Improve your Marshall Vintage Modern!!

These can great modding platforms and they can really be taken into high gain territory. In this one we are simply looking to improve on what is already there, just give it more life and more correct to an original 1959SLP spec.
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0:00 Stock amp - low gain mode
0:30 Intro
1:34 Stock amp - high gain mode
3:09 Modded amp - low gain mode
4:15 Modded amp - high gain mode
4:52 PCB walkthrough with mods
8:27 Schematic walkthrough with mods
17:01 Outro

[@wakjob961]

The purple 4x12's that match those amps sound fantastic. Every Amp we tried sounds best through that one in side by side comparisons.

[@mrt7476]

Nothing wrong with the stock amp 🤷‍♂️ According to its design engineer, Steve Dawson, the VM was essentially meant as a JTM45-style amp with the option of a second gain stage. So it was never meant to sound like a 1959. Bizarre that the owner swapped to EL34’s…. The KT66’s make it much more unique, and, frankly, more ‘vintage Marshall’, IMHO. Incredibly versatile amps, love ‘em. Quiet, though, which is why soundguys love ‘em too. Great playing, Jason!

[@HeadfirstAmps]

I’m all about the 4700pF bright cap. That’s when Marshall became Marshall imho.

[@jimgibson9811]

Pure gold. Thanks for sharing your experience. Really appreciated.

[@irishRocker1]

Had a 2466 probably like 10yrs ago and loved it. This should be interesting! EDIT: I was thinking something didnt sound right with this amp. Didn't have the same sound I remembered. Got to the end and heard it had EL34s. Why would you take the KT66s out of that amp! They sound smoother and sweeter. If you want an el34 plexi sound buy any other marshall lol

[@darwinsaye]

I liked the stock low gain sound 100% more. The modded sound was not low gain at all anymore, so it kind of defeats the whole purpose of the amp design being able to sound modern (high gain), or vintage (lower gain).

[@mrt7476]

Exactly this.

[@patmcwilliamsmusic]

I actually just bought one of these last night, Love it!

[@michaelnachoescamilla6241]

I have had this amp 3 different times. I really love them. What kept me away was that I am not astute enough to work on them let alone mod them. If I had stayed in the States, I would have kept one.

[@adiohead]

I remember Slash used these for a short while with Velvet Revolver.

[@TempoDrift1480]

I have a hard time believing that.

[@adiohead]

@@TempoDrift1480 There is still a video on Marshall's channel called 'Interview with Slash - Part 1' where he talks about adding the Vintage Modern to his rig. He could be lying for marketing purposes, but I don't know. He also advertised that amp in magazines, and you can still see a picture of his rig with the Jubilees and VMs.

[@alecalfaras5936]

100% remember an ad with Slash next to a few half stacks of these holding a tobacco sunburst Les Paul

[@ESPspiderXIII]

Got my headfirst shirts and mug. GET. IT. ON.

[@HeadfirstAmps]

Killer!

[@rikshredder]

@@HeadfirstAmps Jason! Great work as usual. Who can you recommend here in the U.S. to mod Marshalls? Thanks.

[@rikshredder]

@@HeadfirstAmps Jason who could you recommend that mods Marshalls here in the U.S.?

[@maxvockner]

Sounded good stock but better after making it what it should have been. I have So many questions about these factory designer engineer choices. Great to know these are easily serviceable and sound good.

[@adamfstewart81]

Surprisingly gorgeous. And the amp sounds good, too! 😝😍

[@94xjrgodown2]

Night Prowler was sounding great Jason!

[@Happy_Broom]

Modded a DSL100HR with the DSL100H mods while doing a repair for blown Fuses 2 and 3. Had a 500K gain pot in lieu of the 1meg pot. Shunted that with a 280K to get the values close. Sounds fantastic! Thanks! FYI: ref. DSL100HR model schematic: R8 and R9 are pressed against the trace from R49/C24 to R11. R8 and/or R9 can short to the trace shorting C24 and R49 to C21 and/or C22 causing R49 to fry to death in low power mode. The high power circuit shunts enough current to ground to keep R49 from totally vaporizing. Definitely a design anomaly that can potentially cause power rail issues DSL100HR amps.

[@aleksas.3143]

What are the most notable changes that you like about the mod? I generally like my stock 100HR although some things could be improved so im thinking to mod it. Currently i mostly use the ultra gain 1 mode with the gain pot set to 2 o' clock most of the time for rhythm but it is still a bit stiff and shrill and when i want to get more gain for lead work and bump it up more than 3 o clock the distortion gets almost a fuzz character while im playing harder, it really bugs me. The ultra gain 2 is almost unusable past 12 o clock, the same fuzz thing occurs. Would love to know what you think of the mods.

[@Happy_Broom]

@@aleksas.3143 Play acoustic most of the time. When electric, it's usually Native Instruments Guitar Rig Pro or thru a warm and fuzzy but well defined Princeton Reverb II. The DSL100HR that puffed some magic smoke is a friend's amp who wanted the DSL100H choke and preamp mods done while it was being repaired. Basically the same relative circuitry between the H and the HR. Kinda clueless on the before mods sound of it, but really liked the fairly transparent thumpy saturated crunchiness of it even at lower master volumes. With the resonance, presence, and reverb cranked to the max, app 11 on the bass, noon on the mids and two on the treble, the Ultra volume and gain worked well together and the gain pot had a good functional sweep. Which is subjective. But being able to feel the sound, the notes the music of the strings thru the amp, an essentuality, made playing an electric thru a Marshall amp a joy.

[@PhuketMyMac]

It sounds pretty good out of box and has its own character and therefore that’s one I would personally keep stock (if I had already a plexi maybe). Nonetheless thank you again for the great tutorial and explanations!

[@sjgreaves]

Thanks for sharing this. I have a 2266 stock with KT66 and to be fair it sounds surprisingly good clean (like really clean) and also not at all bad when cranked but inbetween is admittedly a bit meh so I am going to get some parts ordered and have a crack at this mod. Thanks again!

[@HeadfirstAmps]

Awesome!

[@danielsaturnino5715]

Great stuff Jason. Thank you

[@denverrandy7143]

Damn that higher gain setting sounds great!!!

[@GonzaCordovez]

lovely sounding LP man!

[@Stockholm.sweden]

I don't understand why you modded the low dynamic range to be almost as gainy as the high dynamic range? The high dynamic range setting sounds absolutely great. I see no need to mod the Vintage Modern. It's pretty perfect as is and has it's own thing going on.

[@Skoora]

Stock, the VM was always in-between worlds and suffered because of it. Vintage sound not raw and dirty enough when cranked on the front end. Modern sound lacking clarity and a little flubby. Loved the idea of it when it came out and those big ol’ KT’s looked so cool in the back. Once again Marshall didn’t seem to understand what people loved about a Marshall and 3rd parties, through mods and their own amp lines did it better. I always wondered why no one in product development at Marshall, seemed to ever take in a good modded Marshall or variant make and say to the team. If we can’t surpass or even equal this, no Christmas bonus folks. It’s not like you just don’t know as soon as you hear and play a good one. Even just using their vintage stock. They must have access to primo examples of vintage units and to think they cranked up those and then after cranking up most of what they made in the 90’s on, said, “yeah that’s the ticket.”

[@siriusamplification]

great job with the mods! The Wizard of Oz strikes again!

[@bryanwilliams3665]

Fantastic Mod... I see someone passed comment { "that the Low Gain Sound wasn't 'Low Gain" anymore so the mod defeated the orignal purpose of the amp."} Well to my ears , after the mod , the "Gain Structure / Harmonic Structure" is substantially improved ,less ragged and the amp is easier to listen to. If you want a bit less gain than was on the demo, simply dial it back on the amp or on your guitar vol . (Salt & Pepper to taste) Thanks Jason ( Kiwi Ingenuity at its best )

[@HeadfirstAmps]

Exactly! Hope you’re well mate!

[@bryanwilliams3665]

@@HeadfirstAmps Yes Jason , keeping well thanks for asking. Likewise to you . Busy sending my Jimmy Page pickups ('The Song Remains the Same 'replicas) mainly to East Coast of USA..Last vid on my channel if you want a peek . I'm developing a new Rock Pickup with an unusual magnet. (A6 or A8 based) No 'Woof' in the Bass nor 'Ice Pick' in the treble( Both issues with the Common Modern A5 magnet as I hear it) Problems at the frequency extremes. If if works out I'll send a free prototype your way...some way off yet.

[@solarpoint1]

Love my 50 watt. Question: why did Marshall not manufacture these amps with vintage specs in the first place? In an interview one of the designers of the VM seemed pretty passionate about respecting the Plexi vibe so I’m curious about their logic as to why they did what they did.

[@maxvockner]

Me too! I don’t get it. It’s like the designers got 90% there and then bailed!

[@HeadfirstAmps]

@maxvockner so many people can’t work the bright cap vibe on the Treble channel. They don’t understand the amp, and end up having a tech take it out. In doing so they take away what makes the Marshall special….these modern designs I believe were a reaction to that.

[@calebkey2050]

In addition to what Headfirst said, Marshall also probably didn't want to cannibalize their reissue line. They were definitely with the Plexi vibe though, the original VM schematic is basically what an "idealized" Plexi would be to most people

[@therealjamesmarchant]

It was done that way because that is the way that Steve, the designer, wanted it - no other reason. He played it and tuned it by ear to suit his tastes. The great thing is, you can mod these amps to take them somewhere else.

[@jmp-es1gv]

Hi Jason, you take a look at the 2210 series please ? The VM mods are excellent!

[@tipeksounds]

cool

[@rocknroller6975]

Great video!!! What speakers are in your cab and what mic are you using for this video? Thanks.

[@richardrooney2054]

Im thinking about doing your mods as I think the LDR would be better with a bit more gain.But I noticed you mention you have high plate voltages, I am getting 164v (think it's pin 1 and 6 on the first 2 preamp tubes .Do you think this is too low ?. The amp did have a bad power tube and a blown resistor in the power amp section, which I replaced.

[@richardrooney2054]

It's the 2266c 50 watt combo

[@divebomb99]

Very cool. How much of the stock circuit is based on the JTM? I heard the original engineer comment that he had the JTM in mind when he created the VM.

[@HeadfirstAmps]

Jtm45? Well the VM was designed around KT66 tubes, same as the 45

[@kirkgreenman1386]

What the difference in change from the .22 to the .0022 coupling cap?

[@HeadfirstAmps]

0.0022uF doesn't let through as much bass, which keeps the preamp 'tighter'. It might otherwise be 0.022uF (not 0.22uF)

[@kirkgreenman1386]

I Missed the zero on .022,😊

[@lastscatteringsurface9950]

Can you please make a mod for the Marshall DSL1 one watt head?

[@irishRocker1]

Agreed, I bet there are so many of these lying around unused cos the clean channel kinda sucks. Bright cap makes it very brittle sounding. and the high gain channel could be improved a lot as well

[@bradleyjpaolucci]

Can you try modding DSL 20 HR for us? Is it possible to mod it to JCM800/Plexi. Obviously they are very different

[@winr8140]

Whats the verdict on the FX loop on these? Can it be improved?

[@HeadfirstAmps]

You need to get rid of the PPIMV for any loop to function well

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

You need to try a Blackstar HT Stage 100 MK 1. Best sound I've ever had.

[@jtm45stratman69]

nice job.. much prefer the modded version

[@barano9729]

I like Jens Kruse but he pretty much fked up my Vintage Modern 2466 by performing some cockamamie mods to it. Ended up sounding like total 💩.

[@DamnDealDone]

Not enough are "open sourcing" amp modding. I might give this a go.

[@marcopanza1011]

Those ugly cheap green plastic pots…Marshall is really going down with quality…plus the vietnamese transformers now…bah…and no choke …why? Fuck it is a vintage style amp…make it a bit mire pricey and put quality on it my god…first trash those pots and put good old pots my god