1987 and The Nuts

[Steven Latch]

I got these a month ago and hasn't posted a review so far.

I picked both on the bay as they are both marshall based and was curious to see how they differed and if they had the genuine marshall "wow" factor.

THE NUTS: Quite dissapointed so far. Compressed and quite thin sounding compared to many other modules. I need to give it another shot but it didn't strike me as anything special

1987: Now... A real shock. At the higher gain settings it's a fine hot rodded marshall sound. More refined than the SL+. It can be very close to the Judge. But where it really shines for me is with the gain at 12. The perfect marshall mid gain crunch. At least to my ears. A little fuller and more open sounding than any of the other modules I have used. I didn't expect this from this module. This is how I would have figured the Malcolm would be.

For reference, I have used the following modules


JTM
Brahma (sotck and Friedman modded)
Judge
Mr Scary (Stock and JF modded)
Marsh-all +
Hiligan XTC
SL+

 

[I am Legion]

I've been told the Mash-all+ does old Anthrax very well. How did you find it compared to the 1987 for those tones. This is really interesting as I've been paying close attention to both of these modules lately.

 

[eyeball987]

I talked to a guy that has both yesterday and he likes the 1987 better also. We were supposed to meet up to compare some modules but we had to delay that meeting until another day.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Interesting review...I did have interest in ther Nuts, but after reading this I'll save my $ for modded mods

 

[schlagdog]

I'm happy with the 1987 also. I put that demo up and it really showed you could get a great marshall tone from AC/DC to full on balls. I didnt bother with the Nuts since Scott say he doesn't use it except for maybe as a lead now and then. He spent all his time working on the 1987. The Bright switch really makes the module sound different. Which surprised me since they usually do next to nothing. Here is the link for that quick demo I did a month ago again.

http://youtu.be/rK5wS01zHcg

 

[Steven Latch]

Compared to the Mash-all+, the 1987 struck me as warmer, fatter and more organic sounding. But this is all up to personal preference. The Mash-all+ has a specific peak in the mids that is present whatever switches are on. It brings out the raspier side of marshalls. The 1987 sounds smoother and I prefer it.

 

[guitarzan]

I picked up a 1987 on Ebay as well. It really does sound like a stock 87ish JCM800 when you run the module at 1-2 o'clock. That is the sweet spot to my ear. Mine was actually labeled "judge" and they marked it out and sharpeed in Scott. Did you guys have that? I'll upload a pic tomorrow.

 

[schlagdog]

Mine says SCOTT1987 in pen. From what funkymunky music told me they are made by one guy now basically as a special order. Maybe the Judge is the same way since I don't think they are really producing MTS stuff anymore.

 

[eyeball987]

I picked up a 1987 on Ebay as well. It really does sound like a stock 87ish JCM800 when you run the module at 1-2 o'clock. That is the sweet spot to my ear. Mine was actually labeled "judge" and they marked it out and sharpeed in Scott. Did you guys have that? I'll upload a pic tomorrow.

It would be interesting to see gut shots of both to see what the differences are.

 

[guitarzan]

Here are a few crappy pix from my crappy phone.

 

[RADE01]

At first glance it's very similar to my Judge. But it's a bit blurry and I can't really focus on all of the resistor values.
The Judge also uses those small silver mica's like I see.

 

[lowmantotempole]

Does anybody know how this would sound in an actual band setting?

 

[RADE01]

Does anybody know how this would sound in an actual band setting?

Any vids out there with Scott Ian using it?

 

[lowmantotempole]

I have yet to see him using them at all...

 

[Steven Latch]

Update: The 1987 is now permanently in my rack. Still undefeated for the AC/DC type crunch.

I have warmed the the Nuts too but in a different context. My mesa Boogie 2:50 poweramps doesn't have adjustable bottom end /resonnance and the Nuts doesn't have much bass so they didn't get on well.

But I have a "B" setup composed of a marshall head and an RM4. Used in the return loop, the Nuts really delivers. A little similar to my JF scary, altough with more prominent higher mids and a more opened, less compressed sound. Very fat and authentic sounding in this context.