Before I make the plunge...

[marshallartist]

Okay, I'm probaby a couple hours away from buying a used MTS 100 watt head with three modules (Recto, DLX and Clean) buyt I have a few quetions before I pull the trigger.

1) I've owned Marshall and Fender amps before that could be reduced from 100 to 50 watts by removing a pair of output tubes, does that work with this amp as well?

2) Do these things come stock with 6V6 tubes? That's what this one is loaded with.

3) Can the series and parallel XF loops be used at the same time?

4) Does the FX loop like pedals or are they more suited for rack gear?

5) Is there a decent market for selling/trading modules? I prefer a more "Marshall-y" sound (as you might have guessed by my name) to the Recto style of gain.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Marshall...er...RandallArtist

 

[ned]

1) I've owned Marshall and Fender amps before that could be reduced from 100 to 50 watts by removing a pair of output tubes, does that work with this amp as well?
Yes

2) Do these things come stock with 6V6 tubes? That's what this one is loaded with.
No, but you can use any tube other than a EL84. This will bring the head down to about 50 watts with the 6V6's. I use these in both my Randall and Egnater amps and they sound sweet.

3) Can the series and parallel XF loops be used at the same time?
Yes. If the amp your looking at has reverb it will be in the parallel loop.

4) Does the FX loop like pedals or are they more suited for rack gear?
Rack gear. Pedals will work if there are setup to handle the signal. I've used a Line6 MM-4 in the loop without a problem.

5) Is there a decent market for selling/trading modules? I prefer a more "Marshall-y" sound (as you might have guessed by my name) to the Recto style of gain.

Yes. People are selling modules on this forum and eBay is always a source.

 

[Scooter]

. Yes
2. No
3. Yes
4. Both
5. Yes

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Hey marshallartist,

Ned & Scooter have covered the answers to your burning questions so I'll just put in a couple o' cents worth. A great majority of the modules, both Randall and Egnater, are Marshall based (SL, SL2(++) JTM45, Plexi, Brown, 1086, XTC etc) Loads to choose from. You should be very happy, eventually. My initial gut feeling is if you're a Marshall guy, you will not be intially impressed with the amp set up as you are receiving it with the modules and power amp tubes you are talking about.
As far as power amp tubes go, 6V6 are great and will reduce wattage down a bit, I have used them for quite a while as well, but I don't think they will deliver what you will be looking for. My opinion is to go with Tung Sol 5881 Power tubes which I recently discovered from the wisdom of others here on the forum, great Marshall cruch, but the Fendery cleans still sound snappy. Another excellent reason to buy these MTS amps is versatility. Power it with anything you like (6V6, 6L6, EL34, E34L, 5881, KT77, KT88 etc.) to get the sound you want. It's fun, but bias the amp correctly, which is idiot easy and you are good to go. Also you may want to try just running it at a 100 watts before you decide to go pulling tubes. The difference in volume is minimal, and these amps sound good at lower volume settings as well as high volume.

 

[Orren]

2) Do these things come stock with 6V6 tubes? That's what this one is loaded with.
No, but you can use any tube other than a EL84.

Let me just expand on Ned's statement here:

Ned is right, you can't simply grab an EL84 tube and stick it into the tube slot of an MTS 100. However, THD Electronics sells Yellow Jacket adaptors, which let you use EL84s in amps designed for 6L6/EL34/pentode tubes. And Yellow Jacket adapters are self-biasing, so you don't need to play around with re-biasing your amp?just stick in the tubes and go.

There are actually two types of Yellow Jackets: the "normal" version, which run EL84s at a normal 10W or so, or the "Triode" version, which runs EL84s at only 5W. This is like the vintage or triode mode you'll find on some amps (Like Riveras) that only powers three of the five pins of the pentode power tubes, which reduces wattage and smooths out the tube a bit. When I owned my MTS100, I tried it with all sorts of tubes, EL34, 6L6, 6V6, and Yellow Jacket/EL84s.

Personally, I now have a MOD50, and I run two Yellow Jacket Triodes in it. That reduces my MOD50 to about a 10W amp in high power mode. But I don't just use it to drop the wattage; personally, I love the sound of EL84 tubes. They have a wonderful high end chime and "marshally" mid-range, and the Triode version smooths out the lows and highs just enough to make it sound really huge, even at low volumes.

Just another suggestion for experimentation.

Orren

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Thanks for posting that triode concept again Orren. I had forgotten about that. I have a "spare" Randal RM50 now that my MOD 50 is my main amp. After listening to a DVD of one of my current favorite players (David Grissom) who plays a BadCat most of the time, I decided I was going convert my RM50. That EL84 trick will come in handy with a couple of Vox modules. Thanks!

 

[ned]

Thanks for expanding.

Had some trouble this morning as I was supposed to head to France for meetings until Friday. However, my back decided to spasm so I rolled around the office in pain until I could cancel my trip and get to the doctor.

Wasn't in much of a mood to go into detail, sorry.

 

[Chad]

Good info, fellas.

I just wanted to add to question number 4 and mention that if you are using pedals that aren't line level, then an Ebtech Line Level Shifter box will take care of things. I'm using several pedals in my RM50B's loop with an Ebtech and it works like a charm. As an added bonus, it also reduces/eliminates hum. Check out this thread for more info:

http://mtsforum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=1016

 

[marshallartist]

Thanks for all the great suggestions guys. I went by after work, played the amp a little more, this time through a 412 instead of a 212 and took the sucker home (man what a heavy amp!). Through my Avatar 412 loaded with V30's the recto module sounds much better. Something I might even grow to like.

I also agree about the EL84's. I've owned several amps powered with these and I like them allot. But part of the reason behind buying this amp is that I may be playing at church soon and we want to keep the guitars very clean. EL84's tend to break up a little too easily for this.

As for effects, I don't use allot but I know that some FX loops are designed to work best with rack effects. I may try the Ebtech so I can put my Deluxe Memory Man and Holy Grail in the loop.

Thanks again for al the great info guys. I'm sure you guys will be seeing more of me now.

 

[marshallartist]

Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS LT, Randall Head, Avatar 412 cabinet, Boss GT5 & messy desk

Power conditioner and TC Electronic G-Major

Just the beast by itself.

 

[jimosity]

I say you're not hearing the Randall MTS stuff at it's full potential if the only high gain module you have is the Recto.
Check out ANY of the other modules and I say you'll dig them more.
The 1086 is priceless IMO, by far the most versatile of the MTS series.
If you're into hot rodded Marshall tone, the Mr. Scary module is awesome.

 

[marshallartist]

I say you're not hearing the Randall MTS stuff at it's full potential if the only high gain module you have is the Recto.
Check out ANY of the other modules and I say you'll dig them more.
The 1086 is priceless IMO, by far the most versatile of the MTS series.
If you're into hot rodded Marshall tone, the Mr. Scary module is awesome.

Very nice sound clips! I like the Mr. Scary, Plexi, Brown and modded JTM. I'm knid-of a blues/classic/southern rock player but occasionaly venture into country and 80's metal so the really high gain stuff just doesn't speak to me that much. The Recto with the gain set to about 11:00 and the mids turned up to 2:00 is decent, but I don't think I want anything harder than that.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

If I may make a recomendation, you might consider getting a Brown module. It has a rep as being a VH type sound, but I can get very good Allman Brothers type sounds with gain at 12 noon settings. A very classic, Bad Company kind of thick smooth Marshall amp sound. Just a thought. I think you'd like that way better than a Recto just based on what you said.

 

[marshallartist]

Thanks 3-mile. I'll keep that in mind.