KEEPING: 1970 Marshall 1959 Super Lead

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hellzington

hellzington

Well-known member
Ahoy fellow RT-ers! For sale is my 1970 Marshall Super Lead. You can find photos below. Pretty clear this amp was modded at some point in its life but it's been back to stock for a long time. Recently reviewed by a top LA amp tech (see the Reverb listing for details).

$4750 Shipped CONUS via PayPal F&F (can't accept G&S due to tax implications, sorry).

I have plenty of references on this board, on TGP, and on Reverb. Just ask for more info. If you'd like additional references or to have a phone call or FaceTime, just let me know. Happy to help in any way that I can.

https://reverb.com/item/67000286-1970-marshall-jmp-1959-super-lead-no-pcb
 
Great looking amp! My fav amp all time. I don't know why the previous owner got rid of the bright cap; all you gotta do is simply snip one leg...that way the next guy can just solder it back if they want.
Lots like it out though...I bet it sounds killer regardless....
 
Nice amp! Have a late '69 almost identical and it rips. These early metal face Marshall's also tend to have a more gain than one might think in my experience, perfect to rock out...
 
Thanks everybody. I'm pretty hesitant to sell this one but it always seemed to be missing a little something. Might take it up to J and see what we can do.

If you wanna hear it, I recorded a 10m clip for a guy who was interested in buying it here:
 
Upon re-listening to this video, it sounds pretty screamin' through that Jubilee cab. :LOL: It's a very mid-heavy cab with speakers that "shouldn't exist." Definitely a better pairing than my BE-412 cab (although I do love that cab).
 
hellzington said:
Upon re-listening to this video, it sounds pretty screamin' through that Jubilee cab. :LOL: It's a very mid-heavy cab with speakers that "shouldn't exist." Definitely a better pairing than my BE-412 cab (although I do love that cab).
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Is that an original 1987 Jubilee AV cab? If so, those V30s are amazing with any amp I have. Far better than any V30 made after, to my ears.
 
Racerxrated said:
Is that an original 1987 Jubilee AV cab? If so, those V30s are amazing with any amp I have. Far better than any V30 made after, to my ears.
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Yeah it's an original '87 Jubilee AV cab but with 8 Ohm Marshall Vintage speakers (the original V30s). AFAIK, this may be the only one in existence. The reigning expert on V30's, @Nolly, said in his V30 video here:



that he's never seen an older 8 Ohm Marshall Vintage speaker from the Jubilee days, but that is what is in this cab.

The reason is that this cab was special ordered. I am the second owner of this half stack. The original owner was Mike Kaye, the guitar tech for Megadeth, Pete Townsend, Paul Simon, Pino Palladino, and many others. He ran an amp rental business out of LA in the 80s and became good friends with Jim and the Marshall family. At one time he owned over 100 Marshalls. I have the whole story from him in an email, which I'll paraphrase below.

In spring of 1987, Jim Marshall messaged Mike and told him that he had a new amp coming out to celebrate his 25 years of Marshall amps and 50 years in the Music business. He invited him to come to the NAMM show in Chicago and try them out. Mike was living in Toronto at the time and made the drive down to Chicago. There, he tried out a bunch of 2550's and 2555's with Jim and they both selected the one that I now own. Jim signed the amp for Mike and gifted it to him. Mike had to smuggle it back into Canada in the back of his car buried under a bunch of blankets because you could not bring amps with the plastic power switches back into Canada at that time.

Mike couldn't smuggle a huge 4x12, though, and so Jim offered to mail him a brand new one right from the Marshall factory in the UK. According to Mike, the problem was that you couldn't import 16 Ohm cabinets into Canada at that time. (Something to do with electronics laws, I believe the same law with the plastic power switches.) So Jim offered to send him a 4x12 wired for 8 Ohms instead. That is the cab you see in the video.

I've personally opened it -- can find the pics if people are interested -- and they are 8 Ohm Marshall Vintage speakers from 1987. So yeah, this might be the only 4x12 in the world with those 8 Ohm speakers. I definitely did not know this at the time of purchase and I doubt Mike did either or he probably wouldn't have sold it (or asked for more money). Pretty wild!
 
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I wonder if they are 16 ohm speakers that they put 8 ohm stickers on to get through customs? Be interesting to check with an ohm meter.
 
RedPlated said:
I wonder if they are 16 ohm speakers that they put 8 ohm stickers on to get through customs? Be interesting to check with an ohm meter.
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Interesting idea. It’s possible. Wouldn’t it have blown up my amps by now though if it were? I have an Ohm meter, how would I test?
 
Just plug a speaker cable into the cabinet. Put one lead on the sleeve of the unused speaker cable plug, and the other lead on the tip. Read ohms and it should be in the 13 ohm range if they are 16 ohms. Speakers always read lower than their ratings.
 
A lot of cabs here in Scandinavia from the JCM800 times are 8 ohms cabs. My old 1960 are as well.
 
RedPlated said:
Just plug a speaker cable into the cabinet. Put one lead on the sleeve of the unused speaker cable plug, and the other lead on the tip. Read ohms and it should be in the 13 ohm range if they are 16 ohms. Speakers always read lower than their ratings.
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True 8 Ohms

 
They did indeed put 8 ohm Marshall Vintages in Jubilee cabs, and JCM 800 cabs. Here’s a pic of mine.
 

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The first Marshall Vintages went into Artist 30w combos and studio 15 combos; 85/86. Then in Jubilee cabs in 87, and 88-90 in some 800 cabs. Only way to tell was the tag, 280w. The front said JCM 800. All 8 ohm to my knowledge; only 16 ohm versions went into the 2558 combo. Then, in 1991 no more 8 ohm Vintages…only 16, and they are way brighter than the earlier ones. And, the cabs now said Marshall Vintage on the front. The first versions are one of my fav speakers. Killer.
 
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