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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → gotta tell you about my new amp..
That is awesome to see you found a piece of gear that has inspired you like that. I'm sure by now with all the stuff that you have played you probably thought that would be an impossible feeling to have again. Congrats!
Ahhh...G.A.S. syndrome never leaves us, not even at the professional level. Hunting for tonal sounds that cry in our head is so much fun and expensive and Joe there will be another amp someday that will provide that new tone you hear in yuor head. Speaking of, I just ordered a Two Rock Sig Cab loaded with their 1265R speaker for my 50-watt OTS, what tonal diffences might I experience from my current EVM12L Classic?
Merry Christmas!!
So I am recording a " discrete project" in early January. (you will know eventually but now you cant.. sorry). I needed to find a really killer Marshall. A clean tone one.. Like Paul Kossoff's or Eric Johnson. When I say clean tone one.. a 4 input model that when you turn to 6 or 7 its still not distorted but its loud and breaking up slightly.. So my friends at Guitar Center Hollywood vintage found me a slightly modded Super Bass 100 watt plexi panel head . It has a master volume added in the back but does little to the original tone. I plugged it in and was so blown away it made me cry. I finally found the Kossoff tone.. It is magic and due to the demand of 100 watt heads being less than spectacular and given the Guitar Center guys are uber nice, I got it pretty reasonable. Not since I ve been a kid ( a long time) have I been inspired to play by a amp or piece of gear. It is a magic one in a non collector clothing. Its in my living room now with a chandler tube driver and a boss reverb. Its the "Tons of Sobs" tone. Even with the THD Hot plate set at "neighbors" it is so good.. Sorry I am gushing a bit. But you know.. As for it seeing action Live, not a chance.. Its my new favourite child right now..
Joe B
Hello joe I like you!
I m a stubborn, so I came directly in your personal forum to try to get some answers directly from you .
My only and obsessive question:"How did you get such a pleasant and emotional tone from the bluesbreaker you played on tom and bob show given the well-known 62 BLUESBREAKEr is unplayable at normal volumes and I hesitate to buy one for My neighbours would like to drive me to jail and this would be a treat!
Please give me some clues fo christmas!
otherwise I m very interested by fender vibrolux reverb or the twin amp
Merry Christmas joe and how marvellous you are!
Will there be a second Marshall amp in your set again? 
Using Marshalls you can't do anything wrong
Sounds like it's time for another free cover 
mr big? worry? i just love the tone on the hunter, also their version of going down slow is epic...ok so now im just listing songs 
go on joe you know you want to
Awesome on the amp. But come on Joe, you can't talk about this secret project and leave us hanging in midair. I call shenanigans!!!!!! 
Joe, You are too funny. I feel you. Is it SMOOV? 
HO HO HO
Man this is making me want to get my Metro kit built even faster now!
Which one are you getting ?
100 Watt Superlead '69 specs. I may build it to Superbass specs depending on how it turns out. So far it's been challenging to say the least!
Wow I'm suprised. I figured you would have already had a Super Bass lol. Some people have a Marshall Stack, you probably have a stack of Marshall heads haha. Where ever that is must be glorious...
Ben
PS - I bet I can guess what this "secret project" is thats happening in January - just get that feeling somtimes. I might even bet my paycheck on it if it comes down to it . I think I'm 90% right - It's the drummer I'm unsure of, I figure there's 4 of them that could be a possible fit . Rock On!
Wow I'm suprised. I figured you would have already had a Super Bass lol. Some people have a Marshall Stack, you probably have a stack of Marshall heads haha. Where ever that is must be glorious...
Ben
PS - I bet I can guess what this "secret project" is thats happening in January - just get that feeling somtimes. I might even bet my paycheck on it if it comes down to it
What a Joe Bonamassa supergroup band? I forgot but Joe mentioned the name of his new album to be released this year...it couldn't be that could it? I don't really care because it seems whatever Joe puts out is friggin' gold!
So I am recording a " discrete project" in early January. (you will know eventually but now you cant.. sorry). I needed to find a really killer Marshall. A clean tone one.. Like Paul Kossoff's or Eric Johnson. When I say clean tone one.. a 4 input model that when you turn to 6 or 7 its still not distorted but its loud and breaking up slightly.. So my friends at Guitar Center Hollywood vintage found me a slightly modded Super Bass 100 watt plexi panel head . It has a master volume added in the back but does little to the original tone. I plugged it in and was so blown away it made me cry. I finally found the Kossoff tone.. It is magic and due to the demand of 100 watt heads being less than spectacular and given the Guitar Center guys are uber nice, I got it pretty reasonable. Not since I ve been a kid ( a long time) have I been inspired to play by a amp or piece of gear. It is a magic one in a non collector clothing. Its in my living room now with a chandler tube driver and a boss reverb. Its the "Tons of Sobs" tone. Even with the THD Hot plate set at "neighbors" it is so good.. Sorry I am gushing a bit. But you know.. As for it seeing action Live, not a chance.. Its my new favourite child right now..
Joe B
Happy New Amp Day to you!
Wow! So cool you've picked up one of these Joe- I have been lucky enough to have owned an original 1969 Superlead for many years and only just recently traded it for a smaller Two Rock/Matchless set-up- the sheer volume and endless worry of taking out on Pub & Club gigs just wasn't worth it... besides the places I play you just couldn't get it up too the correct levels to get it really singing... That Kossoff tone is very elusive- much of it is sheer volume imho, where the guitar is interacting alot with the amp... not that much distortion going on really... A good friend of mine has an original 'un-sullied' Superbass with two 'salt n pepper' 4x12's and a studio literally in the middle of a field...(luckily! ;-) I have to say playing my LP through it was a near religious experience... I had my rather wonderful and expensive Two Rock/Matchless set up next to it, but I have to say it still sounded 'smaller' and somewhat un-dynamic compared to the Superbass... can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to hearing the recording you're doing... Paul Rogers involved at all...???? ;-)))
Oooh snap! It's enough to stop me lurking. Stop copying me.
I've had this little baby since around 88 I think. It's a 1971 Super Bass 100w head 0031C but someone has tried to alter the last C so it looks like a 0. It was like that when I got her.
http://freaky-geeky.com/guitars/JMP-SB-F.JPG
http://freaky-geeky.com/guitars/JMP-SB-B.JPG
It's also kind of loud in a testicle flapping kind of way.
-- Edit --
Does the img tag not work on this forum?
Having worked on and modded one of Eric Johnsons 100W Plexi Marshalls, I can tell you they are all fitted with 6L6 Power tubes, not EL34 or KT66. They are the shared cathode variety , which is the same configuration as a Super Bass....they also have the same tonestack as the Super Bass (for the technical: 56K/250pF). Eric runs them flat out...period.
To make an EL34 Marshall run with 6L6's, it requires a small mod. to the bias supply (6L6's require about -10 or so volts
more than EL34's). They tend to have a wider sound stage and because the 6L6 requires more drive voltage, tend to stay cleaner higher on the volume control. They will slowly morph into overdrive at around 5-6 on the volume. Even at 10, they are not mega overdriven but a very huge and dynamic crunch tone.
The earlier Superleads (circa '66/67) had the same shared cathode arrangement and tonestack as the one Joe has, but just had an extra couple of bypass caps that let a little more high end through on CH1........although this was partially offset by the fact they originally came with KT66's and had a higher OT primary impedance. Even with 6L6's these amps tend not to be quite as loud as the later amps, but are a bit smoother sounding. These are the amps that Hendrix used a lot !!
The very early ones had two output transformers in, each dealing with a pair of tubes.
Another famous player that used a 100W Superbass for a lot of years is Gary Moore....think his was a '73. He used it with a Boss DS-1 or SD-1.
I owned more Marshalls than I could ever use for a while.....though I've offloaded a '67, a '68, a '72, two '73's and a '76 in the past couple of years. I don't use them much now. I kept my fave which is a 50W(!) '73 shared cathode amp...oh and I have a '66 JTM-45 Replica that I built for myself based on Angus Youngs favourite amp.
Alan Phillips,
Carol-Ann Custom Amplifiers
You ROCK Alan! If I were on TGP I would insert a "not worthy" icon right here! I've always wondered about EJ's plexis because they do NOT sound like any other artist who uses a Superlead. It's weird because in multiple interviews Eric mentions that they are stock or simply had a few cap upgrades...I guess the cat's out of the bag now! EJ is such a sly dog man, playing clueless and not giving up his secrets lol. So in reality EJ's amps are more like a gigantic Tweed Fender Bassman? Interesting...
Great info Alan! I had no idea. The more I learn, the more I learn that I don't know, a never ending education/ignorance cycle.
I'll put it here too. Joe Bonamassa please play "Fire and Water" By Free. I'm on my hands and knees begging now!!!
Having worked on and modded one of Eric Johnsons 100W Plexi Marshalls, I can tell you they are all fitted with 6L6 Power tubes, not EL34 or KT66. They are the shared cathode variety , which is the same configuration as a Super Bass....they also have the same tonestack as the Super Bass (for the technical: 56K/250pF). Eric runs them flat out...period.
To make an EL34 Marshall run with 6L6's, it requires a small mod. to the bias supply (6L6's require about -10 or so volts
more than EL34's). They tend to have a wider sound stage and because the 6L6 requires more drive voltage, tend to stay cleaner higher on the volume control. They will slowly morph into overdrive at around 5-6 on the volume. Even at 10, they are not mega overdriven but a very huge and dynamic crunch tone.The earlier Superleads (circa '66/67) had the same shared cathode arrangement and tonestack as the one Joe has, but just had an extra couple of bypass caps that let a little more high end through on CH1........although this was partially offset by the fact they originally came with KT66's and had a higher OT primary impedance. Even with 6L6's these amps tend not to be quite as loud as the later amps, but are a bit smoother sounding. These are the amps that Hendrix used a lot !!
The very early ones had two output transformers in, each dealing with a pair of tubes.Another famous player that used a 100W Superbass for a lot of years is Gary Moore....think his was a '73. He used it with a Boss DS-1 or SD-1.
I owned more Marshalls than I could ever use for a while.....though I've offloaded a '67, a '68, a '72, two '73's and a '76 in the past couple of years. I don't use them much now. I kept my fave which is a 50W(!) '73 shared cathode amp...oh and I have a '66 JTM-45 Replica that I built for myself based on Angus Youngs favourite amp.
Alan Phillips,
Carol-Ann Custom Amplifiers
Great post!
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → gotta tell you about my new amp..
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