Another silly question about super lead's mods

martin g · Post by **martin g** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 10:25 am

Hello I've got a silly question about mods. I read forum and find so many mods, that makes me in trouble. What mods do you have that work the best with single coils stratocaster (your opinion): share split cathode, resonance controll, PPIMV, NFB etc...
Thanks very Much

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 12:09 pm

I dont really consider many of these things mods personally. Most of these things were stock from Marshall. Just changin between values Marshall used. My Split/shared switch is a mod. An extra preamp tube is a mod. When you change between split and shared your just going between 2 different Marshall configs. I dont know what to tell you because many people like many different Marshalls with strats. If you can say what sound you going for it may be a bit easier.

Shared and split can both sound great with Strats. A dont like resonance controls on non-master Marshalls. They get really hairy on the low end. Farty you could say. The PPIV is just about gettign good drive at lower volumes using a master. It can sound no better then the amp itself sounds. I do think more NFB is a good rule of thumb with strats. That hairy gain of less NFB isnt flattering with single coils. 47k on 8ohm tap is a good place to start if its not there already. My personal favorite config these days is to have a split V1, a .022 bright coupler, a 56k/250p tone stack, .1 output couplers and 27k NFB resistor on the 8ohm tap. you can mess with bright caps as well. You can also find your own values for certain things. Thats missing from Marshall cloners. TWrecks, Dumbles, Fenders, Matchless, etc.. cloners all have a thing about tweaking where its a must to be done when any amp is built and can be more involved then even building the amp itself but Marshall cloners always seem to stay with the different stock values. I have for the most part. Even when I drew up some switches to use on my amp the values I go right for is the Marshall values. Like the stage 2 bypass cap I have an on/off/on switch that gives .68, 330u or none. I recently replaced the 330u with 5u and I like that much better.

martin g · Post by **martin g** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 1:49 pm

Thanks I'm interesting in your tone stack it looks like that change has more fender amp sound. I have to check that. I have 47k and 8 ohm nfb, split cathodes, and 0.1 couplers you mean 2 after PI caps?
I'm looking for classic fender strato bell powrefull sound, ( hendrixy, bluesy). I've just made that 0.1 and 0.022 V1 and that sound much better thanks. What influence on your sound has 27K NFB resistor?

I have an on/off/on switch that gives .68, 330u or none. I recently replaced the 330u with 5u and I like that much better.

you mean V1 or V2
Thanks Martin

clarkydaz · Post by **clarkydaz** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:54 am

that bypass cap switch looks useful. how do you go about it? i have just done the split/shared mod, is it similar?

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 10:05 am

martin g wrote:Thanks I'm interesting in your tone stack it looks like that change has more fender amp sound. I have to check that. I have 47k and 8 ohm nfb, split cathodes, and 0.1 couplers you mean 2 after PI caps?

Yes, I mean .1 in the PI couplers. The tone stack values at 250p/56k are the early Marshall values and the later Super Bass values. They mostly lessen the gain if you were to change to that. Thats just my personal preference for a nicely balanced 1959.

I'm looking for classic fender strato bell powrefull sound, ( hendrixy, bluesy). I've just made that 0.1 and 0.022 V1 and that sound much better thanks. What influence on your sound has 27K NFB resistor?

I really dislike 100k for the NFB resistor thats most common in 1959. Its way too hairy for me. I began always using 47k then when I got really into JTM100s I started using 27k. It mostly just cleans and focuses the drive a bit more for a stronger more focused, tight grinding open drive as opposed to a compressed saturated drive which Im not much for. The EVH sound and the 70s rock sound, while I like it and do enjoy playing with it, is not really me. So to get that more grinding open drive I used the 27k at the expense of a bit of gain. Not a great amount but some. Ive experimented with a Focus control which is a pot in place of the NFB resistor for a continuously dialable NFB.

I have an on/off/on switch that gives .68, 330u or none. I recently replaced the 330u with 5u and I like that much better.
you mean V1 or V2

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The cathode bypass cap on stage 2 on V2a. The way I do it is to have the cathode (#3) connected to the middle lug of an on/off/on mini toggle and from there either side lug is connected to a .68 or 330 (or 5). I dont know that everyone would prefer 2 different values. Its a pretty common mod to add in and out the .68. They sound distinctly different with the .68 having more of a mid emphasis 'Marshall' kind of sound. The easiest way to do it would be to wire the .68 and 820ohm side by side on the board both connected to the cathode. Ground the 820ohm and send the .68 to a simple SPST switch with the other lug of the switch going to ground. Ive actually read of people using a rotary switch for that position with many different values. I dont know if Id ever go that far but its a commonly tweaked spot.

martin g · Post by **martin g** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 3:53 pm

Thanks very much I'll check that, thanks once more. Best wishes from Poland