I’ve spent years buying, selling, and collecting amplifiers that have unique qualities I find useful for my playing styles. Some have collector’s value, but the reason I own each of these amps is their specific characteristics and their ability to perform in the way I need them. A few have been custom designed and built for me using my exact specifications, and some have been heavily modified. Additionally, I have production amplifiers that I liked too much to not own.
Marshall JCM 900 4100 100 watt Dual Reverb
The big brother to my JCM 900 2500 head. The 2500 had such a great sound, I was off to find it in a head that also had a clean channel. While Marshall likes to share the EQ with the two channels in this era, I still find that if I dial in a good clean tone, the drive channel also sounds good. Luckily for me, Marshall seems to have focused in on the EQ curves that I personally find most musical. I use this with two different cabinets: a boutique 212 with WGS speakers (shown), and a 412 1960a cabinet with two Vintage 30s and two G12T75s.
Quite a few people will tell you that the JCM 900 series is a place where Marshall dropped the ball, and the tones aren’t as good as the JCM 800 or other models. The biggest complaint is the use of diodes along with tubes to increase gain. Many people unknowingly mislabel this as “a built in tubescreamer”, which isn’t exactly true as the clipping state is different than an overdrive pedal. However, the gain stage in the 900 series sounds the same as my old JCM 800 2204. That head had an original Jose A. mod to it as well as a Metaltronix buffered effects loop (nearly a thousand in mods back in the day). This 900 is also remarkably close in tone and feel to the Metaltronix gain mods that were done to so many 800s back in ’80s and ’90s. OK – purists who prefer taking the 800 to its limits volume-wise to get tone, enjoy your hearing while you still have it. But for rockers who like a good gain tone so they can step on a tubescreamer for leads, this is your perfect head. In fact, much more so (in my opinion) than an unmolested JCM 800 (and far cheaper than modding an 800). Of course, the JCM 900 doesn’t hold the same value in the market because of bad press, but that just means they’re cheaper for us to buy than an 800 as well! Bottom line? For me, this is the best head Marshall put out for great rock tones with the versatility of an effects loop and clean sound, along with ability to control the master volume with a knob AND a 50% power switch.
Marshall JCM 900 4102 Dual Reverb 100-watt combo
I picked this up to get my half stack tone into smaller clubs. It sounds just like the 4100 head I have. It lacks a lot from the stock speakers, so I replaced them with WGS speakers (an ET65 and a Veteran 30). Now it’s exactly what I needed for smaller gigs and easier handling.
Full 100 watts, early EL34 model, adjustable effects loop, two channels. Everything I need for a quick, versatile rig at places that won’t let me pull hte half stack in.
Carvin VL100 Vai Legacy 100-watt half stack
One of the newer additions to my collection, this amp was a lucky purchase. The head was brand new (unused), and the cabinet had already been upgraded to a V30/G12T75 combination to improve bass response. I got the entire half stack for less than the cabinet would have cost me new before the upgrade.
VERY loud 100 watts. Even at the 50w setting, I can’t turn it up past 1 in the house unless I’m the only one home. It has a really sweet clean tone and an angry overdrive sound. I don’t take the drive past 12 o’clock – it truly has a LOT of gain. Both channels sound great. Truly an awesome production amplifier.
1984 Kitty Hawk M1 Custom
This started its life as a Kitty Hawk 100-watt M1 head. A craigslist steal, it didn’t sound right, and most of the cabinet was missing. Half of the knobs had broken off and been replaced with mismatched parts. Basically, it was trash. I worked on the head for a while: retubed it, cleaned up some sloppy repair work on the inside, and replaced a coupla components. I fired it up and it sounded great.
I researched high-powered speakers and chose an Eminence Swamp Thang, and contacted Mather Amplifier Cabinets and commissioned a totally custom, one-off cab to turn this into a 112 combo. I recently got rid of a vintage Twin Reverb and was starting to regret it, but this amp sounds better.
1983 MusicMan 112RD Fifty
Fifty watt 1×12 combo, release date of 02/24/83. Came with the original speakers and tubes. I packed them away and replaced the speaker with a Weber high-power Chicago; the tubes with JJs. Missing the cover and footswitch, but I never use that stuff anyway.
Two 6L6 power tubes and a single 12AX7 preamp tube. The clean channel takes pedals great – just like a Fender design. The gain channel is done with clipping diodes, so it’s a bit flabby in high gain settings, but with the gain set low, it makes an awesome blues amp. Excellent tones and volume for a small, light package.
Electrosonic Fireball Quarterstack
The Fireball Quarterstack. (RIP, Electrosonic Amplifiers)
This was their best production amplifier. 40 watts via 2xKT66 power tubes with a fat switch and hi/lo gain modes. TMB tone and master volume. This is also one of their coolest looking builds. My youngest son used to call it the robot amp. Johnny Socko would be proud.
This amp – as all E amps – takes pedals GREAT. Its high gain setting is thick and creamy as well, and it makes an awesome gigging amp. I use all Electrosonic amps for their unparalleled clean tones, though. As they have no effects loops, and I’m a primarily live player, I use them as a clean power amp that I run pedals into. They’re lush, vibrant, and react perfectly.
Electrosonic Fusion
The Fusion, complete. One of my main amplifiers, built to my specs by Josh Corn at Electrosonic Amplifiers. 2xKT66, 2xKT77. Hi/Lo gain settings. TMB tone. Separate blend for each output section. Voltage sag control. Hi “cut” control. Master Volume. 10″ and 12″ vertical stack combo with Weber AlNiCo and Celestion V30 speakers. Electrolight system. Purple sparkle Durabak covering.
This amp is probably the best clean sound I have, but unfortunately, the most inconvenient I have to carry. I DID have a custom road case built to make transport easier, but it’s still only slightly more convenient than a full stack. I use this to record lots of parts because of the amazing clean tone and how well it takes pedals. The drive sound is also deep and crunchy. With the mismatched speaker sizes, it covers a lot of sonic ground.
Electrosonic Thermosonic Custom
The Thermosonic Custom. Single-ended output through an EL34 power tube, GZ34 rectifier tube, TMB tone stack, and a custom Thames speaker.
Ampeg-style handle on the “Grandma’s stereo” aesthetics. Tube windows on the front and full side window where all wiring is visible propped up on ’50s-style angled legs. Trust me, even though it looks like a toy, it can sound like a Twin.
Early ’90s Marshall JCM900
Early Mark III series, model 2500. I had to do it… When I was preparing to get married, I sold almost everything big that I had to make room in our small starter house. One of the things to go was my Marshall JCM800 2204 head with the Jose mod. I loved that amp, and it was my main tone for almost ten years. But I moved to an ADA MP1 and a single-space ADA power amp. I could fit my “head” under the bed if needed.
Well, it’s one of those lifetime regrets. And I know I’ll never find that particular head again, so I gave up looking years ago. But enter a guy on Craigslist with this thing. It’s a pig – original tolex removed and *sloppily* replaced with this neon orange stuff. Lots of bubbles, sections peeling, etc. Plus it’s FULL of battle scars (some intentional, like the sanding off of the logo on the faceplate). It came with a nice boutique 2×12 cabinet with Celestion Century speakers. I grabbed it on a whim since the deal was right. Now, keep in mind I’ve owned 5 Marshall amps since my beloved JCM800 head (including a JCM800 combo), and haven’t liked a single one. So I figured I’d just end up selling this. But this amp sounds almost exactly as I remember my Old Faithful. So much so, I’ve decided to keep it and possibly start using it for my originals.
The Brown Super Deluxe
This amp is an original 1963 Fender Brown Deluxe. My youngest son found it in a “throw-away” pile at a local yard sale. It was in horrible shape, but definitely collectable. The guy there gave it to me.
I took it to Tom Kissinger to see if it could be saved. The original transformers were already removed, the case was badly aged, and with most of the internal caps destroyed, it plain old did not work. After TC and I spoke (and we realized that original transformers would cost crazy money), we decided that he would rebuild the output section using a vintage Bassman transformer instead, and swap the 6V6s with 6L6s, changing the output from 20w to 60w. We disabled the tremolo circuit and replaced it with passive TMB tone controls, as the trem would not work with the new output tubes (the trem worked by varying the bias on the output tubes, and the new tubes’ voltage would have smoked the circuit).
I had MatherCab build a new cab for it, completely cloning the original cabinet down to the exact dimensions. After a long phone call with CJ at Weber Speakers, we decided to have a custom speaker manufactured for it. It’s based on the Weber Chicago, which has an added low-mid response to thicken the tone up a little. I needed this as TC did not want to alter the original circuit too heavily with the TMB controls, and they are very subtle roll-off values, rather than an active EQ. Finally, I had CJ design the faceplate for it with the new control names.
