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"The JTM45 is really just a Fender Bassman"


Dick Seacup

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It uses British "valves" instead of American "tubes". ....... :thumbsup:

 

From Wikipedia (Changing History with the flick of a send button) : Many famous amplifier manufacturers, including Marshall and Traynor, based their first batch of amplifiers upon the 5F6A Bassman, in examples such as Marshall's JTM45 (a clone of Bassman, using British-equivalent parts), and Traynor's YBA-1 (Head form of Bassman).

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I thought that was a pretty common fact. Marshall pretty much made a British version of the bassman using British tubes and 2x12s rather than 4x10s and the JTM-45 was born.

 

Well, you know Dixie lives a sheltered life.

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Actually I believe the first JTM45 was a head with a 4x10 closed back cabinet. As with all circuits, the sum of all parts makes it what it is. Marshall may have copied the circuit but the Drake transformers they used, the Mullard EL34 power tubes and ecc83 preamp tubes and Celestion speakers are a BIG part of the "recipe".

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Actually I believe the first JTM45 was a head with a 4x10 closed back cabinet. As with all circuits, the sum of all parts makes it what it is. Marshall may have copied the circuit but the Drake transformers they used, the Mullard EL34 power tubes and ecc83 preamp tubes and Celestion speakers are a BIG part of the "recipe".

The JTM-45 didn't use el34s, they used KT-66s. The el34s came later with the JMP-50, and then the GZ-34 recifier was phased out in favor of the solid state rectifier.

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Ken Fischer discussed this in "the Trainwreck Pages" section that appears in a Gerald Weber book, Tube Amp Talk for the Guitarist and Tech.

 

sum-up:

the earliest JTM45 copied the late Tweed Bassman (5F6A) circuit. Ken had seen & serviced many examples of the JTMs and noted different values & makes of electronics used (caps & resistors)

 

4 significant diffs that make a JTM sound different than a Bassman, even though they have the same circuit:

-different transformers

-different speakers & cab designs

-aluminum chassis

-speaker wiring and being in or out of phase with output transformer

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The JTM-45 didn't use el34s, they used KT-66s. The el34s came later with the JMP-50, and then the GZ-34 recifier was phased out in favor of the solid state rectifier.

 

My mistake. Yes, it used Genelex KT66's. The point I was trying to make is the different parts used make the sum of those parts a completly different sounding amp. IMHO the transformers are a big part of that difference.

Look at the new Fender "reissue" Super Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and Princeton Reverb. They don't sound like the originals. Many of the handwired boutique clones don't even sound like the originals.

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Thanks for that tip Jeff, I just ordered the book from Amazon.

 

a little pricey, but worth it (IMHO) just for those TW Pages. note: Ken & Gerald had a falling out later on over biz deal. for my part it doesn't invalidate the contents of the book, published when they were good buds.

 

there's also a great interview w/Ken in Dave Hunter's amp book, my current recommended book for non-tech (i.e., me) and techs alike on how amps work and stuff

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The JTM-45 didn't use el34s, they used KT-66s. The el34s came later with the JMP-50, and then the GZ-34 recifier was phased out in favor of the solid state rectifier.

 

i b'lieve they started with 5881s. and a friend, who knew the production & engineering guys on the Beano album, thinks those were the tubes in EC's amp...

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As others have said well here...

 

Fender 5F6A circuit design, built by UK hobbiest builders, using UK transformers, UK valves and UK speakers with its chassis turned on its side = JTM-45

 

This is where Jim Marshall started in 1962. I'm sure that US amps cost a fortune in the UK back then which is what spured him on.

 

:-)

 

Bob

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Sell ya my Ceriatone clone if you're interested...........

 

 

Wait, you have a Ceriatone clone or a Ceriatone? If you had a Ceriatone clone then that means your amp is a clone of a clone of a clone. If it's just a Ceriatone that means it's just a clone of a clone. That's not very interesting. Sorry, it's a slow day at work.

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Wait, you have a Ceriatone clone or a Ceriatone? If you had a Ceriatone clone then that means your amp is a clone of a clone of a clone. If it's just a Ceriatone that means it's just a clone of a clone. That's not very interesting. Sorry, it's a slow day at work.

I love that song "Bring in the Clones". Great old standard.

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I love that song "Bring in the Clones". Great old standard.

 

I think I know this one:

 

Aren't you rich?

Does it have a pair?

Don't lift the ground unless you

want to lose your hair.

Where are the clones?

 

Is it tonal bliss?

Would Leo approve?

One who keeps chasing the sound

One with a tin ear

Where are the clones?

Send in the clones.

 

Just when I stopped buying amps

Finally knowing the one I wanted was yours

Playing my leads with the usual flair

Sure of my lines

Notes that aren't there

 

Does your speaker fart?

Builder's fault, I fear.

I thought I'd want what you want

Sorry, I can't hear.

And where are the clones?

Send in the clones.

Oh, don't bother, they're here.

 

Aren't you rich?

I don't think you're queer.

Losing my timing, due to my tin ear

And where are the clones?

There ought to be clones.

Well, maybe next year.

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I think I know this one:

 

Aren't you rich?

Does it have a pair?

Don't lift the ground unless you

want to lose your hair.

Where are the clones?

 

Is it tonal bliss?

Would Leo approve?

One who keeps chasing the sound

One with a tin ear

Where are the clones?

Send in the clones.

 

Just when I stopped buying amps

Finally knowing the one I wanted was yours

Playing my leads with the usual flair

Sure of my lines

Notes that aren't there

 

Does your speaker fart?

Builder's fault, I fear.

I thought I'd want what you want

Sorry, I can't hear.

And where are the clones?

Send in the clones.

Oh, don't bother, they're here.

 

Aren't you rich?

I don't think you're queer.

Losing my timing, due to my tin ear

And where are the clones?

There ought to be clones.

Well, maybe next year.

 

Thats it!!! I'm impressed. (and just a bit scared that you came up with it that fast!)

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i b'lieve they started with 5881s. and a friend, who knew the production & engineering guys on the Beano album, thinks those were the tubes in EC's amp...

When the JTM-45 RI first came out they had 5881s becuase no one had reissued the KT66 yet. The Marshall heads all cried "foul". Still it's possible Marshall did make some vintage JTM-45s with 5881s, it was the '60s for cryin' out loud! Use what ever parts you have on hand!

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  • 1 month later...
When the JTM-45 RI first came out they had 5881s becuase no one had reissued the KT66 yet. The Marshall heads all cried "foul". Still it's possible Marshall did make some vintage JTM-45s with 5881s, it was the '60s for cryin' out loud! Use what ever parts you have on hand!

 

way i heard it, the first model 1962s used 5881s until <varies> about mid-1965, then the switch to KT66s, then later on the EL34s

 

(i love 5881s)

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way i heard it, the first model 1962s used 5881s until <varies> about mid-1965, then the switch to KT66s, then later on the EL34s

 

(i love 5881s)

 

+1,

I have a Siegmund Midnight Blues Breaker head, Genalex kt66's, just got through playing my Millie through it, gorgeous!

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