~ Ain't nothin like the real thing ~ '68 Marshall Plexi + '54 Les Paul Content

[Filippo]

About 2 months ago, my '68 Marshall plexi finally made it home.

This one's got quite a bit of a story. This is basically is a Marshall plexi with all parts dating back to 1968 except for the chassis which is of a 1965/66 JTM45. The badge too is an authentic block logo JTM45 badge. This particular amp has been the subject of quite a number of bar room conversations with some believing it was made by Marshall in 1968 using mostly parts from 68 with the leftover parts from 65, chassis and badge included. Others say it's a 68 plexi rehoused in a JTM45 box while others say it's a parts amp. Truth be told, nobody really knows the real story behind this amp. But be that as it may, one thing remains certain ... and that's all the parts on the amp check out as authentic and period correct.

I bought this amp from a player / collector. He had quite the collection, from authentic and fully stock lead and bass circuit plexi's, black flag JTM100s, an authentic JTM45 too I think at one point, together with a whole slew of other vintage goodies like Vox AC30s and Fender tweeds. Needless to say, he's been around the block. Buying vintage for him never was a risk since Greg Germino himself maintained and tuned his amps for him.  Interestingly, this particular amp was the last Marshall he sold from his whole collection.

Both he and Greg agreed it was his best sounding Marshall ... even better than his authentic and fully stock Marshall JTM100 and other plexi.

Needless to say, I was super excited to finally have it find its way home to me. So in my excitement, I decided to put together a small video about my whole initial experience with the amp from unboxing it for the first time, to putting it to its paces.

These are some specs you might find interesting:

1968 Marshall Plexi
1986 Model
50 watts
2 x el34
Tube Rectified GZ34
'65/'66 JTM45 chassis
1954 les paul converted to 1957 specs with PAFs

I've owned quite a number of stuff through the years... stuff I bought and sold as well as kept. But of everything I've ever owned, it's this combination of amp and guitar that really does it for me for the kind of music I love.

This is by no means a professionally made video. It's was just all for fun for me. So please pardon the poor recording quality (you might want to lower your speaker volumes a bit to lessen the effect of the clipping from the camer's on board microphone) and lousy playing. Hope you find it as entertaining as I do LOL.

Video Link:

feature=em-upload_owner

Enjoy ... hopefully 

Es

Here's a pic of the amp and it's junior. Pasensya na, wala akong pic na di ako kasama LOL

[shoegaze geezer]

Congrats on your new amp bro. 

[Filippo]

Thanks brutha

[siore]

All you need right there. Congrats!

[tonwins11]

Imma listen to the youtube video when I get home. I'll used this as my benchmark sound when I have the chance to clone a ZVEX box of rock which was based on a JTM45. 

[Gunslinger]

That's probably the best unboxing vid I've seen. 3:53 doing a wah without the wah and 5:51 tone is the sex.
Congrats on your awesome acquisition! Slight OT, what camera and mic did you use to record the vid?

[r_chino18]

Congrats Es! How far was it from the Metro?

[inkslingerx]

Wow!!! Just wow !

[tonwins11]

Hayop! Ang sarap!   

[Filippo]

That's probably the best unboxing vid I've seen. 3:53 doing a wah without the wah and 5:51 tone is the sex.
Congrats on your awesome acquisition! Slight OT, what camera and mic did you use to record the vid?

LOL thanks man! The camera is a Canon 5D MKii and I just used the onboard mic ... kaya bumibigay ang volume dahil sa loudness ng sound in the room while I was recording 

But honestly ... the amp is not as loud as one would think ... it's also pleasantly loud. Di sasakit ulo mo after playing it kahit naka todo yung amp

[Gunslinger]

LOL thanks man! The camera is a Canon 5D MKii and I just used the onboard mic ... kaya bumibigay ang volume dahil sa loudness ng sound in the room while I was recording 

But honestly ... the amp is not as loud as one would think ... it's also pleasantly loud. Di sasakit ulo mo after playing it kahit naka todo yung amp

That's mighty fine gear you got there. Both guitar and photo gear! The quality of the onboard mic is amazing. It really captured the tone from your setup. I like the worn parts of the amp too. Makes it have that "player" feel.

[poacher]

Whew!

[Filippo]

Congrats Es! How far was it from the Metro?

Good question Rei... I think they are similar but different. I think the GPM45 actually sounds very decent considering it's a repro ... but I think a large part of the tone of the one I had was in the tubes ... The NOS GECs alone and mullard Pre's would have put anyone past the $1K mark ... The tubes gave the notes a bouncy feel, like the notes were wrapped in air if that makes sense. so all in, presyong Plexi na rin na orig.

I do like the firmer bass though of the 1986 model even if I had to turn it off and the overall more balanced EQ. With the JTM45 I dimed almost all the knobs. Yung plexi hindi.

I also like the clean tone, edge of break up and crunch tone better on the plexi. But I;d be hard pressed to pick between the 2 kung lead tone ang usapan.

Interesting how you don;t need to physically jumer the cables to let the Normal channel affect the overall tone even if you're plugged into the treble channel. I didn't think it was true until I tried it!

[Filippo]

That's mighty fine gear you got there. Both guitar and photo gear! The quality of the onboard mic is amazing. It really captured the tone from your setup. I like the worn parts of the amp too. Makes it have that "player" feel.

LOL well I do use the the Canon 5D for a living so kailangan talaga hehe.

Yeah I like the bruised up look more than pristine clean ... it tells me the stuff has been used ... most probably cos it sounds good hehe

Poacher, Ink, and Tonwins, salalmat mga bros

[MYN11]

Congrats sa napakasarap na combination na yan Pareng Es!!!

[analog.matt]

Congrats Sir Filippo!

post more vids!

[cayle]

The first minute....was like undressing a fine woman and examining her thoroughly. 

Schweeeeet sounding! Congrats Es! 

[gandydancer123]

WOw....exquisite!

[alvinratsim]

Yup, just like the jube, aint nothin like the real thing

[karlwilson]

sarap !

[pallas]

Nice clean marshall tone, nice vid...Congrats sa amp.

[mco77]

Suuweeet...! 

[Filippo]

Thanks everyone! I think the clean tones on a good marshall are well underrated ... crazy how this guitar sounds so good in all positions

3:34 - Clean tone Neck position

4:09 - Clean tone Middle position

4:45 - Edge of break up Middle position

6:49 - Edge of break up Bridge position

A variety of tones without touching the knobs on the amp ... everything was just controlled from the guitar. The dynamics of both the guitar and amp combined are incredible. Please do note that in the Little Wing segment, the modded Rat was ON the WHOLE time, even during the cleaner segments of the song.

*If anyone wants to know what mod was done on the Rat just lemme know. It basically makes the Rat less gainy with more of a mild overdrive and boost coming from the pedal. What's more amazing for me though is how the pedal melds into the amp after the mod...

[MrGobots]

holy shi.t, i knew i should have stayed on this thread and avoided the video. i've been gassing for an amp to go with last years guitar splurge, but nothing in this range though. nonetheless because you guys spend a lot and get orgasmic tones in the process, i know i wouldn't be spending anything less than an arm and leg combo for my next amp.... (for the record the goldea head/cab line is already arm and leg combo range for me hehehe)

congrats... nice playing too.

[Filippo]

Thanks Mr. G! Appreciate the kind words! I have another plexi type amp coming soon ... but a repro one so hopefully that one's a bit friendlier as far as price is concerned. WIll let you know how that goes...

Guys, thought I'd share this bit of info to everyone... hopefully this info will come in handy in the future to some of you:

I showed in the video my pre rola 4x12 straight Marshall cab. That cab is a wonderful cab loaded with pre rola speakers. It sounds great with almost any amp I've put it through! That said, when I first put the plexi through it, it sounded great, but it didn't make my panties drop. I tried dialing all the knobs until I got the sound in my head... close but not quite. The cleans were stellar but I was lacking in crunch.

Then I decided to plug in the amp into my Kerry Wright 2x12 loaded with a scumback M75 x H75 speaker set up. I started too jumpering both channels but realized that my tone was too round and not biting enough (not surprising as it was a bass spec amp) so I decided to plug solely into the High Treble input. And there it was. The crunch I was looking for was finally there.

So there. It wasn't exactly a plug n play thing. I had to work to find my tone in the rig. As you can see in my settings at the beginning of the video, my bass knob is down to zero. I suspect it's due to the following:

1. It's a bass spec amp
2. I'm using an H speaker in the mix which also is known to have more bass than an M speaker ... plus the H speakers are more efficient so you can hear them more over the M's

PS> I emailed Jim (of Scumback speakers) a few months back after what I experienced with the m75 x h75 pairing of speakers and he confirmed it for me. The H speakers wil touch more on the higher frequencies of the tone. The H speakers in effect supplied the crunch I was looking for out of the amp