Marshall 1930 Popular 210 Combo

Mines got plexi panels & 2 Celests 10s, must be 68-69? VERY mint! Features are straight forwared... only 1 really... plenty o power, guess its the poor mans 18 watt

Great tone and distortion excellent headroom, mines not even noisy, sorry! mainly Les paul it, great Woody tone and bark. The clean is... clean the higher breakup really comes on I ( and you would be!)was pleasently surprised. You could probly find better sounding speakers, like the 1974X correct greenback reissue, but they are pretty good., only reason I give it a 9

Never had a problem, really only play it on occasion...

NA

playin 30 yrs have many other Marshall combos and stacks, all years really. Great looking combo BTW Ill take anything with a small gold logo and basketwv grille!

A second review from me for this beauty - the 1930 pop fron marshall.I recently sold one of my two,due to being skint!
Two channels,tremelo on all of them.having read some other reviews,I would agree the trem can be awkward - I would like to down the range just a little.I agree that most if not all of these so called problems can be sorted out easily.new valves,new valve bases etc.there was a slight rip in the paper of one of the speaker cones of the one I sold,which I managed with rubber glue and liquorice rizla papers. The person who bought the amp for ////////////////////??1,300 ,was informed of all such things in detail before he bid.I really hope he has found a life longfriend.
The one I have left is a beaut.wonderful from low to high,and responsive to the guitar volume.astoundingly good at steve cropper,jimi page,ectbut truly sweet .Plexi gold top.wickerwork front.
I use it at home for recording,and the persecution of bad neighbors.
two ten inch speakers,grainy and forward.they have white stickers with marshall in gold scrolled writing.probably celestion,but they sound like fanes to me.and yes,they too sound wonderfull.square red power light. The older one ,which I so0ld had a round light,also red,
and a very slightly bigger cabinet.I have used many amps ,this is one of my favourites.I Think Chester kamen was after one, in fact he mentioned it once ortwice.My other main amps.etc are a marshall 1972 100 watt mk.2. superbass,over one motherfu...d old orange 4 x 12 cab.4 x 30 watt celestion greenbacks.When i play using these amps,heaven tries to reposess earth>i also use an old 1977 2 x 12 simms -watts closed back cab,2 x fane pops.50 watt 12 inch jobs.lovely,owned since 1977.my last amp now is a sovtek mig 50.beautiful.other faves - ac30,wem combos and cabs,selmer.sound city,hi watt {i like the 50 watts better],boggie mk.3 and4,wem.
thats enough drivel.hope it is of help.

noise ever present.hav'nt tried sorting it out.only hiss which does not increase as you crank it up
after three quarters up you are in shellac,albini terratory,which is also my terretory !as you pull back the volume on the amp you are in the steve cropper,or pete townshend great for country.i triedmy silhouette [musicman]88,and les paul standard [78] through my coloursound fuzz[72],and it was 'how many more times'
oh, at the end of the day,the player makes the sounds.the favourite fx are good,but the real stuff is the players fingers,and ears.and taste,and above all the ability to remove oneself and let the soul and spirit transmit the message!they do it better than I.a main recording amp,but unless youare near home,do not take it out too much.only local.i hope this is of help

Yes i have used it live with no trouble.depends on the gig.I always use two amps anyway.best take a back up i suppose.you know,belt and braces and all that

no.no.n/I AM SURE MARSHALL WOULD RESTORE IT,I have freinds there,and close and old friends of Jim Himself

since i was 14 - 1974
i have shed much gear,see above.simms-watts 2x12 closedbacj cab.mesa boogie 1x electrovoice 200 watt blackshadows drivewewre it pinch,another marshll.or a selmer zodiac,sovtek mig 50,custom highwatt,ac3framus f hole semi acoustic electricgibson les paul standard[1978].musicman silhouette[1988].fender american stratocaster[1989].tokie goldstar strat[an older one].bill lawrence telecaster.guild gad acoustic.eros jazz bass.epiphone ,gibson,12 string acoustic.tons of toys.lots of roger mayer stuff.electroharmonix crying tone wah/fuzz.three old mxr delays.roland re 501 space echo.coloursound wah fuzz. dan armstrong orange crusher.joe meek fatface,about to order b.k.butler tube driver.whew

1969 ish.my 1930 is slightly hissy,and the second one a bit more so,but i have owned them for 14 years.they have been used live and for recording,including some no.1s. tremelos are nice,and the amps are truly wonderful,heavenly even!both 1969 ish.strangely reliable for such old creatures.just beautiful.if the hiss,which does not increase with volume,is a problem for recording,then the sound enginneer does not know his or her job.simple as that.i am sure you could get it sorted out anyway.

i have used every guitar you can imagine.great with all of them.

no trouble in 14 years.

truly great,and in my opinion irrepacable.

I'm writing about this amp from a purely servicing point of view. I've repaired amps for over 40 years now, and had a 1930 to repair a week ago. It was screaming due to microphonic valves, made worse by duff valve bases, which I changed. I then found out that these amps work best with RCA valves. Why that should be I've no idea. The tremelo was very poor, causing severe 100Hz hum, which was made worse as I adjusted the speed control. Still haven't found out why.

Why anyone in the US would pay out so much money for this amp really baffles me, as it's rubbish as far asI'm concerned.

I just read the other reviews for this amp and since I have one also I gotta get my two cents in,, also I gotta support alot of what the other guys have already said. First of all, I've heard it said that this model isn't really anything worth getting excited about. Well, all i can say is that if you love that classic Marshall sound this model has definitely got it. And best of all, you get it without blowing out your eardrums completely. I'm rating it a 3 for features because it has two simple channels that are the same, Volume and Tone but one also has a footswichable Tremelo with Speed and Intensity controls. I like the fact that it's this limited though because you basically get one sound,,, Classic Marshall at any setting. The tremelo is pretty good and what you'd expect from an amp from this era.

I have a single coil Strat and humbucking PRS. With the Strat I get the Robin Trower/Hendrix sound without any effort. With the PRS I get the the Page/Clapton sound without any effort. It's that simple. Adjust tone knob to your liking. I've played alot of differant Marshalls, mostly old ones and my opinion so far is that they all sound very similar if they're in good electronic shape. I'm talking about models that were designed to be clean but were'nt, not the later ones where distortion was designed into them. In all fairness though, I have not played an early plexi JTM-45 or a 1958 18watt,, which are said to be supreme. All I can say is that my 1930 sounds just like what I hear coming off of so many albums from the 60's and 70's. My 1930 actually gets a nice clean sound at low volume, but it's the clean that is very bright, slightly crunchy and very reactive to your touch. Turning it up to around 6 or 7 you get into that Trower territory and full up is definitely Zeppelin crunch-land. If I were to play an original JTM-45 I'd probably think it was better at the Bluesbreaker tone, but this amp is the closest I've ever come, and it sounds just like the album to me. Don't let the 10 watt rating fool you, this amp is loud enough to give you hangover, and will certainly keep up with a drummer. I love the fact that I can get the Marshall sound at lower volume though. I also have a '71 1987 but rarely have the chance to push it high enough to break up due to the volume. Like the fellow below from England mentioned, my 1930 is also hissy. I'm currently looking into how to correct this. I can't imagine it was like that new. I'd rate the sound at a 9 if it were'nt for this fact. It doesn't really matter when it's cranked. You could still record with it but you'd have to be ready to deal with the hiss in the track when the guitar wasn't playing.

I don't gig. I have in the past and would say that I would not haul this amp around since it's now vintage and in great cosmetic shape. It wouldn't surprise me if it broke down but it hasn't ever had a problem around the house. I bought the Mike Doyle "History of Marshall" book to learn more about this amp and was disapointed to find that he barely even mentioned it. I suppose he's used to being around the cream of the crop but I think this amp is a winner even if it's not as prestigious as other old Marshalls. I wonder if the 10 watts has always fooled people out of an interest. According to the book, this amp was only manufactured between '72 and '73. Maybe noone wanted to buy "just a 10 watter" back then and hense the short production life.

I haven't tried but I highly doubt that Marshall is going to help me out with this short lived,, thirty year old amp. Maybe if I lived in England and could bring it in. If I was the guy below, who recieved an invitation to bring the amp in for a "twenty year check-up" from Jim Marshall himself,, nothing would have stopped me from being there the next morning bright and early.

I've been playing since '86. I've owned some great stuff that is worth alot more now than when I bought and sold it. I have no desire to get rid of this amp. It sound great at low volume which I really appreciate. What's the alternative? Get a speaker emulator for my 50 watt and destroy the output transformer. Never, not when I have the same sound in the 1930.

I justy found a 1930 Popular 10 watt amp, all original. Sounds great. Very rare amp to find. I put a new set of tubes in and it screams. The guy who daid the tremolo sucks is wrong, he probobly had a weak 12AX7. I put a NOS RCA longplate with 2550 power from my Hickok, I picked the strongest of the bunch.

It's a great recording amp to get the Marshall crunch at lower volume.

I can depend on any amp, cause I can fix em.

I talked to Jimmy Page and told him I got one, he wants to buy it now. It never fails, everyone always wants what they don't have already, as if his collection is not big enough...

It's a keeper, this amp is not in any Marshall book, that's how rare it is. If you ever find one, hold on to it.

My 10 watter has basketweave cloth and a gold colored metal panel. This places is circa 1970, and a few people I've discussed it with make it around 1969, so "thereabouts".. It has a natural R&B through "superblues" kind of sound, which just stinks of the late 60's/early 70's, and which is what I use it for. It is a pretty basic amp, just volume and tone, which live at "10", and a tremelo that *sucks* so doesn't get used.

I have used it with a wide range of guitars from vintage Gibsons 175&335 through the a series of strats to a Travis Bean TB1000A. It could do with more sensitivity for the strat, and perhaps a more thickness, but it loves humbuckers. It is hissy, but then it could also probably do with a service, as I've had it for 25 years and have done no more than swap the odd valve.

Hell yes.. I've had this one 25 years and it hasn't gone wrong yet. Valves get loose/broken (they are quite exposed at the back) or just die from time to time, I clean the beer stains off it occasionally but that is all. Used to have two, the other one melted its mains transformer after I had sold it. But mostly, Marshalls do not go wrong.

I have not had to get help with this one yet. Though I have chatted with Jim (Marshall) at a trade show around 10 years ago, and he showed a lot of interest, even invited me to bring it up to the factory for a 20 year service. (possibly because he couldn't quite place this model) Sadly I still have not found time to do so. :-( Marshall have ever since I can remember had great reputation for service and support.

Been playing since 1975, have a wall of vintage voxes, another wall of vintage guitars. If someone stole it I would find it (There can't be many of /these/ around) and I'd break the theives legs! I love the the way it cuts through a mix for rhythm work with no effects, screams for lead witha booster or hot pickups. It is incredibly loud for 10 watts, the power level is only slightly low for the sort of stuff I've used it for (Clubs/Pubs/Rehersalsn it is a little hissy for recording)but it has held its own against an Ampeg B15, Leslie 145 and large Pearl drumkit. Anways you use a mike to put it through PA and sometimes monitors where needed. It converted me from stacks to combos as I can get /that/ sound without spattering into everyone elses mic. :-)

This amp is circa 1968/'69. All original and quite different from any other other Marshall or any other guitar amp I've encountered. There are 4 inputs to 2 channels--unlabled normal and trem channels. The channels can be jumpered and respond well to that. (Ipretty much keep it permanently jumpered.) It's a 10 watt amp that feels like more. It's as loud as my '64 Bassman head with yellow jackets installed(which are supposed to yield 20-30 watts). It has a solid state rectifier, 2 6GW8s, and a 12AX7. The 6GW8s are dual pentode/triode tubes that resemble 1/2 12AX7 and 1/2 EL84 in push-pull mode. I don't believe these tubes are used in any other Marshall and are completely out of production today. There's a decent NOS supply however, includeing Sylvanias, RSD', Amperex, RCA, Tungsram, etc and I'm stocking up. This combo is pretty near dead mint and is really beautiful, with high-quality construction that separates it from the crowd on first look. Email me if you'd like a pic...

I use a variety of guitar/pickup configurations, from an LP with "PAF" Fralins, to a Fralin-equipped G&L S-500, to a couple of Fender knock-off Hamers (T-51 and Daytona) from the early 1990's.
This amp has a few sounds to it including a decidely non-Fender clean that's as punchy as it is refreshing. A welcome change for a vintage Marshall. It also has a knock-out, everything-on-10 distortion vibe that's to die for. I know the guys in the 18-Watt club don't stop talking about the break up in their dual EL84 combos, but this thing is definitely a killer. With rhythm, think China Grove...think Good TImes, Bad Times. For lead, you've got your hands full as this amp was specifically built for the player who likes to vary his pick dynamics. You can take it from flat-pickin'punch to a ballsy screech in a single lick, which is quite an eye opener. Its gives you a lot of separation wihtout the demanding tendancy to amplify every finger scratch on the neck. It favors the the treble frequencies over bass but you get what you demand out of it and need to play with as much authority as you can muster. This nice thing about this amp is that you know you're getting complete power amp saturation without overloading the speakers past their breaking point. The 2X10 Celestions in this thing are in perfect condition and take everything the power section can throw at them. I can't really say it favors single-coils or humbuckers but you do get the official LP-through-a-Marshall tone when you dial it in. Like it or not for a low-watt amp, the tendency is to crank it and treat it as a one-trick-pony. All said, it's one helluva pony, with more balls and personality than anything in its wattage range. Marshall written all over it...

Like most amps of its era, maintenace on this thing is a coffee-break for a tech who's been around the block. The guy who owned this amp before me brought it in to a loser who allowed my tech to make a quick $80 in fixng it up. Life goes on...

At 32-33 years-old, we're doing fine here.

This amp has its own vibe. Its fun to play and I'm not selling. But its not for the guy who just has one or two amps to get it on with. In today's terminology I guess you'd call it boutique...set up for specific recording or playing situations. If you see one in good condition and have room in the family room I'd recommend you check it out. I'm glad I did.