Marshall 1959 Superlead

Mine is a '67 Marshall SLP. This is THE one, the same year as Eddie's with the JMP on the front plexi panel and all the caps except for one under the chassis. Most people on the reviews have the ones made in the 70's, and the 67's are really hard to find. People who have these don't sell them. The ones that are available are the 50W '67 and the '68-'69 100 watts, but you'll be lucky to find a 100W '67 for sale. This one was also formerly owned by Eric Johnson and used as his touring rig. But who cares man, i just like the sound this thing has.

I can say this is a VERY versatile amp. Alot of people say that it's a one trick pony, and I guess you could say that too, but it's got all the eqing you need. I think you can do alot with this amp depending on your pick attack. Turn it all the way up, pick hard and you get that extra gain and crunch. Pick soft and you don't. It is very responsive to your picking style which can in fact make you a more accurate player. It doesn't hide your mistakes.

A few words to describe this. Thunderously roaring LOUD, bold and honest.

When I first got mine, I didn't like the sound quality as much as I had hoped. It was a bit too boomy for my taste. I had the treble channel on 10 and the eq's around halfway. Then I experimented with it a bit more. I notcied that when I put the treble to about 8 I can get very clear and defined notes with enough gain and sustain while still retaining the warmth. The sound I noticed is ALOT warmer than the reissues. Not sure why, maybe its that some of the aging components have some kind of special mojo. Also, it has plenty of sustain for blistering and fluid solos. This is one of those amps that once you get an acquired taste for it, you'll really like it. Better than the reissues I think. This thing has the warmth.

I see alot of players on Youtube that post thier videos with their Hotplate and play the usual smooshual (AC/DC ZEP). AC/DC and ZEP are amazing bands, but people just overplay them. You can do ALOT more with this amp and get different sounds from it DEPENDING on how you pick. I'm not into metal, but I think you could get into the metal territory if you drive this thing and put an overdrive pedal like a OD808 in front of it. But again I try to stay away from pedals when I could crank this thing all the way up. Also, I don't use an attenuator with this one. It's vintage so I want to be more careful with this, plus I think it sounds better than putting an overpriced and dangerous UA into it.

My rig is simple, plug it in straight and that's it. Play it with alot of force. it's got that thundering sound that just hits you right in the middle where it's supposed to hit. It roars like a lion and doesn't sound harsh to the ears like the reissues did.

One thing also to note is that I see alot of guys modding thier plexi reissues with the Bray mod aor Splawn mod. All I can say to them is that you can do all the mods you want to your reissue heads, but it will NEVER, and I mean NEVER come close to the real deal '67 SLP. The David Bray mods and Splawn mods sound too artificial to my ears, that's all and non musical.

I think these are very rugged amps. They say the vintage ones are very rugged, and that is true. This is a 40+ year old amp, and I made the horrible mistake of turning the thing on WITHOUT a speaker cable plugged into it. I was playing and playing, but no sound. Then I realized OH the speaker cable. I was so worried. But when I plugged it back it in, it was working the way it was before. Luckily the volume wasn't on 10 when I did that, but on about 0 to 1. This thing roars like a lion and doesn't sound harsh.

Never had to deal with Marshall directly. But never broke down on me. The guy who DID sell it to me was VERY informative and made sure I was using it correctly (stating that I never ever put an attenuator of any kind into it) so the indirect customer support (if there is a word) was really good and communication was superb. It was even shipped with no delay so that there would be less chance the amp would become damaged.

Customer support not from marshall. But the fact that Marshall built this thing so well to last this far and never breaking down, i can say that the "planned" cusomter support was amazing. They just made this thing indestructable so it could be used for decades to come.

I've been playing for about 12 years and I know tone now. I have a Fender Twin Reverb for the clean sounds and this one for the crunch. It does give you the nice clean sounds too, which most people may overlook. Crank it up it goes to insane solos and leads which are not harsh but very warm with alot of sustain and ROARS like a lion. Of course I would buy one again, but the price on these espeically the '67s would be way over the roof, not let alone if I could even FIND one. It deosn't have effects loop built in, which is ok since it is a vintage amp, and the loop may affect ther wauilty of the sound. This thing is just pure tone.

I'm giving this a 9 for value, because these things can get up there in price. And I believe htat they will only go up in value. Especially the '67s.