NAD & NCD - Back in the MJW fold

shaunm

I put an WTB add up a week or so back stating that I needed an MJW Bantam or Roadstar as I was heading back into the studio and I felt like I was missing something if I didn’t have the MJW tone I had on my last album. @daddyash answered the call and here we have the result - A stunning little Bantam Head. 

I was fortunate enough to play this amp when it was first built, in fact I remember having the conversation that I thought it sounded fantastic, it does. 

The new cab is a Facebook Sales page win a lovely Zilla 2x12 with two celestion g12h 70th anniversary speakers. The little amp sounds pretty big through it that’s for sure. 

https://imgur.com/a/2c0ZM

In short its its been a record GAS month for me as I’ve brought in the following:

Laney L20 4x10 Lionheart
MJW Bantam 
Zilla 2x12
Fender 70’s Classic Strat
Thorpy Fallout Cloud
Mooer Flanger
Archer Pedal 

If only every month was this much fun!!

simonk

Nice one Shaun... love my Bantam.

shaunm

Thanks @simonk ;

Its my third MJW. I used two on a previous recording and I was really happy with the sound so I wanted to emulate that. The fact it’s so cute and can be carried around so easily helps!

martinw

That's a nice amp, Shaun. Glad it's in good hands
Looking forward to hearing what you do with it.

shaunm

martinw said:

That's a nice amp, Shaun. Glad it's in good hands
Looking forward to hearing what you do with it.

Thank you @martinw there’s two albums being recorded at the same time with it so I’ve twice the opportunity to do you proud or emabarass you. 

ThorpyFX

Great Amp, sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun in the studio!!

daddyash

Looks great with the new cab Shaun. Enjoy. 

kreggs

Never seen the 4x10 lionheart  before. And it has 4x jensen p10r drivers eh! Thats a bit different  to the usual celestion gh12 h30 you find in the other models.  How does it sound?

shaunm

kreggs said:

Never seen the 4x10 lionheart  before. And it has 4x jensen p10r drivers eh! Thats a bit different  to the usual celestion gh12 h30 you find in the other models.  How does it sound?

I think it’s a fantastic amp. I guess it’s subjective but to my ears it’s one of my favourite amps to use. It’s got a sound of its own, it’s not quite Vox, not quite Marshall. I use mine with the reverb all the way up with the amp just breaking up. It also takes fuzz pedals incredibly well. 

I first owned one of these about 10 years ago and gigged it for 6 years. I stupidly sold it (as we do). I have rebought one because of its unique sound. I certainly haven’t bought it for it’s ease of transportation though - it’s really awkward. 

strtdv

@shaunm you should get Zilla to make you a 4x10 cab and then use either the 5 or 20 watt head depending on volume needs. 

I had the 20h with the matching 2x12 for years, sold it as I didn't need 2 substantial amps, but missed the sound so ended up buying the new 5 watt version head. To my ears the tone is still there, despite being made in China rather than England.

shaunm

@strdv I’ve not tried any of the 5 watt ones. I haven’t had a problem using the 20watt at home either though. I don’t turn it up too loud of course but it’s useable at home. Live it’s pretty good, not deafening but loud enough for pub gigs without a mic. 

The 2x12 is for the little MJW, that’s sounds great loud through the cab. Funny, that’s an 18 watt amp but it’s not that well suited to home volumes. With a bit of volume it’s really thick but at home it’s a touch glassy. 

horsehead

@shaunm You are truly a man after my own heart a rent you 

PhilKing

I have an MJW Roadstar Sports 36 (it's the one in lots of Martin's demos), and love it.  Mine has power scaling, so it is usable pretty much anywhere.  I usually use it with an open back 2x12 and it gets most of the sounds that I want.

Gadget

@shaunm  ; Any links to previous recordings / vids?

shaunm

@Gadget certainly mate.

This album is all MJW 

https://open.spotify.com/album/0Sgx8TjmM44cfBvEeCkDbZ?si=DaB-oLazTBeaTzXLrwyZeA

Gadget

shaunm said:

@Gadget certainly mate.

This album is all MJW 

https://open.spotify.com/album/0Sgx8TjmM44cfBvEeCkDbZ?si=DaB-oLazTBeaTzXLrwyZeA

Great - thanks. I'll have a listen later - my PC doesn't seem to want to play Spotify at the mo!