Weber British kits, advice/suggestions...

[pc]

As I mentioned, I'm thinking of getting a Marshall-esque amp, and I'd like suggestions from Weber (or Marshall) enthusiasts.

First of all, this is meant to augment the DRRI, not replace it. To me this means low power (like the 18 watt kit--the 6M16 TMB). For the band I play most with (classic rock, R&B, blues), I plan to use just the Weber at small venues, and both together at medium to larger venues.

Second, we're talking vintage British sound here. I'm not looking to get 80s hair metal sounds, Yngvie whatsisname, Randy Rhodes, etc. I want some hair on the tone of the cleaner stuff, ala Jimi. For some leads I'd like to occasionally be able to get to Jeff Beck, Mayall/Bluesbreakers, etc. by pushing the front end a bit with a pedal. I'm not really into channel switching, etc.

I also really enjoy the Strat tones Joe Bonamassa gets, although sometimes they get a touch heavy for me. I know he uses various Marshall or boutique Marhsall-copy heads, sometimes two at a time, which may mean I can't get there with just an 18 watt combo.

I really think the warm clean of the DRRI combined with the mid-heavier 1974x-type tone might really be great.

Am I on the right track with the 6M18?

Second, given the way I intend to use it (occasionally by itself, mostly with DRRI), would you recommend 1x12, 2x10 or 2x12?

Thanks!!!

(And again, I intend to order it assembled).

[NTBluesGuitar]

6M18 is the overwhelming answer I was given when asking the same question. It's supposedly pretty loud for 18W...I'm going with the TMB when it comes time.

I've posted on the Weber forum about it, there are some good answers there regarding this question.

[Kap'n]

Wish I could help you. I don't know much about Marshalls.

[boobtube21]

I can't speak for the Weber kits but I played one of those 18 watt Marshalls at GC in their back room once, cranked it up progressively until it was dimed.

I don't know, I wasn't too impressed, but of course the salesman kept commenting on how great it sounded. At one point I was trying to get harmonic feedback, and it wouldn't give it up, and he said, "It gets great harmonics, huh?" I tried not to laugh

It has a 70's era rock characteristic that I'm kind of not a fan of, can't think of a band to compare it to though. Plenty of gain, but kind of gooey in a muffled sort of way, like I couldn't turn the volume on the guitar up high enough. Does that make any sense?

You know what though, I was playing an LP, so a strat might like that amp better.

[MMP]

The last Marshall I had any experience with was an '82 50 watt JCM 800 2x12 combo
I loved it for it's Allman/Betts like tones. I just got old and don't want to haul 4x12 or even 2x12 amps/cabs anymore.

[pc]

I agree MM. I have played through a JCM 800 back in the day, and it really has the tones that I'm talking about, and of course it also went above and beyond to the kind of stuff I'm not as into, at least not for the last 15 years. But like you, I have no intention of hauling around a separate cab & head. I can deal with a 2x12 if it's the best bet, or definitely a 2x10.

I was just thinking a 2x10 would be a nice compliment to the 1x12 of the DRRI.

[JAM]

pc,

How much 'hair' were you thinking of getting on the Marshall. Possibly the 6M36 would give slight more headroom. You mention driving the front end with pedals anyway.

[95strat]

It may just be me...haven't listened to the album for a while, but his tone reminds me of Clapton on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," w/o the flange of course. Very 60's brit indeed.

What speaker was that Fezz? Any idea what amp as well?

[pc]

pc,

How much 'hair' were you thinking of getting on the Marshall.

Thing is, I already get a great British-type tone from my DRRI and OCD with the OCD set fairly low and the guitar's volume rolled back a touch.

I guess I'm feeling like I'm "cheating" if I'm doing that with a pedal rather than having an amp do it, but maybe that's stupid. I'm seeing just how many other folks do the same thing in those DRRI threads, so maybe I'm not so far off.

Anyway, to answer your question Joe, my thought was it would be great to have a second amp that when "clean" sounded like my DRRI/OCD combination, so that when I stepped on my OCD the DRRI would get slightly dirty and the "Marshall" would go into fairly serious grind. I thought they might sound really nice in combination like that.

I've already "cheated" this idea too. I wired my pedals so that most of my pedals went to my DD-3, which split the signal to my DRRI and G-100. Then, after the DD-3 (on the "dry" side") I put the OCD set to low crunch, going into the G-100. Thus the DRRI was ultra-clean and the G-100 was a touch hairy. Then, when I stepped on the FD-2, each went progressively up a notch in grind, and it was a cool sound. I really dug it.

[pc]

I think you need a tweed deluxe with a british voiced speaker. I know this horse who wears a cape and a mask who plays through one of those. He gets some killer 60's brit flavored tones, like on that Red Letter Blues track...and that's without any pedals. Put a boost in front, like your Fulltone, or in the horse's case, a Bad Bob, and you're in brit blues heaven.

I guess I never thought of it that way because I figured if I was going to do this, I should get a circuit that was substantially different from the Deluxe genre. However, said that way, it's an idea with great potential. I could do exactly what I just wrote above, except use the Fat-Boost going into the Tweed Deluxe only, obviously substituting the Tweed for the G-100.

Hmm...

BTW, I stuck a couple MP3s over in my thread about the new Strat that feature the OCD into the DRRI to give an idea of that sound.

[pc]

Fezz--which circuit/cab design/speaker choice should I look at on weber's site for that?

[mageerc]

I built a Weber 6M18TMB and it's a really good sounding amp, though I did have to chase some "demons" out of the amp. The TMB side had a bit too much gain to suit me and I used Weber's suggestions on the schematic to reduce the gain some in that channel as well as using a .68uF cathode bypass cap instead of the 50uF cap provided (the circuit sounded a bit muddy from too much bass passing). I also ended up using shielded cable for the wires connecting the input jacks and the wire connecting the volume pot as I was picking up some 60 cycle hum. This amp is VERY sensitive to lead dress and I spent quite a bit of time rerouting wires in the TMB channel to deal with a squeal which would manifest as the volume pot was turned past 5. Routing the input wire over the board to put some distance from the OT output wires cured the squeal. All that having been said, it's a great little amp and has enough volume to greatly disturb my neighbors, the closest of which are some 100 yards away! I made some parts substitutions as some of the provided parts were a bit cheezy... I replaced the indicator light, the input jacks and the switches. The main parts were very good (chassis, transformers, cabinet, etc.). Overall I am very satisfied with the amp...

[pc]

Wow--great info mageerc. Thanks. I just signed up for the 18-watt community, so I plan to check out the sound samples posted there over the next few days and see if that lines up with my ideas.

I certainly don't want to buy the amp already assembled only to have to change/fix a bunch of things.

[ziess]

Maybe Weber would sub in better parts?
I'd recommend you change the jacks to Switchcraft and the switches to Carling or whatever and maybe the pilot light.
Weber certainly supply higher quality versions of all the stuff you'd want to change out (except maybe the switches...) so they might be up for swapping some stuff in. Everything else in the kits (as has been pointed out) is excellent.
They're nice guys, I suggest you email them.

Tommy.

[mageerc]

Maybe Weber would sub in better parts?
I'd recommend you change the jacks to Switchcraft and the switches to Carling or whatever and maybe the pilot light.
Weber certainly supply higher quality versions of all the stuff you'd want to change out (except maybe the switches...) so they might be up for swapping some stuff in. Everything else in the kits (as has been pointed out) is excellent.
They're nice guys, I suggest you email them.

Tommy.

They offer an "a la carte" option now that you can leave off certain parts and get a bit off on the kit. They are also carrying Mercury Magnetics trannys as well, though I notice they are only for Fender models...

[pc]

They are also carrying Mercury Magnetics trannys as well, though I notice they are only for Fender models...

I saw that too and thought it was odd, but I don't know diddley about the transformers.

[mageerc]

Ted is just trying to please a very wide customer base by offering these MM trannys for the folks who think his transformer offerings are lacking. I personally have had no dealings with any of the transformers save for the 6M18 series and I find nothing lacking in them. I'm sure the others are good as well. Sometimes you might find someone who wants to pay extra for the MMs... you know the rub... "mine is bigger than yours..."

[pc]

Update: I was able to play a Budda Superdrive 30 2x12 this evening at a friend's house after work. WOW is all I can say. Definitely boo-teek pricing on the new ones (and my friend ain't sellin' his ), but the sound I was unable to describe accurately was there. What my brain hears as "Plexi" tone was there in spades on the lead channel, but at controllable volumes. The clean channel (yes, I know, I said I don't like channel switching amps) was great too--not Fender clean of course, but different in just the right way from the DRRI that I think it would really be a great partner to it.

There are no dealers here in Columbus, but one in Cinci I might try to hit this weekend. I'd like to try out the 18-watt version and the 1x12 version of the 30-watt too just to hear the differences.

But yeah, WOW.

[NTBluesGuitar]

I just signed up for the 18-watt community...

Very cool place. I recently signed up there as well (about 3 weeks ago) to grab the 18W TMB schematics and layouts. There are some really good galleries of builds and originals, too.

Their forums aren't as lively as I'd expected, but there's plenty of information there.

[pc]

So I took an extra long lunch hour and drove down to Cinci to try the Budda amps they had in stock as listed on their website. This particular little place is also a Matchless and Bogner dealer, and their site said they had a few of those in stock too, so I figured what the hey.

As it turned out, their webmaster quit over Christmas and the website (which is usually updated daily) was several weeks out of date, and they had no Buddas (or Matchless that I could see).

Well... shucks, that was a long drive for nothing.

I must say that the owner was EXTREMELY cool and apologetic, and gave me a free set of strings. I should have called before I left, but I trusted the blasted 'Net--always a mistake.

Still, since Cinci is famous for Greek-owned restaurants that serve chili over spaghetti (Skyline being the best known but certainly not the best, for those in the know), I got to try yet another one that I hadn't had yet--Pleasant Ridge Chili. It was quite tasty.

Then I had to drive back.

Heck, that's what my iPod is for. I enjoy a good drive to clear my head occasionally anyway.