Marshall 1959 SLP Reissue

Lets see: No master volume, no half power switch, no effects loop, no PA output, no gain knobs, no footswitching between channels, no reverb or tremolo.
At times I wish they had made this a reissue of a SLT. This head has loads of tone. I use it at gigs and at practice.

It's a little noisy when driven by my '61 Les Paul Spec (P-90's), but I think that guitar has a ground problem.
I'm trying to achieve a late 60's tone with this amp. Something in the range of Cream. I pulled two of the power tubes out of the chassis as the amp is just to damn loud. I was not able to get the desired tone when all 4 tubes were installed. I'm now able to turn the beast up to 8 on channel 2 and 6 on channel 1. I use a "Y" cord into the head. Plugging into the low input on channel 1 and the high input of channel two. I set the presence to 6/8, bass to 8/10, mid to 5/10 & treble to 5/10.
This amp does not sound quite as good as the real thing. I'd say the tone is more like a post 70' amp rather than a 68' or earlier.
Made a few mods to the guts... Installed a POT in the NFB resistor position... Works for me, allows quick changes between the std. 47k to 100k for a little more punch (when needed). Will also be adding necessary pots to make biasing a much easier process.

No problems...

Haven't needed it as of yet...

This amp is a winner... One bad thing, the Tolex is pealing in most of the corners.

This is amp is THE rock guitar amp in my opinion. Although it doesnt have any real extragravant features (channel switching etc) you can pretty much get any tone you want using your guitars volume control, switching pickups, etc.

Simply put, this thing OVERFLOWS with tone. I actually have the 94 Purple limited-edition one, with the extra tall bottom cabinet. Both cabinents have the 25w "Greenback" Celestion speakers. I think they sound the best in my opinion. I also have a Marshall 4x12 with Vintage 30's in it, and they are harsher sounding than the greenbacks. The tone is fantastic, with ablility to go to creamy smooth overdrive (think neck p/u) to raging full-tilt power chords, to very clean and chimey, just by varying your volme knob, attack and touch. I am using the amp with a PRS McCarty model, which doesnt particulary have high-ouput pickups. However, almost any guitar sounds great through it. Strats can be a little bright, put this can be rectified with rolling off more treble. The only real problem is, the amp is UNBELIVEABLY LOUD. You have to use a powerbrake unless you are playing at Madison Square Garden or something. This amp will wail over ANYTHING, I dont care if its a Dual Rectifier or whatever. Also, I would like to mention that the re-issue compares very favorably with the orginal amp, i have a '73 model as well, and I would say the re-issue is about 95 percent as good, which is pretty darn good!!

Never had a problem at all. Replace the power tubes about once a year, and you should have years of awesome tone!

I have been playing 10 years, generally play blues/rock, but with some BALLS. Although just for kicks, will play some hard-rock/metal at times. I also have a Jubilee 100w, which is also a fine amp, but it doenst really compare with the Super Lead in my opinion. I like lots of other amps too, AC30's, Super Reverbs, etc, but I prefer the power and balls of the Marshall. Every rock player in the world owe himself/herself to try out one of these and..."you will see the light!" Just bring some earplugs!

The main feature of this amp is that it provides pure tone. There are 4 channels, but switching them is accomplished by unplugging the guitar from one imput, and plugging it into another (is short, non-switchable). No effects loop, no headphone jack, nothing to get in the way of your sound. Basic volume and tone controls.

The sound. THE Sound. OH MY GOD THE SOUND! As you turn this amp up, it doesn't get louder as much as it gets fuller. It is like going from a quartet to a symphony as you roll on the power. Rich and full, with bass that thumps and treble that sings. I am using the head with 1960 Vintage cabs with "Vintage 30" 70 watt Celestrons.
My band plays mostly originals, in a very 'heavy' style. My guitar playing is very percussive (lots of palm muting for rythym playing) and this amp picks up every innuendo of my playing. We have been described as "Queen meets Aerosmith and gets mugged by Kiss" stylistically.
As for variety, the amp goes from clean to Marshall crunch and that is about it. If you want to have the amp do everything, this is not the amp for you. What I want from an amp is pure tone, and I'll color it from the front (I play with a Rocktron VuDoo Valve).
Distortion has never been an issue, as I have never got it loud enough to distort. At 3 it is deaffening. At 7 It will cause pain in people 400 feet away, through 2 sets of walls.
Guitar wise I am using 3 Les Pauls (Standard with stock pickups, Classic with Duncan Screamin' Demon at the bridge and Alnico II Pro at the neck, and a Custom with Classic 59's) and 2 BC Rich (Both with Dimarzio Tone Zone at the bridge, Lil' 59 at neck in one, Air Norton in the other) The fatter PAF style pickups at the neck are thunderous with this amp. Bridge pickups can sound a little bright, but this can be handled with a little tweaking.

Been using it regularly for 8 months without a single hitch.

Never dealt with the company. Warranty is 5 years.

I -might- buy it again. I love the amp, but it is powerful as all get out. I could play stadiums with this rig. I just bought a 1987 Plexi Reissue, and am going to try the 50 watt version of what is basically the same amp for a while. Preliminary testing says that the 50 Watt is going to be PLENTY loud. Having all of that headroom is great, but it may just be too much. Our Bass player is running a 400 watt head into 2 4x10 Eden cabs and he has trouble being heard if I turn it up above '4'.
The pure tone is the reason for this amp. Put a Les Paul through the 1959 SLP and a 1960 Vintage 4X12 and you will swear it is the voice of God. I played the JCM series amps, and they sounded tinny and limp next to this tone monster. The sound is thick, full, and rich. For me, it is the sound I want. Listen for yourself and try it out before you buy. This sound is not for everyone, and 100 Watts is a TON of power. Seriously consider the 1987 Plexi 50 Watt if you like the sound, and aren't planning on playing stadiums...

Features on this amp? How about tone, the missing link on virtually modern designs. This amp has gobs of pure POWER AMP EL-34 tone. Sorry, no 1000 presets, footswitches, or gimmicks. This amp has it where it counts.

These reissue Marshall's compare perfectally with my other original '67 100 watt head. The new reissues have "BALLS". Awesome harmonic content that responds to the players touch. Hey, these amps get a beautiful clean sound great when you bridge the terble and normal channels at lower settings. You want Page, Van Halen, Hendrix. . . any of the great tones are easy to get with these amps. The distortion is fluid,sustaining,perfect and in your face. This is tone man, not the buzzy preamp stuff here OK. Only pure power tube heaven. This amp takes on a life of its own with a good 'Paul, stock Stratocaster, or a floyd style hot rod strat.

The new reissued have been modified as far as plate voltages to keep reliability. This does not effect the sound in the least. I use this thing 15 hours a week for 6 months without a problem. With this amp, you really need the Marshall Powerbrake to take advantage of this amps heart of gold. Speaker Cabs are as important as the head itself. Dont even think about using a JCM 300 watt cab with these guys. High watt Celestions are TOO efficient and sound brash with these amps. I've always had excellent results with Celestion 25,30,35, or the 60 watt "vintage" 30's.

Folks, these amps have made history. There is no better amp head out there than the original JTM 45's, and 50 & 100 non-master volume Marshalls or the early Fenders and Voxes. As guys like Aspen Pittman or Ritchie Fleigler will tell you, "You havent played guitar unless you played through one of these".