Tube-Town 18W TMB "Marshall" Amp Kit - Let's Make Some Noise!
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
- I'm always snooping around on eBay for the weird and wonderful - and recently came across this strange looking amp head. It was listed as an "18W TMB" amp...but that was about all I knew. After a lot of digging and sleuthing though, I was able to figure out that this began its life as an amp kit provided by German company Tube-Town. The big giveaway was the Hammond output transformer - as whilst several companies manufacture a TMB amp kit, only they provide Hammond transformers as standard.
After a few emails, we established that it was indeed a Tube Town kit, but whoever had put it together upgraded some of the components (notably the tone caps, as TT have never provided Sozo caps with their kits). So what I ended up with was a turret-board hardwired Marshall 1974-style amp, with one side 'original', and the other modified with a TMB tone stack and master volume. Cool, eh?
It sounded cool, but something about it wasn't sounding quite right compared to vintage examples of that circuit I'd heard online. So I took it to my local amp tech Mike Devine, who both serviced the amp and also compared the TT wiring schematic to what was actually in the amp - and in the process, found a fair few components that were either the wrong value, or just...added. The speculation is that this kit was soldered together by an expert builder, but somewhere along the line it's been used as a bit of a test-bed for various mods, some of which had been left in. So Mike restored it to the schematic for me, using some premium components along the way.
So I now have the exact TT 18W TMB amp circuit....'original' on one side, TMB on the other. It's powered by 2x EL84s, with a EZ81 rectifier, so it definitely has a spongy feel to it compared to a higher powered EK34/KT66 Marshall circuit, and some Voxy tendencies in the high end. But it's a killer sounding thing - and as is the way when buying other people's kits on eBay, you can end up with a phenomenal amplifier for peanuts money.
What do you think? Classic jangly Marshall tone? Would you prefer ceramic speakers to tame the fizz? Comment below!
Guitars:
- Gibson Les Paul Jr w/ Monty's '54 P90
- Fender MIJ Telecaster w/ Monty's '53 bridge & Bare Knuckle Flat '50 neck
- Rickenbacker 330 w/ Creamery '63 Toasters
- Gronlund R16 Redeemer Jr w/ TV Jones Ful-Fidelity "Ray Butts" Filter'Tron
- Gibson Les Paul Standard w/ ThroBak SLE-101 PAFs
- Nathan Sheppard NSG1 w/ Bare Knuckle Knuckledusters
- Gretsch Duo Jet w/ TV Jones T-Armonds
- Heritage H-535 w/ Monty's PAFs
- Gibson SG Standard w/ OX4 Low-Wind Alnico 4 PAFs
Amp running into a Zilla Studio Pro 2x12 cabinet loaded with Scumback S75-PVC AlNiCo and Celestion AlNiCo Gold speakers. Recorded with Aston Spirit Condenser, '70s Sennheiser MD441 and sE RNR1 ribbon mics, with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic.
0:00 Intro
8:55 Playing
15:59 Outro
joeperkinsmusic
jp@joeperkins.co.uk
Vector images by freepik.com
Looks to me like the amp was built using the ceriatone 18 watt tmb layout. A very nice version of marshall tmb.
If you find there is a bit of hum , and you know how to discharge the caps, you.might want to bend the yellow wires that go to the tube sockets , away from the twisted black and white wires..
So Glad you demoed it without any Pedals. I am building one with 6V6's.
Very nice "Kit" amp. This was my first build on a kit amp, about 10 years ago.
Holy! That Les Paul Junior had some punch!
I prefer this to the JTM45. I loved with the Gronlund (to be fair, i loved it with all the guitars). It seems like those "low powered" Marshall and filtertrons are made for each other.
Yeah, the 'Trons sounded ace though this amp! :-) Comparison with the JTM45 coming on Sunday 👍
Nice sounds Joe. Great playing. Goes to show, you don't need name brands, nor big rigs.
Great story and I'm really impressed with the range of tones you're getting out of it. Sounds so sweet with the Alnico speakers at low to mid gain settings, the sagging tone with the SG at the end is cool for sure. You've always got something interesting up your sleeve, Joe, looking forward to your next reveal!
Thanks Jack...more to come with this amp on Sunday!
with the sg, it sounded heavenly.
i do really like the amp, it's got great twang and a great growl.
oh, and a great thunk.
Kits can be purchased here in the UK from Modulas amplification and also they can be built for you at extra cost.
Wonderful video. Informative, fun and nice playing.
well i really liked the sound and the recording. often when i come across an amp demo and it sounds too clean, i see people are using a UA or torpedo captor, etc. so it's nice to see you can actually get that tone with "only" a 2x12 and a small wattage amp.
I love that amp! Great tones.
Sounds great Joe...the key is to not push it too hard I think, then it's awesome.
Thanks Simon :-) Yeah absolutely - anything below 7 on the volume sounds pretty awesome; a little too much fizz for me above that!
Nice one! I used to have a TubeTown pi18 which is a Marshall master volume 18 watt type build which sounded great after tweaking some parts.
Hey Joe, great stuff as ever. The opener on the Junior was so 70s! Love it. One thing I did notice from the interior pics was the use of 'IC' branded caps. If you weren't aware, these are made by Illinois Capacitors. Another amp tech channel I watch (Psionic Audio) doesn't hold these in high regard and always changes them out. That's a channel I think you'd enjoy.
Agreed. Whenever I get a Hot Rod or Blues Deville or Deluxe or a Blues Jr in for a service those IC caps are always the first to go. Throw some JJ or F&T caps in there Joe!
Interesting - thanks for the info! Any idea why he doesn't like them? Tone/stability/drift/lifespan/etc?
@@JoePerkinsMusic it was lifespan, just looked up the video he was referring to. Lyle (psionic guy) says that he often gets blues junior ic cap equipped amps in for issues because the caps are leaking electrolytic and have failed.
hi, the amp sounds great. i have the 1974x (1974-1x12 ,1973-2x12,1958-2x10)with the matching 1974cx 1x12 cab at 8 ohm,sounds much fuller than with 1 speaker at 16 ohm . i swapped all the tubes to vintage mullards, i63's are recommended at least at v1 and v3 and will tame the highs a bit and add nice low mids. the greenback heritage speakers are nice but also sound a bit bright on this amp when driven but the clean tone is amazing with any guitar. i think that an alnico cream speaker would be perfect for this amp, most ceramic speakers can sound very bright with el84's as well, ive swapped a cheap ceramic speaker on a hotrod deluxe to an alnico cream and it came out spectacular ,far less bright than before.
i have one greenback from 2005 in the combo and one from 2015 in the cx cab and the worn one sounds a lot better so i'm thinking of swapping out the new one for an alnico cream.
Cool, sounds great!
I've built loads of Plexi clones (and Marshall restos' in general) since 2005, and have never built an 18 watter. Have to do it now!
Btw, I've always used Sozo caps, they do have that British flavor going on, better than any other new production cap out there.
Great Joe - glad it arrived safely and you are enjoying it !!!! I like the les Paul through it 😁
Thanks Scott - really enjoying it! :-) Comparison with my JTM45 coming on Sunday 👍
@@JoePerkinsMusic awesome I'll keep a look out for it 👌
Nice video!
I have built several tube amps and there are many ways to control that EL84 fizzyness (?). If possible I always add a cut control à la Vox AC 30 to PI, which gives nice extra possibility tonadjust tone in addition to a normal tone stack, and if the fizzyness comes after PI and cut, a properly valued so called output stage snubber circuit (which operates quite similarly as cut control because both are basicly just RC-circuits, but operates at much higher voltage levels than PI cut control circuit) can solve the problem. Output stage snubber however is a bit problematic because OT spike voltages can be so big and dangerous when output stage is heavily overdriven than it is quite difficult to make it safely adjustable or even switchable.
Some amps sound too fizzy when using guitar with fresh strings but are quite OK with very old strings. And some amps just need a 80's Celestion Vintage 30s and all excessive high end is gone. 😁
I think a Cut control would be great with this circuit :-) Ta for all the info!
@@JoePerkinsMusic You're welcome.
And as small addition related to the snubbers: Their purpose ( in addition to protect OT and output tubes by taming voltage spikes ) is mainly to compensate the increasing loudspeaker impedance in higher frequencies, and if you really want to nail it, you practically have to observe the frequency/impedance response using a certain speaker etc. and adjust (try and change, i.e. trial and error method) the snubber component values to match a impedance curve of that certain loudspeaker model and then always use the same loudspeaker with that same snubber. It can be a bit tricky thing to do, and needs both measuring devices and ears.
According to my experiences a proper snubber can make distorted sounds very tight and nice sounding especially if you are seeking some very tight and strong professional sounding heavy metal sounds, but if you are using the amp to give clean sounds with a sparkling high end and that nice dynamic loose feel, the snubber can remove some character of that vintage tube amp sound and make the amp sound a bit lifeless, clinical and dull, too much like a hifi amp especially if the output stage originally is working without negative feedback, like for example Vox AC30.
Great sounding amp. I built one myself from the shell of a Marshall MG100FX, with a Classic Lead 80 and a Vintage 30 speaker. Try running it with JJ EL844 tubes - gives you less headroom. These are a great little amp.
Oh yeah, I used Hammond Transformers for my amp too. :)
Você faz a simplicidade ser apreciada com paixão.
Parabéns
Obrigado! :-)
I’d probably reach for one of these over a Vox for the classic edge-of-breakup ‘chimey’ sound
Wow that sounded fantastic! Nice score!!!! I would, however, build a nicer head cab for it.
I quite like the ratty looking shell...gives it some character :P
The egg monitor
nice sound btw
Sounds really good mate! Seems to sparkle with both PAF's and Filtertrons , and imho doesn't make EL34 or 6L6/6V6 feel missing. Just a little hint for the future , better keeping caps and resistors a bit more distant from each other when you can, improves big time components' durability.
Ta for the info - I didn't build or modify this amp myself, but I'll keep it in mind if I ever try to do one!
I love it!!!!
The Rick just sang with that amp. Definitely my favorite of all of them. Although the one you played after that (is that the "Gronlund Redeemer"??) also sounded extremely good. As much as I really love the sound of beefy, high output humbuckers, to me, this sort of pickup doesn't bring out the best sounds from this amp.
Nice versatile tones! Upon first sight of the cabinet I was worried about air flow and heating, but perhaps those smaller tubes don't get quite so hot. I noticed that on the TMB side the bass control was often quite low and on the simpler side the tone control was usually quite high . Then when I heard the SG it was like a fuzz. This circuit (or that output transformer) must strongly push the low frequencies.
It's completely open at the back (it should probably have some sort of cover tbh!) so plenty of air getting in. Yeah, it seems a little like a JTM45 in that it _loves_ bass!
I really want to hear this amp with your Gronlund R16 Redeemer with the RB Filtertrons but... CRANKED, and maybe with less bass cut
Nice riffs ! The ones I preferred were with the Tele and the Gronlund with the Filtertron. To me EL84s are fine: more chimey than the typical EL34 valves, but isn’t the world great cause it’s various ?
Absolutely!
Sounded killer with the Rickenbacker! Was the amp still a good deal when you factor in the servicing? Great vid Joe. Cheers!
Oh yeah definitely - tiny fraction of the price of a Marshall reissue 1974x!
did you install the Hammond 1750PA or the TT transformer for Marshall 18 watts?
I didn't build this amp - but it has a Hammond in it.
I have a mojotone tmb and it’s great, although a tad bright, I have to roll the tone knob down on the guitar, which is exhausting. (Jk). 9 months later, did you find that, snip or change the bright cap or anything?
I've not touched a thing - I have zero amp knowledge myself! :P Also, I've got other amps I much prefer to this one, so it's not something that gets brought out too much.
@@JoePerkinsMusic ah, cool. Thanks!
Wow great playing and great sound this was really rig porn !!! 🖖😥😥🖖
Ello guvna
Eyup fella! :P