Components that work great

[Reeltarded]

Caps

If you are building a Marshall 68-72 model amp: Mallory caps are better than Sozo. Sozo standards are better than Sozo vintage.

If you are building a JTM era amp the Sozo vintage defocus and don't sound so forward.

Resistors

It's a Marshall! Everything sounds great!! The cheap stuff is great, and the crazy stuff is great. I like using way oversized resistors in the signal path,but I have never found a type that didn't work for me. Have at it. Suggest something excellent if you know better.

Transformers

I have used originals, Merren, Wallace, and Classictone. The Wallace is my favorite build. Merrens are just as good but a little harder to get. The Classictones are very inexpensive and sound absolutely fabulous as well. Never a problem with any of these, but I prefer the Classictones for late model 4 holer things, and the Wallace for JTM sounds.

Pots

Alpha. Cheap and good. Taper is fine. Buy extra 500ks on your order for you humbucking guitars.

Chassis

Good luck. You tell me. SUCK

Brian Wallace is good about special runs, but they are months between orders.

Other bits..

Silver mica is good in an amp where you want serious note definition, but awful sometimes on mixer bypass. I like ceramic disks. Micas are pointy, and ceramics sound wider and grainy is a good way. If you use mica use a smaller than total value and add a ceramic to make up the difference. Micas sound like they are pinging at a supersonic frequency sometimes in a bright amp.

Tubes.

Dood, the Mullards are all gone. Bob S. broke the last crate full. EH 6ca7, JJ 6ca7 or EL34L and good luck on the preamps. Steal good tubes out of vintage Fenders! lol

[JoeCon]

Reel,

Excellent info. Thanks...

[M Fowler]

Caps M150's or mojotone Dijon work very well.

Resistors I use carbon comp except for plates, dropping string, and PI.

Transformers Magnetic Components or Heyboer

Reeltarded builds great Marshall amps

[Reeltarded]

Me too on the resistors Mark, but not as a solid rule. The next monster is going to be carbon films everywhere except for plates and strings and there will be metal film precisions in those places just to add to the experience.

Thanks for the kind word. I have many good amps that I can get a reality check about my builds from. When I started building I wondered how good they could possibly be and then it quickly became apparent than they were all going to be good even if I built them in the dark while holding my breath. It's too easy to eclipse what even the goodest Marshalls are with any decent parts.

Now if I could only get back to practicing instead of thump thump tweak rinse heat repeat.

[NickC]

I put Sozo's and metal foil resistors in my JTM45 build. It must either be a forgiving circuit, or the Mercury Magnetics iron compensated for the Sozo/metal foil R's, because it's a great sounding amp. I think I got real lucky.

[Mark]

What is the consensus on stuff like the Takman resistors?

http://www.hificollective.co.uk/compone ... stors.html

I can't say I have heard a difference in tone between resistors. That isn't to say it doesn't exist of course.

[Reeltarded]

I just ordered two sets for my Marshall mayhem and one for Rocket with tweaking thrown in. I am in love with how they look.

[Mark]

Let me know what you think of them. Yeah they look good too.

[Blackburn]

Takmans are great.

I recently built a Dominator identical to one I did last year and the only difference being old AB CCs and the Takman CFs. I notice quite a difference in clarity and focus. I think if you want more defintion when clipping, the Takmans are a great choice. I often hear remarks made of AB CCs as being warmer but really think it's just that they aren't as clear. I do like their sound for cleaner, milder overdriven sounds like that of my octal bassman and other tweed examples where they shine.

David

[Reeltarded]

The Takman's are very clear, just as you say. I agree on the AB comparisons. There is a defocused thing that is nice about them in an amp like a straight 4 holer. I replaced most of the signal resistors up to the PI on a 4 stage amp and it was obvious from the first note that the note separation is way better.

It didn't make the amp more forgiving. You have to mind your mutes a bit more. It could have more gain and still be happy too.

I am still missing a few values to complete a Rocketesqueish amp. I think these are great for that too. They aren't cloudy.

[Colossal]

The Takman's are very clear, just as you say. I agree on the AB comparisons. There is a defocused thing that is nice about them in an amp like a straight 4 holer. I replaced most of the signal resistors up to the PI on a 4 stage amp and it was obvious from the first note that the note separation is way better.

It didn't make the amp more forgiving. You have to mind your mutes a bit more. It could have more gain and still be happy too.

I am still missing a few values to complete a Rocketesqueish amp. I think these are great for that too. They aren't cloudy.

Great summary. I think words like 'sterility' get bandied about regarding metal films when the sonic result is a wake up call that one probably needs to spend more time practicing. I'll posit that the perceived added clarity is the cumulative effect of lower Johnson noise (heheh....Johnson) using good MFs in critical locations such as grid leaks and plate loads.

That sound might not be for everyone but for gain freaks, I love the added separation.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

Are there any US distributors that stock Takman?

Cheers,
Lou

[Reeltarded]

Angela is more expensive than parts connexxion and not nearly so many values.

[vibratoking]

And here:


http://www.soniccraft.com/takman_resistors.htm

[rock_mumbles]

Question on the Takman resistors, are you guys using 1/2 watt or 1 watt in your amps?