Marshall 1959HW Head

As modern amps go, this one is ridiculously simple. Four inputs (high and low sensitivity inputs for both high treble and normal channels). EQ section, and volume. Can select 4/8/16 ohm output. Uses 4xEL-34 tubes and 3x12AX7 tubes. The other "features" worth mentioning (since your are paying for them) are hand wiring and super authentic reproduction of a 1969 plexi head (including plexi panel and it even has an unused hole in the chassis - since in 1969 you could get the PA or tremolo model which used an extra tube, but Marshall used the same chassis for all these 100w amps)

This thing is viscious and EXTREMELY loud. I was testing it in the store and the clerk asked me to stop because he couldn't hear the phone (the amp was only at 5 through a 4x12). I had the good fortune to A/B it with a mid-1970s Super Lead that was also in the shop, and frankly preferred the re-issue - a bit tighter, not flabby, and slightly more musical. To my ears, with the right cab, it nails the vintage Marshall tone. Definitely has the "Marshall roar". If that is what you want, get the amp - it will do Hendrix, Page, Angus Young, etc. Great output tube distortion.

No issues. I pretty much dime everything (except Presence) and run it through an attenuator (saves my ears and my marriage), using the guitar volume to clean it up when needed. Lots of stories of issues, I can tell you mine is quiet, works as it should and has no issues whatsoever.

Never needed

I've been playing on and off for 20 years, but more serious now. I have an original Marshall Silver Jubilee 50 watt head/cab and love that - but just could not nail the 100w plexi tone with it. So, finally broke down and bought the 1959hw. Both amps are great, but different. I have a Les Paul, Johnny A Signature, a couple of Strats and an SG. It sounds great with all. Sometimes use a TS808, and a Fulltone Clyde wah - really no issues, everything just works and sounds as it should.

4 input marshall
made in 2005
bought new in 2005
plenty load
i have had 4 different attenuators and settled on the weber mass 150
which effects the tone the least.
it is made for two sounds crank it up to 8 and use your volume nob on the guitar to change the distortion level, or turn it down to 6 to clean it up.
i gave it a 10 because it does the two sound perfectly, which is what it was designed to do.

gibson les paul 68 custom authentic reissue w/ '57 paf's
play older rock
as with any amp, buy several different types of tubes and you will find one that is perfect.
i settled on the groove tube el34s and the groove tubes marshall high gain kit.
this amp is not noisy with good tubes
sounds exactly like it is supposed too.
will play marshall clean on 6 on the volumes as long as you don't dig in to hard.
turn it up to 8 or higher and the mids up past 7 and it will sustain notes for as long as you want and has that perfect marshall distortion, turn the guitar volume down and it will clean up.
have had most every high end amp from marshall, mesa boggie, and have played bogners and soldanos.
which were all very good, but i have not heard more depth and fullness of tone in anything other than this marshall 1959hw

i have seen all the bad service issues, but i have had this amp almost 4 years and play it 5 to 6 times a week.
i have never had any problems with this amp, ever.
don't throw it around and use good tubes that are biased correctly and u should not have any problems.
if you are playing for money or are obligated to play for someone else, you should always have a backup just in case.

never had to call them.
never had a problem.
i would rather pay for a repair, than ship it back to the factory anyway.

great amp would not want to have to do without it.
would like to have a bogner ectasy and a soldano slo 100 in addition to this amp, but their prices are ridiculous.
i only play at home and could not use it without an attenuator, the weber mass 150 is perfect.

The amplifier was made in 2006 when I bought it . I hasd sent from Sam Ash. They charged me exactly $2,800 sollars plus all shipping costs and taxes. But more bout that later.
Marshalls are not spaceships. THe versatilility factor amongst them is archaic. Now when I say this Im not saying I want a Mesa BOogie which has 14132 knopbs plus self variacing and speed conditioning and a flux capacitor which travekls thru tim. THats the middle range model. THere are four channelks on the 1959HW. CHannel switching is an odd word totuse for a Marshal 1959HW or anmy Superlead Superbass P.a or NON MASTER vERSION of the genre. Mqnual switching like a ychtsman in a regatae boat race is al the call of the day here. Now, Ibought this thing and Man, @Was i EXCITED. In al honsety the 1959HW is a sarn good Marshall but $2800 bucks>? Now we are talking a few years ago and though dealers it necessary to rape the public with its price tag others have been and this is say without hesitation and not because the chose this but they hAD TO come DOWN in porice. Ive $2,000 for opnwe now,. Id say n ow a fair price no more.
IT will blow a holer in your wall. SO either buy an attenuator . THD is nice and i had one and uea i used, My bias drifted some but I found right tubes,. ANd no they werent NOS> I think NOS is a fairy tale. Cept for the PReamp and even those come to suspect and shot failry speaking. I mean face iot. How 80 year old are gonna survive the elelments when their is a vaccumm element involved. SPecially power tubes. Theyre crap. For a 10% better sound and possibly longer $800 for a set of XF2 Mullard shield issue arent IMHO opinion worth the float. I tried JJ's, GT M ullard reissues and so on. Swapping between the first two a few times when gigging out. A couple times I had ti rebias with my meter. YOu gotta listen and not just bias and say"ok thats it, its a prize fighter."Not the gaamer. Plus let a TEch look at it. Ive seen a few with loose bolts and the best of manufacturing quality. Maybe isolated . I dont know. ALLL TUbe 100% Non Maintenance free but its new not a 69' which your tech will visit on occassion and nless hes youll pal from back the day your gonna pay him for all servicing i.e TUbe Biasing mianly. THats $100 bucks modeslty, etc etc...

N ow onto the sound of the amp, It WITH the right outboard Pedal which in the end was my choice and then If I anted some attenuatuon but not a lot becasue it will compress your tone or change it or something is differant. THD is not the culprit though cause ive other companies attenuators BLOW UP my TRASNFORMERS. VAboom! like that. YOu gotta look. Its not noisy at all. Very loud not noisy, Unless your a Jazz cat who likes those drumsticks with 1000 metal hair on each one to "keep the noise down"
THe ampif pluigged due to it being a SUPERLEAD can and DOES IMHO sound best linked from channel opne to channel . May have my channels off but lower left and upper right. Pretty sure. I have Marshalls , older ones too that are Non Master and i use them linked, but not always. A ONE TRICK PONY, NO 4 or 5 yeah! But hey a lot of amps have one ound thats it. I cant say which ones but you know . It is BRITISH ALL THE WAY. Marshall chinced on the parts to a degree. Specially with the caps. They are average at best however doesnt run out and but Sozos. Just leave um in run the amp. OVER ALL I GIVE IT a 9 !!! IT sounds really , witha pedal. RUnning full bore with an attenuator howerver wasnt as impressed . but. How mnay play madison square garden. And if you can. Go buy a wal of EVH 12000 series 1969 Marshall amps and anything from 1967 to 1972 and even the later metal panel which IMHO are some of the bestBEST sounding asmps out there. Yeah, PCB boards I said it. SOme of the best and wsolid and man tone for days. The 1981 JCM8002203 . Well its every now just like the 1959HW but will in the with these particur two pieces end up in its higher spot than the 59. SO in the end. It sounds really sounds. NOT superaggressive. Member patterneed after a 1969. YOu can get it to give up some heavy hitting tones though. YOu run the right DISTOERTIONH thru it,. NOT Overdrive . SOme Fuzz boxes sound amazing to thru it. I like tha mp.

Well, Blew couple trannies but my gault. no probs. Little loose here and there and had to resauder. $23800 hunj and shouldnt have to so that but hey. ITs still a 1959HW. You pay forthe NAME !

na

OVerall ive said it all.youy weanna play it you gotta pay it.! For $2800 dollars though a buddy of mine just picked up a 1968 superlead PA that was MINT INSIDE and takes 120 volts. Ouytisde the cab was a bit rough but not bad at all and the amp compared to a 1959HW.weell...you get thpicture.

Purchased new in 2005, Features have been explained in previous reviews. Plain and simple, no clutter. As per usual with non-master volume Marshalls, volume 1 needs to be nuetered by clipping that raspy bright cap wire.

Sounds great, but ya gotta turn it up. I use both Les Pauls and Strats through this, and it's a sweet sounding amp for either single coil or 'buckers. Once you're in the zone with this amp, it responds well to pick attack.
I have a few different 4x12's, but the handwired cabs that go with it seem to handle it best. 9 in this category, only because I shouldn't have to snip the wire on the bright cap on an amp I paid 2800 beans for.

Well, I run this head through a 16 ohm HotPlate, through either one cab or both. I don't dime everything, but it never really goes below 7 or 8. It's 2 and a half years old, still has the original power tubes in it, gets dropped and bumped around frequently and takes a general shit kicking. Why is my amp still alive and ripping heads off?
By the sounds of the other reviews, this thing should have blown chunks a long time ago. If someone goes through 2 or 3 of these, one has to wonder why. Bad attenuator, perhaps?
I know of a few of these that are the same age and working fine still.
They weren't all made on a Friday. I'm giving it a ten because it hasn't given up the goods yet.

Haven't had to deal with them, but I hear the distributor here in Canada is pretty abysmal.

Overall I dig this amp a lot. I'd like to run 2 of them together, if they weren't so expensive. If it got ripped off or blew up, I'd probably replace it, but I'd check out the new Vintage Modern series while shopping.

See previous entry

See previous entry

This is a follow up to the problems I had with 2 blown 1959HW heads (one blew an input transformer and the other the output transformer in a couple of hours). Marshall replaced the heads with new ones (took 6 weeks). The replacement heads had major problems, one did not work right out of the box and the other was put on a scope by the warranty person and shown that it could not be operated past 7 on the volume dial without damaging the amp. I walked away from this amp at this point and got my money back for the two heads and A&B cabs.

The warranty person and music stores involved were great! Marshall and their distributor in Canada (Ericsson) however, do not carry parts in Canada and are slow to respond to problems with equipment.

This amp has major electronic/design problems. I recommend that people do not buy this amp until they get the bugs out of it and are preparred to support the product.

This is a follow up on the 2 blown 1959HW heads returned to Marshall. Both went in a couple of hours.

See past comments

The first replacement amp out of the box did not work. I was shown on a scope that the second amp would fail if played over 7.

I waited 6 weeks for a new amp that didn't work and another that can't be turned up.

Yikes! 4 amps in 6 weeks. I walked away from this mess and got a different amp.

This is a review for a 1959HW (Hand Wired) 100 Watt Super Lead PLEXI.
The amp is amazingly versatile in tonal possibilities.
It has two channels, with two inputs each. It is very, very loud, more than enough power. Really straight forward with the control knobs (only 6) presence, bass, mid, high, volume 1, and volume 2, but these work together in seemingly infinite combinations to give many different sounds.

I'll start with the BAD and move to the GOOD. ***BAD*** It is quite a noisy amp! The first time I played it I picked up a radio station and it was so loud I could barely continue to play it. The "high" when cranked, is very fuzzy, lots of crackling. I was disappointed with the noise level! VERY NOISY AT TIMES. ***GOOD*** Amp can sound like anything. I use it to play Jazz when I cover John Coltrane tunes, it sounds great. I use it to play Hendrix and you can get insane feedback, it resembles sounds heard on The Band of Gypsy???s at the Fillmore album. Just like Led Zeppelin if you want it. It cleans up to give 50's tones. Can sound like late 90's grunge. It's very versatile. It can get a really, really "brutal" distortion, especially if you "jump" the channels together. It really blew me away when I cranked it. I wasn???t expecting such big, dirty distortion, yet with such resonant overtones. You can crank a jazz chord... something with tension ... and it distorts, but you can still hear all the notes. It's pretty cool.

I AM SO SAD ABOUT THIS AMP! I really love the sound, but for me it was COMPLETELY UNRELIABLE! In my opinion, this amp was built to sit on a shelf like a collector???s item trophy, and not be played. If you play it will break! I used to think mine was a "dud", a "glitch in the system", but I have read many reviews, and talked to many people in the industry who say the same, it's not reliable. I blew my output transformer TWICE!!!!!!!!! Two separate output transformers, on two separate occasions went bad and needed replacement. Both blew while running the amp "Hot"/"Cranked", just as the manual said to do. I had an output tube socket go bad. It needed to be re-soldered. A speaker in the 1960AHW speaker cabinet blew, and needed to be replaced. The cabinet fell apart and needed to be re-constructed. NO JOKE. All this really did happen and I have documentation. Marshall paid for all repairs but has been very distant when it comes to hearing my complaints. I am in the process of trying to get my money back for this amp that I have had in the repair shop more than I have had it to play, and I haven???t even owned the amp a year!

The only thing I can say is that they paid for my repairs. Marshall doesn't handle any of the warranty claims. All complaints, at least in the US, are handled by KORG USA. They have been very unaccommodating, cold, and unwilling to hear my complaints about my amp. I'm not sure if Marshall in England knows that the 1959HW is having issues, because they continue to manufacture parts that don???t seem to function properly when asked to perform. That???s all I can really say.

A FIVE. "Right down the middle" It sounds great, but if you want to hear it you have to turn it on, and then it might break. Pardon the dark sarcasm but in my experience it is true.

This offers what a good tube anp should - good clean tube power. Very little amp noise when not playing through the amp.

Excellent when it is turned up and the tubes get working! No distortion buzz common to many other new tube amps. I tried out many before buying these two.

The worst I have ever seen in 40 years. The first amp head I purchased lasted 6 hours before the output transformer blew. The second back up amp head I purchased days later went in 6 hours due to a short in the power supply transformer.

The local warranty technician is great but Marshall's parts for this amp (at least the one's I require) are not stocked in our city or in Montreal (stocking point for all of Canada). I must wait 4-6 weeks for parts - sorry but in my book thats not service. There is also no guarantee that substitue parts will do any better than the original parts. Perhaps a recall is in order. So local support gets a 10, Marshall support for stocking parts gets a 0!

When the amp is at 10 the tone is the best I have heard in years - well done! Too bad the amp can't perform at full volume for more than a couple of hours. For all you players that currently own this amp beware - if you turn it up you may loose it. Great tone but unreliable and may not be able to operate at loud volumes. What do you say when you finally find an amp that gives you the tone you've been searching for but then blows up when you use it?

traditional non-master volume marshall.

Vintage tones. Awesomely Loud in an good way. A little hotter than i expected. Reminded me more of Humble Pie's "Rockin' the Fillore" than say Cream. I thought it was a great sounding amp before it blew up. But after having two of these blow up on me within hours of purchase i have switched to George Metropoulos and one of his plexi replicas. After hearing both i have to say they are not even close. The Marshall is considerably more noisy, not as harmonically rich, and just plain not as good. The thing is i am not a boutique amp sort of guy in any way. I have never played a show without a Marshall in my backline, and have been a life long Marshall advocate, but i will never buy or use anything from them ever again.

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. I went through three units. Two blew up after playing for under 10 hours. Totally unreliable. Granted i pushed the amp hard and the volume was consistently set to 8 or above, but this was ridiculous. After spending nearly $3000, you would hope to play the amp for a week.

Marshall has zero integrity..

I read some of the bad reviews of this amp on harmony-central and for some reason thought they were crazy or didn't know what a real marshall sounds like. Believe the hype. This amp is garbage. If you are serious about getting a handwired Marshall, go straight to Metro Amps and get the real deal with great support and for less money. Like i said, i will never but Marshall again after this experience.

2005 model. Fantastic. Anyone who thinks this should have reverb or switching doesnt get it.

Alive. With an OD pedal and the guitars volume knob theres no great rock sound you cannot make with this amp. Full and super responsive. The greatest thing about the sound is due to all the things it is not - no crap lile channel switching and push pull pots, reverb ... just a simple and great circuit. Thats why these sounded good then and now.

Some people are complaining about the bright cap. This is hilarious. Marshalls never sounded good turned out. They are tinny weak farters until you crank them. Then its heaven. Dont buy a Marshall to play on 5. Thats a waste of time and money. Get a hotplate, pull two tubes, do what you gotta do to reduce volume but for the love of god do not comment on a Marshall until you run it like its meant to be run.

So far so good. No problems yet. I agree with other that the workmanship is sloppy.

Never dealt with them

I've been at it 23 years. I've owned many expensive amps and guitars. The current JCM800 phase makes me laugh. I used to have 6 of them from playing in the 80's. People somplained about the lowered aulity of them at the time now they are "classic" and sought after.

Plexis are better sounding by far. More dynamics with just the use of the guitar vokume knob. Forget vintage as well. This is made as good as any old Plexi. I've actualy used the old ones. Some of them sound quite mushy. The good ones do not hit the market. THis 1959HW fills the void.

I am re-reviewing my 2005 1959 HW Marshall head.I just recieved it back from the great George Metropoulos at Metro amps.
Each Handwired should come from the factory with A discount coupon for mods at Metro Amps.Or you could buy the case,chassis alone and have George put his board and wiring in!
I believe that I have previously reviwed the hell out of my amp,which I ended up nicknaming 'Damien",cause it acted like it was possesed!
Since it has been made to sound right,as it should have in the begining,it is exactly like a killer '69 Plexi Super Lead,should sound,jist plug and play!
Marshall boasts of Dagnall recreating the C1998 model output transformer,from an early '67 design.
I decided to replace it with Metro's Dagnall clone C1998 "1 1/2 inch model.What a difference this makes!!
Also the offending bright cap on Channel 1 was removed,how mellow,yet throaty the channel sounds now.
This is a list of the mods I had done to the amp:
Reoalce output transformer,filter caps,signal caps,various resistors.
Installed Mullard reissue output tubes,a matched quad,Tung Sol reissue preamp tubes.Rewire and shorten poorly routed and soldered wires.
Bias,burn in and test.
Parts were:
Metro Amp Dagnall clone output transformer
(1) F&T 16 x 16uf can
(2) F&T 32 x 32uf cans
(2) Sozo Vintage .68uf
(2) Sozo Vintage .1uf
(7) Sozo Vintage .022uf
(7) Allen Bradley NOS 1/2 watt CC resistors
(3) Tung Sol Reissue 12AX7 preamp tubes
(4) Mullard Reissue EL34 Matched Quad output tubes
Unbelievably low labor charges,superior quality work,priceless!!!

The amp now sounds like a NOS Marshall Super Lead perfectly preserved from 1969,as if in a time warp,with brand new components and capacitors!As I mentioned straight in,channel 1 is superb and has great harmonics and tones,gone is the dreadful 'ghosting'that haunted 'Damien'.as if in a Stephen King story.
Linking the two channels,is pure musical heaven,it's the best.
Then I turned all the tones,including presence to 10,OH MY GOD!!
Fantastic creamy sustain,rich,deep feedback,that is totally at the control of the player,unlike before,when it squealed like a stuck pig at the slightest provocation.
I am saying this again,see my post on the Metro Amp forum,the best Marshall I have plugged into,in memory.
I can only imagine it with a Hot British,or cool Tube Screamer,or Fuzz Face,for that matter.
You just want to play and play,trying every guitar,so possesion is a good thing,in this case.
It is quiet as a churchmouse now,none of the annoying'floornoise',deemed acceptable by Marshall,when I wrote to them,and for those of you who don't know,this is the second HW I bought,returning the first one.This who episode dragged on and on for months,my big break was finding Metro Amps site,in my internet serch,for why these amps,stock,sound so crappy.
It is the amp I intended to buy in the first place,now,and I absolutely love it.I have listed my guitars,on the previous reviews.
I am using my HW cabinets,with Celestion Heritage 30 watters,which I love.

I would like to say here for any prospective buyer,BEWARE!!!!
It seems like every HW was built on a Friday,right before quitting time,or the Marshall lads were down the pub for lunch,prior to'handcrafting'these amps.
George had to shorten many wires and correct soldering joints,to totally eliminate the hum and noise that plagued the amp'stock'
I have heard other horror stories about these amps,with much more horrendous problems,than I have had.
Can I depend on it now,absolutely 100%,stock it was a nightmare,let's leave it at that.
I cannot believe any type of decent quality control goes on,based on what I have seen.Simply placing little inspected by stickers on the amps,is not enough.This amp is simply too expensive to be built this poorly,or to have so many problems,right out of the box.
I

Yes,I have dealt with Joseph Gilmartin/Technical support,USA,several times,and on the second amp,he sent me replacement preamp tubes,Sovtek 12AX7WA's,but of course,Marshal will not admit there is any fault with their product,or how it is constructed.
Never in my life,did I dream that I would be publicly condenming Marshall,but the whole HW concept has gone the way of mass production corner cutting,imho.
My warranty is now totally voided,who cares,stock,it was useless to me,I have all my original parts,courtesy of George,so theoretically I can return it to stock,anytime,perish the thought.

See my previous two posts,if it were stolen,I would buy George's '68 Plexi clone in a heartbeat.
People need to be aware,there are serious problems with the quality of the workmanship,wiring wise,and do these people listen to them after they build them?
Any self respecting smaller boutique builder would lose his/her business overnight,if the let amps go for this price,or any price for that matter,with the issues presented by the 1959 HW series.
My advice,if you want it to say Marshall on the amp cabinet,buy one on the bay,and don't even plug it in,send it to Metroamp,so you won't be dissapointed,and you may break even with the price of a'new'one!
This has been a very public learning experience for me,I always swore,I would never buy anything new by Marshall,and I was right.
But now it is great sounding and that is all that matters!

August 2005 date of Manufacture. Have heard these amps vary in tone and build quality from a great sounding and cleanly build to a complete dog with plagueing issues? Be wary and check out / tone test your unit before purchase. SOmething I didnt understand before I got ine however mine was "one of the clean builds with great tone!" Amp is the basic Marshall similiarly found on the pre July 1969 Marshall circuit . Used for recording - band reharsal and live giggging. 100-1500 people typical loval show depending on venue. 2 Channel - 4 Inputs - 5 band EQ. Pt To Pt wiriong throughout. Oversized transformers. Two differant type Filter Caps. Dagnell Transformers. 100 watts of LOUDNESS! Has what I need and no Loops, added extras that were populerized ion the 80s-90s i.e FX LOOPS, Master Volume- Preamp mods. Just a great stock Marshall if you find "the one"

In my initial review of the 1959HW I hastily wrote my preview of the amp without extensively playing on the rig for a period of many months which I should have before laying dow na review.
Goping through the units cosmetics, finding out the low down on every little nuance about the amp from the Roederstein MKT1813 Caps it uses to the Oversized Dagnell OT and its particular choice of Iron and so on to its tone shapiong abilities, build quality, etc. FOr this I apologize and feel this is a much more complete and fair shake if you must of the 1959HW.

I use a Tonebone Hot British with the 1959HW and run the channels on the amp bridged from lowe input of the High Treble to High Input of Channel 2 running the Bone into the amp after the linking of the channels. Of course I still think the High Treble .005uF brite cap has to be snipped opr the one leg as to not take it completely out of the amp leaving it held on with one wire.

This amp DOES have the basic bark anf bite that a plexi Marshall is known for. Mine does anyway while some others again in their isolated incidence may not of had the luck I did in this regard. Onward to the comparison of the 1959HW to a friends 1977 Superlead 100. His SUperlead 100 from 1977 has a certain "thunk" or "oomph" that the 1959HW plexi does not have however I feel now that I understand what this amp is trying to do it is not going to be going for this type sound favoring a more bluesy or smooth malleable type gain structure. The 77 is an aggressive and wonderful pcb board Marshall and I waould like to have one ! I take nothing from this particular Marshall 1959HW of mine in this regard as far as the basic ingredients it possesses top achieve its signature tone. It sounds good rather. It can be "tweaked" and "revamped" or morphed shall we say into a Brown Plexi sound of course which Metroamp is doing currently for asome of its forumites who own the 1959HW and wish to have more ofthat musical "oomph" or "thunk" :>) Me being one of them.

I do find myself playing the amp more and more in its stock form but would like to go ahead and have some revamping if you will to shape the amp into something that pleases my ears and soul to achieving a higher level of tone if you will.

SOme will say the 1959HW sounds great stock and I wont argue with you if your one of them. You got a winner . Unfortunately I am finding some of the 1959HW dont live up to the Marshall logo on the their respecitve boxes. Again, THese may be isolated incidence so i am still unsure in the end how many rolled off the line with "unacceptable" workmanship or poor quality control. It happens you say but to a nearly $3000 dolalr amp?? hmmm. Just watch what 1959HW your buying before you do.

In the end I would say if your looking for one the resale market on these amps has taken a bit of a beating and you may be one of the lucky ones who siezes this scoring a 1959HW for $1700 or so!! Just make sure it is clean saudering, the choke, trann. pins, etc are well put together if possible and of course try the amp if at all possible. THere is the stock crnked on 10 way to get a tone from the amp which I have also heard and I thought this type of tone lacked a bit but after some vamping with replacing the caps with "sozo" and the OT as well as some other revampoing of the amp the stock attenuated tone was then much more pliable. Yopu be the judge in the end as I did end up saying in my initial post. I just feel this time round you have been better informed. Maybe not. Take this and add everyone elses opinion because we all know that opinions are only as good as the person writing them. THis is why I have put more effort and thought hop[efully into this review. GOod luck. The Marshall can be a good amp, just watch your step and wallet

I havent had any problems and wont rate this

Again, no rating

Overall, I give the amp an 8, a bit less than the initial review yet still admirable to say the least. I think if you agree here with me you understand ALL THE VARIABLES surrounding this amplifier and you are savy youll make a wise choice.

Marshall set out to give the world an amp that played like the pre july 69 amps of yesteryear.To a degree they gave it to the masses. Of course, Marshall would be very hard pressed to go out and find all the exact same parts the originals had. As well, as current electric and safety standards permit, Marshall actually increased the Trannie size to make the amp a safer unit to play on with less risk of electric shock. There are a n8umber of things you can do with this amp if you are looking for something other than what this amp delivers in its stock presentation. I think this can be said with most any amp however and of course once again it comes down to you the listener and what is getting "good tone" to you.

This PTP hand-wired reissue was built in 2005 and reproduced as close to 1969 spec. superleads as possible. (With the exception of some up to date safety-standard regulations) Got the amp slightly used and all stock. Barely broken in actually. I rate these features as a 9 simply because there is nothing else I want or need...pres,bass,mid,treb,vol1,vol2, 2 high inputs, 2 low and can be patched together to blend. Would be a 10 except the stock tubes could have been chosen to be of a bit higher quality. A real work of art with the plexiglass panels front and rear, quality craftsmanship overall and the oh so familiar weight factor...this thing is a tank! One note, I have recently sent the amp out to Metro for some tubes and tweaking and he found a loosely soldered lead to one of the power-tube sockets and the choke wasn't bolted down completely, but I never noticed.

Mid eighties les paul custom w/ 57 classic neck pup and burst 2 in bridge. 04 Wolfgang with evenly balanced harmonic custom duncan in bridge and duncan 59 in neck. Use a 16ohm hotplate and either a 2X vingtage 30 cab or 1960BX greenback cab. Overall good tones with the plate...flat out it's ripping loud and just too punchy for my taste. Playing clean was just brutal on ch1 until clipping a leg of the bright cap. Still cutting, (most lead players would probably like this), but with both high and low channels jumped, a variety of tones can be produced. Certainly not a one trick pony!! I prefer creamy power tube distortion and just got a little too much low end woof and high mid punch. I've recently sent it to Metropoulos Amplification for some cap modifications, Mullards /rebias and a laydown Dagnall. I will follow up with a follow up review, and based on the sound clips I got from him a couple days ago, it's alot closer to what I am looking for. Basically some significant changes towards an early 68 spec vs. the manufactured 69. Yes, a good chunk of change, but only a fraction of what I've seen out there for vintage plexis.

For only a few months old, I was somewhat disappointed with the loose tube socket and choke not bolted completely down. Questionable QC at Marshall? I've never had a problem with my jcm800 or 87x to speak of, so I can't really complain.

Playing on and off for 24 years, vintage rock zeppelin, VH, Cream, AC/DC and alot of Pearl Jam. My 800 and 87x now collect alot of dust although I occasionally run alot of efx through the loop of the 800 for fun. Overall, a vast improvement over other recent production Marshalls, especially these PCB reissues. The 1959slp was just obnoxious. If this HW were stolen I would get another, but probably mod that one too! The foundation of tone is in there, I just believe there needs to be a tweak to the overwhelming demand for overly biting high mids. I hope this is just the beginning for Marshall heading back in this direction. Good job.

I am following up on my original review of my replacement 1959 Marshall Handwired Superlead head.Again it was manufactured in 2006,has two channels,four inputs.High treble,and the bassy sounding second channel.I am happy with all the features it dosen't have.I am paying for the classic superlead circuit,not channel switching,digital effects,or reverb.I use this amp at home primarily
and it is LOUD.Does it have enough power? Yes and it is a beautiful sounding work of musical art and history.It was the exact first amplifier I ever owned as a boy in England,and I have fond memories,which have been rekindled.It has four EL-34 power tubes,with three Ecc83 or 12AX7 preamplifier tubes.It is the first version with the capacitors mounted above the chassis and a 'standup'mains transformer.These are reproductions by Dagnall,the original English vendor.I play mostly blues based rock and attempt neo-classical lately.

I have guitars with original Bill Lawrence pickups,EMG 81's,vintage strat,JB humbuckers,DiMarzio HS-3,YJM's.The famous noise floor is present,at Guitar Center again I switched out the preamp tubes with some noise improvements.Apparently Marshall uses relabeled JJ/Tesla valves.The high treble channel has the capacitor across the input that is very bright and loses effect as the volume is increased.This amp is loud on volume number 2 and at 4 is deafening.From what I read the amp works at optimum efficiency at the highest impedance setting of the output transformer,in this case 16 ohms,or one 16 ohm 4X12 cabinet.In the old days the Marshall store in Hanwell,London told me to use the 120 watt cab with the 100 watt head,if you are only using one cab,not a 25 watt loaded cab.The amp will blow up a greenback loaded 4X12 if pushed enough.I am not to sure about using a power attenuator with this amp,would use the Kendrick Power Glide or the Trainwreck Allesandro Muzzle.The distortion is harmonically intricate and musical sounding.You have power tube distortion,not fizzy pre-amp gainy distortion.If you want gain get a 5150 or Soldano.

Yes you can depend on it, this amp is designed for extreme rock and roll and has been hauled around for as many years ,as are many of the readers ages.Tubes seem to be more critical than in the old days.
But I look forward to fine tuning this aspect.As long as you use the standby switch correctly,you should have no real problems.Let the tubes warm up for 5 minutes at least and don't keep switching the standby on and off.Use your guitar volume instead.

Had two return E-mails from Joseph Gilmartin at Korg/Marshall.He was friendly and helpfull.He has offered to send me replacement preamp tubes with proof of my amp purchase.

Would rate it an eleven!
If it were stolen I would buy another.
Thanks Marshall.

I aam reviewing a 2006 1959 Marshall Superlead Handwired Head and Handwired speaker cabs.I have owned 5 different vintage Marshall heads in the past.My first amp I ever owned was a 1968 superlead plexi that I bought from Jim Marshalls original store in Hanwell,London in 1969.I know what these original amps sound like,I was so excited to hear of the handwired reissue.The features are simple,tone controls and two volume controls,two channels which have electrical connection between them internally,with four inputs,two per channel,one high sensitivity and the other low.This amp could be used in the space shuttle hangar as it is loud!! The volume has great clarity and presence though and you will feel your trousers flap frow the sound pressure waves.You can only get this with a Marshall with 4X12 cabinets.Everything else us a copy.The high treble channel will stick an icepick into your eardrum,especially with a single coil pickup.The hand wired series uses the original point to point hand wired circuitry,with Marshall's own proprietary phenolic tag board with solder turrets and dressed wiring exactly like the original.The mains and output transformers are made by Dagnall in England to the original specifications.Only the mains A.C. connections and the voltage and impedance selectors are changed to meet modern saftey regulations.This was always a thrilling part of the original Marshalls as the Bulgin plugs and cheap Radio Spares original components always heated up became brittle and broke.I have in my previous years studied Marshall amps to a very detailed degree and could tell if any mods were done or components changed,so it warms my heart to see an original looking amp chassis.They have even included a Radio Spares type label to the top of the chassis as in the originals.This amp can be used with multiple effects,pedals,ect.Don't look for effect loops or the like.Plug your strat into a cry baby original fasel inductor pedal,then to a fuzzface,preferably with a coiled cord and you will be experienced!Gary Moore,Warren DeMartini,EVH,Angus Young,JMH,Yngwie,Robin Trower,Jeff Beck,Ritchie Blackmoore,you get the vibe.You should only buy this amp if you are into playing with a 'feel',I compared it to a Soldano SLO-100 and of course the Soldano has 4 to 5 gain stages and is effortlessly killer in tone.But the Maeshall has the vibe where it all began.

I have a 1982 Fender '57 reissue VO serial number blackie strat,a Washburn SS80 Steve Stevens model,modified to an original Fender made Floyd Rose and two body mounted JB's(this guitar will kill any EVH Charvel garbage reissue),an 80's Hamer 24 fret neck through super strat rattlesnake finished with OBL pickups SC/SC/HB,1952 rebuilt Les Paul Goldtop with original soapbars and basically converted to 1956 specs,Two Gary Moore Heritage models,one from each series of 75 guitars produced,with twin EMG 81 active pickups,these wer modified to nashville bridges from the crappy Schaller roller bridges,Dimarzio stainless fretwire.Thes mods were done for me by the late great John Zeidler of Philadelphia,an amazing luthier who instilled his soul and passion for music into his exquisite work.Also I recently bought a YJM signature stratocaster 2005 vintage with two YJM and oneHS-3 stacked pickups,this guitar has a beautiful Hendrixy feel to it.This handwired head has the slightly increased gain circuit,which is great but to shred dude you must have the chops to do so as it will not play itself like the new Line 6 type simulated'plexi-brown sound'type copy sounds.Every great rock and metal album and show was played with this type of amp!Is it noisy the prompt asks me? Well this is the issue.When I picked up my special order amp from Guitar Center, who are awesome by the way,it played seemingly fine.Itook the stack home carefully and due to busy work schedule did not play it again for 7 days.When I plugged in it had a pronounced hum andannoying type noise,I knew my mains was grounded and my other amp worked fine there.I tried every type of guitar and had top quality guitar cables.When I turned down all the tone controls and the volumesyou could still here this constant noise.I was very disapointed and even stayed home from work the next day to bring it back to the dealer.With another G12-H 30 watt Handwired cabinet the head produced the same noise.THe salesmen agreed that it was excessive.They ordered me a replacement from Korg.I didn't want to play with changing out tubes at this stage especially power tubes which has been suggested by Mojave amp works who I e-mailed with my questions.The amp will need to be rebiased with new tubes and for $3000.00 dollars or so I felt I shouldn't have to do this.This is my dream amp and it cost me $5200.00 with both speaker cabinets.

In the past my JTM 100 watt Superbass 1967 plexi amp was dead quiet with old tubes.I only added screen grid resistors to protect the output tubes/transformer.My 1973 Superlead 100 watt metalfront head was found by me in Philadelphia with a burnt smelling interior and aluminum foil for a mains fuse, with minor repairs it worked fine and was silent in operation after a hard gigging life.My new amp will be a trailer queen so to speak and frankly I am dissapointed after the big habdwired buildup.The sound is in there but the techical difficulty spoils the experience.I will repost when I get my replacement to let you know.

I e-mailed Marshall's tech support right away and they replied this model is known for some"floor noise" but they had notheard of the problem I was encountering,and would follow up if Guitar Center couldn't help me.To me along with the TV front 1959 AC-15,the JTM-45 original,the AC-30,the JMP small box 50 watt Marshall,this is the 'only'tube amp head in the world,just ask Steve Stevens.

If it were stolen I would replace it with the exact same thing.I considered the other botique amps,such as Roccaforte,TopHat,SoldanoSl-100,Bogner Ecstasy,ect.But this is the holy grail of amps.Now Marshall is making a Jimi Hendrix JH-100 watt super amplifier with four KT-66 valves,like his early English experience club date amps,this should also be killer.The JTM 45 100 watt head with dual output transformers is also very cool,hats off to Marshall for building what the public wants.The 20 watt Lead/Bass head and cab,the 18 watt combo handwired are very great sounding amps.I am hopeful Marshall will put it right for me.

IVe been waiting to submit a post until I really got into the amp and dialed it in. 100% Handwired and not the PCB version as was previously released. This is a whole new game with this amp. This time Marshall really did their homework. No loops, No channel switching, no push-pull knobs or 5 way boost-gain knobs, etc. No no No-Just 100% straight ahead Marshall Tone!! The Real Deal! This amp is used for rehearsals, gigs large and small, and at home play. No attenuator but ive thought of getting one. More than enough power! Can get loud but stays focused and really shines like the plexis of yesteryear.

Ok Here we go! As was stated in the previous review just below mine, The FIRST thing that needs to be done is to definitely snip one leg of the Bright Cap which is very bright at .005uF. Snipping only the one leg will not void the warranty and is easily reversible. I play old school funk, aggressive blues, heavy groove, Drop D and E flat tunings, Instrumental Guitar music ala Vai and Satch, Steve Morse to brazilian and latin flamenco and shred to Floyd, Tool, Black Crowes, Pink Floyd,etc.
I do use both channels and jump them together. I run the low input of Volume I into the High Input of Volume II. I find this to give the most freq. response. I use much more of channel II and a hint of Channel I to mix in the Treble which with the Bright cap cut is VERY usable and sounds lush, smooth and very large! I use a Valvedriver and have used a Tonebone Hot British pedal with this amp. To me these 12ax7 pedals truly help the amp to really come alive. Attenuation is an option but again with the right boost pedal you can get a very lush and responsive tone at lower volumes. Unlike some amps, As you turn the volumes up this amp becomes smoother, warmer, more responsive and makes my hairs stand on end!
A friend of mine and I compared his 1975 Marshall 1959SLP 50 watt vintage head using the same setup (Tonebone Hot British, H20 Delay/Chorus/jumping the channels and no bright cap). With a hint of delay for ambience and the Tonebone both amps were almost identical tonewise and we even agreed the 1959HW was a bit smoother even! Unreal. I wasnt sure what to expect but I am SO HAPPY WITH THIS AMP I wouldnt change a thing. I now want to get either a ZVEX Fuzz Factory or similiar Fuzz type pedal to run with the amp for a varied tone. I also own a mint 1981 Marshall JCM800 2203/Bogner Uberkab/Klon Centaur setup and I am now running both amps side by side with an AB/Y pedal running both together or seperate at any given time for an incredible palet of tones and wall of sound! What else can I say. This amp is exactly what Marshall said it is. A pre july 69 circuit all Hand Wired. The Dagnall Output Transformer sounds great. The Roederstien MKT1813 caps sound great. You can get a boutique knock off of this amp with a slightly better set of caps but to me nothing beats a Marshall. Ive come home again, And my Home is at Marshalls House :>)

No problems what soever. The soldering on the inside of the amp was so clean I was very happ and quite impressed with the Marshall techs and how this amp was put together. A+! This amp will be used on all my gigs, for recording, band practices, and solo jams with my Bass player while we write. I cant get this amps tone out of my head. It is THAT GOOD!! It is built like a TANK!

I have used Marshall customer support twice. Both times I was satisfied.

I have been playing guitar for 20 years. I teach guitar for a living and have a band for shows. If this amp were stolen I would DEFINITELY AND WITHOUT HESITATION buy another one. I love the TONE of the amp. I love the construction of the amp and the build quality is second to none. I compared it to other boutique plexi trype amps and although I know there are people who will say to you, this amp doesnt have such and such caps and should have these certain type instead which im not gonna mention names or "the amp should have this kind of Output Transformer and not that kind" again no names i will mention. I can go on. You have to simply LISTEN to this amp and know HOW to run the amp and it will LOVE you for it. TRUST ME! What i want from an amp more than anything is for it to be well built, sturdy to stand the rigors of the road and most of all of course to have the most incredibly smooth, lush yet aggressive tone on earth. This amp delivers plain and simple. Best thing is to LISTEN for yourself and make up your own mind about the amp and you to will believe! Thank you Jim Marshall,Thank You:>)

New Marshall HW with classic Plexi controls that really work. Just a basic amp for natural, big tone. I run the Volume one on 9 and the bass and mids on 10, treble on 6 and presence on 2. I have mixed the channels but I seem to like the tone with just the bright channel.

The first thing I did was clip the capacitor from Vol. one which got rid of the insane treble at low volumes. Now it is rich and thick with plenty of treble. If you try this amp in a store you have to get the volume up to 8 to bypass that cap. Once you buy one just pull the chassis out and clip out the cap. Easy as it gets. I did put a 470k resistor to change the volume's taper but I like the amp better with nothing.

I play rock/blues/fusion ala Joe Bonammasa, Robben Ford, John Scofield and Jimmy Herring, and use a variety of guitars, Baker, Tyler, Grosh, Gibson.

I have a friend who has a mint, all original 1967 Plexi that I A/B'd the HW with and we were both amazed and impressed by how close the tone was. I was sold and he wants one now to gig with so he doesn't blow his original up. This is the real deal folks, not some crappy reissue.

I love this amp. I use a two volume Ultimate Attenuator and a pedal board with numerous fuzzes and ODs but the main tone is just the amp. Fat singing lead tones and then spanky clean tones with just a twist of the guitar's volume knob.

I don't play classic rock but this amp can even get the Dumble type tones by just cranking the guitar down a bit. Great for the music I play. Can you say Michael Landau????

The thing to remember is that, even attenuated, there is a hughness in the bottom end because you are pushing a lot of watts. There is also a cool push to the notes. You can't get that tone with a cranked up small amp or a master volume, I've tried for years. I would rather attenuate a big amp and have the headroom.

I'm using it with a Divided by 13 4x12 cab with Celestion Heritage G12H and G12M speakers mixed.

So far so good.

Who knows until something goes wrong. There is a authorized service shop near me and besides, its a PTP amp.

I give this amp a 10 because you can get great clean tones to great lead tones with just your guitar's volume knob, so much more organic than channel switcher amps. Live I switch the Ultimate Attenuator's two volumes for lead volume/rhythm volumes both having the same tone.

I currently own Komet, Top Hat, Tone King, Bruno, Fender, and Divided By 13 amps and right now this is the amp I grab for rehearsals and live work. I bring an RSA23 for a backup which is a great sounding amp as well, but I love the tone and feel of the Marshall. They really nailed it this time.

I used to use Marshall in the 70's and quit due to volume hassles and I never liked their amps post 1973. Not any more. This is the tone!!!

This is the new hand-wired 1959, made in August 2005, all-tube, silicon rectifier based (for the most part) on the pre-July 1969 circuit. According to what I've read, the 1959s previous to this were more mellow, but people were asking Marshall for an even more aggressive amp. Volume for each channel, bass, middle, treble, presence, that's it. Hey, it does what it does, it sounds best when the power tubes are smokin', nice and loud, and that sucks these days because people are showing up to jams/gigs with little toaster amps and miking them. And the club owners get nervous when you wheel in a 100-watt head and 4x12 (I'm not Buddy Guy:o)) Not many features, but much easier to plug and play than a TSL... I play loud rock and blues, and it's perfect for me (but the neighbors might not agree...) No reverb, no extra crap, not needed. If I want reverb, I use a splash of a Fender tube reverb unit.

When I first brought it home from GC in 11/05 (I know, I know, only place in town that had one), I was disappointed. It had no testicles. I was using my trusty Fender Custom Shop Strat (OK, it did have old strings), plugged it into a Mesa Recto 4x12 cab, 8 ohms. No effects, just a Boss TU-2 tuner. Total squealy feedback, not nearly the grindy, ballsy nuts my other PCB Marshalls have, none of the violiny resonance I was expecting. Bummer. I just dropped $2800 ($3000 with tax) on a nutless Marshall. So I pulled the chassis, it has JJ pre and power tubes relabeled Marshall, checked the bias, it was dead-on. So I put a GT Marshall hi-gain SAG preamp tube set in it, and got more hum and noise. So I replaced the stock tubes and let it burn awhile. Then, I pulled out the Gibson LP Custom with SD Pearly Gates and NEW STRINGS, and Jesus Christ, talk about grind and balls. Oh, I also swapped out the Mesa cab with 2 Marshall 4x12 Vintage 30 cabs. It's a monster, but does clean up nicely when you back off on the guitar's volume knobs. Very bright - I'm using the neck pickup on the LP, which I never used to do. Hiss and noise - yes, but when it's cranked up, it happens.

Not much experience taking it out yet, but unless it burned up I wouldn't expect problems. It gets very hot, but the transformers are freakin' huge and heavy. So unless it was dropped hard or something, I wouldn't think there would be problems.

Guitar Center - come on, the kid I bought it from was probably 19 years old. He didn't know what he was doing. I asked him that I was wondering if I should try retubing with Mullards. He had no idea what a Mullard was?!?!?! To his credit, he did give me a 30-day return policy. I don't know where GC would send it for service, they probably don't know either. I tried registering the amp with Marshall, and I got a reply that registering online was for UK customers only, and my receipt served as my registration. Go figure. I love the head, the construction rivals anyone else's, I just expected more for such an expensive amp.

Oh yeah, except for the receipt, I got no kind of documentation whatsoever. When I called the kid at GC to see if they had one in stock, he said "I'll set it aside for you. If you buy it today, I'll make it worth your while." No free cover, cable, nothing. I had to download the manual from Marshall's website. Asshole. Not Marshall's fault for sure, GC just blows.

Played 30 years now. I have a ton of other Marshall heads, most of which KILL. I play LPs, Strats, and SGs. If it were stolen, I'd find out who and shoot them betwen the eyes. Yes, I'd buy another if I had that kind of money.

Like I said before, it's grindy and ballsy, and cleans up nicely when you turn the guitar volume down. Perfect for basement jams, and for rock and balls-to-the-wall BLUES. I want another one, and a buttload of the reissue cabs to go with them. As for volume, I could use an attenuator - nah.

2005 no effects loop no, channel switching, no head phone jack no no no no no nio
This amp has purchased my soul and will not return it.
Features I wished it had : A buddy and by that I mean another one.
Massive power. Its the Deal

BREATH TAKING, HUGE, I mean super huge.
Wouldn't recommend it for your senior homes, its Loud.
Best distortion imaginable Unless you play Boogie in which case you wont be able to play it (skill required), and when equiped with the Full tone OCD GEEZUZ KEY RYST

Only had her 4 a month, BUT ITS HANDWIRED, I'll get my 10 year old to fix it if she goes down!!!!

Been playing 10 years. Gibson Les Paul Standard (Seymour Pearly Gates p/u bridge and neck) 50th Aniversary Strat, Full tone OCD and Fulltone Fat-boost, Boss digital Delay
AND I will buy another!!

I love this amp boys, finally my search is over, its loud and I'm proud when the people after the show say, Dude. Unbelievable
Thats what I'm talking about.

repro of the 69 split cathode plexi 100
100 watts, hand wired, interior contruction is breathtaking

It has the sound!! Plugged it in and played it thru the matching B cabinet. Used a jumper to blend the channels... this one has it !

turn the guitar down and its very clean whack the guitar hard and it barks. It is very aggressive yet does not have the ice pick trebles of their PC card reissues.
I own 3 other plexi's a 68 1959, a 66 park 100, and a 67 50 watter...
multiple metal panel amps & various cabs
ac30's and an ac50 as well as real tweed bassmans
I mention this as a point of reference
this new amp has the magic... just stunning
I had begun to think that marshall had forgotten...
Don't get me wrong the amp is very loud but sweetly brutal, instead of nasty ...
note squeeze is amazing
it responds to your touch
bass notes have that Hendrix grindy thump
... WHO tunes sound right
... ZZTOP is just a boogie riff away ....

Thanks jim ... now please do the jtm45/100's and early jtm45s properly ...

Its hand built properly,
it will hurt people for a very long time
dependably loud !

Who can't fix these??

This is the one, why buy dodgy, modded, hole drilled basket case ...
"original no mods"
"then why are all these parts new and wrong"
"sorry man I'm no amp expert"
junk when this one does it with the flip of a standby switch
the hunt is over,
this one sounds like the primo examples and is just amazing buy it and play

the price of less than perfect junkers just dropped !!

this is the stuff
they must be drinking the right brand of scotch in bletchley again!
(yes i'm serious)
don't wait get one ... the search is over

It seems that at Marshall started to do things in the right way. This one is very close to the real mc coy (it lacks the process called "aging" for obvious reasons) and vastly a better product than the super nasty vintage series. Thanks to God this one has no the crappy send/return feature, no bloody channel switching and simple tone controls, just what the doctor ordered 40 years ago. Compare the weight of this beauty with respect to the vintage series, it weights much more why? Answer: better transformers and better components overall and real wire.

Jimi would be pleased, and me too.

Built like a tank.

It is a new (old) product, so 100% of customer support is assured.

If we are talking about sound quality and overall quality, I hope that Marshall will continue over this path. The only one possible for a company that "gave birth to rock and roll".

Its a new 100 watt marshall plexi no features that weren't on the originals. no reverb or channel switching

I tour with 3 original plexis and this one fits in the family nicely, loud but not tinny or harsh. I'm happy that they got the sound right. The non hand wired reissue sounds all wrong this one is right, finally. If you want it loud and pleasant like the old days this is the amp for you

hasn't broke yet only 6 gigs in though

they seem ok finally a good amp, I thought they'd forgotten how

I play other plexis regularly and it fits in sonically. I've got 3 real plexis 4 71 superleads, 3 2210 800's a 69 major, I might get another one and sell some 71 heads, definately if I lost it I'd get another. I Love it, plexi is the tone I dig. I've been playing professionally for 24 years. You might as well buy one its the real thing not a goofy boutique amp for Lawyers and Doctors.