I've rated this amp about as high as possible simply because it's the best amp i've owned out of about 50. i think that says it all. as far as what i would like to see---reverb. however, if it contributed to even a slight loss of tone quality i'd be happier w/o it. and supposedly reverb does inhibit tone to some extent. The best thing about the amp: TONE TONE TONE. The worse: i didn't buy it back in 87' when they came out. *S*
Price: $500.00
Where Obtained: Private party
All tube, effects loop, line out, front mounted 1/2 power switch, 2 channels with "pull crunch" on clean, and best of all, ABSOLUTLY NO OP-AMPS !! [I.C.'s]
I've owned about 10 marshalls and this is the one i kept and will not sell. possibly the most important aspect of this amp is the complete lack of op-amp and transistors. even the channel switching is done via relay. marshall designed this amp to be as tonefull as possible since it would be representing the company as the 25th anniversary model. the amp is loud. in fact rediculously loud compared to all my other marshalls. fortunatly it's also the only one that has a 1/2 power switch that truly works in both cutting the volume considerably and improving the tone a lot at small bar volumes. it doesn't sound good at 1/2 power at bedroom volumes tho, hence the people you'll hear say the 1/2 power mode sucks. the mid control makes this amp very versitile when it comes to getting the exact sound you want. unlike other marshalls it seems as tho the mid tone doesn't just become more or less when u turn it up or down, but seems to change the frequency of the mids. i don't know this to be how it's designed, but thats what it sounds like. cut mids and you'll get an 80's jcm 800 type sound. boost them and it sounds like a 70's marshall.
i play a variety of styles and it works fine for anything if you dial it in right and use the right speaker. i put an EV12L in mine because i'm not a fan of the typical marshall hard rock tone. i like a more versitile amp, and what people don't realize is that a marshall doesn't have to sound like pure rock if you don't use the typical 4x12 celestion cab. the amp isn't noisy at all like some marshalls. and it's very well built unlike today's offerings from marshall.
to sum up the sound quality, let me say that i've owned about 50 tube amps in almost 30 years of playing, and the only one that even comes close was a $3000 groove tubes solo-75. that was an incredible amp, but it wasn't at all consistant from nite to nite, room to room. the marshall is. and one thing you should know if you check one out is that they do not sound as outstanding as they are live when you audition it. live is the only way to really understand how xlnt this amp is, and believe me, it doesn't get much better than this amp in a live setting.
It takes a while to figure this amp out, but once you do it's a breeze
Never a problem, but then i never had any problems with my other marshalls either, and this one is built better than most of them. so i doubt you'll experience problems moreso than with any good tube amp.
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