Lets talk Marshalls

squealie said:
Anyone that has played 5 old (late-60s 70s) Marshalls knows that 4 of them suck. 9 out of 10 with 50 watters.

What is the disconnect with modern tolerances and schematics and kits? I've heard wild shit like the insolation used on the old wires.

Come on.

The 100 watt VM Marshalls were everything you can expect from a plexi. Dickhead guitar players shat on them.
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This seems to be another 'Charvel Dan' type post that regurgitates some BS that was read on the net. Please. Haha.
At this point I've played/ owned over 50+ stock and modded Marshalls, and of that number 10 from the 60s/70s.
EVERY DAMN ONE sounded good to great. EVERY ONE. Now, would they hold up to 4 hour gigs? All of them were played out with the exception of my current Marshalls (2210, 72 Superlead and a sold 67 50T). No issues.
You mention the VM? Lol that was the ONE Marshall that had an issue at a show; but it was just a pre tube. They are OK but in the same camp as a DSL or other 'meh' sounding Marshalls. A VM sounding like a Plexi? Not a chance. It sounds about as much as a boosted Superlead as a DSL does.
It's like the dudes who say 'Camerons aren't all that...some are average sounding or crappy'. No. I've had 10 (Marshalls/Migs) and EVERY ONE was a killer amp. That's another example of people who have never played one, talking shit because the guy is a thief. The amps themselves are killer.
Some Marshalls sound better than others; but NONE I've had sound even average. They all sound good or better.....You may not like a Marshall tone or a boosted/modded Marshall and that's fine.
Maybe I've just been lucky ten times with the 60s/70s Marshalls I've owned?
 
3rd power citizen gain had a very convincing “80s modded Marshall” tones to my ears. Killer master volume on them as well.

Honestly though, the options are almost limitless. So many great amps out there right now, and if you are cool with using a boost, I see no reason not to get a reissue Marshall.
 
Racerxrated said:
This seems to be another 'Charvel Dan' type post that regurgitates some BS that was read on the net. Please. Haha.
At this point I've played/ owned over 50+ stock and modded Marshalls, and of that number 10 from the 60s/70s.
EVERY DAMN ONE sounded good to great. EVERY ONE. Now, would they hold up to 4 hour gigs? All of them were played out with the exception of my current Marshalls (2210, 72 Superlead and a sold 67 50T). No issues.
You mention the VM? Lol that was the ONE Marshall that had an issue at a show; but it was just a pre tube. They are OK but in the same camp as a DSL or other 'meh' sounding Marshalls. A VM sounding like a Plexi? Not a chance. It sounds about as much as a boosted Superlead as a DSL does.
It's like the dudes who say 'Camerons aren't all that...some are average sounding or crappy'. No. I've had 10 (Marshalls/Migs) and EVERY ONE was a killer amp. That's another example of people who have never played one, talking shit because the guy is a thief. The amps themselves are killer.
Some Marshalls sound better than others; but NONE I've had sound even average. They all sound good or better.....You may not like a Marshall tone or a boosted/modded Marshall and that's fine.
Maybe I've just been lucky ten times with the 60s/70s Marshalls I've owned?
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I would say you are lucky…out of all the old Marshalls I have, there are three that I kept. My ‘69 plexi 1959 is the absolute best one I have come across.
Still have the later ‘69 Metalface 1959 because it was my first 100 watt bought in 1987. Been messing with it the past week getting it back in shape. Sounds ok, but nowhere what the plexi does.
Also still have my 67 or 68 Super Tremolo bought in 1989 then sold it to a friend and then bought it back about ten years ago. That will be the next one to get up and running again. It never sounded as good as the plexi either.

As for the vintage modern, it does sound like a JTM 45. It is an odd amp, the master and fx loop don’t work that great. Not that loud of an amp either, not necessarily a bad thing.
 
motorboy1 said:
He’s had almost every Friedman, multiple times plus countless other highend marshall type amps. I don’t think you’re ever going to be happy 🤔
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I don't blame him. I was the same way when I was trying every boutique Marshall type amp under the sun until finally I got both some good stock '70's Marshall's (JMP2203's and SLP) and good examples of some Cameron modded Marshall's, but I no longer have those. Every other Marshall-type amp I've had or tried basically just sounded like more bland/restrained version of the real deal with the only redeeming factor being convenient modern features, but lacking in the actual tone department. I only actually have 2 Marshall's currently, while all the other keeper amps have been their own flavors. I've yet to really find any takes on Marshall, Vox, Fender or Boogie amps worth keeping over the best examples of the real deals. YMMV. I wish amp makers would stop making lesser versions of these existing amps and just work more on doing something new and unique
 
Greazygeo said:
I would say you are lucky…out of all the old Marshalls I have, there are three that I kept. My ‘69 plexi 1959 is the absolute best one I have come across.
Still have the later ‘69 Metalface 1959 because it was my first 100 watt bought in 1987. Been messing with it the past week getting it back in shape. Sounds ok, but nowhere what the plexi does.
Also still have my 67 or 68 Super Tremolo bought in 1989 then sold it to a friend and then bought it back about ten years ago. That will be the next one to get up and running again. It never sounded as good as the plexi either.

As for the vintage modern, it does sound like a JTM 45. It is an odd amp, the master and fx loop don’t work that great. Not that loud of an amp either, not necessarily a bad thing.
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I get that some sound better than others; but until I run across a healthy Marshall that actually sounds bad I'll stick to my opinion. I say healthy because, one 1983 2203 DID sound bad after receiving it....but upon closer inspection, the can caps were leaking AND the GE 6550s were biased at like 14ma...lol...changed the caps, re biased and it became a monster like other Marshalls I've owned.
This isn't to say your opinion is wrong, btw....I wonder if those bad ones you played were healthy? I still kick myself for returning a 1969 Superlead that was 999 from a GC...kept popping fuses out of standby. But it could have been a tube.....back then I didn't know much about tubes/biasing etc.
 
Greazygeo said:
I would say you are lucky…out of all the old Marshalls I have, there are three that I kept. My ‘69 plexi 1959 is the absolute best one I have come across.
Still have the later ‘69 Metalface 1959 because it was my first 100 watt bought in 1987. Been messing with it the past week getting it back in shape. Sounds ok, but nowhere what the plexi does.
Also still have my 67 or 68 Super Tremolo bought in 1989 then sold it to a friend and then bought it back about ten years ago. That will be the next one to get up and running again. It never sounded as good as the plexi either.

As for the vintage modern, it does sound like a JTM 45. It is an odd amp, the master and fx loop don’t work that great. Not that loud of an amp either, not necessarily a bad thing.
Click to expand...
I’ve had the same experience as Racer with Marshall’s and pretty much the same experience with other vintage gear that’s great: PAF’s, speakers, pedals, other vintage amps, etc. The only area I really found duds in were vintage guitars here and there (like some ‘50’s/‘60’s Gibsons and Fenders here and there), but that made sense to me and I expected that. Any vintage Marshall I had or played that wasn’t good just simply needed a trip to my tech and then I’d get the sound I was expecting. Some are for sure significantly better than others, but I’d still easily take the worst sounding ones I’ve tried over the bland/civilized sounding recent made takes on them

Maybe you just value different aspects in tone than myself or Racer. What makes those Marshall’s special to me besides their pleasing and distinct midrange characteristics is the raw, untamed/unapologetic, organic/natural/unprocessed sound with interesting overtones that only amps from that time period truly get in that way. Even the worst vintage amps I’ve ever played still at least had those qualities going for it. To me the vintage modern can only sound like a JTM45 in the same way that from concentrate oj tastes like the fresh squeezed version
 
Racerxrated said:
This seems to be another 'Charvel Dan' type post that regurgitates some BS that was read on the net. Please. Haha.
At this point I've played/ owned over 50+ stock and modded Marshalls, and of that number 10 from the 60s/70s.
EVERY DAMN ONE sounded good to great. EVERY ONE. Now, would they hold up to 4 hour gigs? All of them were played out with the exception of my current Marshalls (2210, 72 Superlead and a sold 67 50T). No issues.
You mention the VM? Lol that was the ONE Marshall that had an issue at a show; but it was just a pre tube. They are OK but in the same camp as a DSL or other 'meh' sounding Marshalls. A VM sounding like a Plexi? Not a chance. It sounds about as much as a boosted Superlead as a DSL does.
It's like the dudes who say 'Camerons aren't all that...some are average sounding or crappy'. No. I've had 10 (Marshalls/Migs) and EVERY ONE was a killer amp. That's another example of people who have never played one, talking shit because the guy is a thief. The amps themselves are killer.
Some Marshalls sound better than others; but NONE I've had sound even average. They all sound good or better.....You may not like a Marshall tone or a boosted/modded Marshall and that's fine.
Maybe I've just been lucky ten times with the 60s/70s Marshalls I've owned?
Click to expand...
I think it’s a classic marketing bs move when they say you gotta try so many to find a good one to discourage buyers from coming out of the matrix and exploring the real deals. Other than some dud vintage guitars, with almost any other gear category even if you get a lesser sounding example, I’ve yet to hear one that at least doesn’t sound a lot better than any current made copy whether it be PAF’s, other pickups, various pedals, amps, etc. You can either get consistent, but bland/sterile sounding stuff with convenient features or an inspiring sounding piece of gear that can vary, but still at least be at a certain level of tone to it. I’m partly just opinionated on this since I myself for years fell for this marketing nonsense and didn’t step out of the box trying anything vintage and I was never happy with what I was trying for a while
 
Racerxrated said:
I get that some sound better than others; but until I run across a healthy Marshall that actually sounds bad I'll stick to my opinion. I say healthy because, one 1983 2203 DID sound bad after receiving it....but upon closer inspection, the can caps were leaking AND the GE 6550s were biased at like 14ma...lol...changed the caps, re biased and it became a monster like other Marshalls I've owned.
This isn't to say your opinion is wrong, btw....I wonder if those bad ones you played were healthy? I still kick myself for returning a 1969 Superlead that was 999 from a GC...kept popping fuses out of standby. But it could have been a tube.....back then I didn't know much about tubes/biasing etc.
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Oh yeah they were all healthy. Been working on them for many years. Although my first Marshall was a 72 50 watt and that thing blew up all the time, always right before a gig too. It was modded like a 2204. Sounded good but very unreliable. Didn’t know anything about them back then.
Most of what I have owned were 68-74’s. Also some later 70’s. Worked on and played thru bunches of them over the years. Im not saying they sound bad, just not what I look for in them.
 
braintheory said:
I’ve had the same experience as Racer with Marshall’s and pretty much the same experience with other vintage gear that’s great: PAF’s, speakers, pedals, other vintage amps, etc. The only area I really found duds in were vintage guitars here and there (like some ‘50’s/‘60’s Gibsons and Fenders here and there), but that made sense to me and I expected that. Any vintage Marshall I had or played that wasn’t good just simply needed a trip to my tech and then I’d get the sound I was expecting. Some are for sure significantly better than others, but I’d still easily take the worst sounding ones I’ve tried over the bland/civilized sounding recent made takes on them

Maybe you just value different aspects in tone than myself or Racer. What makes those Marshall’s special to me besides their pleasing and distinct midrange characteristics is the raw, untamed/unapologetic, organic/natural/unprocessed sound with interesting overtones that only amps from that time period truly get in that way. Even the worst vintage amps I’ve ever played still at least had those qualities going for it. To me the vintage modern can only sound like a JTM45 in the same way that from concentrate oj tastes like the fresh squeezed version
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Raw, untamed / unapologetic will send it to the back of the line for me. Yes many are good and will do the job, but when you find the great one, why settle for good? And what I want out of one of these is probably different from you and others, and that is fine. Nothing wrong with that at all. I just know what I want and it took a bunch of them to find it.
 
Greazygeo said:
Raw, untamed / unapologetic will send it to the back of the line for me. Yes many are good and will do the job, but when you find the great one, why settle for good? And what I want out of one of these is probably different from you and others, and that is fine. Nothing wrong with that at all. I just know what I want and it took a bunch of them to find it.
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Fair enough. I fully agree about not settling for good or just getting the job done. That would go very much against my way lol. I think many guys are more specific than I am about what flavor of sound they’re looking for, maybe to work optimally for their playing or style, while I like almost any flavor, but it has to have what I perceive as sufficiently high quality of tone to each flavor and that’s where most recent made amps are severely lacking to me (just too bland and boring, sterile, no nuance) and I feel for the flavor they have those ‘60’s and early ‘70’s Marshall’s are the 10/10 versions of it, while all the recent made Marshall-esque amps I’ve tried were let downs for me, but I get that the flavor itself doesn’t work well for everything of course, which is why I have so many different amps and only 2 Marshall’s. Right tool for the right job
 
The Marshall Vintage Modern 50w, 100w or 50w combo will all get you to that hard rock tone you are looking for. IMHO It's the greatest most underated Marshall of all time. It is a one channel amp with two dynamic modes (low gain and high gain) and it has two gain controls: one for low end and one for high end. Its a tone machine. It also has a sweet spot somewhere between 7 and 8 that when you find it takes it to a whole new level. It so versitile too. WIthout pedals or any hel[p it will play everythign from hard rock to country, smooth jazz to blues and it will do so better than any other amp. The only sound it wont do without any help is modern metal.

It sounds great at all volume levels and is the best pedal platform of any amp I have even played. The cabinets feature the same greenbacks that were in the Jimi Hendrix limited edition amp.
 
Fiesta Red said:
The reissue Marshalls keep coming up in the conversation -- are they that good?
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They are the same amp circuit-wise as the vintage versions; but Imo the vintage Iron makes for a better sounding amp. The difference isn't huge, though. You do get a great loop with the reissues, and if they can be had for a lot less money then grab one. But if they are priced the same, I'd go vintage.
 
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