jimmyhaggard's Reviews
7 reviews Back to jimmyhaggard's Equipboard
102
Sounds good, but....
It is bulky and a bit of a hassle. There are only two Leslie spin settings: fast or slow. Most of the time, the fast is too fast and there is no way to lower the speed. With the slow spin, many times it is too slow, with no way to increase the speed. It would be a great pedal if there was a control to adjust the spin speed of fast and slow, with no overlap (e.g. fast only slows to a point, and slow only speeds to a point). Meanwhile, the break works great and the drive gain is very nice.
102
Warm Crunchy Cookies
The TS808 pairs up with a TS9 on my board. The TS808 adds warmth, a smooth edge and some sweet crunch.
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102
A Hidden Gem
This TS9 is a touch brighter with a touch more edge than my TS808 pedal. I picked up the TS9 on ebay, thinking i was going to modify it with some resistor and cap changes, and would also replace the op amp chip with one used in TS808 pedals. I did a lot of research and had pictures of the circuit boards for every TS9 version released. When I popped open the pedal I was suprised to discover that the circuit board was different than all versions I had found, plus it had one of the excellent op amp chips used in TS808s, which were supposedly not put in TS9 models. I immediately closed the pedal up and left it just the way it came.
41034
when I was into screamers it was a long time ago so I had an original TS9 with the same opamp as the 808 and next to eachother there was almost no difference, thought the pots responded differently so you had to dial a 9 in to sound the same as an 808... during the big SRV guitar-rag explosion of that era I wound up shooting them out because of all the nonsense hype talk in those magazines. I couldn't imagine a slight tweak to the output circuit to optimize the impedance for a wider variety of amps could really make a world of difference. I didn't hear the massive world of difference.... there's a little more gain on tap from an original issue TS9 though. Now a student of mine bought a reissues TS9 when they came out in the 90s and that was indeed brighter and a little edgier as you put it. I remembered reading that the reissues stopped using the JRC4559 but I didn't believe an opamp could make a difference in a circuit that filters out so much anyway (not to mention that the opamps they chose to use also ahd similar slew rates at 9v) but the funny thing is we opened it up and there was JRC4558 in there too. Different PCB layout being a non-maxon pedal and some different cap and resistors types, but the same values. I have also shot out 2 original TS808s. Those did not sound the same and had the exact same board and parts inside. The fairy dust is really just variation in tolerances from the factory and parts drift, man. Like why some old amps sound better than others even though its the same model from the same year with the same current production tubes.
102
This is #1
I am supposed elaborate and wax eloquently, but there is no reason to. This guitar my #1. That's all I need to say.
102
Carvin Cabinet with Different Speakers
The stock Carvin speakers were pulled out and replaced with an old Celestion Vintage30 16ohm and a Warehouse Guitar Speaker HM75 16ohm. The stock Carvin speakers were nice, which was the problem. The Celestion and WGS pairing delivers everything from clean to crunch and more, with edge and a full sound spectrum.
102
Great Little Amp After Mods
Like its big brothers, the stock DSL15C did not do the trick. First the stock speaker was wimpy, so I popped in a Celestion G12H Anniversary speaker I had laying around. Much better. Then there were a few resistor and cap changes to tame the Ultra Gain channel. And finally, a JJ ECC832 in the first preamp stage (two tubes in one: the half used by Classic Gain is a 12AX7 at 100% gain, and the half used by the Ultra Gain is a 12AU7 at 20% gain), Tungsol 12AX7 in the other preamp slots, topped off with a JJ 5751 (military spec 70% gain). The stock Marshall 6V6 tubes were prefect as is. After the mods, this little amp is a tone monster, great for small venues and studio work.
41034
I wouldn't call tube changes a 'mod' -- you should outline the values you changed in the ultragain for resistors and caps though because I agree, these amps sound like crap stock. Its like Marshall forgot how to design an amp in 1990
102
Great Amp After Mods
Stock, the Classic Gain was anemic and the Ultra Gain was bone crunching. After a few resister and cap mods, preamp tube changes, and a pair of Mullard EL 34 power tubes (like smooth power), to warm up the Classic Gain and cool down the Ultra Gain, and replacing the speaker with a Warehouse Guitar Speaker ET65, this amp loud and proud.
41034
good call on the et65, its really does a good job copying an LDC celestion like were used in the early 800 series... like the Reapers they actually sound a little better than an old one and definitely sound better than the RIs.