Hammett vs Ian signature amps & mods

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speed2dirt

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How do the KH-2 and 1987 mods compare? They're both trying to capture a tone from the same era and similar styles. Both most likely based on modded JCM800s. Just curious what the differences are. Thanks!

Also, how much do the RM100KH & RM100SI differ? Only spec difference appears to be that the KH comes with 6L6's stock and the SI comes with EL34's stock, as well as different graphics. Any other significant differences?
 
I know the KH head has a slightly higher base density setting than the normal RM100's, but I'm not sure exactly how much higher. Other than that and the tubes I think it's just a straight RM100 though.
 
I have both and they are in my opinion, really different.

The 1987 is probably my favourite stock module. It genuinely sounds like a JCM 800 with more gain. Not tons of gains so I still use a clean boost in front. But it sounds very authentic to my ears. With the gain on max and a little time on a tone control it can sound very close to the judge. And the mid gain settings scream AC/DC.

The KH-2 is a little harsher sounding to my ears. The tone controls are really effective so it can cover a lot of ground. But in the end, I found it to be very versatile and yet, unable to sound great for a given application. It has a "jack of all trades, master of none" feel to it.

I never had the impression of playing a marshall with the KH-2 and the 1987 gives me just that. Hope it helps
 
Steven Latch said:
I have both and they are in my opinion, really different.

The 1987 is probably my favourite stock module. It genuinely sounds like a JCM 800 with more gain. Not tons of gains so I still use a clean boost in front. But it sounds very authentic to my ears. With the gain on max and a little time on a tone control it can sound very close to the judge. And the mid gain settings scream AC/DC.

The KH-2 is a little harsher sounding to my ears. The tone controls are really effective so it can cover a lot of ground. But in the end, I found it to be very versatile and yet, unable to sound great for a given application. It has a "jack of all trades, master of none" feel to it.

I never had the impression of playing a marshall with the KH-2 and the 1987 gives me just that. Hope it helps

Steven,
Thanks for that! That's exactly what I was looking for. Do you have any clips of the 1987 & KH-2 together? I'd love to hear the difference and see what fits better for me, though it sounds like the 1987 is just better overall.
 
Mr. Latch will probably also pipe up on this one but I should add that the 1987 apparently doesn't thin out like the Judge does at noon. The Judge gets really anemic and plain sucks below 1 pm.
 
I am new to the MTS thing, but I bought a bunch of modules to get started and the Malcolm is far and away my favorite "clean" module. With my Les Paul it sounds exactly like the rhythm guitar on Ride On.
 
Hey CatSloane,...i have all 3 of Ian's mods for less than a week now (plus his signature head)....while the Malcom can "clean up" some, you cant play that modules expecting shimmering cleans. Its a nice module, a tad dark, so far i have left the bright switch on. There are some nice sounds in there though. Hope you find some love for it! What other ones did u get?
 
Steven Latch said:
I have both and they are in my opinion, really different.

The 1987 is probably my favourite stock module. It genuinely sounds like a JCM 800 with more gain. Not tons of gains so I still use a clean boost in front. But it sounds very authentic to my ears. With the gain on max and a little time on a tone control it can sound very close to the judge. And the mid gain settings scream AC/DC.

The KH-2 is a little harsher sounding to my ears. The tone controls are really effective so it can cover a lot of ground. But in the end, I found it to be very versatile and yet, unable to sound great for a given application. It has a "jack of all trades, master of none" feel to it.

I never had the impression of playing a marshall with the KH-2 and the 1987 gives me just that. Hope it helps

Owned both and agree with Mr Latch...he pretty much nailed it.
 
I agree that the Malcolm can be dark with the settings at noon.

I changed out the tubes for NOS, keep the bright switch on, and keep the treble dialed up around 4:00. To me, this module (set this way) gives the ideal Marshall clean/semi-clean tone. Gain at noon gives a nice clean Marshall tone (not pristine fender twin clean, but) a tone that through my rig (RM4-G Force-VHT 2/50/2-(2) 4-12 Greenback loaded cabs) sounds beautiful and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. If I crank the gain all the way, I get a very unsaturated Marshall crunch.

The modules that I can't seem to get out of my RM4 at the moment are:
Malcolm, 1987, The Judge, Hairy Brown Eye.

Depending upon my mood, I can get stuck on any of these modules for quite a while.

I picked up a Tweed module recently, which sounds awesome, but I cant get myself to pull one of the four Marshall flavors. I also really like my Mr. Scary module, but it sits in the box most of the time.
 
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