Marshall Super Bass Head

1969-1970 Super Bass
Obviously this thing is single channel and it's deffinatly got enough power for any gig on planet earth.

Im using this with a 1960a Angled cab loaded with Celestion T100's which are by far the best sounding modern celestion in my opinion and i've tried them all, closely followed by the G12H30 75hz version.

Im playing jazz, funk, blues, rock and hard rock through this thing and it covers the whole ground from fat warm clean tones on the normal channel to bright agressive hard rock on the bright channel when it's cranked.

Great overdrive sounds here a definate tone machine.

I started playing guitar in 1991 i've owned various Marshalls and boutique amps from Splawn, THD, Cornford, Matchless, Mesa, Peavey, Fender just to name a few.

This thing kills them all, what most people don't know about the early Super Bass (pre jcm800) is the circuit is identical to the 1967 Marshall Super Lead, bar the bright cap across the volume pot.
(the later super leads changed various other components making the amps gainer and brighter, but even so the circuits are still quite similar)

Now when u dime a Marshall Super Lead to 10 the bright cap it bypassed so the circuit difference between a 67 super lead and a super bass on 10 is 0%.

Although transformers have changed through the years these amps are a great way to get that very early Marshall tone.

Malcom Young uses a 69/70 Super Bass to great effect in Ac/Dc.

anyway more to the point, u hear people talk about that great thick plexi tone? well this is it ladies and gents. pick up a Super Bass from 69 to 73 and u've essentially got yourself a 67 Plexi Super Lead a whole lot cheaper.

Pure unadulterated awesome tone.

this is basically a 1959 Marshall with a better EQ. It's a bass head but sounds incredible on guitar too

once you turn these amps up,will blow your socks off. The distortion is classic Marshall tone at it's best. With a good guitar you can really get out amazing tone

been playing for about 16 years. Had a load of amps,both american and british,but when it comes to rock,old Marshall amps are very hard to beat

My father bought this new in 1972, and from the serial number I have found out it's a '71. I use this amp only for guitar, in my stoner-band (like Kyuss, Queens of the Stoneage) with a standard Gibson SG, and I also play in a country band with a strat. Sovtek EL34. I use the amp for both rehersals and gigs. No mods except for a new power supply.

The tone is very warm, but still punchy. I don't know why, but I find suitable for almost every kind of music. For the distortion I use a Fulltone ocd, and this is the perfect match. It just overdrives my sound without coloring the amps tone. The only drawback is the volume it produces. This amp is loud! When I changed the power supply the amp was measured to 198 watt at 18 % distortion, and I'm afraid to blow my speakers.

It is stable now, but its old, I always keep a backup at important gigs.

Except for the high volume this is the perfect amp for me. Live, at rehearsal, and in studio (a 57 in front, and thats it).

I bought this amp in 2000 for #500 Irish Punts, with a much newer Marshall cab at the time about #400 new, so I got a good deal.
The features are limited but do the job, if you want more, buy a different amp. The mains power selection switch cover is missing but someones has soldered ths to 220V, and the speaker output selection switch is complete but has been soldered to 8Ohm output. No master volume knob mod that most of the reviewers have had fitted. Treb/mid/bass/pres/v1/v2 what more do you need.

I haven't been able to the amp much in the time I've had it. My own guitars, which I pulled out of a bin!, I've used with it are cheap rubbish, however other people have used it with a varity of Fender's and Gibson's and it gets a thumbs up. Also the volume resricts where and when I can use it, I must get a Hotplate or something like that. The valves do need replacing, can someone suggest a set? The valves in it are cheap no-name crap.
I do know that when I use my Vox Wha with it, stand in a perticular spot in the house, I can pickup French radio!!

Apart from some dirty pots, to be expected after 30 years, which I still haven't got around to cleaning, it's just kept going.

I've never actually had the amp service or had major trouble with it but anytime I've had a querry Marshall have been very helpfull and fast with their response

No complaints. Fantastic amp at a great price, for me anyway.

Right I have just recently bought a 100w MK 2 Marshall superbass (1979) head for my new indie band and I made this descision based mainly on the reputation and afordability of Marshall and as I was upgrading from a transistor so I thought logically Marshall. I have been playing bass for a number of years now and I've never been able to get my tone right where I want it with my old transistor head I kinew I had just bought a true marshall head. However to be completely honest I can see why other players may not rate the superbass due to its scarse features (3 band EQ) and I must say that as far as versatiliy goes were are talking very limited and I would deffinately not recommend the superbass for heavy music as It just can't cut through high gain amps.

I am currently using a fender jazz bass and a jcm 800 4x12 bass series cab these really complement the sound perfectly for my style (think Mani/Andy bell) with alot of punchy highs and nice bass roll-off from the celestions in the 4x12. I have however just upgraded my cab from a 15" peavey tour series that I used with my transistor head and that wasn't too pretty with the super bass. for starters I found that the 15" has no clarity at all and made my tones very messy and the sound became distorted at quite low volumes; it had to go... Also there was the issue of looks; you simply can't spend hundreds on a beautiful head and have balanced on the top of and little ugly cab can you' it's just no fair at all so I seriously suggest buying a matching cab for the superbass head apart from sorting your looks it does wonders for your tone. As you can probably guess I do not use any fx in my playing style but I have been known to tinker with the overdrive pedal a bit and to be completely honest fx are pretty much a no go area when it comes to tube amps and besides why spoil that great rich sound with an envelope filter?

The superbass has not been with me for very long but as far as tube amps go I would always take at least spare fuses and tubes when gigging if not my old transistor head just in case. But to be honest many people I know who own marshalls have said that they are extremely reliable; that is until one day your power tubes go and then it's a nightmare until you replace them all completely. However this has not been a problem for me yet. One thing I would worry about is neglect but from others at gigs due to the easily adjusted voltage and ohm selectors and of course the general sensitivity of a tube amp so I'm saying get your head flightcased ASAP and keep her safe

All though I have not had to deal with marshall I have found that information on the superbass is none existant on the marshall site. This is the case with loads of vintage and discontinued marshall amps and when you need to know why your amp keeps dying a blank page is not very useful at all.

I must say in the years I have been playing bass I have never been so enthusiastic to be using a piece of gear like this one and as soon as I got it I cast aside my fx pedals and submitted. I was actually very lucky; as I managed to pick my head up for a little over ?300/$600 on an online auction site (the guide price on a 26 year old valve head is around the $1200 mark). Now I simply couldn't justify spending thousands on that ampeg or orange setup when all I need is right here in my superbass. I agree that this amp is not one for the tech heads and metallers out there and is really reserved for rock indie and mowtown players really but if you're looking for that little extra something to boost your love of playing get yourself down to the music store and dont come back untill you've got a superbass!

50watt 1963 Marshall Super-Bass. This relic pre-dates the 'plexi' era Marshalls and the serial # dates it as the 574th Marshall amp EVER made! So old in fact, that it still runs a tube-rectifier.

Feature wise, it's your typical 4-input non-Master volume Marshall head. treb/mid/bass/pres/v1/v2. Bare-bones but it works.

Spectacular. With bass, it's absolutly huge. Compresses nicely when pushed with an incredible 'thump' to the attack. The sag from the tube-rectifier adds a great compression to it when you start to drive the amp and despite the low wattage, this keeps pace with a couple of 100+watt guitar half-stacks any day.

With guitar, the amp is golden. Sounds like a tweed-bassman on steriods... not suprising as the circuitry is almost identical. Single-coils shimmer cleanly and have a great punch when hit hard. Humbuckers drive the amp into a great classic-rock distortion. However, my one complaint here is that when the channels are jumpered, the sag from the rectifier can become a bit annoying (guitar only) as you tend to lose a bit of balls on the attack.

Well - this amp has survived a house-fire and lived to play again. Like all old point-to-point amps, fixes are cheap and easy.

My main rig is a JMP-1 based rack system. I love the Super Bass but it's simply not a practical gigging amp for guitar (my main instrument). This amp is simply irreplacable and i'd never put it in a situation where it could be lost or stolen. It's a great peice of history that is a great tool in the studio.

First review here, so Ill follow your guidelines.......
This amp is a 1985 JCM800 Bass Series Super Bass 100W head, model 1992. It has a very simplistic design with 2 inputs, one for lo-gain and one for hi-gain, and pots for slope, bass, treble, mid, mid shift, and volume. It also has a DI output on the back which comes in handy when playing a gig or recording, and a mains switch that eliminates any buzz you may get due to lighting or other factors. This amp is as versatile as it gets, relative to the simplicity of its design. I use it for bass and play a combination of fast and slow hardcore/metal, and the sound fits what I am doing, the way a Marshall should. It has BALLS like no other amp I have owned and when run through a full stack, could crumble a building.

I use this amp with either of my 2 Gibson Basses, either my 74 Ripper or my EB. I use a distorted sound, so I play through a RAT distortion pedal with the volume and dist on the rat both on 10 directly into the HI input on the amp. I never have to put the volume on the amp above 2 or 3. My speaker cab is an 80s Mesa/Boogie 2x15 cab. Sometimes I will also use a 4x12 guitar cab if I want the full stack but its not necessary. The sound I get with just the 2x15 is just indescribable. Huge and fat, tons of sustain, balls the size of an elephant, not gritty or tinny, tons of bottom end. When played clean,
you can get any sound you would ever need, from slappy highs, to muddy 70s lo end, to punchy Geddy Lee ish midrange. The amp is generally not noisy, and again any buzz you may get from outside sources can be eliminated by switching the mains selector on the back of the amp. My guitarist also used this amp when his was having problems and although this is not a master volume model, when used with a Blues Driver it delivers an insane fat distortion that any metal guitarist would love. There is just nothing bad I can say about this amp, it is a true monster!!

I have owned the amp since 1996 or so and bought it used. I am not sure whether or not the original tubes are still in there, but it has never broken down on me with the exception of the ohmage selector which I had to replace about 2 years ago. It has gigged quite a bit and so far(knock on wood)it is solid as a frickin rock.

Never dealt directly w/Marshall but these amps are very servicible by any decent repairman, from what I understand.

I bought this amp for $199 from a foolish music dealer who just didnt realize what they had. If this amp ever died I would certainly look for another. If you are looking for a bass(or guitar) head that delivers insane volume, fat tube sound whether distorted or clean, and reliability, you should seek out one of these. I played a Peavey mkII(?)80s-ish bass head before this one and although that amp sounded good for a solid state amp, it just doesnt compare to this monster. Thes amps were used by, Hendrix, Townsend, Jack Bruce, etc. etc. you get the picture. Best amp EVER!!!!!

Built in 1974. Still has the Original Tung-Sol 6550s (that's gotta be worth a point in and of itself) characteristic of "American" marshalls. Although this thing was made in Bletchley, England, it lacks the line current selector (hardwired to American 120v), which is a head-scratcher for Marshall. Aside from that, it has all of the standard features of a 4-input, non-master volume Marshall amp from that period, and it's ALL good.

Ooh......heh heh heh.Yup. Sounds like a Marshall should, and that is WONDERFUL! Put a Les Paul in front of it, and just listen to to the floodgates of tone open. A little more tweaking of the EQ is required for a strat, but cut the treble and mids a bit, and it is completely worthy. Is it as smile-inducing as plugging my Strat into my Tweed Princeton? No, but then again, nothing is. The Princeton was designed to sound great with a Strat. But this Marshall is infinitely more giggable, and it still sounds pretty damn good. Who needs reverb? with a sound this good (and this loud) too much reverb will just make the sound muddy. Why drown out your own sound? Drown out the lazy bassist instead :P

Well, it's lasted this long....Besides, it's a Marshall: 90% of all techs around today are VERY familiar with these amps. I know Jim Marshall isn't too hot on the 6550's his old American distributor put into his amps-he hates 'em. But they don't detract from the reliability or the sound too much, and modding it back isn't that difficult. Besides, schematics of this thing are available if you know where to look, so it really shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Never had to deal with them.

Question: How much is sounding like all of your guitar heroes worth? I mean YOWZA!!! What a great amp! Plug in, turn on, turn up and WOW! I can sound like Jimmy Page! I can sound like Eric Clapton, Mick Ralphs, Mick Ronson, Johnny Ramone, Joe Perry, the Scorpions, Paul Kossoff, Pete Townshend-Randy Rhoads, for crying out loud! What's that worth? Was it worth the price I paid? Hell Yeah!

This review is for my amp. It is a 1969 100 watt Marshall super Bass head. EL-34 power tubes. Original transformers. It has been slightly modded I think so that channel 1 is a Super Lead equivalent. No bells and whistles, just 100 watts of very versatile tone. With 100 watts, clean and loud is always on tap, and with my secret weapon attenuator, the Super Bass overdrives smooth and creamy and loves all kinds of effects. No fancy tubes, just your basic Sovtek fare. I play in a band that plays original material and a variety of cover material and likes to rock loud. I play this amp in medium to small venues and the occasional larger venue and run it through either a 4-12 or 2-12 cabinet. Both shake the earth.

Sorry, but I''ve got to gush! I can't help it with this amp. I've tried just about every amp under the $4k range and nothing touches this! The clean is the best, the overdrive is the best, everything in between is the best. From country roots to brutal meltdown metal, It's got it all. Why can't anyone make an amp like this anymore? I use a VHT Valvulator to buffer the line so I can use effects and AB boxes without degrading my tone. I usually use a couple of AB boxes so I can add an amp if I want, and also to switch and combine inputs in the Super Bass. I generally run the brighter Super Lead modded 1st channel around 12 0'clock for my clean tone and use the dark channel for leads and set that around 2 o'clock. I can then combine them for a fat tone if I want or turn the first channel up for that classic Mick Ronson like tone. I use a Fulldrive2 and a Time Machine Boost and a Blues Driver. They are all killer with this amp. So are delays, reverb and chorus. I'm trying to think of something negative...Nada! So much for a balanced review.

I guess these are pretty easy to service. I have had to raise the fuse from the labeled 4 amps to 5 amps. I haven't blown a fuse since and the amp has performed flawlessly. I took a chance and bought it on ebay. I don't know if all the Super basses sound like mine or not. I hope I never have to find out.

34 years old and smokes everything. I'll gladly maintain it or have it serviced.

If I could pay 3k for a Mesa Roadking (did-returned it immediately) then I guess I got a good deal at under 2k including new tubes and shipping. If this were lost or destroyed I would hunt down another one while fervently chanting "I hope it sounds the same" over and over. I don't know, you might think it sucks and that's cool. It's the best amp I've ever played and it makes me play better so I give it a 10 for fun!

I bought this 1971 Marshall Super Bass about 3 years ago.

It is all stock and clean with the exception of a very simple two wire master volume knob added to the back. This knob doesn't do much more than lower the overall volume of the amp and makes it behave more like a stock 50 watt head when cranked way down.

I plug my 1971 Les Paul Standard to the upper left input jack.
I insert a small patch cord from the lower left input jack to the upper right hand input jack. This allows both channels to operate and creates a real fat sound.

Old Marshalls are not known for having a lot of bells [reverb] and whistles [channel switching] and in that sense the amp is not versatile. Yet, this type of amp has been used in every kind of music venue and for various types of instruments and so in that sense the amp is very versatile.

I use it as a clean power source as the natural overdrive doesn't kick in until their is smoke coming from the speakers. Even with the master volume addition all the way down the amp stays relatively clean all the way to ear bleed levels. Yet this simple master volume does provide a way to add compression at lower volumes and take out the harshness normal associated with these power houses.

With a MetalZone and delay pedal in front and driving a 1974 100 watt 4x12 cabinet the tone is warm and fat.

My 1971 Les Paul Standard and the Super Bass join forces to provide an exciting tone either clean or with a distortion pedal.

I've tried thousands of amps in my 25 years of playing and my idea of great guitar tones are like that of Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Scorpions, Bad Company, Alice In Chains, early van Halen, Thin Lizzy, old Alice Cooper, Ratt, GnR [remember Mr. Brownstone?], Tool, etc

This old amps aren't super reliable but they are cheap to fix. Usual a new set of tubes has them up and running again. You can't say that about the new stuff being made these days.

I talked to Jim Marshall at the N.A.M.M. show back in 1993 and he gave me some cool coasters to keep my beers from staining my amps and tables. He was a real nice guy for giving me the time of day [and coasters!].

I told him I had 5 vintage stacks and that the stuff his company made for the last 20 years "sucked". A year later Marshall was makeing reissues of the plexi era. Was it me? I doubt it but if it was me...well...talk about customer support!!!!!

I've been playing for 25 years. I own 5 Marshall half stacks, from the early 70s. If it were stolen I would cry for a life time [I hate getting ripped off!] and fix my 1973 Super Lead and use that one.

I love the look and sound of these old Marshalls and I like the easy maintenance. Often times I can fix them myself using a voltmeter and a schematic. Turning a troubled amp on in a dark room often reveals the source of trouble.

I like all kinds of amps. Fender, Ampeg, Peavey and others have all made a few choice amps as Marshall has done over the years. They all have made some sterile, flat,lifeless, duds as well. It still seems to me that there was a 20 year period from about 1975 to 1995 where these companies couldn't make anything cool. Come to think of it, there was a lot of crap made in the 50s and 60s as well.

I wish these old Marshalls came with a variac! How's that?

I want to share......that the stockmarket still has a long way to fall. Buy commodities such as gold or vintage musical equipment to protect yourself through the next few years of rocketing inflation.

I bet this amp will be worth $2000 in 10 years. Of course, a loaf of bread will be $6 by then as well!