I was wondering if there are more people who have done the same mods that I had done to my two B/F Super Reverbs.

I own a '64 and a '66 B/F SR. The first thing I changed was the speakers. I don't like alnicos because I run the amps on 6 and pick hard and they can't take a lot of abuse, lack midrange, and break up too early. Both Supers are loaded w/ Celestion Vintage 10's, great ceramic speakers w/ tight low end, great midrange and just enough high end (they are no longer made, unfortunately).

Besides the alnicos another thing I didn't like about the Supers was their lack of headroom on bigger stages coupled w/ the amps running too hot as the gig progresses resulting in a sag producing more distortion and less definition (a common complaint). I had read about some of the things Cesar Diaz did to SRV's Fender amps, which was replace the tube rectifier w/ a solid-state one and installing bigger transformers for more headroom. I decided that would be the cure for my problem as well so I had a SS rectifier put in and Twin-style power and output trannies wound. With the bigger trannies I now had a choice of switching to different, more powerful tubes as well. I chose to have one SR fitted w/ 6550's and the other w/ EL34's, effectively making them 70w Fender/Marshall hybrids.

After the mods the amps sounded simply awesome w/ loads of power and headroom. The V10's, which like to be driven hard anyway, were pushed even more and the character of a SR still shone through but w/ added 'Brit flavor' as well! The amps sounded darker, which I felt was a good thing. The only thing was, the dark character seemed to take away a bit from the high end. The solution turned out to be replacing the ceramic tone stack caps w/ silver mica ones. It instantly brightened up the amp, restoring that B/F Fender bell-like top. Some of you may consider it sacrilege to do this to original B/F SR's but I now have two unique-sounding amps which just ooze power and tone and sound way better on their own and w/ pedals (particularly fuzz) than before. Maybe others have also tried experiments like this. Let's start a thread for all you SR modders to finally come out of the closet! We can take the flak from the Fender police if only we stand united...

Mike

"There's no tone like your own"

Dude!! You must play really loud!!!!

I've got a '71 Super and haven't done anything nearly so drastic, I've still got the original CTS alnicos & transformers. But I did increase gain & midrange on the normal channel by changing the fixed midrange resistor from 6.8K to 68K, and added reverb and vibrato to Ch.1 (well I didn't do it but I had it done). I've noticed that my Super doesn't sound so good with fuzz but I don't think I'd go so far with modding it, seems easier and cheaper to buy a different amp. I'd love to hears yours though, I bet they really rock! And sound very unique as well

So funky I can smell it!

Yes, I do play loud. I learned my chops from listening to SRV and his brother Jimmy and other Texas guitar slingers. My favorite picker right now is Doyle Bramhall II. Doyle inspired me to buy a Marshall, fuzzbox, univibe and octavia. After 10 years of playing w/ just a guitar, chord and amp it was a welcome change to start messing around w/ effect pedals. See my thoughts on this in a thread called 'Bramhall's fuzz tone' as well as other threads on this very forum.

I do think I took the right route, though. Learning to play w/ just a Strat w/ big strings and high action and no effects really inspires to create the biggest tone and vibrato possible. It gets to the point where if I play at low volume I'm still considered loud because of the presence of my tone! If you think I'm bragging or acting tough feel free to check out the soundfiles on my band's website: www.nubluz.com. Or the soundfiles I recorded for Justin Everman: www.jeverman.com/aboutsoundfiles.html.
I'm not a purist. That's why I had no qualms about modding my amps to the extent that I have. I feel the mods were done with total respect for the original quality of the amps, although some would argue differently. The new and improved hybrid British/American tone these babies put out really works for me. The reason I started this thread is that B/F SR's are considered almost sacred because they are generally considered the best amps Fender ever produced (and rightly so), along w/ the Bassman of course, and I have never heard of anyone besides SRV who hotrodded his SR('s) in a similar way. I figured these people may be out there but hiding from Fender nazis!

I also forgot to mention that I have a 5751 in the first gain stage of the vibrato (bright) channel and the midpot has been changed to 25k, just like Marshalls have. That's really the extent of all of the mods.

Mike

"There's no tone like your own"

Hey Mike,

Alles goed?

I've left my '66 BFSR mainly stock, just some little tweaks. I've pulled the first pre-amp tube (for the normal channel which I don't use). Then I disconnected the vibrato circuit from the amp. Some 'tone' is lost there. Simply disconnect the yellow wire (left wire on the pot, with the pots to your direction) from the intesity pot, or install a push/pull pot. Adds some more 'beef'.

If you're playing in 'de Lantaarn' again, and you need a '66 Marshall SuperBass call me.

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Kick out the jams!!

John,

OOPS! Guess I forgot some additional mods still. Not only was I aware of the mods you describe, I too have pulled the tube for the normal channel as well as pulled the tube for the vibrato and disabled the vibrato channel. That is really it, folks! Now you know all my secrets.

As for your offer of the Marshall SB, thanks but I currently own a purple RI SLP 100 which I recently had fitted w/ a ptp SB board made by George Metropoulis of Metro Amp (www.metroamp.com). So the SL is now a SB. It sounds killer but of course I'm not done w/ this purple beast either. My next investment will be replacing the amp's OT w/ a 0100JM-SL OT from Mercury Magnetics to optimize the already awesome tone this amp has by giving it more clean headroom. This amp is VERY, VERY loud and a room like De Lantaarn would not be able to facilitate a sound that big, so I guess after the OT I'll have to invest in a THD Hotplate... The Marshall is already very close to having MY signature sound, which is really what I'm going for as the SR mods illustrate...

Mike

"There's no tone like your own"

Lol, I have that purple monster too, ptp-ed and all. I like my plexi SB better though, probably due to the less filtering in the powersection.

Seems like you need a Major though!

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Kick out the jams!!

A Marshall Major would be too clean for me, I think. Besides 100w is more than enough volume for me! I've heard of the 'filter-can mod' where you replace the stock 50x50 blue filter cans w/ 32x32 ones. That's for vintage lovers who like earlier breakup and more sag. I happen to like those stiffer filter cans. For that very same reason I use Celestion V10's in my Supers and have my Marshall cab loaded w/ Celestion V30's instead of Greenbacks. I like loads of clean headroom but not ultraclean like a Twin or Major. I like tube and speaker distortion but I do need the amp to work with me. If I pick clean I want the amp's response to be clean. If I really dig in I don't want my tone to get muddy and lost in the sag, so the tube and speaker breakup should not occur too early. The ptp board in my RI SLP has increased the amp's headroom and overall warmth considerably but I know the MM OT will perfect my tone w/ increased headroom and warmth. I can hear the stock OT that's currently in my RI plexi respond unfavorably (sounds cold, brittle and harsh) when I goose the amp w/ more volume and picking attack. Hence also the SS rectifiers in my SR's vs. tube rectifiers. Like I said, I'm not a purist. I like compression and breakup but only the right amount at the right time, so that the amps respond to my playing style.

Mike

"There's no tone like your own"

Great mods! I didn't do anything that drastic to my '69 SR (well it's not blackface, but it has the same circuit as a tech found out). I just disabled the tremolo and made the bright swicht function to turn on and off the tremolo. In the off-position it is completely removed, and the tone gains much in volume and boldness.
SR on 6. That's how I play it too mostly (w/o pedals), although I now pefer Marshalls again. "If you say it's too loud than you're too f***** old" (Little Ceaser - Rock and Roll state of mind)

I just took my '72 SF Super Reverb to Willy at NBS Electronics. He's the guy who works on and builds Derek Trucks' amplifiers. I had him give me the Derek Trucks Tube Set. I'm not a tube-aholic, so I don't remember exactly what was what, but I'll try to rememember and give a report when I get it back. One cool thing that he said I could do, concerning finding the sweetspot at lower volumes, was change the rectifier tube. He's giving me one rectifier tube for practice room volumes and one for stage volumes. This way I don't have to blow my bandmates ears off in our living room . Man, Willy is a nut too!

Andy,

Here's a tip for you. If you're into Marshalls these days, buy yourself a RI SLP 100 (or 50). They're nowhere near as expensive as real plexis and easier to get. I got my purple RI plexi w/ matching 4x12 cab thru the German eBay for EUR 1210. First thing you do is change the tubes. I put in a matched set of set of Svetlana EL34's for the power section (biased at 35mA, which I consider to be a sweet spot) and a 5751 and two 12AX7's for the preamp section. I stillhad the preamp tubes so the the quartet of EL34's set me back EUR 80. RI plexi's are notoriously bright-sounding and after a few mods to the pc board I decided to have a Super Bass ptb board made by George Metropoulis of Metro Amp (www.metroamp.com). It cost me $185 incl. shipping. So the amp's now effectively a Super Bass and it sounds absolutely killer. The only thing is, as I've described in one of my previous posts, I don't like the way the OT compresses when you turn up the juice after 6 on both channels (I know, that's ridiculously loud on a 100w Marshall!). I'm not even out to turn it up to 10 but I do want the overall to open up even more and become warmer and more powerful still. I just got a Mercury Magnetics 0100JM-SL OT from an American guy i got to know thru eBay named Jaan Hort. If you want I can give you his email address. The OT, incl. shipping, has a $242.50 price tag. Cheaper than the $250 MM charges you excl. shipping! The OT will be the final step to tone heaven. I haven't received it yet but once it's installed I'll post a review. In all my quest for a great vintage SB tone has cost me less than 2000 bucks. Can't get any cheaper than that! My next investment will be a THD Hotplate to prevent myself and others from having their eardrums blasted!

Mike

"There's no tone like your own"

Tried out my plexi with the new Mercury Magnetics tranny today for the first time. WOW! What a difference in tone this tranny makes. It's everything I'd expected and more: loads of clean headroom, making the lows, mids and highs more pronounced. The highs particularly have lost their harshness and lows and mids sound tighter. I can turn the amp up to 10 and it still sounds great. My plexi project has come to a conclusion. This is the tone I'd been hearing in my head and I'm happy as a pig in clover. I can well recommend Jaan Hort as the guy to buy your MM trannies from. Email me for his email address if you're interested. Only thing is, I started this thread called Super Reverb mods when I really should have called it plexi mods. Unless there are still some people out there with some input on SR mods...

Mike

"There's no tone like your own"

bfg - Hey, where did those original alnico 10s go? Do you want to sell them?

As to your modding ways, no flames here. However, I do think, in hindsight, you might have moved on to the Marshalls and spared the SRs?

I also like the report on the MM tranny. I think their stuff is too pricey, but I do allow that the OT tranny can make a difference.

In the end,if you are all about live play, you have probably found enough bottom to move the room and make you personally happy. However, going back to SRV,on recordings only, it will one day be apparent to you that the bass freqs you seem to desire have nothing to do with good recorded guitar tone. Pay close attention to Honey Bee, for a great example. Tommy and Stevie had the sound spectrum handled perfectly, to the point that they are one and the same almost - Tommy has the bottom, Stevie has the mid and top.

I wonder what your bass player has to offer us on the subject of your live sound blend? Me thinks you probably go through a few bass players.

But I could be wrong........

Take Care,
bb

You probably have the answer. Why is the question so hard?

BantyBoy,

I think you misunderstood. I do go for huge low end but when it comes to setting my amps I'm a member of the 'less is more' club. My amps need to have that killer low end because the bottom gives body and warmth to the sound so that I actually don't have to use all that much bass. I NEVER turn the bass up past 4 on my SR's and on the Marshall it's actually on 0 because I link the channels and get plenty from the nromal channel. I'd only muddy up the sound otherwise. This way the bottom these amps have keep the sound tight. Hence the whole headroom thing. Headroom is like horsepower in cars. You don't want to go around doing 150 mph but it's nice to know the machine can deliver once you 'goose the juice'. This is the exact same principle used by SRV and Cesar Diaz. It may sound like he's not using a helluva lotta bass in his sound but actually SRV had more low end than Tommy! That's why Tommy uses active pickups and his bass sound is both midrangy and bassy at the same time. SRV's bass and that of Tommy blend in perfectly because they each have their own frequency with neither of them getting woofy. So it's actually the other way around from what you're saying.

Also, never go too much by studio recordings because of the endless tweaking and EQ-ing they can do in the mix, not to mention different amps and amp settings for different tracks. I was fortunate enough to see SRV live twice and I gotta tell ya ALL of SRV's frequencies stood out VERY prominently. One of those gigs he started by hitting the low E string with his thumb and it was HUGE. As for my own live sound blend it's much the same way. Me and my second guitarist are responsible for a lot of the low end and our bass player uses an Ampeg SVTII with 8x10 cab. These amps are renowned for their midrange punch and growl while also putting out a tight low end that blends perfectly with the guitars. That's with the SR's. Once we bring out the plexi 100's we drown out even an Ampeg but then my bass player produces his secret weapon: a 200w Marshall Major with an Ampeg 4x10 + 1x15 cab next to the SVT. Make no mistake: Tommy Shannon ended up using 15" and 18" speakers too!

As for the alnicos, I gave them to a very good Italian guitarist friend of mine called Enrico Crivellaro. He's into the 50's jump, jive & swing thing so I'm sure he'll put them to good use.

Mike

"There's no tone like your own"

There are a lot of fender amp experts at the weber forum too, have you asked over there?