Stompbox advise

[Caferacernoc]

"I have built an stompbox called "Eighteen" that a friend gave me a schematic for. This one was close but lacked definition. It sounded more like a marshall than anything that I tried but just didn't do the JCM 800 thing. "

You could also mod this pedal. Change that first 47uf bypass cap to a 1uf and it will be WAY tighter sounding.

[svstee]

A very easy build that gets close IMHO is a HAO Rust Driver. I think markm has a vero layout for a "crust driver" in his gallery. Low parts count, might be something good to try alongside whatever else you choose.

[scottjge]

All are great ideas and a lot of different sounds.I also made the eighteen but didn't do the JCM thing that well, but it did have that Marshall sound.
I have been doing some comparisons of the various sound clips. I have listened to them over and over paying attention to great detail. NOw I do realize that all can be tweaked and modded and each was going thru different amps and using different guitars, with different fingers(which make your sound a great deal and most people over look), but I am leaning a little bit one way now.
If I had to make a decision right now this moment, it would be the BSIAB II. It is a nice well defined distortion, you can hear every note in a chord. The DiFet is also nice but it doesn't seem to be as well defined, at least to my ears.
I will keep ya posted to which way I go.

[DougH]

You won't be sorry with a BSIAB, if you are looking for "marshall" tone.

[slideman82]

Hey, Scott! Don't miss that u$s400 4x12 sale! That's bargain! And 4 EL34! If you have that amount, buy it! Modding it's secondary, when you already have tube preamp and EL34 you already have maybe 80% of that English sound... or probably more!

I have to work some more, probably this weekend, just tryin' some combinations... a single 2 or 3 transistor distortion that sounds like a rotten Marshall! wish me luck! I think I already have it!

But give it a try to the BSIABII, just put sockets instead of soldering the Fets directly, so you can try different ones and find the sound you like better... J201 are too gainy, try some 2N3819 and 2SK30 pairs also with J201 (also the last transistor too... but you'll have to bias!) This distortion saves you from several bias work... that's why you'd give it a try. There's some high gain metal sounded beat called Dr. Boogey I built like some others, but I spent many hours trying different Jfets with sockets just to get some kind of Marshall tone (also without classic tonestack! This makes these distortions too trebly!).

Peavey??? Yeeeeeeeeeeeah, Peavey!

[scottjge]

I am sorry, I don't understand. What is the 4x12 sale ?

Another question, where would I get transistor sockets? Any vendors that I deal with want a minimum of $25 order. I think that would be a lot of sockets if they carry them.

[Baktown]

So what did we decide is the best stompbox for the famous JCM 800 sound?  I know it's pretty subjective as there's quite a range of bands that used this amp, but my preferred Marshall sound would be the early Metallica or Iron Maiden type of sound.

Rick J

[slideman82]

This is kind of off-topic in a way but it's another possible alternative if you can't afford the vintage Marshall (who can?). You could buy a Peavey Windsor and mod it. Musician's Friend is blowing them out with a 4x12 cab for $400. It's all tube 100W with 4 EL34's. Out of the box it will get you part of the way there to JCM800-land. But with a few mods it can really sound killer. I posted the mods I did in a Windsor thread in the lounge. It's a PCB amp and the insides are very accessible and it's easy to work on. The mods I posted are fairly easy- subbing components and adding a few jumpers.

This will get you the real pants-flapping marshall tone better than any pedal, IMO, without completely busting your bank account.

Doug was talking about this sale!

Don't worry about transistor sockets, you can make them from a 2 x 4 IC socket (cut it and voila!), and there are some with rounded legs, those are better, in fact you can get the pins from it and there you have your transistor sockets for nothing!

[scottjge]

All the soundclips that I have listen to so far, I really have to say the BSIAB II has my vote! I can't find any sound clips for the JCM 800 emulation stomp box so I can't really judge that one.

Thanks for the tip on the transistor sockets.

[MohiZ]

All the soundclips that I have listen to so far, I really have to say the BSIAB II has my vote! I can't find any sound clips for the JCM 800 emulation stomp box so I can't really judge that one.

Having built both I can describe the JCM800 emulator as having a little less gain (though enough for 80s metal and hard rock) available and its sound is more bright, open, and it has a great crunch to it. When I first tried it I actually thought "If a real JCM800 sounds anything like this pedal, then that amp's gotta be good"  The BSIAB has some really nice solo tones inside it, and all in all is probably a more "polished" design. The JCM800 emulator is a bit messy with all the different mods and the two schematics suggested on the site and all. Both sound really good, but the JCM800 has my vote, I'd probably prefer that over the BSIAB if I had to throw one of them away, but that's only my opinion for my equipment and preference. I know it's tough to judge without hearing it.

[scottjge]

Well, just to let everyone know....BSIAB II. It sound good and is something like what I was looking for . I had a lot of fun building it and I know I will have a lot of fun playing with it. Now, I have the itch ! I am thinking about building the JCM 800 emulator. I just need to do some more reading to see what all the mods do that I found, and I want to read some more reviews by guitar players that have built it to see what they like about it and what they don't like about it.

Thanks for all help from everyone in the forum that gave me advise and suggestion.

scottjge