Marshall 1959 SLP Reissue

My amp is from the early 90's. It does not have the effect loops that the new reissues have, and that is a positive fact to many. I can't say which reissue is the best the knew ones that are made today or mine. Because unfortunately I have not played a knew reissue. It's a pretty straight forward amp that you probably already know. It's perfect for blues/rock. It has four channels, the first channel is more treble sounding and the second has a more bassy sound. This amp is as simple it can get. Bass, Treble, Presence and Midrange thats it.

I am using a 2004 Gibson Sg standard with original humbuckers. I play Blues/Rock and the amp is very suitable for that. But it also have a very warm clean sound that works with many other music styles. The treble channel is very trebly. You really has to adjust your settings to get the tone you want, it can take a while. But when you get the settings right it sounds amazing. This amp, worth mentioning is that it's VERY loud. To get tube distortion you'll have to put the volume up to 6 or and that is not much overdrive, to really get the 60's marshall tone you must have the volume at 8 at least. and then it's LOUD. The you have tone!! Cream/Hendrix sounds. Also good for ac/dc. But if you are in a place were you can't cranke the amp i really recommend a pedal like the tube screamer or a power break. I did not give it a ten because that the amp is not handwired and there is a few other tweaks that has to be done to get the true master tone. But my economy couldn't afford a original 60's marshall or a handwired one.

These marshall amps is amp you can trust. My amp is 15 years old and it's not even a buzz from it. So I can't be happier.

I have not used it.

I have been playing for four years. Have owned a Line 6 flextone 3. The tone of the marshall can not be compared to the Line 6. I have played many other amps and this one cranked just takes the lead. I am definetly going to buy more similar marshall amps as Jtm45 or other SLP. I love the look and the sound of it it is amazing. It is a shmae though that you have to play it so lud to get "the tone". It is not the ultimate marshall amp. A vintage original 60's marshall is the best or a handwired is better but i got it for very little money, and to get that tone for so litte cash. You can get the 60's tone if you handle it right. I am sorry if there is any bad english, Thank you

2007 Reissue. I feel its versatile in the sense that it provides a great base to add pedals and construct an overall sound. Other than that, the fact that this amp is simple is what I love about it. Its not busy like many amps of today. Just the EQ and volume. Beautiful in my opinion. I give it an 8 because it doesn't do a bunch of different sounds, so you wouldn't exactly call this extremely versatile, but in my opinion it does what I need quite well.

Ok, SO, I give this a 7 because out of the box its really not happening. These amps all have the potential to be 10's, but they just need a little TLC.

I am a strat player who likes to do Hendrix style Blues. The bright channel on this amp will break your eardrums its disgustingly trebley. I actually removed the bright capacitor all together which was real easy to do and made a world of difference. The adding proper preamp tubes made this sound like a completely different amp - huge improvement. These amps are extremely sensitive to the quality of tube you use in them. Mullard Reissues are pretty good. I have a NOS RCA in the the first position which is great.

Many say to upgrade the output transformer which I plan on doing soon. I've played some boutique amps and original plexi's that have alot better tonality going on which is effected by the output transformer. You really hear the quality in an output transformer when youre pushing the amp hard. Harmonics and musicality are increased.

Speaker choice you use is very important as well.

So it gets a 7 because its not a plug in and instant tonefest. But, these amps have major Potential. Just needs some tweaks, and patience.

By the way, I paid a good bit less because I was an employee at a music store and got the discount. I wouldnt pay the full price for these amps, theres usually plenty of used ones and/or boutique knock offs which are already upgraded for equal or a lot less.

I've owned it for a little less than a year now but it hasnt seen gig duty. Its been cranked countless times and run for hours though and seems solid. No worries here.

I had some issues with the brightness of this amp and noise, which was actually due to crap tubes and the bright cap. I didn't know about these things when I first bought it so I emailed Marshall. They took over a week to get back and did not give any productive input.

As some of you have read, Metropoulos Amps are a great boutique plexi amp and the website has a forum with lots of knowledgeable folks. In all honesty, buy from metro not marshall, unless youre getting a deal on the marshall, which you can upgrade as you go like I am doing.

The word about these amps is POTENTIAL. Huge potential. Just needs patience, knowledge, and tweaking. When you get it right you'll be extremely pleased. I dont think buying new is worth it, just buy used. Theyre easy to have work done on if need be, its a simple circuit. If you're considering one I'd highly reccomend it. By the way, volume is the obvious part of this amp. If you can't truly push the volts, get something lower wattage.

This thing was made when that angel-devil guy got thrown out of heaven...man!

RAWK RAWK RAWK RAWK!!!! Teamed up with "Blackie" my '79 Custom Les Paul & 4/12 Orange box, this amp is some kind of menace!

With lord SATAN & the plexi on my side, nothings gonna get in our way!

never needed it

Who cares about me & what i've done! Go buy one & you wont be sorry!

If you're checking this out then you already know...Mine is a 2003 with the effects loop.

Using this with 2 '94 Hamer Daytonas with Duncan Sh-10's in the bridge positions. First off, I have to say that this amp has to be used the right way to get the desired results. You don't need to change the trannys or the choke,etc. Hot Plates and Power Brakes just beat up your amp, create a lot of heat, and make it sound like a heaping pile of dross. As far as re-tubing, JJ E34L is the way to go.Tight, driving bottom,smooth mids and ripping highs. Also tried the JJ ECC83-S gold pin preamp tubes. Made a BIG difference. Anyway it seems to me the best way to use this amp is to install a post phase inverter master volume control. Also referred to as the Ken Fischer Mod. Because the tone network on these amps are so interactive, you have to use the volume controls for tonal adjustments as well. This mod allows total tonal control so that when you find the sweet spot, you won't lose it when you change the output level. Without it, turn one knob and everything changes. Then you're back to square one to adjust for the level that you changed. This way you can incorporate any drive/dist box into the front end, adjust the tone exactly the way you want it, and have complete control over your volume from bedroom to arena! Always get quizzed on how I get my tone. We play anywhere and everywhere. 150 at a pub and 2500 at theatres. My amp drives 2 1960a cabs on top and 2 GenzBenz g-flex 2-12's on the bottom as sort of sub-modules. The 1960a's fit on top of the Genz's perfectly. And with the connection options on the Genz's, I can run all 4 with my one Plexi head. The only way to describe it is God of Thunderchunk. For smaller gigs I just take 1 1960a cause casters make it easy.

Totally 100% reliable. It gets serviced every 6 months. No issues at all. But then again, you guys using those crappy hot plates might have a different story to tell.....hmm...........

Never needed it so I can't say.

Playing 34 yrs. My signal goes ( i'm probably gonna regret this ) Hamer Daytona> Boss TU-2> Dunlop Crybaby> SansAmp GT-2> Rocktron Hush> to front end to jack 1> jump 1 bottom to 2 top. loop send> Digitech MultiChorus> Digitech DigitalDelay> to return jack. I can't believe I just gave it away. There ya go kids. Sorry, no amp settings. (Find your own) Do some diggin' !! Oh, and if someone stole this, i'd hunt em down like the elk I got with my Uncle Ted. Yeah, that's right. THE Uncle Ted !!

It's a tube amp with no frills. I believe you need to start with good clean power and what you do with it after that is your business - so this amp is perfect for me. I jump the 2nd to 3rd channel and play through channel 1.

I play with all the knobs fully open excluding the treble and intensity which I leave off. The treble on this amp is ear piercing. With these settings and a tube screamer it has a good vintage tube amp sound for the rock music I play. It does not have the buzz sound with the tube distortion that I hear in all the other new Marshall Amps that have one or more master volume controls.

Terrible. I blew the output transformer in 6 hours. In 40 years of playing I have never had a problem like this before - was there any quality control and testing with this product before they put it on the market?

Montreal does not stock output transformers so I must wait 1 month for the warranty part. Marshall loads the Canadian market with these amps but dosn't supply repair parts? Is this a good marketing strategy?

I like the sound when its working. There was another amp in the shop with a similar problem when I sent mine in. I hope Marshall is tracking this to see if it is a one off thing or a problem that needs to be addressed with the output transformers. I now have two of these amps (one for back up).

This amp is a poor excuse for a Marshall, the reissue that is, obviously someone at Marshall forgot how they made their plexi heads and this reissue is a prime example!
I have an original 1965 Jtm45 100watt plexi head and a Marshall 412 cab w25 watt greenbacks and an original 1959 SLP Marshall, these two are tone and more tone I have not heard better sounding amps yet especially the Jtm 45, as rare as these are they were getting banged up from me gigging so I decided to retire them for home and studio use and got a 1959 Head and a 412 with Yes the Chinese Marshall celestion speakers, didn't know that at the time, anyway took the it home played tried to tweek the sound and still sounded like crap, then I played the reissue cab through my old 412 and it was a lot better but still not that great. So through process of elimination I tried both my head through the new Chinese Marshall Celstions and it was not even comparable to my cab, then I tried my heads through my cab and it sounded like music to my ears, did all kind of AB swithcing and the end resultis the 1959 plexi is basically a hunk of crap that's why people are selling them for dirt cheap on ebay if they find a sucker to buy them, folks I'm telling you night and day this sounds nothing like my 1959slp, not even close, it seems they forgot to make the amp that they made that made them fame and fortune, and many great players play the originals and they sound amazing, talking to a lot of people who are experienced there is a total dissappointment with Marshall amps and they're cabs, I also have a Canadian Version of the JCM 800 1982, and a friend of mine bought the reissue, not even close.
Is it mass production, is it the chinese offshore thing(they are assembled and brought in from offshore or oversea's???
THEY ARE MADE IN CHINA! now was that too hard!
Marshall speaker cabs they say are made in england and assembled in China, well whatever they're doing they don't sound the same anymore.
I AB'd a JCM 800 412 from mid eighties to one of the chinese ones 4 or 5 years old and there was no comparison hands down the 80's one took it by a long shot.

I believe Marshall had a superior product in the 60's 70's and 80's,but they have lost a lot of credibility from many a player, thus players going to boogie and all kinds of amp companies popping up offering point to point wiring, and building a quality product.

I mean it's pretty bad when Marshall reissues one of the amps they made originally and some guy in his little company duplicates a plexi and the little company's amp sounds closer to the Marshall than the Marshall reissue does, pretty pathetic.
And believe me when I say I stand behind my older Marshall products 100% but some of the reissues man, not very good, A B them and you'll see what I mean, thus to say I sold my reissue head which may I add took a while, everone wanted it until they heard it,then no one wanted it, gradually someone did buy it, sold it for $600 Canadian thank god.

Chinese Marshall cabs? sell out or what it's all about the money, why do you think that for about $700 you could buy a brand new Chinese Marshall 412 cab, where as before they were around the $1000 or slightly over sure slave labour at $1 an hour if that.
I spoke with someone who is the president of his own compny and he gave me a comparison, he said if you paid 2 people in america $30 an hour the total of that will employ a whole factory of workers in China 110 people to be exact that's what this person told me and everyone is following suit to make more of the almighty dollar, but unfortunately for us the players who spend our hard earned money on costly equiptment, we deserve the quality and workmanship and a good product, I really don't care where it's made as long as it sounds good!

I mean I remember in the 80's were people were laughing at Japanese guitar manufactures " oh it's a Japanese Copy" and they would stay away, yet those same people are hunting down those instruments today because they were better than Gibson and Fender in the mid 70's to the early 90's.
Tokai is a perfect example, they made better guitars than the company they were copying was making.Their quality was A+ that's why.I don't think 10 years from now people will be saying oh is that a Chinese Marshall buy it that's worth a lot of money, based on the fact that the product is not maintaing the Marshall name and Legend enough said!

Didn't have it for that long couldn't stand the sound.

Tried emailing Marshall for some info as to why it didn't sound good , sent several emails and no response at all from Marshall, very poor customer support oh sorry NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT!

Gear I own:
1961 Fender Strat
1969 Fender Strat
71 Gibson SG
73 Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Flying V
Original 1965 Marshall JTM 45 100 watt head( Best head ever)
1969 100 watt SLP Marshall
1970 412 Marshall cab with real 25 watt Greenbacks(not the Chinese Kind)
Peavey XXX head
Koch Twintone head- These heads sound amazing!!!!!

I have the version prior to Marshall adding an effects loop and raising the price by a grand (That's Just Criminal). Must have been made somewhere between 2001-2003?? It was on the showroom floor of G - Center for about a year and a half totally misunderstood by the staff and the teeny bopper high gainers. The features are basic; 2 channel volumes, tone controls, presence. I actually like bridging the two channels and getting the high / low set with the volumes on the two channels. Works out better for me. Run it through a 2x12 Marshall cab and more recently through a custom 4x12 cab I built and tolexed loaded with greenbacks. Sounds really great!

The good.....

The amp is the $hit. Sounds really great on chunky stuff.... kinda like the old testament God. Power chords are something akin to a freight train on a dark moonless night rolling through a crossing. Just awesome. It has some of the fender bassman sound, but thicker on the low end. I can dial in anything from Metallica to Joe Satriani to Robin Trower to Santana to Van Halen to a descent (not great but descent) warm jazzy sound. Overdrive tones and textures depend alot on what is put in front of it in terms of stomp boxes. Another thing I like to do is set the amp at a moderate volume then turn the volume on a pedal up. This helps overdrive the preamp tubes and sounds really rich as compared to just depending on the pedal for distortion.

It's not a one trick pony. Some compromises are made between clean and dirty tones. The best setup for me is to switch between amps. The marshall for dirty or bluesy sound and a Fender twin Reverb for clean.

I tried the AC/DC thing one time.... Man that just hurts. In my living situation (i.e. having neighbors) cranking the amp at those volumes is just not practicle. The setup I mentioned before (pedals and two amps) gives me the tone I enjoy at manageable volume.

I've played alot of guitars through it using both humbuckers and single coil. My personal style at this point is heavy blues on the one hand and technical skill / lead on the other. I've experimented with alot of gear and come up with some strange solutions. For example, I have a Warmoth guitar which I put together with Texas Specials. The pickups are wired individually to on-off switches with one volume and one tone. I turn on all three pickups and the guitar is just great for lead, Satriani, Van Halen, whatever. For the hendrix tone, it is my limited edition Strat with a quilted maple top and the neck pickup. For that David Gilmore dark side of the moon sound I switch to the middle position on a USA strat and put both guitar tones on zeroe. Chokes the crap out of the guitar and just sounds awesome!

The bad......

Crappy Marshall pots. Had the volume pots replaced because they were scratchy and extremely sensitive. Got the amp back home.... had brand new scratchy, extremely sensitive pots. That's just marshall.

Had the tubes re-biased but I've gotten alot of life out of the originals. I take care of my stuff too though. I don't slam the tubes with voltage until they warm up and I live in one of the more arid regions of the country which is easier on electronics.

I gigged pretty extensively through 2004-2005. Overall.... the amp hasn't given me any problems. I have faith in it.

The ugly.......

O.k. so marshall makes a cool re-issue at a descent price (I got mine for $999). Then they add an effects loop and double the price. What a bunch of jerks!!!! Honestly, the company was supposed to be on the side of musicians (or they were back in the 60's and 70's). It's all about the money now. Would I buy another product from Marshall.... Not only no but hell no! Marshall has lost integrity!

What are the options.... there's alot of good options if you have a little patience and like to work on projects. Building custom cabinets that have better quality control at a good price is an option. Load em with celestions, Eminence or Jensen speakers.... poof.... a great sounding, great looking (if you take your time) 4x12 at 1/3 to 1/2 the price. The external hardware you can use is heads and tales above the plastic Marshall is putting out. You can also get your own nameplate if you want. Amplifiers? There are alot of kits out there, especially good are the ones from Metropoulos Amplification. He makes a great, straight forward kit with clear instructions for a Plexi or JTM-45 head. Hand soldered point to point construction.... done by you. They both sound killer and come with everything needed for assembly, including the head cabinet and handle. Metropoulos has great customer support and is very helpful with questions.

Marshall is an icon, but they've lost integrity. Quite frankly I think they've also lost touch with the common musician. The sad thing is that Jim Marshall is still alive and he's letting this stuff go on. What happens when he passes and the board of directors takes over?

Great amplifier design which has stood the test of time. Not really sure the company has! Instead of making music, the company focus seems to be all about the money. Maybe someday they'll turn it around.

bypassable series effects loop.
unlike the old ones...

To the reviewer below,
Firstly, JJ tubes have now been discontinued from Marshall because they are way too unreliable right now and are NOT the best tubes, you might like them but thats just like pushing a Mustang on someone who much prefers a GT, silly,
Secondly, the stock tube of the 1987x and 1959 re-issues are now winged C SED Svets. my favourite, and an excellent choice for old Marshall amps and extremely reliable right now.

Any old iron?? the trannies are quite good in the re-issue series amps I think, I changed mine to a custom wound and did notice a bit more grind but not a huge improvement.

PTP turret board???
Thats just going way too far,
It really sounds like you bought the wrong amp, for the money youve just gone and spent, you could have bough a boutique clone, with all that work already done, a metroupolis kit and build it yourself for alot less maybe??
I myself, could not be bothered with the amount of effort or money involved with any of your "mods"

Ive a/b my re-issues with the real deal and actually prefer the re-issue, that is after a few months break in.

These amps are actually copies of the "72/73" circuit, not the plexi era, they do have the look of a late 60's Marshall but have the innards of the more favourited metal panel Marshall's.

I still havent seen any problems with these amps, not one except for tubes and stupidity.

Not very helpful,
basically non existant.
the wait on any part is a long one.

Simple non master volume head. Jump the channels.

I gig and teach for a living and always wanted a kick-ass half stack. I play a strat all the time but when I'm using this amp it's for rock/groove/blues. Think Hendrix/Sly Stone/Stevie Wonder/Freddie King/Doyle Bramhall/Buddy Guy/Stones and you're there. The std version of this amp sucks, very bright, very harsh and can sound very thin. HERE IS WHAT YOU MUST DO IN ORDER OF COST!!

1. Replace ALL valves. the stuff that marshall use is pretty crap. Best new production EL34's are the JJ tesla EL43L's. You could go KT66, 6CA7 or even go all out for NOS tubes but ditch the std crap. You WILL notice a difference straight away but how much you spend is up to you. I put a selection of various NOS stuff in preamp and output sections of this amp and the improvement is HUGE.

2. Any old Iron? The Transformers make a big difference and guess what the ones marshall use are like...crap. I put a Metroamp Dagnall clone in after I did the tubes and it was like having a second cab. The amp 'felt' so strong and the sound was noticably bigger and much more authorative.

3. PTP Board. A hand built point to piont wired board from metroamp.com will put you in the same league as a real 69 plexi. I put in a 69 Superbass board and the sweet creaminess that I'd wanted when I bought the amp in first place was finally there. Georges stuff is so well put together and the quality of the components makes a big difference. You can choose the components to use depending on what sound/style you're after. I have nothing to do with metroamp other than I'm a very satisfied customer.

No problems, I built it myself.

Marshall suck. I was trying KT66's instead of EL34's. The tech guy at Marshall hadn't a clue and actually gave me the wrong info that would have seriously damaged the amp and the tubes if I'd taken his advice.

If you wanyt the true vintage tones of a Marshall, custom build your own, either from scratch or modify an existing amp. You could just save the hassle and buy one direct from someone like George Metropolous at metroamp. The next plexi i buy that's what I'm gonna do.

DON'T KID YOURSELF! Marshall aren't the slightest bit interested in giving you good tone. They just want to trade on the strenght of their brand and get you to hand over your cash.

yeah, i bought this thing on advice from a buddy. I had an extra 3g's hanging around, and needed an amp to replace my 1968 version, which wasnt working. i sold it for 200 buck, and bought this one.

i cant compare the old one, cuz its been a while since the other one worked. Im only startin to pick up and play the guitar again. I bought the slant cab, and base cab to go with it, so i can imagine im jimmy henrix.

Wow, i didnt know this thing was so loud. My mom doesnt want me to turn it up too loud in my bedroom. But it looks cool on top of the cabinets. Oh the cabinets have celestions it it. (Hey look at me,,im jimmy hendrix)

I bet this thing wouuld sound cool cranked up.

i dont know about reliability. i hope it lasts longer than my original 68 one. Actually someone told me it may have been a fuse, or the tubes or rectifier (whatever that is) is blown on the 68. Oh well, and i probably could have got more money for it so i was told.
Darn. Oh well live and learn. Kinda wish i had it back now.

i never dealt with Marshall.

I bought this because it looked like my old one. I own a epiphone les paul flame top. I had the music store put it george lynch pickups in it. it sounds better now.

I wish i could turn it up louder. I guess i will need to play in a band or something somewhere , so i can get down to playing again.

i have a 59slp 100 watt head. 2005
this head is AMAZING!! Maybe i got lucky and got an extra good one.
Thru 2 boogie 4 12's and a THD hotplate. Holly grail reverb thru effects loop, and a mod. wah. that's it, with sometimes the mxr micro amp. If your a real player, and don't cover up your sound with prossessed crap. This amp is all you need. RAWNESS and REAL.

i use a 1976 les paul standard, 1990 les paul standard.
But the 68' strat sounds the best thru this rig. roll back the volume alittle and you have the sweetest clean sound.

haven't had it long enough to say how dependable it is.

don't need em

i have been playing for 20+ years.
and have had marshalls always. i still have my jcm's 900 & 800
and this slp blows them away.

1993 "Plexi" 1959SLP. It's got all the features it needs!

First off I love this amp! I had been searching for that old-school AC/DC-Thin Lizzy classic crunch for years. I've owned many (too many to keep track of unfortunately) Marshalls and other varieties, this is the best for classic tone. I say "best" because I don't think actually bringing a vintage Plexi-type Marshall to shows is very possible for most of us working musicians (most "real" musicians don't have the $$$ to do so anyways). Obviously the reissue isn't the real thing; however, it's close enough for my liking. I'm surprised how many people discredit this amp -- not sure why? It's definetely a player's amp, you can't "hide" behind a wall of distortion with it. That's the beauty of a non-master Marshall circuit in my opinion - if you can play this thing will demonstrate it.

I primarily use telecasters, one Am. Std modded w/a SD '59 in the bridge and the other is a '72 Deluxe with the big wide-range Fender hums. I don't drive the hell out of the amp, I personally like the bright channel with tone settings between 11 and 1 o'clock and volume 1 around 6 or 7, depending on what cab I'm using. I also use an Ibanez TS-9 (for a little dirtier sound & leads), Crybaby 535Q, Boss Graphic EQ (for slight boost), and a Guyatone tube tremolo unit. I then run the amp into a Weber Mass attenuator, then into either a 1960TV cab (w/greenbacks) or a 1936 2X12 (w/vintage 30's & modded semi-open back). The greenbacks really love this amp -- in my opinion this is the best way to go cab-wise, big and warm sounding.

The great thing about these SLP's is that you can really mod them, if you like, to get exactly the tone your looking for; they're simple and straight-forward. Bright caps C17 & C18 have been removed from my reissue -- I would suggest this if you find the amp overly bright. Mine has also been modded with dual post-phase inverter master volumes, this allows me to run one wide open for leads and the other at 3/4 volume for rythym. Post-phase masters work very well on these, but you still need to drive the amp hard. I use them just because I hate not being able to hear my leads. The more you crank the masters, the less they're in the circuit (wide open they're not in the circuit at all). This set-up works very well for as a solo/lead boost. David Bray did the mod for me -- his work is great.

I can't understand how you could not like this amp. They are very, very dynamic -- just using the guitar's volume control and your pick attack these clean up real nicely. And the crunch is to die for, not harsh, not britle, not too bassy, but just right. The biggest thing I will stress is that you ABSOLUTELY MUST run a powerbrake, or hotplate/attenuator for practice or most practical purposes. The Weber Mass unit is very cool. These amps, as indicated by everyone who has ever played one, are super loud. You should (as with any tube amp) run high quality pre and poweramp tubes and make sure they're biased correctly for best tone. Running the bias too cold definetely makes these amps sound pretty dull. I'm running JJ's in mine -- they seem pretty good.

Built like a tank -- very simple, not much to go wrong like most modern multi-pcb amps. Wish I could say this for all the Marshalls I've owned but....

Overall, I'm in love with this amp. I've been playing for about 14 years, and I've played many, many shows. I've owned or played shows/recorded with many amps including Marshall DSL's, JTM60, JCM900, SL-X's, Orange, Fender, and on and on... This is the best one if you're looking for old-school classic rock, Brit. crunch, blues tone. Like I stated earlier, it's somewhat of an unfair comparison to a true vintage late 60's-early 70's Plexi/metal face amp, but these sound pretty killer in their right. Plus, there are a lot of options that can be done to change the tone of these amps to your own personal preference, if you insist.

1993 Plexi SLP Reissue. It has the features it needs to have -- simple & straight-forward.

I've owned over 20 different amps and played through countless others. I absolutely love this thing. I'd been searching for that pure blues rock, classic rock, old-school AC/DC tone until I finally bought my SLP.

The main reason I hadn't purchased one previously was because I needed an amp with a solo/boost/lead channel to get my leads above my four-piece band. There's nothing worse than watching a guy playing the hell out of a guitar and not being heard; an effect pedal just usually isn't enough for me. This is especially true for most smaller clubs where the sound guy sets your level and then lets it be at that. So, I had my amp modded with dual footswitchable post-phase inverter master volumes by David Bray - I highly suggest you check him out: www.davidbrayamps.com.

Post-phase inverter master volumes are the best choice for this amp. They sound very natural and when set wide open they are completely out of the circuit and don't affect the tone of the amp at all. I should note that the amp still needs to be pushed hard to sound good. I set one master wide open and the other at about 3/4 or 3 o'clock. I then run the amp through a power attenuator/hot plate and wow does it sound killer! I'm running JJ's in the power amp section, and Svetlanas in the preamp. Also, should note that bright caps at C17 & C18 are removed from the circuit.

My set-up is like this: Fender American Telecaster (with SD '59 humbucker in bridge) or Fender '72 Deluxe Telecaster(dual over-sized Fender humbuckers) >> Dunlop Crybaby 535Q >> Ibanez TS-9 reissue (for dirtier sound) >> Boss GE-3 Equalizer (for slight boost) >> Guyatone Tube-powered Tremelo >> Boss TU-2 tuner >> Plexi input 1 >> Weber Mass power attenuator >> 1960TV cab (w/greenbacks) or 1936 2x12 cab (w/vintage 30's & modded semi-open back).

I'm not going to knock anyone's opinion on here, but I really can't understand why people are bashing these amps. If you're looking for a warm crunch, dynamic, LOUD, sound for old-school rock you simply can't go wrong. This amp also has a decent clean sound when set properly, but the crunch is beyond anything else out there. As others have stated on this forum, you ABSOLUTELY have to have some type of attenuator/powerbrake/hotplate to use this thing. It is simply deafening without one and one most stages it's way, way too much power. I personally like plugging directly into channel 1 but some people claim it's too bright, my amp has had the bright caps at C17 & C18 removed so that might be why mine doesn't suffer from this problem. You can get a little heavier sound by patching the channels. Like I said I shoot for an Angus Young/Thin Lizzy Jailbreak-era tone and this amp has got it. The wonderful thing about this amp is how well it responds to pick attack -- they are very, very, very dynamic. It's awesome how you can go from clean to crunch just by digging in.

Built like a tank, can't say that for all Marshall amps I've owned, but this is a very simple circuit layout. Not much to go wrong.

I've owned or gigged with a Marshall DSL, TSL, JTM-60, JCM900, JCM900 SL-X, various Fenders, Oranges, and a lot of other amps. This thing is simply the best in my opinion. I know the reissues aren't as good as the real deal, but you can't really drag around a ridiculously priced '67 or '68 Plexi out to gig with. That being said my reissue is pretty damn good. I plan on swapping out the PCB in the future for a point-to-point, and I may change the output transformer and choke to a vintage-spec one just for that extra vintage sound (I'm never completely satisfied). It does seem that the older reissues might be better than the newer models, judging by comments on this forum. All things taken into consideration, these are wonderful amplifiers.

2003 Marshall 1959SLP "Plexi Reissue" w/ standard Super Lead controls plus a bypassable effects loop that I bought new. I play rhythm and lead in a two-guitar "classic rock" band that covers everything from the James Gang, Bad Company and Lynyrd Skynyrd through to Van Halen. Since I was looking for this amp specifically the features get a 9:)

I use a '61 SG Reissue or a Les Paul Standard (both w/ '57 Classic pickups) or a Les Paul Special w/ P90s with this amp. My rig is set up as follows:

Guitar->Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive->Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster->EH Small Stone->Marshall 1959SLP (w/ Midiverb 3 set for reverb in the loop. Mix is set nearly dry for just a touch of verb)->THD Hot Plate->Marshall 1936 2x12 or 1960A 4x12 both w/ 12T-75s.

The amp is set up as follows:
Vol1->6 Vol2->6 Treble->5 Mid->6 Bass->6 Pres->3
Ch1 low is patched to Ch2 high input

Hot Plate is normally set on -12 or -8dB depending on the size of the gig.

This set up give a good semi-clean (no Fender clean but good enough for what I need!) w/ the guitar volume rolled back, a great crunch tone w/ the guitar volume max'd, and a good, fluid lead sound w/ one of the boost pedals kicked in and the guitar volume dimed.

Couple of the things to note about this amp (and the Marshall 1987X 50W reissue which I also use):
-These amps are LOUD so a power attenuator is a necessity for practical use at a gig or at practice. IMHO THD Hot Plates seem to work better than the Marshall Power Brake (I've got both).
-The choice of cabinet and speakers really makes a difference in the overall sound of the rig, so be prepared to try a few different cabs and speakers to dial in your sound. I tried 12T-75s, Vin30s, Greenbacks, and Eminence Legend V12s in both the 2x12 and 4x12 before coming back to the 12T-75s.

Other tech stuff about the amp:

Power Tubes are JJ EL34 biased @ 15W dissipation.
Preamp tubes are normally NOS RFTECC83 (which I like for a big crunch sound in 100W Marshalls). New JJ ECC83S (medium gain, darker tone) or Ruby 12AX7A-C (higher gain tone) also work well.

As an experiment earlier this year, I changed the OT to a Mercury Magnetics O100JM and the choke to a MC10. As compared to the original sound w/ the factory OT & choke, the overall tone got a bit darker and crunchier which I liked:)

When used in this rig for the "classic rock" gig, this amp works really well. Overall I give it a 9 (since I'm never 100% satisfied w/ my tone!)

Amp is very well built. I do all my own maintenance and this type amp is very easy to work on. That being said, it's never once failed in over two years of use. Of course, I never gig w/o a back-up amp:)

Never used Marshall customer service. Website seems to be prety good.
Local shop (Rainbow Music in State Colleg PA) is very good should there ever be a need for assistance.
Warranty is 5 years.

Been playing for 20 years in and out of bands. Also own a Fender Strat and Tele in addition to the guitars mentioned above. Other amps are '74 Marshall 50W 1987, Marshall 1987X 50w "plexi" reissue, JCM900 Model 2500 50W head, Mesa Stiletto Duece (for the heavy modern rock), and a '98 Peavey Bandit combo (for late night practice:)

Overall I give this amp a 9 for use in a "classic rock" rig. Decent clean, big crunch, and a great lead sound are all available w/ the twist of the guitar volume or a stomp on the boost pedal.

2003 Marshall 1959 SLP 100W "Plexi" Reissue w/ standard tone & volume controls + effects loop which can be bypassed via rear panel switch. When compared to more modern amps this amp has "basic features" which are very useful nonetheless!

Since it had pretty much everything that I was looking for feature-wise in this type of amp it gets a 9:)

Primarily used w/ either a '61 SG reissue, a Les Paul standard (both w/ '57 Classics) or a Les Paul Special w/ P90s. I play rhythm & lead guitar in a two-guitar "classic rock" band that gigs regularly & covers eveything from the James Gang, Grand Funk, Bad Company, & Lynerd Skynerd through to AC/DC & Van Halen. For this type of gig the 1959SLP works really well when used in the right rig. I typically set up as follows:

Guitar->Fulltone OCD or FD2->Duncan Pickup Booster or Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive->EH Small Stone->1959SLP (w/ Midiverb 3 in the effects loop for just a bit of reverb. Effects mix is set pretty dry w/ just a touch of effect for some ambience)->THD Hot Plate (typically -12dB or -8dB setting)->Marshall 1936 2x12 or 1960A 4x12 w/ Celestion 12T-75s.

The amp is set up like this:
Vol1->6 Vol2-6 Treble->5 Mid->6 Bass->6 Pres->3
Ch 1 low is patched to Ch 2 high input.

Everything from semi-clean (no Fender clean but good enough for what I need), to big crunchy rhythm and lead sounds can be obtained with the twist of the guitar volume knob and/or a stomp on one of the boost pedals. It did take me a while to "dial in" the settings on this amp (particularly the presence, treble, and the two volume controls) to get the overall tones that I was looking for in this setup.

As a note, I've also used this amp in an A/B setup w/ my Marshall 1987X 50W "plexi reissue". In this setup I use an A/B/Both switch to select the path through one amp (w/ its own effect chain), the other (w/ its own effect chain), or both. Each amp is run into it's own THD Hot Plate and then into one half of the stereo cabinet's speakers. The 1959SLP 100W amp is used for the semi-clean & crunch rhythms and the 1987X 50W amp is used for the higher gain rhythm sounds. For solos, both amps are switched on which gives a nice volume boost and a solid lead tone. Overall this setup is very versatile, although its a bit much to drag around to live gigs!

Other details of the amp set up for the tech-minded folks:

The circuit Marshall had reproduced in this amp is really not from a early '66-'68 plexi (even though the front and rear panels say otherwise!) but rather is from a metal-panel amp (circa late '69-71). As such, it's got the metal-panel era tone which is brighter with more gain than the earlier amps. I've left the circuit in the factory configuration since I like the tone of the metal-panel amps

Wrt tubes, my amp is set up as follows:

Power tubes are JJ EL34L (biased for 15W dissipation).
Preamp tubes are normally NOS RFT ECC83 (my favorite for a big crunchy tone). New JJ ECC83S (darker medium gain sound), Ruby 12AX7A-C (darker higher gain sound), or EH12AX7s (brighter higher gain sound) also work well in this amp although IMHO the EH can be pretty bright!

The output transformer was changed this year (as an experiment) to a Mercury Magnetics O100JM "plexi reissue OT" and the choke was changed to a MC10H. Overall the sound of the amp was a bit darker and chunkier after the change as compared to the original. I liked the end result of this change and have subsequently changed my Marshall 1987X 50W reissue OT to a Mercury Magnetics O50JM.

My overall rating for this amp in this rig for use w/ this type of music is a 9 (since I'm never 100% satisfied w/ my tone<G>)

The Marshall 1959 SLP appears to be extremly well built and has been very reliable to date. I do my own amp maintenance and also run a small audio repair shop and in comparison to many "modern" amps it's built to last!

I always take a back-up amp to gigs since Murphy can strike at any time!

It gets a 9 because nothing is perfect;)

Never needed servicing that I couldn't do myself.
The local dealer (Rainbow Music) is very easy to work with if needed.
5 year warranty.
The Marshall website appears to be pretty good.

I've been playing for 20 years. Currently own the guitars mentioned above plus a Fender Strat & Tele. I also own a '74 Marshall 1987 50W, a JCM900 Model 2500 50W, a Mesa Stiletto Deuce, and a Peavey Bandit.

The Marshall 1959SLP is a great amp for getting a classic rock sound. It's got the classic big crunchy sound associated w/ 60s/70s/early 80s rock. It's also VERY LOUD which necessitates the use of a power attenuator for all my gigs.

If it were stolen I'd definately look for another Marshall 1959 100W amp (either the SLP or perhaps a HW).

I have two of these 1959 amps. One was made in 1988 and is not really a SLP, but the first superlead Marshall manufactured. The USA only imported 100 of these amps and it is fashioned after the 1973 metal face superleads. I think the model number is a 1959X.

The second amp I have is the standard reissue SLP and it was built in 1997.

I am not going into all the details of what these amps do and can't do .... most of you already know that..... so on to the problems and issues.

Out of the box, both amps were ice pick harsh. Harsh Harsh Harsh ! Whoever designed this circuit must have gone out drinking while the prototype was being built, then stopped back in for two seconds to sign it off. These are NASTY out of the box !!

I quickly learned which two bright caps to cut out of the circuit and WOW .... what a different amp after that! The SLP sounded better than the 1959X for some reason. I installed JJ ECC83s preamp tubes in both amps and JJ EL34L power tubes biasing them up to 36 mA. The tubes improved things noticably over the junk Sovteks that came in it.

I compared the SLP to an original 74 superlead and the 74 just has more beef !! Just sounded fatter and fuller no matter how the EQ was tweeked. I ordered a Obsolete Electronics output transformer and installed that in the SLP. Bingo..... that brought the amp around to truly sounding like the real thing!!

The amp that I REALLY wanted to sound good just isn't there yet. I was thinking since this 1959x was manufactured in 1988, the output transformer may still be of decent quality, so I decided to install a set of Sozo caps. They take a long time to break in and the amp still doesn't sound nearly as good as the SLP yet.... so I don't know what to do next. I would kind of like to keep that amp as original as possible seeing that there were only 100 imported.

These amps with a Gibson SG and P90 pickups are just magic !! Play the amp with your pick attack and there are amazing tones to be discovered. A lot of people don't get it, but all the great players of the past sure did and I am glad Marshall was good enough to recognize true tone and reissue these amps. ....maybe their quality control guy is deaf now instead of drunk, and that explains the bright cap issue?

Never had one break down. Hand soldered connections are pretty hard to beat.
Take a look at any modern Fender or Marshall DSL with all the ribbon cables and PCB mounted power tubes ...... they won't last 15 or 20 years, let alone 35 years like many of these Superleads have.

Never had to deal with them. I do all my own work.

I own a Mesa DR, Soldano SLO, Hiwatt DR103 and a few Fender amps. Nothing sounds quite like the Marshall. The SLO on the crunch channel can kind of get close, but the Marshall just has something about it .... maybe those Drake transformers ( or the OE ).

I would buy another if anything happened to it. Actually, I would probably find a broken original and fix it.

2004 100W Plexi Super Lead.

Standard 4 channel w/ effects loop which I haven't figured out how to run anything through it yet, so I don't use it, neither on the TSL. Next learning curve.

I want for no additional features except to find the idiot who designed channel 1 causing permanent hearing damage and frightened dogs. Caps 17 an 18 are going out immediately!!! I am keeping (taming) the 4 power tubes or I would have bought a 50 watter. I suppose at 9 am in 1969, when you really had to wake up a crowd, Ch. 1 at a setting of 10 would have done it for Mr. Hendrix. I am not, nor ever will be, him.

I use all the features now that I patched in and can tailor to single coils or humbuckers. Love the presence control.

Power? Yep. Too much? NO, not exactly. Mystified why a 300 Watt cabinet would turn to muddy crap when really cranked. The 1960A 4x12 distorts to (bass) mud in Ch.2 which really pisses me off, because when I connect this head to my Crate V30 single 12", or TSL 602 dual Ventage 30's 12's, or Fender Blues Jr. 25W Greenback 12" it sounds like God has visited.

I use this amp with a practice band from metal to '70's cover with Mr. Halen in the mix. 2 original Marshall Plexis and 1 RI (mine); no combos except for vocals. AMPEG '70's era sealed back 4x12's + '70's Peavy 2 x 12 & 240 Watt head + 1969A cab and drum machine (drummer drank all the red bull and couldn't chill for the blues...or our version of it).

I am using a mint vintage '63 ES 125 TCD dog-eared P-90's (a-la George T-good), a original '65 Jazzmaster, an original '71 strat and '72 tele thinline, a '05 Ibanez JS 1200 shredder, an original '59 es 335 and a '76 LP gold top with mini humbuckers which seem to have the most feel through this setup.

It suits my style because I go from all out max shred 10 to Clean Santana with sustain, but kick back a little to Johnny A's clean diverse licks I'm trying to learn (Texas local). On a rainy day I go virgin clean through my '65 super reverb.

The amp is whisper quiet, only hisses to let you know you forgot to connect something.

The amp will (should) distort the right speaker... but no freakin way the GT-75's so I got a Boss MegaDistortion which gives it just right sound. Boss Heavy metal MT2 is a must-have but used very conservatively or you will not hear for days... maybe weeks. May change to 25 W Greenbacks or put in a attenuator I guess. 75's are made for Nugent or the Ramones? Amp doesn't fart, pop, growl, blow fuses or overheat. A 12 hour straight burn it today at 3/4 volume didn't burp. Previous threads mention getting the 1960 AX with Greenbacks and I may do it.

The clean channel distorts when my ears do, above 4 or 5. All other settings at 12 o'clock..presence at about 6, bass at 3, normal volume at about 4, but through a CD player with pre-amp. Without the CD player I had it cranked up to 10 on channel 2 with the bass down but the cab was muddy-ear-piercing crap....tube distortion was forced, not rolled..maybe I have something else out of whack, impedenced was matched. No comments please, I let 'er rip and that's what I got. More breakin or amp mods may be required.

I would not hesitate to gig alone with it (+ cab), but would bring along my Crate V30. Either head plugs right in and has medium / maximum venue volume potential if miked through a PA.

Never broken down and I'm putting it through a tough breakin. My TSL 602 never broke down the past 2.5 years of heavy use either.

Never dealt with Marshall direct.

Factory warranty.

I have been playing for 2.5 years. Own 52 guitars (too many to list), Crate V30 class A, Blues Jr., Marshall TSL 602, 59 plexi RI + 1960A cab, '65 super reverb (get one), Crate 15W practice amp, Fender G-Dec + boss effects + old ME33.

If the Plexi was stolen I would buy a lower power 50 watt version, but no multi channel confusion crap, or non-tube amp.

I did not compare this to anything- Big Crates, Krank, B-52, Ibanez-d Satriani, Mesa Boogie, Hughes and Kettner, Recent RI Fenders, Line 6, Lane, Roland, Rogue, Behringer, Rivera, Randall, Vox, Epiphone, Peavy (still one of my favorites for loud & reliable) Gibson et all are just posers. Marshall is KING.

I'd like to clear up some of the arguments regarding the re-issue 1959slp...
I own a 1968 plexi, a 69 superbass, a 67 50 watt lead, and a 66 plexi park. I have also built my own amps and restored many cheezo
Modded 70's marshalls.

The reissue amp is a resissue of the 69-75 lead amp circuit. This is a stadium amp, is very loud brite and cutting, I personally find it offensive.

here's the scoop Hendrix used 66-67 amps for his GREAT studio albums
van Halen used a 66-67 amp for his recordings (filter caps under the chassis)

Prior to the final evolution 68-69 of the plexi circuit earlier amps were
a. warmer
b. smoother
c. more user friendly

Early amps (the best ones) had
tied cathodes on the first tube ( both chanels were bassy )
a lower value briteness capacitor or no briteness capacitor on the volume pots
early amps had HUGE 2 watt mil spec potentiometers
early amps had way less power filtering, caps inside the chassis
(lower values 32 & 16 mfd) this yeilded sweeter smoother compression earlier on the volume know (less head room)
early marshalls were biased VERY HOT from the factory most american techs won't bias your amp this hot !!!

the spl reissue plexi can easily be modded to sound killer
remove the 5k brite cap on the brite volume
rebias the amp very hot
replace the 50-50 can caps with 32-32 can caps
tie both cathodes of v1 to the bass side for the hendrix thing

The new factory issue Marshalls are biased cold as
modern el34's are just not Mullard units

Further tube oriented techs are just not as common as they once were.

used Marshalls share this problem because most amp "techs" re bias the amp even colder than Marshall does ...

I have a 69 50 watt head that sounds outrageous it is mint and still has its factory mullards, its never been serviced
the guy I bought it from was singing thru it !!

its biased at 40Ma per tube ... ask your tech to do that and he'll get upset ... most bad sounding Marshalls are biased 12 to 20 ma per tube ...
as an amp is biased hotter, even a brite amp it gets fatter and fatter

of course If you skimp on crappy tubes you will have reliabilty issues...
but this Ultra Hot biasing is what made the old ac30's and marshalls so killer and so touchy !!!

modern details like better screen resistors and some other stuff solve these problems now ... but try and get a tech to set an amp up this hot

At the recent namm show Jim Marshall now in his 80's signed autographs each day for 6 to 8 hours ...
a typical autograph session lasts 30 minutes

at the namm show there were two jtm/45 100 resissues
the interior of the heads were marked DUMMY but we can always
hope and demand the real reissue's we deserve

Any year marshall reissue or 70's MOD DOG can be made to sound right like the records with enough attention to detail...

That the reissue amps don't GIT IT right out of the box is totally frustrating to many, and unfortunate for those who don't want to play at full volume all the time ... set up right a great marshall sounds killer at a low volume without a power break

currently I own 10 pre 75 Marshalls and have rebuilt many others...
the right knowledge is out there but many an "old amp" has been rebiased cold or modded to "LEAD" specs by well meaning techs just adding to the mess...

Basic settings.
Distinct to this amp is the Loudness 1 & Loudness 2. which are linked to input 1 & 2. Basically Treble booster for channel , and some muffy bass thing for channel 2.

Not overly versitile - but it's standard Marshall shelved tone shaping. Not a massive amount of scope, but does the job for the sound you buy.

1958 Les Paul Reissues, Std Tele, Std Strat - all stock pick ups and electronics. No effects except the occasion VOX wah (true By-passed).

I like this sound. Pure cranked Marshall. I ahve owned a few and normally get my guy to rip out the pre-amps and handwire them pointo to point, throw in a negative feedback switch and CLASS A switch then they are ready to rock... Otherwise they pretty crappy out of the box.

This things come close and may need a bit of whacking but not much. Very good juice maker.

I see some twats woffling on about to bright this to bright that. Roll some treble down past 11 O'Clock, presence up, mid half, bass high and PATCH LOW INPUT 1 To HIGH INPUT 2 - For God sake.

I am at loss as to why they have two shitty channels in this amp - and yes, you're an ass if you haven't patched ya channels. This should be a switchable option. It just runs to bright or to murky muff puddlish not patched.

PATCH EM! Sound great. Then blend Loudness 1 with Loudness 2 - you can strick a great balance of highs and lows this way. It only cranks when both channels are engaged.

Yeah it a tank. But 4 Marshalls in and 2 have suffered sever heat damage - and 1 just keep blowing a fuse.

This amp - Well had it for about 18 months and it is solid.. My JCM900 took a spill on stage when I fell on it, lost a jug of water inside in and it was still cranking when it flat on the floor... go figure - when they're on they're on, when they not - i'd chuck em these days.

This one seems ok so far

No Idea - I am in Australia - We don't have support. Lucky we have some top chop shops.

Those who say this amp suck :
1. either got (not likely) a real Freak'n lemon
2. Need to buy boogie Dual Recto or an old Peavy Bandit
3. Or just have no idea how to dial a sound or ask someone how to.

If it was stolen,yeah i'd replace it. Not overly expense. My Dual Recto got stolen after 8 months - I replace it with a second hand JCM800...

PC boards a cheap shitty option for money grabbing sluts. A guitar amp should only have a board to hold components - not run copper tracks. I am looking at my old JCM900 preamp as I write this... a bit of heat damage there and it was fuked! cost me a penny to fix.

Also the two wanky channels suck. This amp really needs a bridge or patching switch. Again, It only cranks when both channels are engaged.

My amps were made in 2000. I use one for most club gigs, and two for concert situations. I'm playing Rock, Jazz, and Blues and the only complaint I have is that I can't get them to break up at lower volume levels, but I have a MKII 50 watt Lead 2x12 combo that I run through a 1963 4x10 cabinet for those situations. One of my SLP heads was new and the other one was used but they both have great tone and TONS of volume. These are not my first "Plexis", my very first Marshall was an original "Super Lead" that I got in 1970 and there is very little difference. I just wish the new heads had the removable plugs for changing impedence and voltage settings. The heads have no effects loop or channel switching, just the "High" and "Low" inputs that I run bridged all the time.

I use a Cordoba RCWE Gipsy Kings model nylon string, a 1966 ES335TD, a 1979 Stratocaster, a 1968 Telecaster, a 1957 Les Paul Special, a 2002 Gibson 67'Flying V re-issue, a 1998 Takamine Santa Fe acoustic and several other guitars depending on the gig and or the song. The amps are very flexible when it comes to tone at volume, but when I ues either of the two acoustics I find that I use the E.Q.s one the guitars to control the tone more than the amp. I love the way SLPs distort, it just kind of blossoms like an atomic mushroom cloud! The sweetest thing about the distortion is that you can control it no matter how loud you get.

I have never had an SLP let me down. I trust them to the point that my contracts for festivals and concerts where a back line is provided stipulates that I have a "Plexi". I've had them dropped and they still work. The bottom line is, if you keep your amp clean, change tubes regularly and have it serviced on a regular basis depending on how much you use it, these things will last almost forever.

I've never had a problem dealing with Marshall and they are always very helpful. When I take my amps in for service I use a guy in San Francisco who always gives me a loaner. What more could I want? I never had any repairs done under warranty, just the service check-ups that they get each year.

I have been playing for over 40 years and I also own a Carvin SX-200 combo, an Acoustic Model 117 combo, a Yamaha G100-115II combo, a Marshall G MKII Practice Amp, a Marshall MKII 50W Lead 2x12 combo, two 1959 SLP 100W Heads, a Marshall 1963 4x10 cabinet, a Marshall 1960A 4x12 300W cabinet and a Marshall 1960BV 4x12 280W cabinet. As for guitars I own 25 various models, most of which have "Humbuckers" for pick-ups except for the Stratocaster, Telecaster, and a Hohner Les Paul Custom copy that has the EMG Zakk Wilde pick-ups with an EMG "Afterburner" push pull tone pot. The only other amp that I've owned that I would stand up against the Marshall was an Orange 125W stack I owned for awhile in the late 1970's, but they are just too expensive and hard to find now days.

It features ROCK!!!

IT SOUNDS INCREDIBLE!! I just had an opportunity to hear it for the first time from the crowd perspective when I lent it out to the opening band this weekend. I was blown away. It BLOWS AWAY any JCM 2000.

THIS IS THE TONE!!! I don't know why so many people bash this amp. Maybe they just can't play guitar.

You just have to fuss around w/ the knobs, and as the review below says, a Hot Plate Attenuator is a must. I use one as well, and could not live without it.

I also find that backing off the Tone knob on the guitar really warms up the sound and actually sounds amazing. In fact, on no other amp have I ever gotten great tonal varieties with the Tone knob -- it's always been "10" or mud. Not so on a Plexi!

I also agree w/ the below review -- no need to change tubes and all that BS. I feel the same way about pickups. I believe that STOCK is usually the way to go and all that pick-up tube change, etc. crap is for geeks. Just play your friggin' ax, and play it loud!

Here's where I had a problem. The casing came undone. Didn't damage anything inside, and a bit of Gorilla glue did the trick.

Never called 'em.

I've been playing for 23 years, and I know how to rock. I've used every amp and every guitar. This amp is the best (save for maybe an original). Any guitar will sound awesome.

Don't listen to all the geeks who bash this amp. It is phenomenal. Again, get a Hot Plate Attenuator with it.

Amp was made in 1995. The versatility in this amp comes pretty much completely from volume adjustments and your selection of speaker types. Most players would benefit from learning to be creative in just these 2 aspects - no choices helps in becoming truly proficient at using this as a musical instrument - not just an amp.

The amp does have "normal" and "high treble" inputs. Many players including myself patch the 2 channels together to get a blend of both channels. When blended equally - the sound is perfect to my ears.

Amp really has no features except fabulous tone.

Using stock American strats and Les Paul Standards. Both guitars sound fabulous through this amp. I am using this amp with a THD Hotplate (this is something you just have to have with this amp - nothing to "think about" - you just get one of these - it's like a speaker cable - you have to have it). This amp is as quiet as a mouse. Fully cranked, you are reminded about a thing called power tube distortion to which there simply is NO substitute.

This is a classic Marshall. The distortion is not brutal - it is warm and beautiful. Makes you want to play the guitar. I love that this amp rewards a guitarist for playing well.

After going through the tone search again - I tried many amps - Fenders, Bogner, Mesa, Hughes and Kettner, and even newer Marshalls. Call me crazy - but when you hear the plexi reissue cranked up - nothing comes close to the amazing tone - mesmerizing tone. And you don't need to mess with the tubes, the transformers, etc. These reissues sound amazing right out of the box. I am using a Fender Tonemaster closed back cabinet 150 watts (2 Celestion Vintage 30's wired for 4 ohms). Sounds excellent with the amp. I would also like to hear the amp with a standard Marshall 4X12 1960 cabinet loaded with 25 watt greenbacks.

Although you don't need any effects (just ask Angus), I am currently using a Hughes and Kettner Replex (Echoplex simulator) and an "Analog Man" TS9 Tube Screamer only because I already had these effects. Just when you didn't think the distortion could get any better, kick in the Analog Man and you won't believe it.

This is a reissue of a very, very simple amp design. Not much can go wrong. I would love to gig with a backup no matter what I was using, but I would not worry too much about using this amp without a back up - especially if I had a few extra tubes and fuses with me.

This is Marshall. Made in England. They've been doing it for 40 or 50 years. They know amps.

I called Marshall (not Korg...I mean Marshall) one time. They were very polite and helpful. I don't know if it was because I was calling from America, but they will go get whomever you need to speak with to get the help you need. Very nice people.

I am getting a little worried about qualified tube amp techs here in America. It is getting harder and harder to find good techs. If you find a good one, he is so backed up that it can take way too long to get your amp repaired.

I've been playing for a million years - owned everything under the sun. The only other amp I have truly loved was my original 1973 100 watt Marshall Mk II (which is what this amp is a reissue of).

I am so glad that these classics are still available. I'm sure they are not for everybody but these are the models that put Marshall on the map and it is simply because they sound fantastic.

If somebody stole it I guess I would just steal it back if possible. If not - I would go buy another one.

2001 Marshall 1959 SLP Reissue. No Effects Loop. 100 Watts. Very Loud.

I have had this amp for three years, and it has been three of the most frustrating because of trying to get a decent sound out of this head. I have tried every combination of my 20 guitars, and four different Marshall Cabinets. I have tried it with two different THD Hot plate attenuators, and various Fulltone and Keely effects. I have tried changing the tubes, pre amp and power amp. I just had an amp tech look at it, and the only thing he did was to remove the bright caps at c 17 and c 18. This helped, but it did not make enough of a difference for me. I play in two different bands, one is an old school band where we play a lot of Cream, where I wanted to use it, I couldn't. Maybe I got a bad one, I don't know. I have two other Marshall heads, a JCM 900 and a DSL 100 that I have used for years, and they work great. This head to me sounded lifeless. The last rehersal when I used it, I wanted to smash it to bits, but decided to sell it instead. Maybe I'm really picky, but I have been playing for 30 years, and all I could get was one flat tone out of it. Linking the channels helps slightly only if you get the exact microscopic zone of the two knobs. I really hate to say anything bad about this, but I am just being honest and have got to let go of this beast because it has caused me a lot of headaches. It has been basically unuseable for me. I'm not going to give it a super low rating because there was a sort of AC DC crunch in there, but nothing close to the sounds I have heard on records.

It worked when I turned it on.

Are you kidding me? They seem not to care.

I am giving this review to exorsize the bad demons from inside of me. I think I only bought the hype, and I have no one to blame but me. I'm going to take my time and really look for something that will live up to it's reputation, or at least sounds good to me.

The 2003 reissues has few features but what it has suits me:
1. Voltage in selection (very versatile between UK, continent, and North America)

2. 4 - 16 Ohm speaker select, good feature for changing cabs in clubs and such or matching for studio work (driving through a Hotplate works well enough for DI)

3. Effects loop - simple with clean switching (manual). I do not like the voltage boost.

4. The rest is all duplicated from the original and is simple to the max.

2003 - I play from clean to distorted between a Fender Deluxe and the reissue through a custom 1995 Lado (dual Humbucker) and an original 65 Fender Strat. I have the SLP going through 4x12 Greenbacks and usually hot-rod between high-2 and low-1 with a tube-screamer for added lead OD. The tone is delightful and with thinner speaker cables gives less of a boomy low end, but still tasty violin-like distortion with a bit of compression (for me: scoop it and set everything else to 8, then let her rip). The presence really cuts through in both outside/tent gigs and loud bar environments. The amp will deliver whatever you are looking for if you spend a few minutes working through the range of controls.

Overall I am very impressed with the sound and have discovered original tone along the way.

Haven't had it long enough to judge.

I have dealt with Marshall customer service in the past and was not that impressed (AVT 50). To be fair I have not tried with this amp... but who is fair?? Next time they should fix what is covered under the warranty without hassle.

I've played for 22 years (professinally for 10) and have this as part of a larger group of working amps (Marhsall, Peavy, Fender, VHT) depending on the gig. I would recommend the VHT over the lot if I could have only one, but VHT are also twice the price. For the dosh, this amp is everything I could hope for and has added some extra tone to my back line for heavier outings.

I purchased this amp package off e-bay about 6 months ago. Its a 1966 slp. It has had some modifications done to it over the years. It has a master volume control know in the back. There is also some holes that look like the were for some other knobs at one point. I purchased it with the cabinet. I believe the speakers are original celestion 20 watters. The whole things looks pretty beat up but sounds awesome. After doing alot of research trying to figure out how to get Eddie Van Halens tone from the first record, I purchased a variac transformer to crank the voltage up to about 140. It actually works. I mean I still have to turn it up to about 7 or 8, but it has an awesome overdrive to it, still maintaining clarity though. Hook a delay pedal and an MXR phase 90 up and its all good. Very loud..but good.

I use mostly a texas Fat strat. I use the humbucker most of the time.
The amp setup is awesome. When you have it cranked up with the variac you really cant get a good clean sound. Well worth the $3700.00 I paid for the setup.

Had to have to tubes changed once and burn fuses out often but only because I crank the voltage up.

N/A

Ive been playing for about 10 years. I own 2 texas fat strats, one with a floyd rose, a gibson EDS-275 double neck, and a kramer 1984 van halen re-issue. If this amp got stolen...well I have to get another one and hope it sounds the same. Oh yeah let me say that I think the floyd rose system sucks. A fender strat with an LSR roller nut, locking tuners, and graphite strings saddles stays in tune way better than the floyd rose.

3-band EQ w/presence. Volume 1+2. No master volume bullshit. This is a ATTEPT at trying to make a reissue of the original plexi's. ATTENTION! You don't need a bunch of extra knobs like gain, depth...etc to have a good amp. Power tube breakup is the way to go. Now suck on it Triple Recto Freaks!

I'm updating my review that i did a while back when i first got this amp. Now that i'm much older and wiser (and have heard a REAL plexi) this amp doesn't sound a damn thing like one. Even when cranked to 10, the amp is way too bright, mushy, and overly saturated to the point where all clarity is gone.

Since the last time i reviewed this amp, i've totally revamped my amp thanks to my friend George Metropoulos who built me the original p2p '69 SuperLead board and scrapped the shitty PCB that comes in every reissue. We also did the amp a favor by trashing the Output Transformer and replacing it with a Mercury Magnetics Axiom OT. I still have to replace my Power Tranny with a Heyboer PT but PT's don't effect the tone of the amp as much as the OT does so i'm not rushing to do that.

If you don't wanna listen to crappy reissue sound's and want to hear what a real plexi sound's like check George's site out - www.metroamp.com

Marshall's as usual are like tanks. Tube's go bad every 6 months and that is to be expected. All in all, this amp is a workhorse.

I've called up Marshall once and it's a pain in the ass to get someone to talk to. They might as well save some more money and not have Customer Service!

In case you think i'm uneducated on this area, i've been playing for 10 years and have also played MANY shows live. I've seen and heard a TON of amps. Formally working at dirty Guitar Center is proof of that. Reissue heads sound bright, nasal, harsh, and like a horror icon is going to stab you in the ear with an icepick.

Please e-mail if you want more info, or for that matter you can Instant message me!

AOL SN: FunkyTwangFool

Newish w/ 4 inputs, two for bright sound and two for the dark. Daisy chain the two sounds for blend. The dude just below didn't do this, it seems. That's why he thought one input too bright and the other too dark. Whatever. Anyway, I don't ask for versatility in an amp. Simply tone. I hate amps w/ too much crap.

This is the tone I have been looking for for 20 years. Why did I never own one of these? It's got that amazing Angus midrange growl. Not lots of crappy distortion that sucks out all tone and clarity. Just excellent tone w/ great break up when set up right. Perhaps some of the reviewers below don't realize that since it's a cleaner amp, you actually have to be able to play your instrument well. Yes, this new one probably doesn't sound exactly like an original, but it sounds damn good to my ears. The singer of my band is also the nitpickiest person I've ever met when it comes to tone, and he loves this amp. I use a Hot Plate attenuator to get the cranked sound at a lower volume. All the people who claim the attenuator sucks just don't get it -- the Hot Plate is great. Of course it sounds different than fully cranked -- that's because it's not as loud! A loud amp blows your ears off. It sounds great in the next room, but who wants to stand right next to one of these cranked full tilt?? Not I. Of course, if you get a cranked sound you love and then attenuate, it's gonna change some things. Big deal!!! I simply adjust the tone knobs AFTER I attenuate. Doy.

Seems reliable.

Don't know.

I've been playing for 22 years and have been in tons of bands. I play an SG and a Guild electric. Both sound tits through this amp. The other guitarist in my band plays a JCM Slash. The blend of the two amps is orgasmic.

1997 Limited Edition (White)

It appears that the reviews that say the 1959 SLP Reissue is a piece of crap seem to stem from the models from the late 1990s and more recent models, especially the 2003 model. I play my 1997 reissue almost every day, whether rehearsing, gigging or recording and it still sounds as good as when I bought it. Play Strat/Tele/Kramer through a Aphek Peanut Butter pedal / MXR Phase 90 and all is very, very good. My mate was warming up for a gig on the weekend and plugged his PRS straight in - sounded sweet and he was very impressed.
Is there a theme with later models that the tone does actually suck? I can't say, but this is the sound I have been searching for for many years. Maybe Marshall have changed something.....

2003 Marshall SLP. There isn't much too it which makes it sweet. This may or may not suit some people. You can focus squarly on the amp itself. But on the flip side your going to spend hundrends on pedals that may or may not improve the tone.

Okay, first off, judging by what people are writing in here I'd say only about 30% of you have actually tried this amp. People that say it sounds like Page or Hendrix obviously work for Marshall and are in here to make this amp something it's not.
Now, on to the tone. When I first plugged my Les Paul into input 1 and cranked it to 10, it had the tone of someone scrapping their nails against a chawkboard. Insanely bright and absolute torture to listen to. Then I plugged it into channel 2 and cranked it. It was warm and great if I played jazz or something like that. But alas, I don't, I play classic rock, blues, and occasionally metal. To give the warm channel some life I plugged in a single coil Fender. The single coils made channel 2 sound alot more 'alive' without the harshness of channel 1. The problem is channel 2 was still a tad too bright with any of the single coils below the neck pickup so I couldn't get a hot enough output.
Needless to say I was very upset with this overly bright (and over priced) amp. I had a tech rebias the tubes of the amp and put in high quality Mullards and JJ/Tesla's. There are rumors going around that say this amp is getting it's bright tone because the factory biased them too cold. Funny thing is when I got it back; it was even brighter than before. The tech was sorry and gave me a free wireless system, (having pity on me from being ripped off by Marshall) explaining there wasn't much I could do with the amp besides take the guts out and start over.
Another note: people who say this amp doesn't have any clean are morons. Try rolling the volume knob down on your guitar! The clean is quite good and has a retro vibe to it. The amp is alittle noisy too when the tubes are warmed up.

Didn't keep it around long enough to break it.

Never dealt with them. I'd ask them for my money back and start making true reissues that sound good. I could care less if it had P2P wiring, I just want Marshall to make amps with sweet tones again. But who am I kidding? Marshall only listens to important people like Slash and Lenny Kravitz.

I've been playing for about 9 years now. I've owned alot of equipment over the years. All of which were better and cheaper than the reissue plexi. I'd only recommend it if you play heavey blues or 60's rock. But then again if you play that kind of music you can get a Fender for cheaper. I only wish I could go back in time and undo this purchase...now the best I can sell it is for 1/3 of the price I bought it for. What a shame :(

I bought this 100-watt plexi reissue in 1999. The amp lacks the bells and whistles of modern amps, especially models like the Fender Cyber-Twin. But, considering that Hendrix achieved the sounds he did with this rudimentary array of options - "normal" and "high treble" channels with two inputs and one volume knob apiece, plus bass, middle, treble and presence controls - how can I give the amp a low rating for its features?

I pay bills by playing in a very well-known swing band, but I grew up on the rock and roll of the 1970s, and I've made a life-mission out of mastering that Tommy Bolin/Joe Walsh/Duane Allman approach: simple, lyrical blues phrasing with a tough but sweet distorted sound. I use primarily a '76 custom Les Paul with new '57 classic pickups, which compliment this amp perfectly. The sound is a vast improvement over everything I've used in the past: Fender Tone Master, Mesa/Boogie 50 Caliber, a'67 Blackface bassman with various distortion pedals, and a Mesa'Boogie Dual Rectifier. I'm using a 16ohm THD Hot Plate Attenuator and running through my old Fender Tone Master cabinet, which has two celestion 30's (16 ohms). (I've been told that Plexis are happiest at 16 ohms, which may be a wive's tale but my tone seems to bear the notion out). I removed two tubes and set the amp at 8 ohms, under the advisement of my tech guy, and I like the result - I can push the amp harder at 50 watts and get the desired sound at lower volumes. As to the heated debates about this amp's merits, I often wonder if people's comments are not coming from some weird, ego-driven place. I'm sure my amp pales compared to a '67 Plexi, and I have no doubt that if it were hand-wired it would sound better or that it would benefit from modification. But still, it comes much closer to the 70s rock sound I grew up on than anything I've used before. It sounds a lot like Page's tone in The Song Remains the Same, Joe Walsh's James Gang sound, Angus Young's early tone - you get the picture. I'd call it "organic" in that it responds remerkably to pick attack, and for the first time in my 20 year career my Les Paul's volume knob is a useful tool. It has re-energized my playing and brought me back in touch with why I picked up the guitar in the first place.

It's a tank. I've had no problems with it.

I use local techs for repairs and modifications, so if I had a problem with the amp I would only call Marshall if I absolutely needed to. I haven't heard anything bad about the company's tech support.

I would replace this amp. I may also look into having it modified. As to he complaint that this amp has to be modified, I see that as a plus. It's not perfect, but it's an empty canvas on which you can project your particular style via the various ways you can tinker with it. Keep in mind that Hendrix didn't run his vintage Plexis as they were - he had them hot-rodded like crazy. If you want an amp that's perfect as is, well, good luck and I hope you have plenty of disposable income. The 1959 SLP reissue provides, for not too much money, a great foundation on which any player can build a sound that transcends the sterility and blandness of the typical modern, channel-switching hi-gain monstrosity.

This amp does not have 3 or 4 channels or anything else like some effects (chorus, flanger etc), but this is what it makes it to Marshall super lead Plexi!!

I think the sound's GREAT!!! Even though you don't have such a brilliant clean sound as fender may have, but this amp when it's treble channel turned up to 10 and it's bass to 5 or 7...that's just brutal!!

Well, this SLP is not an amp for guitarists who play without the moto: no risk no fun!!!
That's why Eddie van Halen, Jimi Hendrix and Yngwie Malmsteen, especially Yngwie use this Amp with a backup of 4,5 maybe 10 of these amps...But they got the Money for it!!! :)

got it by ebay :)

First I have to say something to those who are about to smash this amp, who say it sounds terrible etc. ...
I think that those one can't play guitar...that's why it sounds so terrible!! and with only six knobs you can't do so much wrong with it!!! even if you are playing it in a low loudness...perhaps you can use a boss ds-1...that sounds great, too!! so guy's, think about it and just lern how to play the guitar!!!

Okay, let me clear things up. WHERE DID I SAY I WAS EVER LOOKING FOR A HIGH GAIN AMP?!?! I was trying to tell people that (contrary to what other people have been saying) this amp has no balls at all. After awhile I was convinced this amp was a lost cause when even my band members told me to stop using it, so it ended up as an 1100$ coffee table and a place to stash drugs. The best way to make this amp sound like that of a classic plexi (if you havent heard already; it sounds like dog crap in stock form) is to use JJ/Tesla tubes in the preamp and EH in the power amp...plug the guitar into input 2, crank the amp to 7-10 (take two power tubes out to make it 50 watts if you want to save your hearing), then during a solo use a treble boost stomp box to cut through the mix of the rest of the band. I've finally found an okay sound but nowhere close to a 1000$ sound. Your paying for the name on this one. Save your money and get something else or a vintage marshall if you have the means.

It KILLS!!!!

BUILT LIKE A TANK!!!!

haven't had trouble

Just wanted to clear up that review by Mr. Waters. It is a killer amp for for classic rock and blues. No, it isn't high gain so if he wants that he should get a peice of shit peavey or mesa. This amp is perfect for me it is though, and like many others have said it has balls.

I think if you're looking for "brutal" high gain distortion then this amp will certainly dissappoint. Better choices would be Soldano, Peavey, Engl, etc. Also the character of the distortion from a plexi is different, it isn't the buzzy tone of a master volume type amp; the notes ring out clear. No question the amp alone is loud, bright, and not instantly gratifying; but I maintain that with everything turned up full via an attenuator the amp sounds full, thick, and dare I say it, ballsy. I used it for 3 gigs last week in just that fashion, miked a 2x12 cab, covered Zep, VH, Aerosmith, et al, no problem, sounded fantastic and got great comments. Sat in the mix perfectly. I did kick in a tubescreamer for a couple of songs but mostly used a lowish output humbucker. So yes if you need instant high gain, tons of low end, a "screaming" amp, probably a plexi isn't worth your effort; if you want pure, full, clear, ballsy distortion, do check one out. Last word from me I promise.

This is a 2002 Plexi. Features? Well it has volume knobs and such. I don't need features. I need tone.

I play rock and blues with a fender and bought this thing because my heroes used them. Well, my heroes must have been using something that looked like this because this thing runs WAY cold.
I totally agree with Mr. Waters here. I love the potential of this amp, but selling this amp as a dream machine is like adopting a Pit Bull with no legs. This thing needs work--period. I wanted an amp that screams; instead I got an amp that whimpers. I have a Hot Plate attenuator and that helps, but really it just makes it worse because I yearn for much more. There's no scream, no drive, no distortion. It's ice cold.

Uh well. It hasn't blown up yet.

How about modding the amp for me for free?

Can someone tell me how to mod the thing myself? Maybe I can save some money. E-mail me if you can help me out in anyway (advice, etc.)

Tone, and lots of it!
This is a 93' model. The usual controls, 2 channels in 1 with good use of the guitar's volume knob.
Mine came standard with 5881/6L6 power tubes, which gives slightly less power tube saturation but more bite and nastiness (in a good way).

This amp is the bomb! I have a comment for John Waters, I also have a 2003 1987XL 50 watt version of this amp and, yes, i do believe there is a noticeable difference between the older models and the new ones. Also, when i was looking for a decent new one, i found over 90% of amps i looked at (this model) were biased way too cold, which makes them sound exactly as John described. I set the bias with some new EH's and a mullard in the preamp and now the 50 watter just sings.
As for as this one goes, it's just plain balls to the wall 'marshall on 10' heaven. The 5881's give it more punch and beefier lows, and they also allow the amp to clean up considerably better. With everything on ten, i can get early VH rhythm, Lead with the aid of an eq boost, and rollthe volume knob of the guitar off to achieve very glassy clean tones.
The amp is freakin loud, attenuation is a must. I run it through a 1960TV cab with 25w reissue greenbacks. The greenbacks have about 80 hours on them and are really starting to break in and are a perfect match with the 1959slp to achieve the classic rock tone. I use a Trainwreck attenuator which is a magnificent piece of equipment. Full attenuation still gives a fair volume, but dynamics are very well preserved. With full attenuation, i can still get sweet,controlled harmonic feedback at will.
The amp is very quiet compared to other amps i have owned, it really only gets a little noisy when standing idle with my echoplex in front of it. Even this is quite controllable using the echoplex's knobs.
This amp suits my style perfectly, i play hard rock and the tone of this amp just blows away any other amp i have used or heard onstage!
This one's definitely a keeper!

Not had it long, but apart from tubes, i cant see too many problems arising. These have a very simple circuit, easy to fix myself if anythingdid go wrong.

This is the amp/tone i have been striving for for over 10 years.
I always used to be easily swayed over amps, used to play a 5150 cause VH designed it. Never liked that amp.
This is the first amp that actually feels like an extension of my guitar. I have always fought with an amp to get a good tone, and any amp that i have owned, there was always SOMETHING that i didnt like about them. NOT THIS ONE!!! As i said before, this one's a keeper. I am now going to buy a vintage plexi as these non master volume amps are simply the best.

Without getting into the details of a power attenuator, yes it may clear up some of the ice in this amp, Id say it maybe 10% warmer, so your still going to have a harsh sounding amp either way. But rather than spend 300$ for one I'd recommend a ten band EQ if you really want to dick around with that sort of thing. And no this is not an amp that you can roll everything to the right. I play the volume on 5-8 depending on venue, 10 with 50 watt (2 tubes)... treble 4, middle 7, bass 8-10...can't remember pressence. No, the plexi is not a big balls amp, Marshall will even tell you that one :p. For all you gain heads your going to have to find some good tubes. The distortion is lifeless. I took it into an amp technician and he said the sound quality was so poor that I'd have to spend 100$s to mod it to life. I'm coming to the realization that this amp was made for mods. Keeping in mind that I'm reviewing a 2003 plexi. Looking at some of these reviews that have baffled me, I'd say maybe some of the plexis from the 90s were better.

To follow up to the very negative review by Mr Waters, an attenuator attenuates sound, and yes it does tame the highs, and that's all I will say about that. The amplifier sounds best with all controls full right, and it is a clear, ballsy distortion very unlike most of today's master volume amps which have that fuzzy/buzzy nature to their tone. Anyway it's worth checking out for sure, it's not perfect and not for everyone, no single amp is, but for classic rock fans it's a good one to consider.

Just wanted to add a comment

If you want a reissue to sound like an authentic Plexi, throw in some kt66s... SEDs (Svetlanas) I hear are the best bet, but Sovteks or Electro-Harmonix are usually good too

Nothing there, thats what makes it great. Marshalls effects suck so I'm glad they didnt do anything to it. I can't believe people dont know how to use the effects loop. If you use it correctly it wont alter the tone at all. People are just dumb and I'm not going to bother with explaining the effects loop.

2003 SLP) I play in a rock/blues band and this amp is TERRIBLE! This thing totally blows. Thin, thin, thin. If you think this sounds like an original plexi ...you are kidding yourself. I used it through a Marshall cab with vintage 30s in it. Used almost every guitar,almost every pickup,with it and still the same results. As far as the reviewer that said a power brake will make it sound less icy...he has no clue what hes talking about (and thats all I gotta say about that):p Jumping the channels wont help, switching the tubes wont help, the only good tone I could get out of this amp is a clean tone?!? It's true the clean tone isnt too bad (when volume is rolled down)in the live situation. Velvet overdrive...hahah more like velvet static...it had no dynamics at all. When you play the low E it sounds like someone farting. CRAP!!!...okay enough ranting.

Built tough but the tubes went out fast (stock tubes are crap anyway).

Never dealt with them.

Don't buy into the hype like I did. This reissue sucks balls. If this thing is exactly like the original plexis (like so many of you deaf people are saying) why would Warren Hayes spend thousands modding it back to the original plexis specs? STAY AWAY ...for the love of God. Heck I got better tones out of my solid state $250 fender combo. I've been playing for 18 years and this is one of the biggest scams ever.

This amp was made in the late 90's and is made to give you a rock sound and pretty much nothing else. Sure you can get away with doing a quiet jazz show with the volume pretty much on nothing or you and turn it up a lil louder and get a nice blues sound! but this is a loud amp was is designed to put out alot of volume and anything past 4 is just pure ACDC. It is a 2 channel 4 input amp, I always patch both channels togeter (therefore then having to use both volume knobs). Patching is simple... just get the smallest guitar lead you can and plug one end into one channel... other end into the remaining channel and then your guitars lead into the remaining channel 1 input.
Its got your basic presence (please keep it no more than 12 o clock) and it has your treble,mid,bass EQ.
I use this amp in a 3 piece rock band and i have to say our best asset is our sound. We aint anything famous, just playing gigs and having fun but i always get positive feedback on my guitar sound.
I give it a 9 because... it dosnt have a reverb or whatever... its better that this amp dosnt have anymore features but still.. yeah I give it a 9.

I use many guitars such as a Gretsch with TV Jones f'trons and a Les Paul Custom. It is a noisey amp.. but it was made to be top of the line and used at any venue in the world... angus young uses 2 of these on stage. And of course this amp distorts at high volumes :) thats the only way to get an overdriven sound... crank it!

AUSTRALIANS: I'm just putting this here cos there aint many aussies here talking about this amp... Anyone here thats into ACDC, The Living End, The Casanovas, The Bazooka Joe's ect.. You will get that sound! Have this amp on at least half volume with bass under half and you will have THE angus young sound. Pull the volume off a bit and you will get that chris cheney vibe in your sound. Especially if your like me and also have a gretsch with tv jones'!

I havent had it very long but I have used one before and I borrowed a simular amp (a jmp) and they are the most vesitile amps around in my oppinion. I also own a Fender and a Moody and im scared they aint gonna turn on everytime I go on stage cos it has happened b4 but with this amp i am totally dependable on.

I have been playing for about 10 years.. havent own heaps of gear.. Ive kept everything and i have a gretsch,gibson,fender and a few crappy ones.. amps I have a Fender deville 410 and a 50watt moody head made in '67. Orange 412 quad box with vintage 30's.

I'd go for this amp 2nd hand.. mine was in mint condition for $1800 as compared to a new one in a store for $3300
I only gave it 8 because they are are really expensive brand new.. thats all. They are my favourate amp in the world.

mine was made 1990 came in straight from the production line, because marshall had a delay with delivering the amps at that time 4 channels from which I only use the 2nd and not the high treble one, because this switches of the first level of the preamp, so will be painfull shreddy high treble. If you sit down and try the settings you will have a very subtile and versatile amp ;-)

I use it with humbucker guitars only, which are gibson, PRS and Ginkel.
It has that tube treble hiss which can't be heart anymore when playing. For the rest it can make you play everything as long as you can play guitar and know what you are doing. The amp only distortes at very high volumes, which I think is good as I use it as a power amp and not to dist.

it has been my mate for 13 years now and never had to change the tubes!!!!! very rare as I use it everyday and go from town to town with a band and a van....... Eat that, Fender or Engl!!!

never dealt with them. The support should be easy to find though

I would certainly buy it again, but this absolute no beginners material. Everything I play on is because I searched first and then buy. Play this Amp with analog stuff (like boss pedals or REAL tube preamps)otherwise it gets muddy or very far away. (remeber the 60's and 70's and think that way)Very VERY Good amp

Bought new in 2002. Very few real features, I can't get the effects loop to work with anything without drastrically altering the tone. It's really a one trick pony.

I think after reading some of the negative reviews you have to put this amp in its proper context. It isn't a bedroom amplifier, it was designed to sit in a band which it does beautifully. You are really forced to use an attenuator otherwise it's just too loud. And this is why the amplifier is so bright otherwise, because when you run in through an attenuator you lose that icy brightness and you get really just the right amount of high end. The amp played by itself is a bright amplifier.
As far as tones, this is 70s rock and that's about it. Put a tubescreamer or Fulldrive in front and there's little you can't play from the late 60s to early 80s. There isn't any clean that I can find, but it does clean up semi-nicely with your guitar knob. It isn't bassy like modern amplifiers, it is midrangey but very complex musically in the midrange. It tracks beautifully with your playing, there is almost no fight in the amp, but it still is very uncompressed.

I've used it several times on gigs, no problems.

Marshall has lousy customer support IMHO, compared to say Peavey where you can get an almost immediate response.

Overall this is a great amplifier for what it does. It is the amp that defines rock and roll IMHO. It isn't plug and play like most amps, you'll need to spend some time with it, and really use it in a band. If you want Page, Townsend, early EVH, etc, it's worth checking out.

Okay we all no by now that there isnt anything on this amp. No reverb or effects to make everything complicated. This is both good and bad at the same time. If you want a versatile amp look elsewhere.

If had this thing for 3 months and havent found a decent tone at all.Its either too bassy or too treble ...it never equals out nicely. Ive tried everything from changing the tubes to fooling around with the board. I use a gibson with emgs and another with duncans. This amp sounds so flat you need active humbuckers or pickups. Channel 1 on the plexi is inexcusable. Its probably the worst tone Ive heard from a head in my life. The bottom end can sound larger than life and will be alright if distorted naturally which would be sweet if your Malcolm Young. But if your not a rhythm player and like to throw some lead fills here and there you'll be sorely disappointed. I dont know what kind of plexi you all have been using but its certainly alot different from mine. The man that can find tones of the likes of Hendrix, Page, or Clapton on this piece deserves an award. Using both channel 1 and 2 doesnt help much at all either. The only time the natural distortion sounds even decent is when cranked to 8-10 (I took two tubes out to make it a 50 watt). If anybody knows any way to make this amp sound good enough to gig with let me know.

It looks strong enough. But ive only had it a couple months. It seems really touchy and has many wierd ticks (like many tub amps) so I wouldnt be surprised if it starts falling apart soon.

Never dealt with them.

In conclusion this amp may be okay if your strictly a rhythm guy and its only redeeming factor is its ballsy bottom end and huge huge volume...but thats not enough to save this D.O.A. Stay away from it!

1997 Limited Edition (White).
Not big on features but certainly not required. No master, no fx loop. It's a monster!

1990 USA Strat/2002 Tele/1980's Kramer Baretta custom. Play prog/hard rock. Loud Loud LOUD. Attentuator required if playing any size gig under stadiums. Cleans up nicely with guitar volume rolled off. Responds accuratley to pick attack, the way an amp should. Distortion is warm, sheer wall vibrating power amp distortion. Great tone in all circumstances. Can remove two outer tubes and go 50W as well.

Gigged twice a month for 18 months without a backup plus studio and rehearsal work (I know!!!! I shouldn't be gigging too much with it in the first place - looking at a 5150 MK2) It never missed a beat. I do however treat it with extreme care moving about.

Never needed them.

Playing as long as I can remember. Playing through the white 1960AX quad with 25W greenbacks - the perfect combination. Run various guitars through a G-Major, BBE Sonic Maximiser in most instances and various vintage pedals where required. Have used a Sans Amp GT2 in front on occasion and it performs superbly. If you own one of these or are looking to, then grab yourself a Ahpek Peanut Butter distortion pedal, made in Australia; the most natural overdrive pedal out there - period. Best thing I ever did. See the reviews elsewhere in Harmony Central.

Has all the features we've known and grown to love in a 4 input marshall. As far as features go they got it right. I will have to lower the rating for the effects loop. Though it is true bypass it does effect the tone. I will have to give a much lower rating to do to the cheap piece of crap electronics used to make this amp. No paper bobbin output transformers, the caps in the head are cheap and will go out, no CTS Pots or carling switches, the cliff jacks are not fully insulated, no carbon comp resistors, and of course no hand point to point wiring. The Output Transformer on this amp must of cost them 35 cents. This is an outrage, these features are not so outrageously expensive that they couldn't put these in there and raise the price 200-300 dollars. At least the amp would have the essential parts to create a true re-issue. Marshall has obviously gotten too rapped up in bottom line profits and left us regular musicians in the cold. Do not buy this amp unless you are going to heavily mod it!!!

I use a Gibson Custom Historic 57 Goldtop (The 2003 version). Gibson finally done the right thing and spent a little more money and actually made a real acurrate copy for the 2003 models. Now for the SLP. For one, this is much more musical than the multi channel amp stuff out there made by marshall or mesa to me. But that doesn't mean much, the marshall and mesa multi channel amps sound terrible to me and are very limited in personality. Having said that, this amp is supposed to be like the greats. That is appauling it sounds mushy when pushed and doesn't crank out anything that resembles the velvety overdrive on real SLP's that I have played. The high treble is incredibly ice picky and unusable in my opinion. Patching the channels together helps but the harmonic content of the signal is far from rich enough. This amp to me is all bark and no bite. This to me is another cheap imitation of what marshall used to be.

With the parts I listed above and the use of Ei preamp tubes this is far from a reliable amp. Ei tubes are know for going microphonic at the turn of a dime. Didn't keep around very long so I will rate no opinion. But it should be known that marshall is not putting your $1350 to good use. How much profit do they want!!!!

I e-mailed them and asked why they are using cheap parts and not wiring the amps like the originals and never recieved a reply

I've been playing for 10 years and have played real late 60's and early 70 marshalls that were out of this world. It was a terrible attempt at that same sound. It was no where close. I returned the amp and went searching on the web for a builder who could build one right. I ran across Germino Amplification. Audley Freed from the Black Crowes has one, probably more than him. Holy Crap!!! From the very first E chord it was on!!!! The amp cost me $1700 and absolutely destroyed the Marshall version. It sounded exactly like the old marshalls I've heard. Do not buy the Marshall. Your waisting your money. Save a little more and get a Germino, a Matchless Clubman, or a Bogner Shiva. All of these amps are a cut way above the quality Marshall is putting out. And only cost another 400 more. I figure if your going to spend a lot of money get what you want. The only thing your getting with the Marshall Plexi's are the name. Oh yeah, the marshall 50 watt reissue sucks too.

I have a limted edition 100w so-called 'Purple Haze' half-stack, which is from 1994 and features purple tolex. I believe there were only 50 of these made worldwide. I got mine thru eBay. The features have already been described: two channels (no high-gain channel, who needs it anyway?), three-band EQ, no effects loop, no headphone jack. Just a simple, straightforward purple monster. When I bought it I had to replace both the preamp tubes (military style 12AX7's) and the power tubes (Svetlana EL34's) because the tubes that were in the amp had simply had it. I was very happy with the speakers, since they were actually NOT reissue Greenbacks but Celestion Vintage 30's. I like speakers that like to be driven hard and are still able to take the abuse and the V30's do just that.

The reason why I'm giving this a 10 for versatility is because I think a simple amp like this is actually more versatile than any modern multi-channel amp. I'm an old-school player who believes versatility comes from picking dynamics, controlling your guitar's volume and tone, and, not to forget, the proper use of a fuzzbox. IMO this makes for the most vertile and, above all, PERSONAL clean, crunch, and OD sounds. Just think about it, players like Clapton, Page, Hendrix, Kossoff, Allman, etc. all used plexis, yet they all had their own personal signature sound. In this day of multi-channel amps, how many players can honestly claim this? The secret, of course, is power tube distortion instead of preamp tube distortion. Pushing the front end of your amp always gives you more diversity, more power, more forward thrust, more warmth, more tone, more of YOU. With one of these heads and a 4x12 cab and a decent fuzz I can make it sound as blues, heavy rock or heavy metal as you want it be. How versatile is that? Besides that this puppy has a LOUD bark to it, way louder again than most modern amps which seem to get their bark more from compression than tone.

Like I said, I'm an old-school player. I come from Texas blues and started out with vintage Fender amps and no effects. This taught me to work with just my guitar and amp to bring out the biggest tone and vibrato I could muster. Since I like Classic Rock as well I've always loved the British guitar sounds and was never averse to, say, a Vox, Orange, Hiwatt or Marshall. Through the years I gravitated more and more toward a hybrid Fender/Marshall sound and had my amps modded as such. Until I got familiar with the sound of Doyle Bramhall II. Like him, I'd been wanting to combine Texas blues with Classic Rock and hearing him play his music through an original Super Bass prompted me to take the plunge and finally switch from Fender to Marshall. When I noticed the purple Plexi on eBay I just knew I had to have it and I actually stayed up late so I could win that auction!

With the Marshall came the pedals. I currently use a silicon 80's RI fuzz face by Audio Crest (built by none other than Dave Fox of FoxRox; read the story behind these RI's on http://www.analogman.com/fuzzstor.htm), a germanium Everman Fuzz Drive Deluxe, a Roger Mayer Octavia, a Prescription Electronics Vibe Unit, and a Menatone Red Snapper. These are all great pedals but what's so special about the SLP is that it makes any guitar and any pedal sound great, even the cheapest crap. It's THE most tolerant amp I've ever heard. Being used to very picky Fender amps that was quite an ear opener for me.

I do agree with Jamie who says in his review that the RI SLP's sound much too icepicky. He suggests taking cap 17 and 18 of the high treble channel out of the circuit, which I had done to my amp, and he's absolutely right! My amp tech discovered that these caps actually had a value which was three times as high as that of an original SL's high-treble channel! You have to wonder what made these guys at Marshall come to a decision like that. Removing c17 and 18 is the easiest and most basic mod you should do to get rid of that upper-mid harsness which actually effects the entire EQ range and, as Jamie rightly points out, prevents you from having a warm tone at lower volume settings. Thanks for the tip, Jamie!

I then got in contact with George Metropoulis of MetroAmp (www.metroamp.com). He's fairly new in the business of making ptp replacement boards but make no mistake: he is an accomplished guitarist and amp tech with many years of experience. More importantly, he's friendly, highly competent and his customer service is absolutely great. I explained to him that I like the Super Bass tone of such players as Paul Kossoff and Doyle Bramhall and he suggested a few mods that I had done to my pc board, all of which were major improvements. Despite all that there were was something about the pc board that just didn't sit right with me. I could have easily left it at the modded pc board but I felt the tone was still a tad too compressed. I decided I was going to order a stock SB ptp board from George. George made me one and, based on the many lengthy email exchanges we'd had about the specific tone I was after, he took the liberty of adding a cap and resistor common to the SL circuit which I could decide whether or not to use. He also included some extra components, among which was a different value slope resistor.

The tone of my SB board is dark and complex. It makes the amp sound good at many different settings, even lower volume ones. Before I had to turn it up to a certain volume (loud!) in order for it to sound good. Speaking of volume, the amp now sounds even louder than before but in a way that is much more pleasing to the ears. The tube distortion comes mainly from the lower regions rather than the higher ones which makes it sound less gainy even though the overall sound is still distorted with my settings. It also sounds better with pedals than before, particularly fuzz, because the low end distortion already has a fuzzy edge. I would describe the sound as more natur

I haven't had this amp for very long but it has already been in the back of the band van without any protection. So far it hasn't failed me and I don't expect it to, either. If you don't ram your guitar into it or shake it like they did in the 60's I imagine it can take a fair bit of abuse.

Have never dealt with the good folks at Marshall. Can't say enough about the customer support at Metro Amp, though. Get your replacement board from George, folks, and make your RI SLP really sing! Whether you want an Eddie Van Halen plexi-style sound or an Angus Young-style one, this guy can custom-make you one.

I've been playing for 17 years. My band Mike & the Mellotones has been around for 10 years. Feel free to check out our website, www.nubluz.com. We've evolved from straight forward three-piece Texas blues to four-piece Classic Rock and we've always done it Mellotone style. There's no better tone than your personal tone!

I own two B/F Fender Super Reverbs which I had modded to become 70w hybrid Fender/Marshalls, one w/ EL34's and one w/ 6550 tubes (I know it's considered sacrilege but you should hear these babies wail!). This RI SLP is the best buy I've done in years. I was lucky enough to win this purple beast for about USD 1320. Besides new tubes I just needed to add another USD 185 incl. shipping for a ptp replacement board and I was there. That's way cheaper than an original plexi with all-new components. You can't get any better value for your $$$!

Excellent. Mine has a few mods by Lee Jackson Himself, this includes a 5 position EQ BOOST and a Power attenuator built in with a Master Volume, which enables me to play this at lower volumes. The controls are very easy, mine only utilizes the "Bright" channel, so I use loudness 1 as a preamp, and high treble(loudness 2) as the overall volume

100 watts of true Marshall GENIOUS. I use a Les Paul with EMG's 81 (neck) and 85 (bridge) just like Zakk Wylde. I also have a custom ESP with Seymour Duncans, the bridge is a Dimebucker, neck is an SH-6. THE TONE FROM MY AMP IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF GUITAR TONE! I mainly play metal (Old Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest) and this thing is unbelievable! The rhthym sound I get is absolutely perfect, palm muted riffs and leads sound great. WHEN PLAYING LEADS AND SOLOS, IT BRINGS OUT THE BEST DAMN SOUND ON EARTH. I also like Hendrix style (who doesn't?) you can get many many sounds from this thing, although it is IDEAL for Classic Rock and Heavy Metal. If you are considering getting a new "high-gain" amp, I suggest you try one of these first. THIS IS A TRUE TONE MONSTER.

Play it almost everyday, no problems besides 1 blown fuse (I bought a 4 pack at Radio Shack for like 2 bucks)of course,if a fuse blows on you twice, you get the tubes checked. Mine are FINE

Haven't dealt with them

I have been playing this thing for a few months now, I absolutely love it. I will one day try to get more of these babies. I use this head with a VINTAGE Marshall 1982B (straight cab) 4x12 with 30 watt vintage celestions. I sold my last Marshall stack to get this head, well worth it. If it was stolen, I would hunt down the person, and force feed him his own arms after I ripped them off (j/k) That would totally suck, but I would definetly buy it again, if I couldn't get one, then I would get a JCM 800 (those have the same tube config.)I compared this amp to a Mesa Triple Rectifier, a Peavey 5150, a Crate Blue-Voodoo, a Soldano, and thisamp KICKS THEIR COLLECTIVE ASS! Marshall is GOD!

A 96 reissue. The most flexibility any amp needs IMHO 6 knobs. No loops, no master, no channel switching, it just doesn't get any better. All tube, EL-34s & 12ax7s. At least they didn't mount the pots to the board as they did with late 800 series and 900 series heads. It's not point to point but there are sources for board mods with better quality components. Heard good reports about users changing the OT using a Mercury Magnetics OT. The cosmetic components are not accurate to originals. The pilot lights are cheezy compared to the original vintage heads. Not a big deal.

If you are reading this review you know how a Super Lead should sound. It's seems to be more of a Super Lead flavor than a Plexi, especially prior to this quick fix... The first thing you want to do with this head is remove the bright caps, c17 and c18. Channel 1 is insanely bright, I have no idea what they were thinking, not even close to originals. You might as well drive an ice pick into your ears. Some suggest to clip the caps, I lifted the pc board and de-soldered them. The amp warmed up very nicely and has plenty of edge/brightness at any volume. The bright caps effect tone when running at low volumes, not dimed. So this is an important fix. Jump channels 1 and 2, that's necessary to get the best tone IMHO. After that quick mod it brings the head a little more accurate to originals but still not the same.

It also had a severe 60 cycle hum at idle. Sounded like holding a single coil up to the front of the head all the time. I measured 63 db of noise floor before locating the problem, lowered to 60 db after, with virtually no 60 cycle hum. If you have this problem, one of the things you should check after the obvious issues is to check the wires to pots. I noticed the lead wires going to the presence and other neighboring pots were very close to the OT leads which pop out underneath the board just above the presence control. Carefully pull the leads parallel to the ground rail that connects to all the pots and tie strap the leads to the rail down to at least the channel 1 volume pot. Try to issolate signal leads from voltage supply leads as much as possible using tie straps. That did it for me, I think issolating the wires to the pots had the most effect.. Also, watch those caps, discharge before you poke around or you won't be poking for quite a while. It also had some biasing ussues that needed addressing. I'm the 3rd owner of this head and that was the main reason the previous owner decided to sell.

If it sounded like a real plexi I'd give it a 10. I have a 69 small box 50 I used as a bench mark for this comp, which sounds awesome to say the least. I also have an 800 series 2204 and a 72 Marshall Major... horseys a plenty. Would never consider anything from 900 series to present... I used a 900 100w dual reverb for a while and it didn't have near the tone and volume as my 800 series 2204 (50w).

Nothing has gone on it yet...

N/A

Decent attempt to recreate the originals. It's better than some of the previous reissues. It would have been a little more accurate if they used more similar components and values, the right trannys and voltages (lay down) etc. I understand point to point can't be done at the price these are going at but using better quality components would sure help. But still a quite usable amp... Very happy with it.

I have a rule, I never buy an am with more than 6-knobs. Its useless (to me anyway). 1 excellent, loud, perfect tone (thats all any RAWK player needs), I'd rather have that 1 Marshall plexi sound than 3 over-metal sounds. Sounds Beautiful!!!

I use a 69 and 79 Les Paul (both have Seymour Duncan JB pickups at the bridge, the best pickup ever made for rock) and a Modified 70's Strat. I play in a Rock/Punk/Rockabilly/Chuck Berry meets the first 2 Iron Maiden records kinda thing. What alot of people don't get about this amp is that it gives you one of the best tones you can get. The rest is up to you, you can use any overdrive pedal (or modify it)sound you want and still have that killer "Marshall" tone (a fulldrive 2 works best for me, excellent tone overall). Most 2-3 channel amps just have the head units of a overdrive/distortion pedals that manufactures choose. This one you choose your sound. Its not for people who want to Plug-N-Play. It takes a little work but when you figure out what works best for you you will never go back to anything else! I also own a 1976 50w MK2 master lead and love that just the same!

Took it on tour, went through the desert, snow storms, high altitude (all within a week), fell off of a pretty high stage,god knows what else happened to it and it plays like same day I bought it!!

Never used it

If you are in a gigging band, you know what a pain in the ass it can be getting a good tone from the practice studio to a club. Try to deal with that along with having a few coctails in you and looking a 24 + knobs and switches and not knowing what they do but when you touch one of them it screws your sound up really bad (thats why I have the "no more than 6-knobs" rule), I rather concentrate on how my playing is rather than how did my sound get so screwed up! These Marshall are no B.S. (I can't find a better amp in its class (exept a 57'-59' Fender Bassman). I've owned or played through almost any amp you can think of and came to the conclusion that no matter how many wacky knobs or channels you have all you really need is one good sound and then go from there. I have owned the pricy 3- channel amps and have gotten OK sounds through them, never 100% happy,more of settling for them because (getting a basic overdriven warm tone is harder than you think), but the same problem is that they never cut through like a Marshall does. I got it at cost to try it out (as a backup to my 76' 50 watt) and now my 50 watt is a backup to this! Not for the beginner!