:50 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on June 27, 2015, 11:01:51 PM
Edit:  My tablit can't spel four tofee!
Shirley that's tofu ?
I think Splod's a bloke,
so Shirley should be Sherbert
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Malc on June 28, 2015, 12:21:24 PM
The B9a bases. Very modern. I also remember fixing receivers with octal bases when I worked at the World Service in the 70s.
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 28, 2015, 12:30:02 PM
Quote from: Malc on June 28, 2015, 12:21:24 PM
The B9a bases. Very modern. I also remember fixing receivers with octal bases when I worked at the World Service in the 70s.
Eeek, and I remember gert big valves that we wheeled into their transmitters on trolleys when I worked at the BBC overseas tx at Daventry, in the 60's !
My brain wants to say CAT29 but I cant see that number in google ??

Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Luke Piewalker on June 28, 2015, 12:44:27 PM
AC30s are EL84's, Big Marshalls 6L6/EL34/KT66

Based on the normal key factors of what was readily available and most reliable at the time  :D

I mean on tone and sound quality...   :angel:
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Zogbert Splod on June 28, 2015, 12:57:53 PM
For reasons that will remain unsaid and in a place that will remain unspecified I remember sitting on a fairly small floating arrangement off the coast pumping HUGE sound pulses into the water. The electronics that drove the transducers was housed in two large metal boxes. They were referred to as the Amp box and the Rectifier box. My boss always claimed the Rectifier box to sit on when the weather was a bit chilly (coz it got comfortably warm) - right up to the day when someone got hold of the stencil kit and changed the legend on the side of the unit to Rectumfryer.
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 28, 2015, 01:40:16 PM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on June 28, 2015, 12:57:53 PMwhen someone got hold of the stencil kit and changed the legend on the side of the unit to Rectumfryer.
Was he also an ex-employee of the BBC ( the British Broadcorping Castration ) ?
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: PostModN66 on June 28, 2015, 02:30:42 PM
Mine share space with modelling.  That's Deansmoor on the left, and a bit of a new micro-layout on the right.

(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/22/thumb_26441.JPG) (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=26441)

Funny, I never set out to collect them, my main amp is a Mesa Boogie - they just seem to collect like "dust in the grooves".  I had a 30th Anniversary once in blue Tolex.  Man, that WAS loud - but I didn't like it much, not "Marshally" enough!

Cheers  Jon  :)

Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Malc on June 28, 2015, 02:35:12 PM
I must admit that in my youth, I was a Charlie Watkins fan. Having said that, I did use AC30s and an Orange PA, before I gave up playing.
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Zogbert Splod on June 28, 2015, 03:56:23 PM
Watkins ——> Selmer ——> home brew ——> various Fenders (Randall)

Today, I do have a vintage S.G. and an amazingly nice Chinese acoustic with a piezo pickup inside. Currently, no amp at all. However, I am a wee bit interested in a small Vox modelling amp I saw recently...





(I'll add this bit down here incase anyone actually sees it - and a five string banjo!)
(I also have a set of Gretsch pickups which I am contemplating installing in the acoustic (if I do get the Vox amp))
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Bealman on June 29, 2015, 05:20:26 AM
I've got one too  :D
[smg id=26487 type=preview align=center width=400]
[smg id=26488 type=preview align=center width=400]
[smg id=26489 type=preview align=center width=400]
[smg id=26490 type=preview align=center width=400]
[smg id=26491 type=preview align=center width=400]
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 30, 2015, 12:06:57 AM
This, from wikip where else ! , may be why I was having a mental difficulty over the EL34 / 84 bit :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EL34
my bolds
Quote
The EL34 was widely used in higher-powered audio amplifiers of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the very popular Dynaco Stereo 70 and the Leak TL25(mono) and Stereo 60, and is also widely used in high-end guitar amplifiers because it is characterized by greater distortion (considered desirable in this application **) at lower power than other octal tubes[citation needed] such as 6L6, KT88 or 6550. The EL34 is found in many British guitar amps and is associated with the "British Tone"  (Marshall, Hiwatt, Orange) as compared to the 6L6 which is generally associated with the "American Tone" (Fender/Mesa Boogie).

and I couldnt rummage in the attic t'other night else it would'av awoke the natives, but turns out my amp up there has a pair of EL84's, (apart from those that still have 807's, including a variable voltage 250v psu of my own design and construction,) that attic is bordering on a Tardis look-like  :)

** not forgetting the contribution to the 'overtones' a polite description :) ,  of the guitars by the paper cone / suspension of the (cheap but became desirable) loudspeakers that could be afforded by those of that ilk of that time.
and which are still being marketed to this day with those very specific 'desirable' (for that application)  characteristics !


Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Zogbert Splod on June 30, 2015, 01:56:41 AM
Quote from: MalcolmAL on June 30, 2015, 12:06:57 AM
** not forgetting the contribution to the 'overtones' a polite description :) ,  of the guitars by the paper cone / suspension of the (cheap but became desirable) loudspeakers that could be afforded by those of that ilk of that time.
and which are still being marketed to this day with those very specific 'desirable' (for that application)  characteristics !
Oh yeah!  Cone slap we used to call it.  Dave Davis was the king of cone slap distortion.  He used to use a razor blade to weaken the old style corrugated paper speaker cones to make them slap louder than everyone else's.  The VOX AC30 2x15" model was the one to strive for if you REALLY wanted the slap sound.  Didn't the 2x15" use Celestion 'Blue' speakers?  Could well be sooooo wrong.

Want one? Look here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOX-AC30-EXPANDED-FREQUENCY-TWIN-FIFTEEN-1963-TOP-BOOST-VERY-RARE-/151720312109 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOX-AC30-EXPANDED-FREQUENCY-TWIN-FIFTEEN-1963-TOP-BOOST-VERY-RARE-/151720312109)
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: MalcolmInN on June 30, 2015, 02:01:31 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on June 30, 2015, 01:56:41 AM
Want one? Look here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOX-AC30-EXPANDED-FREQUENCY-TWIN-FIFTEEN-1963-TOP-BOOST-VERY-RARE-/151720312109 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOX-AC30-EXPANDED-FREQUENCY-TWIN-FIFTEEN-1963-TOP-BOOST-VERY-RARE-/151720312109)
OMG !
Title: Re: Play it loud - the story of the Marshall amp
Post by: Malc on June 30, 2015, 10:57:34 AM
It may be very rare, but I wouldn't pay those sums for it. You wouldn't dare switch it on as all the caps would have dried out. I wish I'd kept mine, although it was just a bog standard one.