Blockhead "First Born" 18 Schematic

[Plexi]

It also just goes to show you.. look at the simple question mrmojorisin
asked.. and started.. To where it leads to.. amazing..

Richie

[Plexi]

I've been skimming back through the posts.. and i have a question for mrmojo.{Carl} here is your quote

""I played on of the original blockhead 18's, and then the "first born". They sounded totally different. The first was kind of wimpy. The second one was absolutely alive! I am dying to find out why!

Carl""

Do you remember the channels you played through or tested and compared?
Did you use the same guitar/pickups through both.

I posted earlier.. old amps resistors and caps value drift,this can change the tone and gain stucture of the circuts.. Speakers are old and proably broken in..lol

In newer amps, parts are useully close to what they should be.. a speaker may not be broken in.. So it may take a bit of just plaing to make it sound better.



I was also wondering if the intensity pot,and its wiring being different..

I have an amp on the bench i was rebuilding ,and i'll see how most of this turns out..


Done some scribbling of the changes..

Without doing any testing, what i believe will be the outcome.. it may help with alot of the trem problems we've been having.. And you may hear differences in tone or gain between the 2 channels.. thats about it.

Its easy to rewire and make the changes to the sockets..and to the PI.
thats about it.. everything else is fine.
Richie

[Plexi]

Well this all started over in the "By the BBQ" forum.. Or really Ian looking for a EZ81 for an amp he dug out of his attic.. And he found this site. Gabi posted the Great pics Ian took of his amp.. and told his story or details of owning it.
i just went back and looked through the posts.

Seans keen eye picked up the details of the cab right away..and Ian pretty much nailed the date,{think i posted early 65 too) as Jim confirmed.
And to quote Ian..{from the BBQ post}

""So I immedeiately found people replying to me saying "wow that's an interesting old Amp you've got, do you know what they're worth these days?". To which my answer was "no, I've no idea, I don't think it's worth much at all, is it?""

I believe its worth alot more now..since Jim said he built it! It may be the brother or sister of the Solid bodies "first born"
but most of this started in the BBQ, and brought up some interesting comments.

Plus i believe he mentioned haveing a WEM amp in his attic too.. maybe you could rob the recto tube from it for the marshall. It should be the same.


Well since Gabi posted some of the info,i guess its ok to blab a little.

As you can see, Ian got to take his amp to Jim Marshall, but before this took place,in some e-mails while talking to Ian, he asked me if i could think of any questions to Ask Jim. And since Jim is getting up in years,didn't want to bombard him with a couple zillions questions.
But a few good ones was, Ian asked of the amps with reverb,since no one has seen any. Jim said they did build a few,not many but a few were built.
So i guess they are still in someones attic.
He also asked about the Grill cloth on the WEM/Marshall/Park amps.
Jim said he couldn't remember exactly but thought it was from EMI.

I liked the part where Jim knew he built Ian's amp..also Jeff might like that part.. because he said he knew how he folded the tolex on the corners..
I always Knew he signed cabs from time to time..like it was an inspection thing..and he approved of the workmanship.. Least thats what i always thought.

I wasn't too surprised on the cab, it all made sense when he explained it.
Like us on here.. we always want to change and make something different or better.
It was a transition period.. they were going from the thicker cabs to thinner type. They were also building Park amps. Logos,and cosmetics and chassis were changing. If you look at some of his first amps..i believe some of the badges were made or bought from coffin makers..tolex was from car upolstries..And i believe the Grill cloth was a wall covering.. I'm sure back then there weren't too many places you could buy stuff to build amps..

The best part is finding out Jim Marshall himself built Ians amp.
But most of the things Ian found out, that his amp was one of the first 18 2x12s built.. And now we know why they were different in the cabs.(Jim explaied it} The last question was.. I asked Ian if he could get me Jims autograph.. he not only got it but sent me pics to show me..! he signed the Doyle book . I Can't add much more to that..except THANKS IAN!

Richie

[Ian]

Hi Guys, Richie, Gabi, & all;-

Well I guess that the time difference across “The Pondâ€

[loverocker]

Great thread guys

Hey Ian - that vertical pinstripe story is very interesting; hope Wannatone's reading this. He's been looking at a (claimed genuine) mid-60s 1930 10W combo which has the same vertical pinstripe (plus plexi panel).

[Ian]

Hi Loverocker, Carl,

Loverocker;- Well what do you know! No sooner do I post something I expect to be really weird, i.e. Vertical stripes, than someone comes along within minutes & says “oh yeah, I know all about that, someone else has one like that too!â€

[loverocker]

Hey Ian - certainly wasn't trying to downplay your story I think it's great how these little random bits of info from different sources all help to build a big picture. Especially when the big picture is that Marshall/Fender/Gibson were all just making it up and making do as they went along

Got to drag my carcass up to Marshall at some point. Wonder if I can get Jim to sign my WEM?

[Ian]

Hi Loverocker,

Heck, I knew my choice of words was bad there! No, No;- I didn't mean anything like that all, truly! Just put any such thought right out of your mind, OK?

I was just making a joke, you know saying how often its is, when you think you've found something unusual, the next thing you know, half a dozen guys pop up saying "yep, we've all got one just like that"! Perhaps I haven't got the hang of this US term "LoL", maybe I ought to include that just to warn people when I'm just kidding, ie to avoid putting my foot in it!!


All the best,


Ian.

[loverocker]

Hey - no worries. I'm still new here and haven't grasped people's personalities yet, so it's hard to read between the lines. Either that or sublimated jealousy for your 18Wer.

[Plexi]

I heard one of these the other day. It just killed! Anyone take a look inside yet and find out what makes it tick? I would be very interested in the circuit values. Thx, Carl

I also found this, it might interest you some..
http://pub125.ezboard.com/fmarshallampforumfrm2

The link will take you to the posts..and a soundfile link of a Blockhead 18

I know Mp3s can vary,dependeding on alot of things.. So you don't know what setting its on..but doesn't sound like its cranked full blast.

Anyway..still something for you to maybe hear.

Richie