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Member - National Sarcasm Society
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Sweet! Doesn't look cosmetically challenged going from that pic. Nice!Comment
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That pic is after my 8 hours of a makeover on Saturday! Anyway.. here is the review....Originally posted by beachjammer View Post
First of all... this amp is VERY well made inside. Handmade for sure. Its also extremely complicated and confusing to use with all the push pull pots and stages of gain and master this and master that.
Lets start with the sheer volume of this amp. This is easily the loudest high gain amp I have ever owned. I would say its at least 25% louder than a Soldano SLO100. With the master volume on 1 its loud enough to play a gig. At 3 the cops are coming. At 5 you would never hear the cops coming because you would be deaf.
The gain is on par with a modified JCM800 2203/2204. Its definitely high gain but more on the warm side. You could play 80's metal but this is definitely not a death metal or scooped metal amp. You can't scoop it at all. That's good because that's not my tone.
Its a very quiet amp considering how much gain it has (5 stages I believe). 3 of the stages are foot switchable. The amp has a built in attenuator on the front panel which is absolutely necessary if you are going to play this amp at home levels. Its also foot switchable so you can use it for a variable solo boost.
The amp has a parallel effects loop with both send and return controls. It works fine. It can take EL34's or 6L6's. I am using EL34's. Also.. I pulled the 2 inner tubes so the amp is running at 50 watts. Even at 50 watts its twice as loud as a DSL100.
Its going to take a while to dial this amp in and learn how to actually use it. Its very complicated because everything on it effects something else on the amp. Overall.. this amp is a monster. I am also afraid of it at the moment. Its an arena rock amp. Its designed to be played live and loud. I would say it could handle music genre's from anything required a crystal clean tone to 80's hair band metal. It does have the early Zakk Wylde tone. Its very nicely built and its an absolute classic. This is one of the first boutique high gain metal amps that a normal shmoe could buy. Mine is also signed on the chassis inside in gold sharpie by Lee Jackson himself. It reads LEE JACKSON 1/89. Very cool.
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Last edited by jgcable; 12-14-2015, 10:38 AM.Comment
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Nice! I remember those.I feel my soul go cold... only the dead are smiling.Comment
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Sounds like it's a beast.Comment
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Always liked those.
Here are a few Lee Jackson amps worth mentioning.
The 50 watt combo sounds killer It has one speaker open in the back and one enclosed in a box.
The rack tube pre amp with the mosfet solid state power amp will get insanely loud if you push it.Last edited by straycat; 12-16-2015, 03:14 PM.Really? well screw Mark Twain.Comment
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How would you say it compares to an original 5150 Head ?Comment
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Sadly, until now, never heard of it. I'd love to take it for a spin though, any chance after the gas wears off?
\m/ Thrash Zone \m/Comment
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I am going to modify my response after spending a few hours tweaking this amp (it has an infinite amount of tweaking capabilities). This amp has a ton of gain. The difference between the 5150 and the M1000 is the gain structure. The 5150 (I have one), is more focused and tight. Its more open sounding at loud volume. The M1000 sounds more like a Marshall JCM800 but with a lot more gain. If you are a drop tuning palm muting scooped metal head.. the M1000 is not for you. If you like that early Zakk Wylde tone... it nails it.
Also... the M1000 is technically a single channel amp with switchable stages of gain which means you can't have super clean and super heavy. The good thing is even at a serious high level of gain you can roll your volume down on the guitar and it cleans up very nicely. The best feature of the M1000 is the built in attenuator on the front of the amp. You can dial in a killer loud heavy gain tone and then lower the volume on it with the attenuator. Obviously.. the more you attenuate the more the tone begins to muffle but you can dial out the muffle by adjusting the gain on Stage 1 and Stage 2. The M1000 is the only amp I have ever owned that has 4 gain (distortion or Stages as Lee Jackson calls it) controls on the front. It also has a mid shift rotary knob on the front that changes the character of the amp.
The best way to describe the "Stages" on this amp is to compare it to the "Gears" on a Splawn. Its very similar and footswitchable just like a Splawn.
Lastly.... the amp has a System Level control (Master Volume) and an amp volume which are footswitchable and can be used for a variable solo boost. To compare it to a popular amp... its basically the same thing as a Mesa Boogie Series 2 Rectifier Solo Boost feature where its actually a switchable cut rather than a boost so it doesn't mess with your tone at all.
Like I said earlier... this amp is NOT for the faint of heart. It is an absolute animal. Easily the most powerful high gain amp I have ever owned.Comment
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I spent another night with this monster of an amp last night. Although I am stoked that I finally have one... this isn't an amp for me. Its too powerful, its too loud, its too much of everything. The louder it is.. the better it sounds. It reminds me a lot of my old Soldano SLO100. Its not an amp for the bedroom player, its not an amp for the player who plays clubs that are small or for bands that don't play loud. I had it dialed in with a perfect blooming open high gain early 80's metal tone and at the volume the amp sounded perfect at my ears are STILL ringing. No lie. It does have a built in attenuator but I am NOT a fan of attenuation.. especially the amount you need to have to tame this amp at home. It turns the tone into a compressed squishy type tone with weird overtones... just like EVERY attenuator I have ever used. With that said.. the attenuation is definitely needed with this amp if you are going to play it at any type of sane volume level. Its very possible that a GOOD Weber 100w attenuator is what could tame this beast. The built in one works but not to my satisfaction. If anybody local to Connecticut is interested in it I am entertaining offers both cash or trade. I know its rare and most of us OLD SCHOOL metal heads remember these amps. Its cool to have in your man cave or home studio.Comment
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UPDATE...... I picked up a MAXON OD808 and threw it out in front of the amp. I am using the attenuator on the amp and I am attenuating the crap out of it which causes it to lose a little top end sparkle. The Maxon OD808 brings that sparkle right back. I would guess a Sonic Stomp might do the same thing I guess. Anyway.. the amp is totally useable even at home volume levels. The greatest thing about the Metaltronix M1000 is the incredible girth of the tone. It just sounds absolutely gigantic. This is the ultimate amp if you are looking for that 80's hair band metal lead guitar tone.... ala Under Lock and Key by Dokken. It has so much presence and bloom that its not necessary to have any effects and it fools my ears into thinking I have reverb or delay in the circuit.Comment
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This amp is an absolute monster. For you super saturated scooped tone players who love that Rectifier/Blackstar/Orange Rockerverb type tones this is NOT the amp for you. I would say it has roughly as much gain as a JCM800 2203 but with none of the fizz and a double dose of clarity. If you suck.... you will suck more with this amp. If you are sloppy... you will be a friggin mess with this amp. If you like to bury your ass in the mix like a candy ass this is NOT the amp for you.
If you wear a cape to rehearsal and you are faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive then this amp IS for you. They shouldn't have called it the Metaltronix M-1000. They should have called it the Metaltronix Ultron. 80's hair band metal in spades but not the thin Crue type tone... its more like George Lynch especially if you add a few delays in there!Comment
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