Did you hear that sound? ....that was my jaw dropping on the floor! You've TOTALLY nailed the (previously thought) unobtainable sound of Ritchie Blackmore!!! I am totally perplexed! Well done indeed!!!
I rarely comment on videos but I just cannot let this one go by! You have probably got closer than anyone else to nailing the Man in Black's tone, pharsing and dynamics than any one else IMO. I have loved Ritchie's playing and tone since I receoved the Machine Head LP in 1972. Awesome!
That sound is like 99,99% Ritchie!! BRAVO Side fact: What most people don't notice is the constant pickup switch Ritchie does during his playing. You also nailed that very well!
Great video and nice playing! You really nailed Blackmore's sound, that's astonishing! I currently try to build a 200 Watts power amp with 4x KT88 and since the Major is such an amp I'd be very interested in schematics. Can you provide any advice in terms which schematics are the right ones to go for? There're several versions of the Major and back in the day some of them just went up in flames when pushed.
Thanks so much! Look for schematics online for the 1967 (Lead) or 1978 (Bass) models. Don't go for the earlier version that had active tone controls (aka the Pig). The Major used to blow up because of some insulation defects in the output transformer. Modern transformers don't have that problem. I believe the only company offering 200W Major OT and PT is Mercury Magnetics. Very expensive stuff. Good luck and report back with your results!
@@mgalbu Thanks a lot for your answer! Again, great sound! Regarding the amp: It will be for a high-power Leslie speaker, but it will take some time until I'll be able to talk about results. Let's see :-).
@@mgalbu I'm really wondering how you could come up with a working amp using the original schematics found online, just like you suggested. They're incomplete and have mistakes. There's only one schematic by "vintagekiki" which seems to work (and features completely different values for various parts) - by the way, this is also discussed at length in the Marshall forum. But most significantly, it's leaving away the ultralinear circuit (feedback between the output tranny and the control grits of the KT88s) altogether. This feedback is a characteristic feature of the Major but at the same time very problematic. Basically, you're just using the output tranny as a series resistor for the power tubes which just burns energy and therefore the tranny runs hot (which ultimately, if the amp is pushed too hard, will lead to failure of the tranny). Plus, it may cause the amp to resonate. It's a weird thing to do and also makes the output tranny very special, hence unnecessarily expensive. In addition, the original circuits require biasing whereas the vintagekiki amp is autobias. There're other aspects of the circuit which aren't handled very well too by Marshall but so be it. By the way: The Tube Amp Doctor in Germany offers very nice aftermarket trannies for not even half the price Mercury Magnetics is asking. If I ordered a Mercury Magnetics Marshall Major output tranny here in Europe I had to pay something like 720 Euros including shipping and taxes, which is just ridiculous.
i saw this video today. so if you still couldn't find a schematic you may want to try "flatout amps" or "valve guitar amp builders" accounts on facebook. check posts on may 28th, 2022. good luck. or i can e-mail you the schematic if you wish.
Hi! I heard somewhere that Ritchie's Majors were bass models, not the lead model. Can you verify if that's correct or not....? Thank you for great playing!
Nicholas Totoro Thanks so much! I’d recommend a 4x12 with G12H 55Hz Greenbacks (not reissues). Because they’re hard to find, as an alternative I had good experiences with the Scumback H55. Cheers.
Hi, for the most accurate MKII sound you'll need to use the treble booster that Blackmore used in front of his Major, or the AIWA tape for the MKIII/Rainbow sound. I can build the modded booster for you, as well as the amp. Cheers, M.
I will. It's very straightforward though. You need a modified Marshall Major amp, a modified Hornby Skewes treble booster, a Strat with CS69 pickups and a cabinet with G12H 55Hz Greenbacks with Pulsonic cones. Scumback makes good replicas of these speakers. Avoid the Celestion Heritage series. Let me know if you have any questions. Cheers, M.
I made it by looping a small fragment of Ian Paice's rythm on Lazy from the Copenhagen concert. Check this part here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L7exUMHWoYE.html
Marky Marco Hi, it took me a while to understand but now I think I know what you’re talking about ;) Incidentally I’ve been working on a video about the Machine Head sound. I hope to finish it soon. Cheers, M.
Hi, no worries, essentially the Major has a very different circuit than its "little brothers". Ultralinear output, cathodyne phase inverter, ECC82 driver tube, different filtering, etc. It makes for two very different sounding amps. I had a SL for a while and it sounded great. But I had to sell it because I couldn't get close enough to Blackmore's sound. Cheers.
@@mgalbu Since I've got a vein on tap, can you tell me why not just make the amp from the ground up like Metropolis does? It's hard enough and expensive to find a Major than have it modified. Perhaps that way it would not even need to be 200 watts.
zzubuzz That’s exactly what I do. I build a 100w version of the Major with just two KT88 and the “Blackmore” mods. Look up my “Made In Japan” video demonstrating the amp. Cheers.
@@mgalbu Great! I would not bother to ask about it further if it could only be done on a vintage Marshall Major, but I am interested in buying one of your " 100w version of the Major with just two KT88 and the “Blackmore” mods"
mgalbu If I hadn’t heard it I wouldn’t have thought it was possible. Great to hear the Place in line solo played so well .... Even the little bit of extra reverb on the long bend.
I would like to point out that the design of the Marshall Major and the additional circuits done for Richie Blackmore were done by myself and Mr Fields of Dagnal Transformers and not Dudley Craven as he had left Marshalls in 1966 or Ken Bran
@@sonidamara5018 hi, short answer, no :) Blackmore used a very specific booster to create this sound. Check it out: reverb.com/item/33543817-handwired-hornby-skewes-type-treble-booster-with-blackmore-mods?
IO would like to put you right on the heading the Factory mod were done by myself Dudley had left the company in 1966 before any 200 watt had been designed and Ken Bran did not design anything to do with the 200w Major
I will on my next video, thanks Ken. I think you are referring to Ken Underwood leaving after the first prototypes were built. Dudley Craven was there and Blackmore mentioned him and Ken Brad as the guys who worked on his amp at the factory. If I understand correctly, you were involved with the original design of the 200W Major at GEC, correct?
That's the real deal. The Marshall Major 200 watt and Fender Stratocaster with a few mods. Playing matched Richies style. Well done man. A historic sound. Screw modelling amps. Lol.
Asombroso has logrado al 100%100 el tono del maestro RB... y que bien lograste tocar con la dinamica y forma de tocar de RITCHIE, en mis 64 años es la primera vez q escucho lograr el mismo sonido y su forma de tocar. Lo lograste FELICITACIONES!!!! 👏👏👏👏... Un abrazo👍👍👍🇦🇷
ASTONISHING!! You really captured Ritchie's tone, I have listened to many others trying to recreate it but you ACTUALLY did! I'm amazed!! Also, can you recreate early Rainbow tone, or 95' Rainbow tone?
Thanks so much Ed! I have not tried to recreate his Rainbow tone so far. For that I would need to build a pedal with the AIWA tape preamp circuit. I'll probably do it someday in the future. Thanks again!
MAN, THAT'S WAS THE MOST FANTASTIC STRAT+MARSHALL BLACKMORE TONE I HAVE EVER LISTENED TO! I've search this tone for years and years, and you've nailed it! Where can i found more details about your work on this? I live in Brazil, and i'd love to study more about this, and, someday, who knows, replicate this amazing sound! Thanks! Congrats again!
Hi Paulo, thanks so much! Glad you liked it! Check my latest video with the Strange Kind of Woman solo. I'm using a modified Major with a modified booster through G12H Greenbacks. That's what I recommend to get close to Blackmore's sound. Cheers, M.
The mods are mainly for more gain and some circuit changes that when paired with the modded booster and the right speakers can give you the Blackmore sound. Cheers, M.
Thanks! The Sunburst has a one piece alder body. It is more resonant than the black one when unplugged and it feels better in general. Otherwise they sound practically the same. Cheers, M.
Awesome it sounds just like Ritchie. I’ve red his Marshall had the channels cascaded. This is what Marshall did on the MV amps. I wonder will one of the volumes work as kind of a MV even if it’s earlier in the circuit than on a regular MV amp? I’ve also red Blackmore saying he had an extra output valve or stage built in. But that seems a bit odd. Was it probably a preamp valve? I guess Blackmore was no amp technician. It would be great knowing what your mods do in general. I gott a 100 Marshall SLP Reissue that has the channels cascaded and one of the volumes as a MV after the tone stack like a regular MV Marshall amp. I get lots of distortion on it more than on a regular MV Marshall. I get a great sound straight in even at bedroom level. Great Blackmorish playing by the way!
Amazing playing and amazing tone. Can I ask you some tones from mk III made in Europe album, live in London, California jam? Many thanks for all music!
Thanks so much Marcelo! I still have to get into the MKIII era tones, I will in the future. For now I can recommend you my friend dogwithtwobones channel for those covers. Look him up, cheers!
Thank you! You can get somewhat close but you will be missing the big low frequencies and definition that the Major has. I had a SL for a while and I loved the sound of it, I just couldn't get close enough to Blackmore's tone to keep it. :)
The amp had been heavily modified following advice from an internet blog and It sounded sterile, stiff, ultra-clean, with no character. Not even a bit of crunch at full volume. It had been turned into a pedal platform of sorts. Terrible sounding to be honest. So I had to remove all those mods before applying mine. It involved the whole circuit, from the power supply to the preamp.
mgalbu crazy that it was in such shape before you showed up. Sounds amazing now. Did you do any tests before doing your mod but post fixing all of the crap the other guy did?
Hi Buddy.. May i ask, in your opinion, What is the main difference that a Marshall Major has to say a Jtm or Jcm800, does the M/Major make such a difference in the sound or is it in the style & fingers?
Hi! The Major does make a difference and in the case of Blackmore, his was heavily modified. But I've heard people with other amps that sound really close because of their technique. It's really both! :)
@@mgalbu Hey thanks for replying, Love your channel. You should join Purple! having that tone again in the band would be wonderful. Any chance of doing Mistreated tone/ delay sometime?
@@boatingforbeginners7949 Haha, thanks! :) I've been actually practicing Mistreated lately, trying to figure out the parts from the California Jam intro. It could be one of the next videos
Expectacular 👏👏👏 el sonido de Ritchie parece ser tan simple y complicado a la vez. Muchos utilizan una gran cantidad de pedales para tratar de obtenerlo y es más simple que eso, como la vida, entre más simple más felicidad. Tocas muy bien además 🤘
Would you be willing to share the 'Blackmore' mods done to his and also your Major? I'm planning on building a Mini Major for use with an authentic DP tribute band and would really love to get it as close to the real deal as possible. Thanks a lot in advance!
Hi, I have one of Ritchies old Major amps. It is in great codition and you can see there has been an extra Tube in it before. I have showen this to ” Dawk” Ritchies tech Guy in the seventies and he recognised it. For the moment I don’t thinner there are any mods left in it. When I first looked inside the amp I found a peace of paper and it stod ”Purple” on it.
Hi Peter, that's great! I'd love to take a look at it if you have any pics of the inside. Let me know if you don't mind and I'll send you my email address. Cheers, Max
For this video I removed two output valves from the Major. For my last video I modified the Rockcrusher to make it work with the full 200W amp. Cheers, M.
I want to do something similar.. how did you determine that there were mods to the amp and how were you confident that you had successfully reverted it to a stock amp before applying your mod?
Great Sound and playing indeed, my complimen! I hope you can also proof it in a DP tribute band. I have recently bought two Majors, that are refurbished now. Maybe we can share our experiences? Keep on rockin', great player!
Thank you so much Alexander! Where I live there are no DP tribute bands unfortunately :) Thank goodness I have the backing tracks although it's not the same. Two Majors? Wow, that's great! Cheers, M.
@@mgalbu Maybe you should try to find talented band members in a wider area or take into account longer ways for good people. I don't know. But your backing tracks with the removed guitar track are ideal for exercising. My Majors are kind of the following: One Plexi from 1968, which is now originally refurbished. And one from 1969. It has already a modification which, can be switched as addon to the original sound. It has an extra pre-stage valve and a trebble and bass boost switch. But I don't like the mod. It makes the basses and mids too muddy. I really wonder, how you could find out, what kind of mod Dudley Craven and Ken Bran made for RB in 1969?? I thought it was a secret from Marshall? And I suppose even RB would not know it anymore ;-) I think the challenge is getting controll over the basses and having the right boost for getting gain without losing dynamics and treble. I like the Major's trebles, which are very smooth (similar to a Vox AC30 Top Boost, which I also own from 1965). In general I am not convinced by any boost or distortion pedal, it is sometimes just a compromise. By the way: the start of your playing in this video is a part from the guitar only (+drum) Lazy solo from Copenhagen 1972, right?
@@alexandermueller5401 Yes, it was inspired by Lazy from Copenhagen 1972 but it's not exact, just parts of it. I saw his guitar cable plugged straight into the Major and I thought it was a good example of how the amp sounded with no treble booster connected. The mods I make are based on what was told to me by a big Blackmore fan who tracked Ken Bran in England years ago and kindly passed that info to me. Even though we don't have some of the exact details because they were lost in time, I had enough data to try and find what was done to the amp by trial and error. At some point and after many months I felt like I hit the right formula when things started to sound like the original with no EQ or additional post production. I also build his modded treble booster and I think it's very accurate too. That was a team effort with my friend Jérome from France. A big part of his MKII sound. I'd even say fundamental. Regarding the mods in your Major, the last thing you want in the amp is a Bass boost ;) The amp already has tons of low frequencies. Blackmore used to set the Bass knob all the way down to 0 for that reason. Cheers, M.
@@mgalbu Max, this concert in Kopenhagen was my major inspiration regarding Blackmore, when I saw the video first, everything changed. Prior I was amazed by the LP Scandinavian Nights LP (Live in Stockholm) - rather than by MIJ (but I adore it too, of course). And you are the first one I know, who seems to have the same - I would say -emotions as me in that matter :-) Regarding mods I have to tell you my current story. I am in the phase of changing my live equipment, I want to play Marshalls now - full stacks. I have collected as I said the two Majors and two Plexi JTM 100 and the boxes as well and some other stuff. I got the occasion to play in August with a well known DP tribuite band as a stand-in front of a bigger audience and I wanted to play it with two full Marshall Major stacks. One for the dry sound and one for the delay sound (I also wanted to use for the first time a Lexicon Prime Time delay from the 80ies, which my friend and technicien Martin also refurbished for me). But I was so disappointed by the installed Major's mod (as I told you before), that I tried a workaround with some pedals (Tube Screamers, Rodenberg, Black Star, BSM Treble Booster and others), but nothing was acceptable for me. Finally my technicien lent me his modded Super Lead Marshall (instead of the first Major) and I was rescued for the gig, the two stack were awesome. Awesome how you came to the mod of your Major, I am very impressed. Did you make a circuit diagram or other documentations for this? I wonder what Ritchie recently discribed in Guitarworld last year, I guess you alredy know the interview including the story behind his Major mods. Just in case here the link: www.guitarworld.com/artists/ritchie-blackmore-talking-tone-gear-deep-purple-years-and-a-rocking-rainbow-revival My thoughts are: some of RB's statements seem to be a little bit exaggerated (who wonders? ;-)) and not very accurate: If you extend the Major by an output stage you would not have more power, which is defined by the input power transformator - even I am not a technicien. So this example shows me, whether he has lost all the know-how over the years or he has only a limited technical knowledge....:-) . But it could be the truth: they built him a new amp or a kind of included preamp - I mean they could have made a bigger mod than we would expect. But it seems you made another proof.....:-) Cheers, Alex
Exactly the sound I'm looking for. Is there a possibility that you would build one of these amps for sale? I'd be quite interested in the cost for such a masterpiece.
