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Not a Bluesbreaker at Rumble Seat

blewsbreaker

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Dec 29, 2003
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At first glance I thought it was a Series I, but it ain't. Same listing on gbase... what exactly is it? :hmm

The best case scenario would be a real JTM-45 trem chassis mounted in a recovered 1967 (or later) cab that was recovered with incorrect tolex and regrilled with phony "Music Ground Special" grill cloth. Most of the time though, when MG built these amps, they wouldn't bother using a real (Marshall) cab, they would just make a bogus one and pass it off as real.
I could tell you more if there were more pics.
 

T.Allen

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The badge looks real. You'd think MG would use one of their repro badges.
 

CDaughtry

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For my own edification, how can you tell it's fake from the one photo on the website?
 

humbucking

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Jun 5, 2002
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I am by no means an expert, but here is what I see.

-Wrong tolex for a pinstripe era cab. Its black, but should have hues of greenish blue in the grain.
-Pinstripe appears to be real, but is in two pieces like its from a PA column. This was quite common back in the 90s-00's with fugazi pinstripes. If it was fake pinstripe, why 2 piece it at PA column width?
 

duaneflowers

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Aug 13, 2013
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Most of my education on the early BBs came from the Wiley book, which as Banker pointed out is full of errata... that one matched bits and pieces of several of the amps discussed but none of the was a complete match. That's what got me scratching my head... those are such phenomenal sounding amps that I'd really love to know more 'correct' details about the originals.
 

blewsbreaker

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The badge looks real. You'd think MG would use one of their repro badges.

I'm sure it is a MG repro because it's so clean. Sadly, MG perfected Marshall logos some years ago, so it's kind of a moot point for detecting a fake amp.
 

blewsbreaker

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For my own edification, how can you tell it's fake from the one photo on the website?

Experience.

The earliest known "style 2" JTM-45 BB combo was Eric Clapton's, which was made in early 1966. Any 1965 BB combo would be a "style 1" with the thick lip....and most of the 65's would have a block logo.
The tolex color is wrong...should be "blue wash". Still think the grill cloth is the bogus shit MG used 15 years ago.
Here's a pristine 66' on ebay...(for reference)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-MARSHA...22?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item23547af43e#
 
Last edited:

humbucking

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I could be wrong on the pinstripe. It may be their fake stuff. Blewsbreaker is right about the logo. I think the only way to tell the difference between a real one & a properly aged MG repro, is by comparing the pins. IIRC, the MG ones are very pointy compared to real ones.
 

skeletor

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Dec 4, 2004
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535
A good rule of thumb when looking at pinstripe combos is just to assume they are fake unless the seller can prove otherwise, because 9/10 times they will be.

Looking at their other listings which include a checkerboard cab described as salt and pepper, and some basketweave cabs with metal handles "from 1973", tells me they are completely clueless about marshall gear.
 

goldtop0

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John (Banker) has stated here a few times that he has never seen an original JTM45 combo like EC's(as pictured on the back of the Beano album).
 

mistersnappy

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Jan 20, 2006
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7,321
Experience.

The earliest known "style 2" JTM-45 BB combo was Eric Clapton's, which was made in early 1966. Any 1965 BB combo would be a "style 1" with the thick lip....and most of the 65's would have a block logo.
The tolex color is wrong...should be "blue wash". Still think the grill cloth is the bogus shit MG used 15 years ago.
Here's a pristine 66' on ebay...(for reference)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-MARSHA...22?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item23547af43e#

I played a 4x10 JTM 45 Tremelo Model 1961 with Vox vents, large lip, and script logo. I know it really shouldn't be analyzed too much w/o pics and serial number but, what year would that be likely to be?
 

blewsbreaker

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I played a 4x10 JTM 45 Tremelo Model 1961 with Vox vents, large lip, and script logo. I know it really shouldn't be analyzed too much w/o pics and serial number but, what year would that be likely to be?

Most likely 1966
 

blewsbreaker

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John (Banker) has stated here a few times that he has never seen an original JTM45 combo like EC's(as pictured on the back of the Beano album).

True, and the owner of Ampaholics where John and I have brought some of our Marshalls has never seen one either....and he's been in business over 30 years.
 

goldtop0

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True, and the owner of Ampaholics where John and I have brought some of our Marshalls has never seen one either....and he's been in business over 30 years.


So it may be a fact that the one made by Jim Marshall 'to fit in the boot of Eric's car' is a definite one-off.
And no one knows where that one ended up.
 

blewsbreaker

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So it may be a fact that the one made by Jim Marshall 'to fit in the boot of Eric's car' is a definite one-off.
And no one knows where that one ended up.

When I spoke to Eric about his amp in 2005, he called it a "one off" that Jim had built him to fit in the trunk of his car. To see Eric's eyes light up talking about his favorite amp was really special. He said he never found one as good as that one.
Sadly, he couldn't remember what he did with it. I confused him by asking, "did you leave it in Greece"? And he said "yes"! but I think he was thinking about the 1/2 stack he had early on.
 

goldtop0

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Great that you got to speak with him about it, and when you say his eyes lit up it says to me that he still has that passion in him, that he still hankers for and has fond memories of his old gear from back then, that's pretty cool alright:2cool
Like what he said about the Beanoburst......hasn't found another one like it.
 

jrock1

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Jul 3, 2004
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If someone has an opportunity to talk to EC about his BB again, can they ask whether he possibly remembered if the speakers were the "silver" ones (Silverdale alnicos) or the "green" ones (20watt ceramic greenbacks). Quotes are due to the possibility that he might remember the color of them rather than what they actually were, as I don't think most of them back then thought about it much, certainly not as much as we do today...from what I've read, particularly EC...though he sure knew how to get major tone from what he played.
 

WBailey

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Apr 23, 2015
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True, and the owner of Ampaholics where John and I have brought some of our Marshalls has never seen one either....and he's been in business over 30 years.

So, what do you think it will take to get Banker back on board ?

I really miss him on these particular threads. I would've thought the thread title was enough. :hmm

Any ideas ? :yah
 
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