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Majesty and New MM amps

Spudmurphy

Spudmurphy

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Shall I go? Shan't I? that was my dilemma today.

Well its the Guitar Exhibition at Birmingham Bingley hall tomorrow. Strings n things will be there along with the majesty and New MM amps. So yeah, I'm going. Camera charging up, car all fuelled up. sat nav all set.

set off 7 ish for a 10:00 start.

Will post loads of pics on Sunday. :cool:
 
Coffeemug

Coffeemug

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Sounds like you're going to have a great day. Have fun! I'm really looking forward to some first hand info on those amps...:cool:
 
sixstrings

sixstrings

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Aaaaw shame I've only just found out about it, I'm only 1h drive from Birmingham and would sure go there, too.
Anyway how was it mate?
 
Spudmurphy

Spudmurphy

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So you want me to tell a story?... ... Oh ok then !!!!

Birmingham Guitar Show Saturday 28/02/2015.
The first question I had to ask myself was " Was I actually going to go to the show?"

I still hadn't made up my mind during the previous week, and I said to my missus about 9:00 the night before that I had made up my mind and intended to make the 2 hour drive from Cardiff to Birmingham, Bingley Hall to go to the Guitar Exhibition.

So next morning, I got up early and the first problem was that my 8 year old sat nav didn't recognise Bingley Hall !!! I set it for the next post code (Zip code/Postal Area) and trusted there to be some signage nearer the venue telling me that Bingley Hall was just around the corner (yeah right!!!).

What swayed me to go?
Well I didn't want/need another guitar, but here was a chance to see the majesty,amada up close and also the new MM amps made by Marko from Markbass.

So set I set off around 7:45am - the satnav got me to where I told it - but depite keeping an eye open, I saw no signs to the Bingley Hall venue and no sign of any "guitar type people" making their way there.

I ended up asking a "local" and thankfully the directions he gave were spot on and I found my way with no further problem.

Those who know me realise that (and for those that don't) in the past I've had had the good fortune to work a few shows for the UK distributors Strings n Things and had "represented" Ernie Ball on the shop floor at venues such as Birmingham NEC, London Excel and London Olympia and at an Albert Lee clinic in London.

Those shows were big - lots of traders, lots of big stands, big crowds, Rock luminaries attended together with the great and the good such as Jim Marshall - all the big guns used to be there.

However, what with the economic climate over the last few years, these big shows no longer happened - I hadn't been to one for years and apart from seeing Ming from S & T and talking via e mail to "The Devil" ;)I hadn't seen the rest of the guys for quite some time.

So you have to appreciate that although Bingley Hall was a sizeable event, it was nothing like the shows of old sizeways, but still the S & T guys "performed" just as well to a smaller audience as they have done in the past at larger venues.

After paying my entrance fee (jeez that hurt - can't remember the last time I did that lol) I set off for the MM stand.
The smaller than I was used to S & T stand looked very good with a great selection of guitars on stands, available for all to play - big difference was they(the guitars not the guys from S & T) all had padding on the back to stop belt rash
- I wonder if that was because in the very last show I did with them, an Albert Lee was badly scratched by a punter?

There were two MM amps set up on their "stage". One for the Devil (more later) and another for his hapless victims. Andy from S & T came over and said that the other MM amps were around the rear of their stand. Here's some photos of the Devil with "those amps" in the background.












Not only am I a big fan of MM guitars and got to know a lot about them over the years, I'm also a big MM amp fan and have two of them. My electronics incapability preclude me from being a total "amp corksniffer" but I I'm kinda close to it.
i've posted quite a few photos of the amps/cabs from the show here to try to placate the MM amp aficionados like myself - however the lighting was really weird on the day, consequently the autofocus on my Olympus Digi SLR was fighting me all along the way - so sorry if the pictures aren't as sharp as they should be.
My observations on the new MM amps ? They are so damn light!! I have an '81 RD50 112 combo and the new one is a fraction of it's weight. They looked very similar but there were some subtle differences between the old and the new:-
• The amp badges are made differently. The old ones were cast in one piece - the new ones seem to have a cast back piece with the MM logo relief achieved via stamped out metal piece.
• The top handles have different metal casting to the originals
• The back panels are completely different.
• The tolex appeared different?
• My perception was that the RD 50 looked a bit taller but I'm really not sure about that and will need to look at the dimensions in Markos spec sheet.
I didn't try one as there were sound restrictions at the venue, but heard the MM amps set up on stage - The Devil certainly sounded good using a Mooer Crunch as his distortion pedal.

To be continued
 
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Spudmurphy

Spudmurphy

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So onto the guitars?
Amada - looked MUCH nicer (to me) in real life than in the pictures I've previously seen. Felt very Les Paulish in my hands - a nice looking guitar that played nice acoustically.





Majesty -Similarly, I'd never seen one in the flesh, and this was new to me. The balance was amazing. I prefer the traditional MM necks but this one albeit (paint)finished, felt pretty good. Looked very nice too, with a matt finish that may or may not live up to everybody's expectations..





Albert Lee - Did I really need to try one? (see my sig :rolleyes:) but the one in the show was a limited edition celebrating Alberts birthday. Had a lacquered neck - once again, imo the oiled neck feels better.








Played a Silo and really liked it.


Mr Horsepower.- I've seen a Mr HP many times but it was always locked away in a case. S&T were using some neat new stands showing off 2 guitars, with a strict "No Touch/No play warning"these were a signed Luke and a Mr HP.








The guys took Mr HP off the stand for me - This was the first time I had held one.



A few years ago I'd made some tentative enquiries about purchasing a Mr HP but nothing came to fruition. (not long after that I decided that I was retiring soon and wanted to initiate a "Car Project" when I retired. My guitar buying ideas were subsequently shelved and since then have been saving for a Delorean - anybody have one for sale?).
Note - If a total basket case of a silo came along that needed resurrecting then I would be tempted, but I'm not in the market for a conventional one that still commands a high price (by comparison)

So I left the show around 16:00 and made my way home with a bag full of posters/brochures/stickers/picks (including some EB majesty Picks). - made a detour and visited a drummer mate. Had some supper with him and his missus and got home around 11:00.

But before I go, gotta give The Devil a mention, after all he is a member here!!!!

To be continued
 
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Spudmurphy

Spudmurphy

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The Devil? What's there to say about him?
well he's a great guy to hang about with - he's a great player, totally unassuming and does one "hell" of a job on the stand.
We've a had a few beers and laughs in the past, and he has a great line in "banter" in his demo's. S & T were giving away a guitar each day to the best Dueller !! Here's one "victim"!!!



and so children ....... to bed.

That's it :D
 
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mtrejo

mtrejo

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Fantastic report as always Spud! I even love hearing about the trip back and stopping by for supper!
The Armada, is definitely an underrated guitar I feel. In person, they really do have a certain quality no other MM guitar has. And it sounds/plays like a BEAST.

Cool to see some Reflex action too! I need one of those badly.

Cheers Spud!
 
Jamie M

Jamie M

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I was there also Spud, I wish I had known you were there we could have hung out and had a good old chat about EBMM and other stuff.

This I feel was the best show so far, I have been to the last 3 and the MM selection was a lot better this year than last.
 
Spudmurphy

Spudmurphy

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Just looked at the Markbass spec sheet and my eyes didn't deceive me - the new RD 50 combo is a different size? I thought it was taller - and it is by close on 3".

Markbass specs show 17.97 in X 20.47 x 10

My '81 RD 50 is Side view = 9.75" at the base - 8" at the top (it's angled) X 17.5" high x 17.5" across the front
so it's not a totally faithful reproduction. (Power supply, speaker and back panels are different too as mentioned previously)
 
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