jmp 50watt with magnetic components transformer set

[dukeamps]

have you tried the sozos? i've tried most types of ots, apart from mm, i think thats getting a bit to dear, and they all sound good, can't say i have been disappointed with any of them.

[iknowjohnny]

No, tho i have considered it. I may in the future. By the way, i tried the new tung sol ax7 and i've been going back and fourth between that and my chinese. But i'm sticking with the tung sol because it's just so much more harmonically complex. It just swirls with harmonics with that in V1. It's the only one i have tho so i'm going to try 2 more since this one sounds good in any of the sockets. (tho best in #1) 3 may be too much, i dunno. But i'm gonna try because i can see how the tone could go thru the roof with these and it could be a real jaw dropper. Have you tried these? If not you might want to give them a shot. they really sound rich, much more than any other ax7 i have tried.

[dukeamps]

No, tho i have considered it. I may in the future. By the way, i tried the new tung sol ax7 and i've been going back and fourth between that and my chinese. But i'm sticking with the tung sol because it's just so much more harmonically complex. It just swirls with harmonics with that in V1. It's the only one i have tho so i'm going to try 2 more since this one sounds good in any of the sockets. (tho best in #1) 3 may be too much, i dunno. But i'm gonna try because i can see how the tone could go thru the roof with these and it could be a real jaw dropper. Have you tried these? If not you might want to give them a shot. they really sound rich, much more than any other ax7 i have tried.

i have tried them and they sound good, but i'm happy with the rfts

[mojotom]

It's nice to see a JMP here, it's an amazing amp.

I've played a few old ones and tweak them here and there. I found a lot of well known clones do not have the tight bass thing going on, maybe not enough filtering.

I like a little overbias @ 41mA.

About transformers I rebuild an old russian 100W using only oversized parts, the amp was used almost everyday on tours so it need to be bulletproof (the old circuit was falling apart and needed work done too often).

I used a modified Metro board and overall good parts (PTFE wire, PEC pots,...), not too much filtering and Mercury Magnetics set (with bare wire from the OT to the speakers jack as wire).

It was a set my friend already ordered and was a bit sceptical. Me thinks a Marstran or a Drake clone would have been a better choice.

Anyway at first it was too stiff and hard but the LarMar Mv works nice
and I didn't heard the amp for a year.

After a great break-in and some minor mods (bias and bright cap removal mainly) the amp sounds fantastic and I can say I really liked what the oversized MM transformers bring to the table here.
The amp had gained weight for sure but the PT don't get warm at all after hours of playing when you can't touch the Dumble PT after one hour.
The OT seems to bring a nice bandwith with a nice top end and clear tight bass with a clarity and definition upgrade but not too much either.

And I was sceptical about MM.


I liked an old Siemens or Mullard pair for sure but really liked Wingled C so far (way better than Mullard reissue or TAD, at least for me), will try the chinese. So far I really liked their KT66 and GZ34.

[dukeamps]

It's nice to see a JMP here, it's an amazing amp.

I've played a few old ones and tweak them here and there. I found a lot of well known clones do not have the tight bass thing going on, maybe not enough filtering.

I like a little overbias @ 41mA.

About transformers I rebuild an old russian 100W using only oversized parts, the amp was used almost everyday on tours so it need to be bulletproof (the old circuit was falling apart and needed work done too often).

I used a modified Metro board and overall good parts (PTFE wire, PEC pots,...), not too much filtering and Mercury Magnetics set (with bare wire from the OT to the speakers jack as wire).

It was a set my friend already ordered and was a bit sceptical. Me thinks a Marstran or a Drake clone would have been a better choice.

Anyway at first it was too stiff and hard but the LarMar Mv works nice
and I didn't heard the amp for a year.

After a great break-in and some minor mods (bias and bright cap removal mainly) the amp sounds fantastic and I can say I really liked what the oversized MM transformers bring to the table here.
The amp had gained weight for sure but the PT don't get warm at all after hours of playing when you can't touch the Dumble PT after one hour.
The OT seems to bring a nice bandwith with a nice top end and clear tight bass with a clarity and definition upgrade but not too much either.

And I was sceptical about MM.


I liked an old Siemens or Mullard pair for sure but really liked Wingled C so far (way better than Mullard reissue or TAD, at least for me), will try the chinese. So far I really liked their KT66 and GZ34.

Hi mojotom, i think also a jmp 50 is a great amp. i have a jtm 100 jtm 45 trainwreck express and now two jmp50 amps, and my fav are the jmp50s
the idea behind this amp was to build a good amp on a budget, not go for the hype thing. so the only thing for me to get the amp sounding right was the caps, sozo caps are my fav. i'm sure mm are very good transfomers.
i have a pair of winged c after a two months they started to redplate so i had to change them, but they sounded ok. for sure mullards and rfts are the best, thats just my feelings. as for tad they are just chinese relabeled tubes, they sound ok, but i hate people who say they are selected tubes, and you spent more money on them only to find that you become very microphonic preamp tubes, not nice, and i would have been better of buying the cheaper chinese ones in the first place. sure i have a pair of relabeled gt 6l6 here, they didn't even bother to wipe the Sovtek label of before they put theres on them.

Yes that mv is fantastic, i have got it on all my amps apart from the jtm45,
works great.

Dukeamps

[iknowjohnny]

I hate to admit this because i was so sure it sounded better with the hammond, but i was wrong ! You know that much discussed wackiness we all deal with as hearing goes....one minute it's heaven, the next you're going what happened to my sound?! well, i began thinking something no longer sounded great, and to that point i'd been consistently amazed every time i plugged in at how great my tone has been for a few weeks now after the final tweak. Being no novice when it comes to this phenom, as great as i thought it sounded with the hammond i knew the MC OT was what i was missing. I find the initial change is often tricky, but upon trying the original part again thats where the truth always becomes obvious one way or another. And sure enough the MC DEFINATELY sounds better. In fact, the main component to the tone thats been what made me happy in the first place is much more there with the MC.

So doh ! The who said it best.....won't get fooled again ! At least when it comes to the MC vs Hammond ! But i'm glad this turned out to be the case because the MC is cheaper, and i intend to possibly build a few of these for others, and the cheaper it is to build the more $ in my wallet.

[dukeamps]

HI, All, here is two clips, the first is the new amp with Mc transformers, And the second is with Hammond transformers.

Both recorded with the same guitar Tokai 150-gt les paul with Jb humbucker.

clip 1
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9161618 hammond

clip 2
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9143382 Mc

The hammond has mullard el34s and the MC has rfts el34s. Both the same preamp tubes.

What do yous think sounds better.

Thanks
Dukeamps

[iknowjohnny]

I knew before i even heard it i wouldn't be able to say. We're talking things that when listening are too subtle to really say. Yes, you can hear a difference, but it's not like one is better. they're just slightly different in frequencies. The MC sounded a little darker. On mine however it was the opposite. the MC was brighter, tho in a good way, and i supposed it's because i A/B'd them with all the same tubes and everything. the one and only change was the OT. But had i been listening to someone play my amp when i tried the hammond and then went back to the MC, i don't think i could have even made a decision. Yet playing it myself it was a no brainer that i preferred the MC.

This is why i put very little stock in listening to clips online. Unless theres a huge difference i can never say which is better even if i can hear a difference. One reason is that in person you will often hear it differently. But more importantly, and something people never seem to consider much but to me is more important than the tone is the FEEL ! And you can't judge that at all in a clip, it has to be your fingers on the fretboard. IMO 90% of what separates the best solid state amps from tube amps is the feel. i've played some SS amps that sound as good as any tube amp i've ever heard or played. but in feel they all fall short. The MC DID *sound* better too, but even that wasn't something i'd hear in clips because the way it sounded better is i liked the way it responded to lower settings on my guitar's volume knob. You can't hear things like that in a clip. I remember aspen pittman of GT once saying the very same thing. He said, and i'm paraphrasing, "It's not the tone thats bad in SS amps, it's the feel they can't do like tube amps".

anyways, i'm not questioning your findings to be sure because as you know i too prefer the MC now. But i really had to find out for myself, and clip would never even come close to telling me what my hands on the fretboard did. To me the two clips sound the same except for the MC sounding a bit darker, which may just be the tubes and may even have sounded exactly the same in the clips had the treble been up a notch on that recording.

[dukeamps]

Yes i know what you mean. The feel is the most important thing about the amp, and there is so much can be different, even the mic an inch the other way can make such a big difference. The only thing what i'm not so sure about is the jb humbucker, can sound a little shrill. I have orderd a2 a3 a4 & a8 magnets to see how it sounds then. I have read alot how good the a2 jb sounds.

[Structo]

The MC clip seems to lose a bit of the sizzle on the top.
Are these two different amps?

If so I don't think you can attribute everything you hear different to just the transformer.

In fact the main difference could be the power tubes.

[Structo]

The MC clip seems to lose a bit of the sizzle on the top.
Are these two different amps?

If so I don't think you can attribute everything you hear different to just the transformer.

In fact the main difference could be the power tubes.

I have a JB in my Schecter and I have wondered about that shrillness and didn't know if it was the amp or pickup.

[dukeamps]

Hi, i have read over on the seymour duncan forum, that they are saying that on some guitars the jb can be to shrill, that is, it has a high mid spike, and the cure is to change the magnet to a a2. yes i have took a bit of the highs from the clips because i thought they where to shrill. I have uploaded them again without any eq, yes they are two different amps. The one with the hammond is the amp i have used for the last year, and i didn't what to change it, so i left the mullards in there. The amp with the MC is the new amp i have just built.

[iknowjohnny]

I've been meaning to try a duncan custom custom in the bridge of my strat. i researched them and a lot of people seem to think they are like a JB with a meatier sound and no shrillness. It appears to be a really good pickup for the bridge os a strat. I'd have tried one by now but i'n just so gun shy about pickups because it seems like for every one i end up liking i buy 5 that i don't, and i usually take a huge loss. But from what i read it sounded like THE puickup for those who want a non shrill JB. It's alnico but i don't remember which one, 2 or 5.

[Structo]

Is it the SH-11 Custom Custom?

Seems as a very high output with a DCR of 14.4K

Says it's for a bright guitar and I know you can't go by DCR or sound clips but the sound clip sounds very sizzly.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... ustom_cus/

http://www.seymourduncan.com/audio/supp ... rack45.mp3

[M Fowler]

The MC one is better to my ears.

Mark