A great customer of mine named Greg S. had e-mailed me few times asking me if the Fargen OLDE 800 could nail Jimi Hendrix type tones. I told him that it does some of that, but with the extra 800 gain staging, it was still not the real deal for that exact tone. I suggested we build a low voltage plexi type clone with the1986 bass circuit as I feel that it has that fat rich tone with single coils and also a brown singing tone when cranked. Unlike the lead circuit which sounds like ass with single coils IMHO. He said “Lets go for it!”

ORIGINAL 1971 MARSHALL CHASSIS:

Original 1971 Marshall Chassis

So after a long 8 week wait, I finally got the chassis on my bench and finished her up. Wwhat a sweet amp. Great balance and sustain and not too loud since I kept the plate voltage on the lower side (410VDC) like some of the early 70’s 50 watt Marshall’s I have had on the bench and loved. I used a full Mercury Magnetics transformer and choke set, SoZo vintage style mustard caps and real Allen Bradly vinatge carbon comp resistors (yeah I know there not original in this type of amp amp, but they sound bad ass in this circuit!). I also decided to add a switch that morphs between the bass and lead cathode stage for more flexibility when switching between single coil or humbucking guitars.

2008 FARGEN CUSTOM CHASSIS:

2008 Fargen Custom Chassis

Needless to say, this was a fun build and Greg is getting a killer amp!