G-Axe's Second Build - EX-1

[G-Axe]

The guitar is impressive, the design... very very nice.
I have an old (British made) JCM2000 DSL100 head, and my favorite set up for full blast rhythm tracks was:
Ultra gain channel on the lead 1, Bass about 8, Mids about 8, Treble on 2/3 and presence on 4/6 depending on the guitar plugged in. Gain about 6 and volume (recording) at 6/7. Tone shift button off (too much scoop for my taste) and Deep button off (that resonance control might be interesting playing alone, but makes bass frequencies get muddy on a recording or playing with a band.

I like the scoop in some scenarios, but for the most part it stays off on mine, and I just dial the mids a bit lower. I'll give it a run with those settings. Sadly, even my DSL50 doesn't get wound up to those sort of volumes very often - and it seems like volume is the key element. I shudder to think about how loud your DSL100 would be at ground zero.

Then, place an SM57 or another mic in the cone but not far from the center of the speaker (will search for a pic if you want).

That sounds like what I've been going for - just slightly off centre. Will have to take the time to try out each individual cone and see if there's an appreciable sweet spot.

JCM 2000 amps tend to give too much gain that can make everything sound muddy or fuzzy, but if you stay with a lower gain, high volume and mids up, then you can get some Hot rodded Jcm800-esque sounds from it. My head was a little modded, but you can get good sounds from the stock one.

Yeah, my experience with it is that it can be a bit more work to dial in some classic sounds, but it's a very versatile head. The only really shortcoming I feel is that it would be nice if the crunch was a third channel rather than a push button on the clean.

If you want to get it a little hotter, you can put a booster or an overdrive (lo gain-hi volume setting) infront of it. I use an MXR micro amp for it when i want more gain and sustain for leads. But the clue, specially when recording, is to keep gain settings lower, volume high and control all the unwanted high frequencies. And it´s a british voiced amp, don´t get rid of his mids. Hit hard the strings and enjoy.... Been playing with it for a long time and it always worked fantastic in ay situation.

I've been building a few pedal kits, and a "transparent overdrive" of some description is on my shortlist. I've never heard a bad word said about a Klon (or a Klone) and that might just be the mythical status, but it might also be an essential bit of kit. We'll see!

Now i make my own amps, but that´s another story..

Very, very cool. Building an amp is on my bucket list, but given my half stack is the most serious bit of kit I own, I'm in no great rush.

I have been thinking about a hi-tech / stealth design inspired by the F35.

Awesome. Look forward to seeing it. Probably before we ever see a finished F35 on this side of the ditch.