Modded Marshall 1936 2x12's

[Revolver1]

I thought some of you may find this interesting. Or at the very least I can show how bad my OCD is....

So I have two Stone Age 2x12 over sized cabs, these are my main cabinets and I absolutely love them. They are beautifully made and sound really good. But I wanted to get a couple more cabinets so I could have some different speaker configurations for different amps or I can have the way over the top option of running the whole lot together.

Now if I had my way I'd get another two Stone Age cabs but being here in the UK I'd have to do the whole import thing again and I just couldn't justify it. So I started looking at other options.

When I first got the Stone Age cabs the whole reason I went down that route was because back then I couldn't find a cab that was all Baltic Birch construction. But now after doing a bit of research it looked like Marshall are now using all ply construction.

So I called the shop up but they couldn't confirm it and they weren't willing to take a look inside. So I called Marshall up and had a good chat with a really nice guy there but he couldn't confirm it although he was 99% sure it would be all ply. So I decided to take a chance and ordered up two 1936 2x12 cabs.

The cabs arrived, I went with the slightly cheaper G12T75 version because I would be replacing the speakers anyway but when they arrived one of the cabs was damaged so I had to get it returned.

I checked inside and it's all ply, I'm pretty sure it's not Baltic Birch because some of it has a pink / redish hugh to it and all the Baltic I've ever seen is snow white. I guess the Baltic is a slower growing wood and would therefore be denser, I guess that would be superior to regular ply. My Stone Age cabs are definitely heavier in any case. But for what I want all ply construction will be good enough.

So I'm waiting for the other cab to arrive and it's been a couple of months so I contacted them only to find it's going to be another couple of months. I got Impatient, I had a bit of time off work and wanted the cabs to be able to do what I had planned so I paid the extra for the cabinet with V30's.

It's also all ply so all good. The cab looks ever so slightly different. Not sure if that's on purpose or just the way it was finished but the front bevelled edge looks slightly more rounded compared to the other cab but there's not much in it.

 

[Revolver1]

So I set about stripping the cab down and removing everything.



When Marshall apply the tolex glue I assume they spray it on because it gets all over the inside of the cab. This kinda dampens the sound of the cab wich isn't a bad thing for some applications but for me I want my cab to be resonant. You can see the over spray and black paint all over the inside there In the picture.

 

[Revolver1]

I then set about scraping all the glue out with a razor blade. You cant sand it off because it just smears together and spreads further. It's a tedious task I can say for sure. After scraping it all clean I gave it a light sanding to smooth it all up.





You can see I also trimmed up the tolex on the back panel.

 

[Revolver1]

In the picture above you can see holes in the bottom of the cab, this is where the plastic castor sockets fit into the cab. I have no use for castors and don't like the idea of holes in the bottom of my cab so I got some 20mm Baltic Birch dowel and sanded it slightly to fit.

I then cut it to length and glued it in to plug the holes. Then I drilled some new holes and fitted rubber feet. The feet cover the dowel on the bottom and I used a machine screw with nice big flat washer and nylon lock nut on the inside. The washer covers the dowel on the inside as well.

 

[Revolver1]

I then got some metal handles to replace the plastic ones. I fitted these with machine screws and T nuts. I marked it all out to drill the holes to fit the T nuts but there is a section in there either side of the handle that is cut out and it's right where one of the fixings needs to be. So I cut some small rectangles of Baltic ply and used a longer screw into a T nut to get it neatly fitted.

 

[Revolver1]

You can see I'm doing this in my front room, I have a very understanding long suffering Wife...

I wanted to do away with all the stereo wiring so i fitted a single Jack socket back plate.

 

[Revolver1]

I then re-did the grill cloth. On one cab I went with Checkerboard and on the other one I went with Pin Stripe.

I then replaced the match stick like sound post with something more substantial and fitted a rubber foot.
The baffle is at an angle so the speakers are tilted towards you when standing in front of it so I had to cut an angle on the sound post so the back of it would be square with the rear panel.

You can also see I had to slightly notch out the bottom of the baffle to fit around the nuts securing the feet at the front. That hole is right on the edge of the baffle.

 

[Revolver1]

I then fitted up the speakers. In the Pin Stripe cab I put a Cellestion V30 and a G12T75. I like the mix for a more contemporary sound, they even each other out and the Pin Stripe cloth also works well to smooth it out. Goes great with my 2555 head.

In the Checkerboard cab I put a Scumback M55 and an M75, these are just awesome. I have Scumback H55 and H75's in the Stone Age cabs so it's nice to have an M cab for a slightly different flavour.

I then wired them up with 1.5mm or 16awg PVC Single conductor, twisting the wires together and soldering all the connections. I used a Switch Craft Jack socket and wired the cabs in parallel. So I have 2x 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel making them 8 ohm cabs.

 

[Revolver1]

Lastly I drilled a hole through the rear panel and into the sound post and fitted a beefy screw with a nice little metal ring washer like they use on the rest of the screws on the rear panel.

So that's it all done. You can definitely hear the difference when you tap the cabinets. Before they were completely dead but now they ring.

I very happy with the sound. My Stone Age cabs are still number one but these are not too dissimilar now so yeah I'm happy.

Tone Henge....

 

[Revolver1]

So my signal comes out my pedal chain and then to a Lehle passive splitter. Then I take one line to a delay and the other to a reverb. The delay goes to the 100w and the reverb to the 50w.

The 100w is connected to the Stone Age cabs and the 50w to the Marshall cabs so it's wet, dry, wet or dry, wet, dry or I can have it all dry or all wet without the delay and reverb mushing out.

It's alot of fun to play.....

 

[ourmaninthenorth]

For future reference perhaps, Jeff Lewis at Matamp makes some of the best cabs I've heard, he can literally make anything you spec.

Be only too pleased to introduce you, but be aware, budget for a 3 hour conversation, rather like myself he can make a simple good morning greeting last all day.

As to the delay reverb dodge, I use a Hungry Robot "The Wash", fantastic soundscape possibilities without a hint of mush. I do my best Fripp impression with it...or so I tell meself.

 

[Revolver1]

Haha, yeah that's cool. Nice tip on the delay reverb.

I got the idea from something I'd read on Eric Johnson. I can't lay claim to it being my idea, I'm not that smart.

Good tip on Matamp though, I didn't think of that at the time. I was looking at a Matamp cab at one point for my Hiwatt but I ended up going with Hiwatt because of the new Purple Back Fane clones.

I did however pick up a Matamp GT120 and modded it to run on the 220v tap to bump the plate voltage. I was talking it through with Hayden and he was Super helpful, really great company to deal with.

That amp is awesome, I've got an ecc81 in V2 and a set of KT77's in it getting 489vdc on the plates and it Rocks. I run it on 234vac input and modded the heater circuits to get them spot on.

But yeah good call on the Matamp speaker cabs. I'm hopeing I'm done for a while now at least hahaha....

 

[ourmaninthenorth]

A few bits n bobs of Matamp stuff that I've had in me mitts....to complete the derail of your thread in some style!!!

The Harry Joyce is the last one Harry made, belonged to his Widow, and now is solely owned by Jeff Lewis. I had it for a couple of months on loan, I never owned it ( just to keep things clear and correct. )

The Hiwatt cab is Matamp, the DR103 is '73.

GT1, 1224 mk1 both mine, all cabs mine. The series 2000 along side my 1224 was taken at a Matamp meet we had about 15 years ago, bloody hell where does the time go.

 

[Revolver1]

No problem, any time. At least you did it with style.

I know what you mean, where does the time go? By the time your old enough and earning enough to afford all this great gear youth has long since disappeared in the rear view mirror. Wish I had all this when I was younger for sure.

That's some seriously cool gear. Awesome! Love it.

And I love those Matamp face plates, very cool.

How's your hearing?

 

[ourmaninthenorth]

I get the bollockings from the Wife in writing....

 

[Revolver1]

I just clocked that Orange Matamp, super cool. ?

 

[ourmaninthenorth]

I just clocked that Orange Matamp, super cool. ?

I wish I could have played Greeny through the bugger....don't want much do I?

I think this was the last time I was caught smiling in public, just before it went to Kirk.

Absolute credit to Richard Henry for putting it in my hands, some things one simply does not forget.

 

[Revolver1]

Hahaha.... Mate you have got some seriously lovely gear, certainly alot to be smiling about.

 

[goldtop0]

Well..................I put 2 x G12M20s in my 1936, and that'll be it
Birch construction with a MDF backboard, cut 1/3 out of the middle of it for a part open back.
It's an old '84 cab and one of the first shipments of Marshalls ever to come into the country(we started importing the amps that year), so historically significant by NZ standards.
Cheers you two............love your work

 

[Revolver1]

That's quite interesting, I had no idea the first shipment of Marshall's to NZ was as late as that.

What the hell did you do with yourselves before 1984???? ?????

So with the G12M20's and partially open back is it a bit easier on the ears? I'm imagining it's gonna be pretty sweet sounding?