Obsolete Electronics?

[tedmich]

I post a lot of silly, but its true silly, FATSTACK is real ($360 real!)

[J M Fahey]

Funny thing is that the perceived advantage is not there, at all.

Since window area is limited, they can't put more useful copper in there, so twice the stack thickness, half the turns (which allows them to use thicker copper diameter) but twice the average turn length, so it exactly evens out. (The Emperor is naked).

Winding DC resistance, which nowadays is the big bottleneck (steel has improved, copper is still copper), stays the same; transformer regulation, resistive losses, stay the same.

Only improvement is that core will work at lower flux density and have less *magnetic* losses (at the cost of doubling weight), but as said, nowadays that's not the main problem.

[Chuck H]

Funny thing is that the perceived advantage is not there, at all.

Since window area is limited, they can't put more useful copper in there, so twice the stack thickness, half the turns (which allows them to use thicker copper diameter) but twice the average turn length, so it exactly evens out. (The Emperor is naked).

Winding DC resistance, which nowadays is the big bottleneck (steel has improved, copper is still copper), stays the same; transformer regulation, resistive losses, stay the same.

Only improvement is that core will work at lower flux density and have less *magnetic* losses (at the cost of doubling weight), but as said, nowadays that's not the main problem.

Right! Efficiency at "transforming" 50/60Hz AC to the secondary is already a stringently met criteria. I guess I never noticed my "tone drift"-ing around. I'd like to amend my above analogy to recognize Juan's technical observations... A one gallon container holds a half gallon of water just as well as a two gallon container.

[Tom Phillips]

Very useful if you install both a super stack PT and a super stack OT. Then the chassis will sit high enough on your service bench for the power tubes to clear the surface. Just $750 extra bucks, 25 extra pounds added to the amp, maybe a new taller cab etc.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Very useful if you install both a super stack PT and a super stack OT. Then the chassis will sit high enough on your service bench for the power tubes to clear the surface. Just $750 extra bucks, 25 extra pounds added to the amp, maybe a new taller cab etc.

Save a lot of moolah: I have the Bob and Ray solution. Just bolt a couple blocks of fine USA made Monangahela pig iron to your amp, no one will be the wiser. Always remember your friends at Monangahela Metal Foundry, keeping your mind in mind.

[uboat229]

thanks for all the info.....im a geezer (65) and back in early '70s my twin brother played guitar and i played bass. he had 2 super lead 100 plexis and a small box jtm 45..... ive got a bluesbreaker combo reissue circa 1991 and im trying to get the sound he got on his jtm45.... on the reissue it aint happenin.... sounds great but not like the plexi...im going to switch filter caps to the 16x16/32x32..... now running old brown base tung sol 5881's.... might go to kt66's or 7581a's.... maybe change out the choke and some small stuff....as per raw-sewage.net%2Fjtm45ri_mods. .... Ted says the ot change makes quite a difference...and many thing the radio spares or drake ot's are made of pure unobtainiom...so im not much of a tech but recapped a couple leslie amps and im mostly a player for 55 years....has anyone played through an origional plexi and compared it to the new stuff?

thanks again

Uboat

[J M Fahey]

Don't overthink it or chase your tail , you are comparing warm old memories (including perceived sound) to fresh JTM45 reissue experiences.

The new one is basically the same, better built, safer, but lost the "God's amp" label long ago.

FWIW Eric also lost his "God" title long ago

[hannagrande]

I stil love that... memories is the best

[Chuck H]

thanks for all the info.....im a geezer (65) and back in early '70s my twin brother played guitar and i played bass. he had 2 super lead 100 plexis and a small box jtm 45..... ive got a bluesbreaker combo reissue circa 1991 and im trying to get the sound he got on his jtm45.... on the reissue it aint happenin.... sounds great but not like the plexi...im going to switch filter caps to the 16x16/32x32..... now running old brown base tung sol 5881's.... might go to kt66's or 7581a's.... maybe change out the choke and some small stuff....as per raw-sewage.net%2Fjtm45ri_mods. .... Ted says the ot change makes quite a difference...and many thing the radio spares or drake ot's are made of pure unobtainiom...so im not much of a tech but recapped a couple leslie amps and im mostly a player for 55 years....has anyone played through an origional plexi and compared it to the new stuff?

thanks again

Uboat

I think when Marshall changed to the plexiglass plates they also increased voltages and increased the size of the transformers. The plexi's also didn't use the smaller filters. Commonly 50/50 IIRC. These changes might make a more recognizable difference.

[Leo_Gnardo]

You can faff around with the amp innards until the cows come home... or select speakers that are a closer match to what ol slow hands was using back in the day of Beano. I really don't think some "special" OT is going to be the key to that sound. Some KT66's might help.

FWIW a friend of mine who's a serious amp collector - owned a couple original BluesBreakers - told me his fave combination with modern gear was Marshall's reissue BB played thru Celestion Blue Bulldogs, the ones you find in Vox, also currently made. At the time he said this, he had EL34's in his 'Breaker because KT66's were so tall he couldn't put the back cover on, though he did admit the KT's gave him the more authentic tone. (Original BB's were 15" deep, reissues only 9" hence the lack of room for output tubes so tall they wouldn't let the chassis fit in the amp.) Also note, if you invest in new speakers, Bulldogs included, it will take a bunch of playing, or some special treatment you can read about elsewhere on this site, to break them in. When new the low end will sound a bit deficient and "tight", after break in the speakers loosen up a bit and deliver a more satisfying bass response.

[The Dude]

Yes, and if you do all of that, you will sound exactly like EC.

[Justin Thomas]

Well, <SOMEBODY> Has to sound like EC! He hasn't done that himself since "From The Cradle."

Tongue-in-cheek! I jest! Though it was the last album of his that I really liked.

Justin

[Chuck H]

Yes, and if you do all of that, you will sound exactly like EC.

Yep! It's all in the amp and the guitar. Playing technique aside, of course...

Enzo mentioned a quote from a Clapton interview in a thread that had a similar note. Eric arrived at the studio and hadn't brought an amp of his own. He said "Just give me an amp. I'll get a tone out of it."

It's NOT the amp. Tone should ALWAYS be considered. I recognize good tone when I hear it. But the best players find something musical about almost anything they plug into and have learned to exploit those qualities to their best effect. Brass tacks.

[The Dude]

Yep. That was precisely my not-so-cleverly-disguised point. Clapton would sound more like Clapton through a Pignose than anyone else would playing through his actual rig.

That aside, I must admit: I like EC, but his "God status" is a mystery to me. I just don't see it. IMO, he's overrated. Let the sacking begin.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I like EC, but his "God status" is a mystery to me. I just don't see it. IMO, he's overrated. Let the sacking begin.

Moved into a neighborhood about 15 miles north of me a couple years ago, EC was seen buying shower doors at the home center & skulking around a local music store at the opening bell...

Meanwhile I got my ticket to see some real talent: Robin Trower, April 23. Always terrific. His tones are never obsolete!

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