Attack of the Marshall clones

I met and spent a good deal of time w/ Greg Germino and his amps. I did not hear a headroom 100 but his take on the 45 is amazing. it's very cool to speak w/ the builders and get things tweaked. I guess I just thought so much of Greg and his amps that I had to respond, sorry Ken Fisher would not approve, but me and everyone in the room at the Triangle Tonefest felt he had the Marshall thing covered in spades, 100%. I'm sold and now the mad gear scramble has begun

 

I have a JTM45 repro built by Toronto's Total-Tone here - just lovin' this thing...

 

yeah, sorry for the defensive tone of this post, I'm still buzzing from yesterdays tonefest and Gregs amps. Brian from Tophat was there and commenteing on just that, the range of what you are going after can be radically different from year to year model to model, sounds like you had a fun day too, and I'm sure the Louis is a great amp as well

 

I have always been curious about Marshall Clones, Fender Clones Etc. In this day of lawsuit infringments. How does Marshall or Fender feel about the clones. Gibson sued and I believe won over PRS Singlecut vs LP. In my opinion, they aren't even close to the same guitar. Could it be the international thing with Marshall. Some of the Marshall clones, Cornell for example look and sound exactly (or better) than orginal Marshalls. Sorry for the derail, but was hoping someone could enlighten me.

 

Any lawyers here? I think the length of a patent is 45 years on a mechanical device but if the patent holder no longer makes the design anyone can produce it. I think there are too many little amp guys building clones to go and sue all of them. Marshall seems to be on the ball and is just producing great repros of their most desirable products. I prefer the support and quality of the little guy building clones.

Mike

 

read this

 

Well...thats right! Old Marshall 100 watters changed quite a bit between 66 and 69 in the glory years of plexi production.

I would say most often when folks refer to a plexi 100 watter or have a "tone reference" in their head of an old plexi 100 they would be thinking of the earlier circuit (a la JTM-45) which is the flatter frequency response, rounder tone and different gain character as compared to say the refined "Super Lead" circuit that was in full use on the SL's by late 68 and early 69. Earlier amps 67 thru 68 it didn't matter if was a Super Lead/Super Bass/Super Trem they were all voiced with the early circuit. Now, even as early as 67 they (Marshall) were playing around with the "Super Lead" voicing and I have seen a few stock early examples with the "Lead" circuit changes. In combination with this you have the many transformers that were used during the period from 66-69 which consisted of at least 4 different P/T's and 4-5 different O/T's made by two different companies, Drake and Dagnall. You can see that there is a wide variation in parts/circuit and as end result, a wide variation in tone.

I have heard only great things about Lou Rosano's amps and I respect him and his work. My guess is that he has the earleir circuit in his plexi creation with perhaps Drake replica iron.
The HR-100 that you have riverastoasters is the early to mid 69 circuit with Dagnall replica iron. If you compared originall amps from the respective different time periods it is most likely you would have the same variance between them as well.

Recognizing the wide array of early 100 watt tones I have offered the Monterey Classic for close to year which is the early "Super Amp" w/KT-66's and the early circuit which I use in my Classic 45 and Club 40 models. Also in the works for some time now is a very accurate early 67 model with the early circuit and transfomers from this time period. I feel that these models will offer anyone the entire range of tones from these early years of plexi production.

For history's sake remember that the Super Bass amps were the early circuit and that circuit remained untouched thruout production on that model. Tranny changes were made as with the other models. Of special importance, filtering changes were made thru the years which has a profound effect on how these early amps respond and sound.

Best to all,
Greg Germino

 

I'd like to know what you guys or anyone else might say about the Blockhead BLK100. It's supposed to be an exact clone of a very sweet 67 Plexi.

Just curious as to how it holds up.

 

You compared a JTM-45 style"head (probably 35 watts) a first-attempt made by a guy building Fender style amps, I believe....to a Germino Headroom-100 (likely 100 watts plus) and commenting the Germino has a lack of sustain? The 45 is going to sustain alot earlier on. The 100 is a HEADROOM-100. You wouldn't be able to stand in the room by time the SOB goes into overload sustain



KF? ...his own latest design lacks bottom end and is bright......IMO..........What he thinks a Plexi should sound like is of no interest to a guy like me. I'd rather hear the guy speak for himself rather than what "Jim" thought KF might say.

As a Marshall player since '72, my Germino Monterey-100 is closest to going back in a time machine and snatching Jimi's amp off the stage at Monterey....and I owned the BH-100, many Marshall RI's, etc.

 

Anyone had a chance to compare the Maven Peal Ganesha to the other Plexi-style amps out there??? Warren Haynes is using one now on tour. Apparently he has asked for a midrange mod to the amp .... maybe David will comment.

It's been a while since I've heard a Germino. I'll have to bug my friend to dig his out for our Saturday get togethers.

 

He used his Soldano Slo100 and Diaz when I saw him in Burlington Sunday nite Mike (it was a Mule show) (but maybe the MP was hidden from my view) I was right in front of him and this was the 1st show I'd seen of his that my ears didn't hurt! But of course all the people soaked up the sound pretty well
ERIC

 

Maybe they were talking about Ken Fisher!!

 

I have not tried any 100 watt amps as I have no need for something quite that loud but I've owned both The Germino Masonette and Classic 45 and they are great amps. Greg offers so many Marshall style amps now that it can sometimes get confusing for the (consumer/ player) but for the amp historian it is a dream come true! I definately fit into the catogory of "player", not expert or historian and so my opinions are based solely on my experiance and how I hear things not on any need to have a specific replica of a famous amp. Having said that I don't think Greg Germino's amps are direct clones. I believe that they are inspired by the Marshall amps he loves with some personal refinements made to better insure consistancy, reliablity and good tone with less noise (of course Greg could elaborate or even correct me if I am wrong).
There are many good builders out there. Every time you turn around there's a new product and guru along with a rush of enthusiasum. Predictably, you find these amps for sale used within a couple of months on forums such as this or eBay. Sometimes the companies survive, sometimes not.
My advice is, once you have found the tone you are looking for, buy from a company that has been around for awhile to protect your investment. I have been using Germino amps for almost 2 1/2 years now with excellent results. Because of Greg's ear for tone, pricing and his commitment to customer service Germino Amps has developed a great deal of momentum and will likely survive a long time.
For me, when it comes to Marshall style tone, it's Germino.