Marshall 1959 SLP Reissue

I wrote the last review. Thiers something I forgot to add. For almost 12 years I was the owner of one kick-ass sounding '68. I bought the RI SLP about a year ago as a backup and I was lucky I did becouse not long after that at the last gig I was gonna use the 68 at it was stolen. Talk about bad luck. I never got over it. it was stupod using a vintage plexi to gig anyway.

After I had the RI modded, about a week before that fateful gig, I was very interested in seeing how close it came with the "vintage clone" components in. I almost shit myself. I always thought I had pretty discriminating ears but it was damn close. The reissue was just the tinyest bit flabbier in the low end and harsher in the highs, and not quite as sweet sounding on the pick attack but the difference was negligable. It was a hard to hear a very notaceable difference without an A/B comparisson. I was pretty shocked to say the least.

Ill put it this way: I definitly would take my 68 over the reissue soundwise but since it was stolen, I havent tried to replace it with another vintage. I can afford it although it is a little steep (nearly 4 grand for 67-68!) Its something I still may do before they become impossable to find and cost a small fortune (as if they dont already!) but Im not searching for one yet.

Everything needed for great tone. I added a master volume but thats not really a tone mod. When turned all the way up the components are taken out of the signal path and the amp is the same as stock.

Its also been upgraded with true to origional Filter caps, components and output tranny. At least as close as possable. Mercury magnetics O/P tranny by the way. For those of you who dont know about those, if you cant afford a vintage plexi replacing the O/P tranny with a MM hand wound clone is probably the most integral replacement you can do to get the amp closer to a vintage stock sound! Most vintage amp repairers use the MM as replacements.

What can I say. This is the guitar sound that everyone knows and loves. It cant be beat. (I do, of coarse, consider the AC-30, old fenders etc... to be equally great but thier all very different sounding instruments.) For anyone who hasnt had much experience with old amplifiers and Plexis in particular try to really play one some time and youll know. Not everyone wants to get this sound though and I cant blame everyone. If everyone played 1 amp itd be a pretty dull music scene. Which is probably why older amps have such a small following now next to the dual rectifiers and other modern amps. The sounds been soooo done in the past but it is the best. Page, Hendrix, EVH, Beck, ACDC, Eric Johnson, Randy Rhoads, Jake E Lee, Metallica (yes metallica!), Satch, etc, etc, etc.... The list goes on. One day the Dual Recto's of the world will be the old amps that only a few people still use. Its a cycle.

Although not everyone should play a plexi people who dont like it in my experience just dont know how a real amp should sound. That sounds strange or aragant but thiers a generation of kiddies out there who are looking to get the sound of guitar hero A and/or hero B and that leads to a few problems. The sound on recordings doesnt really sound like live sounds from an amp while your playing it. Any recording and touring pro knows what Im talking about. Things just sound very different on tape then they do live. Plus thiers the volume issue and the fact that the Line6's of the world are pumping out crued digital facsimilies at rediculouse rates which perpetuate the need to achieve a "like the album sound" strait from a small amp for use in basements. Its an instant gratification culture and taking time to learn to use and really get to know how to play an amplifier like this just isnt a priority to most. Whatever floats your boat.

The thing about this amp is the responce to your playing technique. Its soooo dynamic. The notes have a real deep snap to them. Real meat and body. Picking dynamics are sweet. You can vary the sound by your picking attack. Everyone says that but I gaurentee if youve never played one youll be shocked by the amount that is true. When you really dig in you get the sweetest harmonic responces. Think EVH solo's. Even legato runs have a very distinct sound to each note. A great presence to each note and a very present bass responce in every note. This amp is both bright and present but meaty and warm at the same time which is hard to understand without playing one. When speed picking and sweep picking the pick attack on the string isnt in your face although it is present. Although with a good fuzzy preamp like an old fuzzface, a good fuzzface clone or a Tube Driver you can get very close to that Eric Johnson tone were the pick attack is almost inaudable. I have all of those boxes and it definitly sounds right.

The harmonics just jump off the fretboard when playing. I dont know if anyone else can relate but to me I know I have a great sound on my hands when Im playing and you can just dig in and get those random harmonics and bad notes or dead notes cease to happen.

What other amp can you think of can give you such a different tone depeding on nothing else but whos playing it? Jimi sounds nothing like EVH. Both of them in turn sound nothing like Eric Johnson or Yngwie, Young, Clapton and all the other great players.

I run mine similiar to EVH. I have and mess with a variac but I generally dont use it. It sounds too much like Eddie and Im not that big a fan. I run the amp on about 8-vol, out 4ohms to a 16ohm THD Hotplate Load, through desired effects to a power amp. If your unfamiliar with this rigg it turns the entire amp into a preamp which includes power tube saturation since its cranked to almost 10 or to 10. The load box converts the speaker level signal to line level and, via a few effects, the power amp you run to can be on almost any volume and the sound will be the nearly same. Thats volume con

Im 29 and have been playing pro for just under a decade. Ive been all over the US and europe. Played through many a rigg. Live I mainly use Soldano SLO's and Plexi's modded with Soldano/arrendondo type mods with FX loops. I feel thier both great amps but are missing something important in thier tone that the stock plexi has but thier both (especially the soldano) are consistent, reliable and simple. thiers too many trouble spots in my Plexi rigg. If one thing fails it'd take 15 minuts just to figure out what. Itd be nice if someone could build one into a rack unit if thats possable. Especially since I use it as a preamp.

Heres 2 great sites for plexi owners legendarytones.com and tone-man.com. Great tips about how many people run thier plexis and how to get the most out of them. Toneman does all the great upgrade mods. They both are run by people who welcome questions and have an answer to anything plexi related.

I play with Custard Pie, the italian Led Zeppelin Tribute: should I say more?

This baby is a referring point on HOW an amp should sound. No presets, no dozens knobs, no gain. Just tone, amazing.

In almost 30 years of playing, Just one single speaker got broken in one of my old amps. Hey... it's a Marshall!

Never had to deal with the company.

This is the "Ferrari" of the guitar amps, I can't find the words to describe how good it sounds. Every player on this planet should plug in it a Les Paul at least once in a lifetime...

-97 Limited Edition(white head, white 4x12, white powerbrake)
Two channel amp if you use an A/B box. The 4 inputs are a nice feature
I wish it had a channelswitch and EQ-knobs for both channels.

Distorsion-more distorsion and with a boost-stompbox silly distorsion.
Impossible to get a clean sound from it.
This amp does one sound but does it really well.

Probably reliabel if you get good tubes. I changed tubes three times
in six months. I would never bring it to a gig without spare tubes and
I usually don't without a back-up amp.

Never dealt with them.

I been playing for about 25 years. Currently I play fast "rock'n roll/punk/country/metal" I like this amp and it's classic sound. It's a one-trick-pony though and sometimes that annoys me but I get by with
an A/B-box, a boost-pedal and a tubescreamer.
I don't remember all the amps I've tried they all have their pros and cons. There is no "ultime amp" an most modern amps sounds pretty good
with minor differences. To me there are 3 categories of amps; Marshall,Fender and Vox. All other amps fall into these categories.
If I lost this one I would try a Fender for a while.

100 watt, presence, bass, mid, treble, volume1,volume2 K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid!
I've got the '94 purple haze stack. Special leather handle on the head and cabs. Extra tall bottum cab (model no 1982A & 1982B)
Don't know how much they made of this limited run, I should open it up to check.

Sound: Loud, louder, loudest! Nothing beats this! Just use your guitar volume and turn it up!
Power brake, hotplate or loadbox needed for smaller gigs!
Bleeding ears!!!

I play strats, PRS mccarty and singlecut, Gibson ES125, and all sound sweet at low volumes. Played louder the strats brings Jimi back to life and the prs's bring the greatest vintage 'les paul/marshall' sound, to your fingertips.
For serious players ONLY!

Hey it's a marshall...

never needed

If your serious about guitar you should own one of these!
This is THE SOUND for all gigs, provided you get a powerbrake or something with it!
I love my special purple tolex, but I'am even more impressed by the sound this baby generates!
Gtrz,
Ray

I'm pretty sure this is a 2001 model reissue. 100 watts, 4 EL34 tubes, 3 12AX7's. Very straight-forward controls: Presence, Bass, Midrange, Treble, and two "Loudness" knobs, one for each channel. Black tolex, gold piping, gold Marshall logo. I love the look of these heads; very traditional and classy. The newer reissues have an effects loop, but this one doesn't for some reason. Oh, well. Jimmy and Jimi didn't need them....

But it would have been nice to have reverb in the reissue....

I'm using two Gibson Les Paul Customs, one is a 1969 Black Beauty and the other is a 1978 Silverburst w/ Tom Anderson pickups. I'll occasionally use my UV777BK Ibanez, but I mostly use the Gibsons. I own several amps with different effects setups, but this one I use only a Boss pedal tuner, a modified Vox V847 wah, and a Fulltone Bassdrive. The sound is awesome with the 1960TV extra tall Marshall 4x12 with Greenbacks that I have......immaculate distortion.

LOUD AS SHIT

This thing looks very well-built. It weighs a ton, as well. I have a lot of friends who own original Super Leads and reissue Super Leads like mine, and they've rarely ever had a problem with them. I've only had it for a couple weeks, so I don't really have a good opinion yet.

I have no clue how Marshall's customer support is, except that I've heard from others that it really sucks hard.

Badass. Completly badass. Get a cab for it that does it justice, perhaps the extra tall 1960TV Marshall or a Mesa traditional slant.

Awesome.

Two channels, high treble and normal. Control knobs include prescence, bass, middle, treble, volume 1, and volume 2. Proves that fancy 20+ know amps are trash and simplicity will always be king. Uses 4 El34 power tubes and 3 12ax7 pre-amp tubes, 100 watts. Oh yeah!

Oh my lord. The 1959-SLP is the shining diamond of all old school rockers and bluesmen. If you are into the all time great old time guitar players like Page, Hendrix, and Clapton... you must buy this amp... period. I've been playing since I was 9 years old and i'm 17 right now for a total of 8 years. I play through a Gibson Les Paul DC Standard with 57' humbuckers I installed, it's a cheap guitar but it sounds incredible. I also have an American Strat. Then, I wire it through my Vox-Wah, then to the high treble input. When i'm playing with my LP selected on the bridge pickup, it's a shear tone heaven when it's cranked to 10. The tone is practically identically to an old live Jimmy Page sound that can be heard on the Led Zeppelin DVD "The Song Remains the Same". When you put the pickup selector in the middle position, you get some really nice country twangs and a real view at how versitle the amp really is. Roll of the volume and put the pickup switch in the neck position and you've got sounds that have a small overdrive factor with a warm blues tone. It's truly amazing that such a simple amp can produce such a tonal plethora. Whenever I plug in the Fender I usually bring out the Arbiter Fuzz face just to have a crazy feedback fuzz-fest that brings back the memories of Hendrix. When playing on this set-up, the amp again shows that it has the best tonal quality of any amp built. When your playing on the neck position with the Fender you get the best blues sound imaginable with a warm tone and a rich tube overdrive, absolutely unbeatable. Flip the pickup selector to the bridge, and it's an all out Hendrix tone feast!!! The amp again shows its versatility with a rich overdrive and tube balls. Awe inspiring! If you're wondering if the overdrive is brutal, well it's not. Unlike Mesa and Peavey amps that melt your face off with over-distorted tones, the Marshall 1959-SLP always keeps its tone under control and never get squeely. If you buy this head, don't connect it with a 300 watt cab, the sound gets really dead and boring. I use Marshall's 1960AX vintage cab with 25watt greenbacks. This is the only way the amp sound like it should. My only complaint about the amp is that when you play at small venues you may want to buy a THD hotplate so you don't have to sacrifice your tone for a small room. I used to play on other amps that had controls like Gain and about ten other knobs and got sick of always trying to find the right equalization of the amp. It got old really quick enough for me to shell out the best thousand bucks i've ever spend. But other than the fact that you might want to purchase a THD hotplate, this amp is the god off all tube amps beating out all over complex new age amps of today.

I've had this amp for about a year and a half now. Make sure you replace the tubes every six months to ensure the head reliability and tone. I had only one problem. One of the power tubes had a problem in it this month and I had to replace it because it would blow the 4 amp fuse every time you flipped the standby switch. It was pretty scary at first thinking my amp had to go in for expensive repair, but I found the problem and fixed it. When I replaced the faulty tube the tubes I had last put in it were only 3 months old. So it wasn't the amps fault, just a bad EL34.

Customer support for Marshall is on the border of absolute crap to half-way decent. My friend had a problem with his Marshall, and you have to call Korg. They usually have good advice but it's no fun callling long distance. When i bought the amp there was no warranty for it probably since it was sitting in the back of their store. Finding an authorized Marshall service center is a joke. You are better off looking for the local amp repair man as my friend did.

I've been rockin' it out old school style for 8 years and this is the head I will always use... bottom line. I do own other effects pedals like a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Boss Chorus Ensemble, MXR Phase 90, Line 6 Delay Modeler, Arbiter Fuzz Face, and a Violin Bow, but I would only use those fancy pedals if i had to do some low volume recording work. If my baby was stolen, I would probably hunt them down, wack em' accross the face with a bat, and pour a 2-liter of coke in their car's gas tank. If I couldn't find where the head had gone, i would immediately buy a new one. I've played on other tube amps like Mesa, Fender, Peavey, and Crate but they don't put out as much ass-whooping tone as my baby does. I just love it's huge array of sounds and mean 70's natural overdrive. It's great! Remember though, if you buy this head make sure you have a Marshall 1960AX/BX cab with 25watt greenback so you can hear this amp the way it was meant to be heard.

The date is no where to be found, i bought it used in '96 in L/N cond.for $700.00 w/cover. Versatile enough if all your after is TONE. I play rock - A to Z. 4 channels, no effects loops or channel switching etc. You buy this model amp if you know how to use them and a power brake is not the answer and neither is adding a master volume - if your stupid enough to do that, sell it first and go get yourself a master volume amp! 100 watts of Plexi power is equal to a zillion watts by lesser mfgs.

To get the best sound, you jump the channels, run from your guitar to a rat or what Ingwie uses,a DOD overdrive preamp 250 - which incidentally DOD is reissuing under his personnal direction, to control your volume and tighten the bass up a bit. I have both of these and have been using them before ingwie was around. a POWER BRAKE just gives you the same sound at a lower db with a very loose bass,the DOD or Rat will tighten up the bass and bring out the Marshall sound though the DOD is a bit noisey,the rat is smoother and has better distortion and will also clean up but be prepaired to twiddle the knobs and be patient, it takes a while to dial in that sound and dont go butchering up the amp with some stupid Soldano circuit or a MV mod., nothing works better than what i have just told you, been playing 36 plus years,Marshall owner since '70

Like a Rock!

Never used it,was always serviced by my dealer for free.

I own a plexi SLP 100 and a jtm 45, also a Sov mig 50 and a Randall. I would list the other amps i've owned but would run out of room.

This amp has no extra junk which is the way I like it.
Plane and simple. I ordered mine in june 2001 and had to wait
till october to get mine. Interesting note; The marshall rep,
the dealer, and I all had to sign a waiver. Apparently this
amp is not Canadian CSA certified. The rep said that the model 1959
reissue is being replaced by a JCM800 reissue. My is apparently
1 of the last 500 made! I don't know why marshall has waivers for
this last batch, could it be something special???
As for features this amp as the bare essentials, tone and volume
controls with the standard dual channels/dual inputs. Not
a lot but just what you need.

Not as good as the vintage ones(in my opinion) but they are as close
as your gonna get. The new ones you can't roll every thing to ten.
For example on an old plexi rolling every thing to ten and having the
volume at 75% produces an crazy growl. On the reissues you have to
roll the treble off halfway and cut all the presence.
With my reissue I can achieve a sweet blues, 70's rock and crazy
saturation(my person fav!)

You get back what you put in it. It is a strong amp but with
tube you still have to be kind to it.

I got to meet the marshall rep when I ordered it and he was
great. My dealer bends over backwards for me so I can't complain.

I spent a small fortune to get mine so it wasn't a great value for my money but is every thing I wanted and needed in an amp.
***One and only problem: Where the power cord mates with the amp is kind of loose which is a big deal if its going to be a giging work horse.

This 2001 '59 SLP reissue plexi is an extremely versatile amp if you know how to utilize its potential. Very simple eq setup with Bass, Presence, Mid, Treble, two volume nobs for each channel and four inputs (two for each channel - one bright, one normal) and all work incredibly well. The one thing that I have learned through experience is that simpler is better. The power potential is unbelievable and must be tamed with an attenuator to allow for full power tube maximization and also minimum hearing loss.

I use a '78 Fender Strat with stock pickups in the neck and middle positions and a SD JB Jr. in the bridge position. I play mostly blues, punk and classic rock. With the exception of using a THD Hotplate, this is all the hardware I need and given I have owned at least 20 different pedals in my 20+ years of playing guitar, this is quite a testament. The tone that comes out of this beast is nothing short of phenomenal! Simply, the best "clean" distortion that you will ever hear and turn down the guitar volume and you get the lushest, sweetest clean notes that surprises you every time it's the same amp. Dynamics are everything with this amp. The tone shimmers and is not unlike the airiness that a Vox AC30 can give with 3 times the balls. Get away from those confusing/multiple channel/half-filled glass master volume amps and open the door to refreshing simplicity, intense dynamics, clarity and distortion that will leave you speachless. I have tried them all including Marshall master volumes, Boogie, VHT, Matchless, Bogner, Dumble, Soldano, Fender, Dr.Z., Bruno, Vox, Peavey, etc. and for me none can match the feeling you get when you plug into this puppy! You know its right with the first note while you wonder why the hell the others are selling at multiples. You also know it's right when the technicians at rehearsal studios are rudely barging into your room to find out what your rig is all about only to leave perplexed when there is no garbage plugged into it. Hendrix, Van Halen, early Clapton, Page, Beck, Trower, Ronson, Priest, Kiss, Aerosmith, AC/DC, etc. couldn't all have been wrong.

No problems yet. I bought a Marshall 100 JMP in 1978 and I have had 0 problems with it. I expect the same here.

Never had reason to use customer service.

I will never go back to anything else. For true rock-n-roll and blues, this amp was the first and will be the last. This amp allows me to play better because is it is inspiring to hear. No longer will you get lost in the grindy mud of master volume amps that only tend to get worse as they get louder. If it was lost or stolen I would perform a sex change operation on the male bastard and send him back to Afghanistan as a woman and then buy another one. Such anger but as you can tell I feel pretty damn strong about my opinion at the topic in hand. To each his own, but my search has ended.