The Judge

I forgot that I did actually change the tubes in my GTO Judge. Didn't try too many but settled on TAD 7025 S selected for V1, and TAD 7025/E83CC high grade for V2. The TAD tubes seem to open up the sound nicely for me. Will get to crank it as loud as I want tonight at practice. Can't wait! Might try some 'high gain' tubes in there sometime too.

Cranked it up LOUD tonight and the GTO seems to have plenty of gain. And i didn't turn the gain past 3 o'clock. Had great harmonic overtones, bass and punchiness to spare, using EVH cab.

I posted in one of the other Judge topics, but never got a reply. Would this be able to do any of those plexi clean sounds with the gain and/or volume rolled back?

No. It's a step up from the Plexi, Brahma and Super V in the gain department, and that cleaner tone potential seems to be the price to pay for it. I don't use it with gain below 12 o'clock because it thins out a bit with lower gain. Some may like that. Haven't really tried rolling back the vol on guitar though.

I agree with RADE01 on the clean tone with the GTO. Below noon it gets kind of thin. I am using a Morley volume pedal & I got some ok cleanish tones from it. Currently the gain is at about 2 o'clock and with the Nitro boost dimed, I get a respectable clean tone. Definately not pristine clean. And it doesn't take much effort to get a really gritty tone from it. But I guess if you beat on the strings hard enough almost anything will distort. :lol: For a live setting this would probably be a descent clean tone to get through the night, but recording forget about it, unless you have a really good noise suppressor. I could hear the hiss of the increased gain from the boost pedal.

With the gain at the above setting, full volume, and boost dimed it gets in the territory of the SL+ at about 2 or 3 o'clock.

Man I wish I had good recording equipment so I could post the various settings. In truth if I had to do a show with an RM20, this a volume pedal and maybe a boost or OD would be enough (maybe don't need the boost pedal/OD since the 20 has a boost function).

Awesome, thanks for the replies. Still a very tempting mod to try out though. I may have to look into that and a plexi.... The SL+ doesn't quite cover some of the more classic sounds I'm looking for, and my Egnater DLX doesn't have the british flavor to cover that end of the mid gain stuff. I've got an Rverb (with a gain toggle) on the way that may cover it for me. It probably will actually.

As an owner of the RM20 I can say the boost acts more like a compressor with a volume boost than an OD. It really thickens the sound up and adds some gain to the V1 spot. If you've ever played a VHT/Fryette Deliverance or Sig:X it works kind of like the first gain control on that but not as intense in gain boost, more the compression increase. Still a very awesome effect, especially for lead work from a mid gain sound. I definitely wish the other RMs had that option on them.

I've not tried an RM20 but may buy an RM22 one day, and I wish they all had the boost.
GTO the Judge, my verdict;
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume the goal was to capture the coveted Marshall overdrive/distorted tone. Classic Plexi/modded Plexi. Not modern JCM or JVM, and not any clean channel. The (distorted) tone by which all others are 'Judged'.(for me anyway).
It definitely achieves this for me. Probably does it better than most Marshalls, especially since you can have it at low volume. It doesn't do 'Marshall' clean, and it doesn't do (modern)metal. But I can get those things from the other Lynch modules.(that is until they discontinued 2)
What it does do, is like a revised, better, warmer, punchier, higher gain version of the Brahma with a clear emphasis on classic Plexi/modded Plexi mid to almost high gain distorted tones. Without the clean capability of the Brahma. Even with the gain at 9 o'clock I have as much crunch(a bit thinner though, on low gain) as the Brahma at noon.
I've lost count of how many posts I've seen over the years wishing the Brahma had more gain. This is it! There's a definite change in the EQ too.
I have no regrets about buying it, infact I'd pay double for that tone. It's that good!....IMO

Completely agree with this review 100%

A totally believable classic/modded plexi. One of my favorite modules so far. I stand by what I posted earlier. For this purprose, it beats the JTM/PLEXI/BRAHAMA I have owned.

I would like to do some sound clips of the Judge but I don't know how to get them on here, or on soundclick. Recently bought an MBox & mics, still getting used to it. Judge is sounding excellent recorded.

I need to find a respectable method to record as well. I looked at some video cameras but non I looked at had a way of hooking up a SM57 to get some good recorded sound. Time for more research I guess.

Honeymoon is over & I am still digging the tone from this mod. I am still tweaking almost every day. It makes me want to take the plunge on a modded module with even more switch options.

For recording, try a basic mixer to run into your computer via USB and download Reaper. It's how my friend records. Then get a nice condenser to mic it from a distance with an SM57 for close micing.

After these reviews, I'm definitely shelling out for this module. It sounds like everything I wanted my SL+ to be.

I just bought one. I am hoping to give it a run through early next week.

I figured I would give an update now that there has been a lot of break in time. I thought mode 1 was way to bright, now the module has seemed to mellow out & I actually like mode 1 with the bright switch on. The treble is backed off some. I tried this as the other day mode 2 seemed kind of dead and muddy/fuzzy blanket over the speakers kind of sounding. Maybe it has something to do with taking the BBE out of the signal chain. At any rate current settings are:
Gain: dimed
Bass: 3 o'clock
Mids: 12:30
Treble: 10 o'clock
Level: dimed
Bright on (right)
Mode: 1 (left)

Yeah I thought the same thing at first with the Judge. But found I quite liked both modes as I'd just adjust the treble and/or the bright switch to my liking. I may use slightly more mid and treble than Hamner1 but It's so easy to dial in just right. The eq works just like it should. No matter how you set it, it's got that unmistakable Marshall sound.

I've come to the conclusion that the Judge takes off (gain wise) where the Brahma stops, and the Mr Scary takes off from where the Judge stops. It's the perfect in between mid and high gain Marshall tone, warm and rich. Can't say much for my SL+ though, never gotten along with it. Sounds nothing like my Mr Scary! I know lots of people have said they're similar, mine's a black stripe, did the JCM800 mod but mine must be a dud. I did have a problem with bass disappearing when fairly new, which thanks to our great Randall support in Australia took a year and a half to get back, and still sounds like crap. So I've given up on that.