Ultimate Rhoads

Will adding a master volume to an amp change its tone. Im thinking of this for the RR1959 amp

I definitely would strongly advise you DO NOT do this. But, it's your amp...

Get another stock 1959 or 1987 and do that mod. You'll be glad you didn't do it to your RR amp. Hell, get a white tolexed head cab if you want the look. I can point you to a great cab builder who can make you one. He just built me a white 2x12 cab to match my head.

Why not on the RR?

BowTie29 wrote:Why not on the RR?

Modding the RR will greatly decrease it's value. Picture somebody buying the RR Les Paul and drilling and mounting a third pickup on it. If you don't care about resale value later on then don't worry about it.

Just my two cents

camdenlp wrote:

BowTie29 wrote:Why not on the RR?

Modding the RR will greatly decrease it's value. Picture somebody buying the RR Les Paul and drilling and mounting a third pickup on it. If you don't care about resale value later on then don't worry about it.

Just my two cents

Exactly what I was going to say. Personally, in my opinion anyone who buys a guitar or amp and is thinking about resale value is someone I don't understand! When i buy a guitar or amp I think about using it and never consider resale.

Adding a MV wont change tone much though? I get gear to use not as an investment and when its time to resell if it comes to that then I have to deal with what I did to it

I would suggest leaving it stock and getting a Power Brake or something like it. The tone does not change (as far I can tell) and you wont be modding it and lessening the value of your amp.

The Rock wrote:

camdenlp wrote:

BowTie29 wrote:Why not on the RR?

Modding the RR will greatly decrease it's value. Picture somebody buying the RR Les Paul and drilling and mounting a third pickup on it. If you don't care about resale value later on then don't worry about it.

Just my two cents

Exactly what I was going to say. Personally, in my opinion anyone who buys a guitar or amp and is thinking about resale value is someone I don't understand! When i buy a guitar or amp I think about using it and never consider resale.

Never consider resale? I beg to differ, unfortunately. I do have some guitars that I hope like Hell I'll never have to sell. But, I'm not in a financial situation to ever say that my gear is staying, no matter what. I have a handful of things that are on my "that's never getting sold" list...but that doesn't take into effect the facts of life. Sometime, I'll be on hard luck and I'll need to sell a guitar, or amp, that will kill me to sell. But, if faced with a decision like that, I'd choose to eat or have a roof over my children's head every time.

That being said, I would never mod a collector's piece like that. If I had to have a Master Volume on a Plexi, I would buy a stock one, have the Master Volume added and get the 1-wire mod for the cascade. I definitely buy my stuff to keep and use, but there are some things that are better left untouched. Fingers crossed I'll never need to sell, but it's unrealistic to think that my stuff is off limits when it comes to my family's needs.

dannyahansen wrote:I would suggest leaving it stock and getting a Power Brake or something like it. The tone does not change (as far I can tell) and you wont be modding it and lessening the value of your amp.

This ^^

You'll be glad you didn't mod it, I think. Also, make sure you experiment with all of the channels, blends, and vary your pick attack while testing. You'll be surprised how many different tones you can get out of that amp. I don't think you'll need a MV if you do some experimenting. Also, get the attenuator like Danny says. I use a THD Hotplate and love it. Powerbrakes are good too, although I haven't owned one.

Of course, there are other, more expensive attenuators also, like the Ultimate, etc. Just make sure you research before you buy one (if you don't already have one) and get a unit that is compatible. The good ones aren't cheap, but they're worth every penny if used correctly.

camdenlp wrote:Never consider resale? I beg to differ, unfortunately. I do have some guitars that I hope like Hell I'll never have to sell. But, I'm not in a financial situation to ever say that my gear is staying, no matter what. I have a handful of things that are on my "that's never getting sold" list...but that doesn't take into effect the facts of life. Sometime, I'll be on hard luck and I'll need to sell a guitar, or amp, that will kill me to sell. But, if faced with a decision like that, I'd choose to eat or have a roof over my children's head every time.

I've sold MANY guitars due to needing money, but never once considered resale value when purchasing an instrument.

Then again, I refuse to buy "high end" gear because 99% of the time "high end" means nothing but price. Ed Van Halen created the phenomenal first VH record with throwaway parts picked up at Boogie Bodies, his guitar was in no way "high end" and would have zero resale value had he not created the music he did with it. Had the first VH record not sold well and they were a "one hit wonder" band, his frankenstrat would be worth less than the sum of it's parts.

That's how I am with guitars. I don't buy anything new anymore. I buy pawn shop guitars, tweak 'em (intonation, etc) and play them until I decide I want something else. I used to think I really wanted a Les Paul and I loved the two I've owned, but I would NEVER pay the prices asked for them now. If I were to come into enough money to afford a new Les Paul and I decided to buy it, I wouldn't think, "Well I should keep it in 'mint' condition in case I want to sell it some day." My brain is just not wired that way.

My current guitar is a frankenstrat (part Fender, part Samick) that I LOVE. I have to replace the neck, though, because it's only got 21 frets and that drives me nuts!

I'll mod the hell out of standard run of the mill guitars. Even 'high end' if that's what you call Gibsons and the like...

But you'd never catch me modding a genuine artist series guitar or amp. Sorry, it's just not wise

camdenlp wrote:I'll mod the hell out of standard run of the mill guitars. Even 'high end' if that's what you call Gibsons and the like...

But you'd never catch me modding a genuine artist series guitar or amp. Sorry, it's just not wise

I have heavily modded my malmsteen strat....stripped paint off and changes its colour, changed pickguards, changed all the pick ups...why?? because I get bored with the way guitars look and change them all the time. I must add i'm not a malmsteen fanboi (only got the guitar because I like scalloped boards and it was a great deal)...if I ever got the rhoads LP or jackson then I would never change it because I would be getting it for exactly what it is. Amps are a different story, I wouldn't buy an amp unless it had the sound I want..that would also mean it would have to be able to be run at low volumes for home use. So basically the 1959rr wouldn't be for me

Malmsteen is another story. I'd never buy one unless it was a killer deal, don't like the dude. Helluva player, just too, flamboyant I guess

camdenlp wrote:I'll mod the hell out of standard run of the mill guitars. Even 'high end' if that's what you call Gibsons and the like...

But you'd never catch me modding a genuine artist series guitar or amp. Sorry, it's just not wise

I guess that's where we differ, I'd never buy a 'genuine artist series' guitar or amp. I believe every guitar player should find his/her own voice rather than try to sound like someone else.

The 1959RR amps were limited edition, weren't they? They don't make them anymore, if I recall.

Modding one would only make the originals (The ones people want) rarer. So, by destroying yours, you'd be increasing the value of everyone else's if I'm not mistaken.


I can't understand why you'd want to ruin a rare piece of equipment like that. If memory serves me correctly, they only made a run of 250 of them (May have been smaller, I can't remember). Getting a Power Brake would give you the same results, without destroying it.