Mad Professor Amp -- Discussion / Appreciation Thread

[if6were9]

I'm strapped for time so I can't post a pic right away. Our amps seem identical (except mine is black with a silver logo with black letteringO: 2 inputs norm and abnorm + 10 chicken head dials: tube/fet, vol, focus, bass, mid, treb, tone bal, pres, boost, master followed by a standby switch.

The speakers in my cab are early 70's G12M 25w 16ohm 75hz w T1221 frames. When I bought the cab I bought 5 extra old celestions on EBAY and I picked the 4 that sounded best out of the 9 for this cab. It currently has 2 greenbacks made on March 16 1973, a greyback made on December 17, 1973 and a blackback made on May 18, 1978. I hope the mate to the greyback from 1973 will be as good as the other '73's when it comes back from being re-coned by Ted Weber.

Maybe I should have gone all-out and got an earlier cab with pre-rola celsetion G12H 55hz speakers, but those are hard to find and 3x as much money ...and I wanted a straight cab and I saw slant cabs for sale. I'm very happy with how this cab sounds. It makes a huge difference. I owned 2 newer Marshall cabs in the last 5 years and they were both terrible.

There is one similar to mine on EBAY now. He says it is a 1970, but there is not much info on it and the one speaker code shown dates to March 16, 1973 (the exact date as 2 of my speakers!). Also the speaker backs are missing and the cabs looks like there might have been some water damage. Probably still sounds great, but who knows.

[if6were9]

Oh i forgot to say the cs-40 kills the vintage Marshalls and the HiWatt. It does what they do, but better, and it can also do so much more. It is not as stupid loud as the 100w superlead, but if I ever play Madison Square Garden I guess I'll have to mike my cab.

I'm keeping 4 or 5 of the tweed Fenders, my '65 Blackface Pro, and probably one or two of the Dumble clones (I am on the wait list for a third one), but I am pretty sure I'll be putting a lot of my other amps up for sale in the next few months. ...Now that I have the CS40 I just have no desire to play them anymore.

[Eskimo_Joe]

Oh i forgot to say the cs-40 kills the vintage Marshalls and the HiWatt. It does what they do, but better, and it can also do so much more. It is not as stupid loud as the 100w superlead, but if I ever play Madison Square Garden I guess I'll have to mike my cab.

I'm keeping 4 or 5 of the tweed Fenders, my '65 Blackface Pro, and probably one or two of the Dumble clones (I am on the wait list for a third one), but I am pretty sure I'll be putting a lot of my other amps up for sale in the next few months. ...Now that I have the CS40 I just have no desire to play them anymore.

Cool, thanks for your comments! I am going to experiment with speakers and possibly cabs.

Sometime when you get a moment, I'd love to see what tubes you're running.

[Danny Boy]

Oh i forgot to say the cs-40 kills the vintage Marshalls and the HiWatt. It does what they do, but better, and it can also do so much more. It is not as stupid loud as the 100w superlead, but if I ever play Madison Square Garden I guess I'll have to mike my cab.

I'm keeping 4 or 5 of the tweed Fenders, my '65 Blackface Pro, and probably one or two of the Dumble clones (I am on the wait list for a third one), but I am pretty sure I'll be putting a lot of my other amps up for sale in the next few months. ...Now that I have the CS40 I just have no desire to play them anymore.

I totally agree that the CS-40 rules!

[Eskimo_Joe]

Oh i forgot to say the cs-40 kills the vintage Marshalls and the HiWatt. It does what they do, but better, and it can also do so much more. It is not as stupid loud as the 100w superlead, but if I ever play Madison Square Garden I guess I'll have to mike my cab.

I'm keeping 4 or 5 of the tweed Fenders, my '65 Blackface Pro, and probably one or two of the Dumble clones (I am on the wait list for a third one), but I am pretty sure I'll be putting a lot of my other amps up for sale in the next few months. ...Now that I have the CS40 I just have no desire to play them anymore.

I totally agree that the CS-40 rules!

Hey Danny Boy, what speakers / cabs and tubes are you using with the CS-40?

[if6were9]

Joe - how did you get your Mad Professor cab? Is it the one with 8" speakers on the sides to project "3-D" (or "4-D" if you must) sound? I've heard they can't be found in the USA due to weight, shipping costs, and because of fear that the inside plumbing might not survive a bumpy trip. How does it sound? Anything you could compare it to?

Where is Soulard? Is it the city near St. Louis?

[Eskimo_Joe]

Joe - how did you get your Mad Professor cab? Is it the one with 8" speakers on the sides to project "3-D" (or "4-D" if you must) sound? I've heard they can't be found in the USA due to weight, shipping costs, and because of fear that the inside plumbing might not survive a bumpy trip. How does it sound? Anything you could compare it to?

Where is Soulard? Is it the city near St. Louis?

The cab was the demo cab that MP took to NAMM, etc. I was in the right place at the right time. It does not have the side speakers.

To be honest, I am not totally happy with the. The speakers are the recommended Private Jack / Red Fang combo, but I don't think they are fully broken in so they sound a bit stiff.

[Danny Boy]

Oh i forgot to say the cs-40 kills the vintage Marshalls and the HiWatt. It does what they do, but better, and it can also do so much more. It is not as stupid loud as the 100w superlead, but if I ever play Madison Square Garden I guess I'll have to mike my cab.

I'm keeping 4 or 5 of the tweed Fenders, my '65 Blackface Pro, and probably one or two of the Dumble clones (I am on the wait list for a third one), but I am pretty sure I'll be putting a lot of my other amps up for sale in the next few months. ...Now that I have the CS40 I just have no desire to play them anymore.

I totally agree that the CS-40 rules!

Hey Danny Boy, what speakers / cabs and tubes are you using with the CS-40?

HI!
I have 2 Cab's, one open back Matchless 2X12" loaded with one Celestion G12h + one Alnico Gold and one
Closed Back 2x12 Loaded with a pair of Celestion Classic Lead 80.
I also like the Private Jacks/Red Fang combination but not in a 2x12" cab because they haven't got the same headroom...
But I don't think that the Speakers are that important because the CS-40's Eq can get around almost every Problem...
I prefer Svetlana C-wings becase their good durability!

Cheers!

[Eskimo_Joe]

HI!
I have 2 Cab's, one open back Matchless 2X12" loaded with one Celestion G12h + one Alnico Gold and one
Closed Back 2x12 Loaded with a pair of Celestion Classic Lead 80.
I also like the Private Jacks/Red Fang combination but not in a 2x12" cab because they haven't got the same headroom...
But I don't think that the Speakers are that important because the CS-40's Eq can get around almost every Problem...
I prefer Svetlana C-wings becase their good durability!

Cheers!

That's for your feedback. I have to respectfully disagree about the speakers / eq. The CS40's eq is advanced for sure, but it can't dial out stiffness. I plugged my CS40 head into a new /13 cab (presumably with new, unbroken in speakers) and it sounded much better. The /13's come with a greenback and a blue.

I think one of my sources of dissatisfaction is that despite the amp's versatility (and it is crazy versatile) it does not do a convincing tweed or classic blackface sound in my opinion. The amp can certainly do much more than most amps, but it can't do everything.

Maybe if I switch tubes / speakers that would get me closer?

[nichcope]

I think one of my sources of dissatisfaction is that despite the amp's versatility (and it is crazy versatile) it does not do a convincing tweed or classic blackface sound in my opinion. The amp can certainly do much more than most amps, but it can't do everything.

Maybe if I switch tubes / speakers that would get me closer?

Maybe try 6L6's and 12AX7 in the preamp section, I would guess that those would be your best bet for taking you into tweedville. Anyone played direct through the FX loop return to get the hidden Supro tone (this bypasses all controls except for boost and master volume)? If so, what do you think?