Marshall 1959S Mk II Superlead Reissue 100 Watt Head

KRM does a beautiful job of describing the features. (See below). This is a no frills amp if there ever was one; no master volume, no effects loop, no reverb. This is not a "plexi" reissue. There were 250 of these made in 1988, the only year that it was in production. Apparently, it is based on the early 70's metal panel 100 watt Super Leads. I bought the one that I have brand new way back in '90 or '91. I bought a reissue basket weave cabinet with it that I believe has 75 watt Celestions in it.

It took me quite a while to figure out what I was doing with this thing but I'm glad I didn't give up. I have relied on the Marshall Power Brake for the last ten years and it has done a real good job though I may try some other attenuators. Actually, the Power Brake has been a godsend and has enabled me to turn up the volumes on the amp to where they sound good without blowing the neighborhood away. This is an incredibly powerful amp. I am playing an Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster into a Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz. I run a y-cord out of the fuzz into both channels of the Marshall. To my ears, this sounds better than jumpering the channels with a patch cable - tighter bass and cleaner highs. I set both volumes around 7.5 or 8. (This would not be possible without an attenuator as you would blow any band away unless you were outdoors or in a huge room). Indeed, pedals sound fantastic with this amp - mainly fuzzes, octave fuzzes, wahs, overdrives and vibe pedals. I run a post mic echo rig that includes an Electro Harmonics Deluxe Memory Man. I I prefer to place time based effects after power tube distortion. A strat is too clean without some kind of fuzz or overdrive and the Axis Fuzz does a great job. I can clean up by backing down the volume pot on the guitar. How does it sound? The combination of the silicon fuzz and the Marshall power amp distortion puts it in the realm of Band of Gypsies and current Eric Johnson sound wise. Ealier Jeff Beck comes to mind as well as Cream, Jimmy Page and Mahavishnu. This is not a shredder but delivers massive rock tone, sweet and compressed.

This thing is a tank but you should have it serviced regularly by a professional technician unless you know how to do that stuff yourself. Actually, I'm overdue for a retube/bias.

I can't comment here.

I chose this amp because this is what most of my favorite players used more or less - Jimi, Jeff Beck, Andy Summers, Eric Johnson, John McLaughlin. For a while I thought I had made a huge mistake. I mean, I wasn't playing hockey arenas. Then, safe (for the most part) power attenautors came on the scene and I was suddenly able to use this beautiful amp. It really does get those classic rock sounds and now with the EJ strat, I'm having more fun than I've ever had playing. I'd have to replace it if it were stolen but this guy is fairly rare so I suppose I would look for a vintage top though I don't know if I could afford one. I don't really know how this unit compares to either vintage Marshalls or the newer reissues but I'm very happy with this model. This thing sings with good tubes/biasing.

1988 jcm800 mk2 super lead 100 watts excellent for Classic rock, blues, metal ect.Four inputs for high or low out put or i use a jumper in between for more tone control.This amp is excellent for pedal use. I use ibanez ts9 with 808 mod along with BossMT-2.This how i gow from clean to overdriven to metal.This amp has plenty of power it crushes my peavey 5150 412 double stack. I do not like the new marshalls but the older ones are just what im looking for. I was using this head with two 5150 cabs then i switched to one jcm800 g12T75 but i really prefer celestion vintage 30 16 ohms.I have gone toe to toe with the 5150 and the marshall triple super leads and this head kicks there ass its so loud they think there is a problem withthewre amps. stole this head for $350.00 I own a crate 3500H and two 5150 i would give them all up for this amp if i had to but i dont have to. They dont make amps like this anymore and thats there mistake if the 5150 would be my second amp of choice.

les paul 498 & 490R pickups & esp MH400NT emg 81 & 85 pickups.I prefer the less paul but the emg pick go to another sonic level.iTS NOT NOISY IT JUST HAS POWER THAT CANT WAIT TO BE RELEASED.The only down fall is no foot switch but i over came that by using my pedals
like DS-1 and MT-2.This amp has a sonic punch bone crushing chest caving heart beat skipping thunder

I have two different fuses and another set of tubes for stand by or back up. I have never had to use them but that will depend how trea or mistreat your equipment.Power up stand time never un plug cables speaker ectt while powered up you could loose some power tubes.

I do a lot net reserach as well pick the brain of the manufacturer.
I started out as crate fan then 5150 now marshall.

20 years last three years has had all of my attention.

THIS IS 2001 1959 REISSUE. THIS AMP IS VERSATILE IF YOU KNOW HOW TOW USE IT. HAS TWO CHANNELS. NO EFECT LOOP. THIS IS THE MOST POWER HOUSE AMP TODAY.

I USE LES PAULS HAVE STD. AND 57 REISSUE BLACK BEAUTY. THIS AMP WILL COVER ANY STYLE OF MUSIC. YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO USE IT. THIS AMP IS LIKE NO OTHER AMP OUT THERE. IT HAS THE BEST CLEAN SOUND I HAVE EVERY USED IN MY 30 YEARS OF ROCKING. I HAD TO LOWER THE VOLUME. 1ST PREAMP TUBE CHANGE TO 12AT7 OR 12AU7 TO LOWER YOUR VOLUME THIS IS THE KEY OF TAMMING THIS POWER HOUSE PLEXI. FIRST PREAMP TUBE ONLY. LEAVE ALL OTHER TUBES ALONE. NOW SETTINGS PRESENSE 7 BASS 3 3/4 MID 4 TREBLE 7 HIGHT-TREBLE VOLUME 6 NORMAL VOLUME 4 USE INPUT TWO HIGH INPUT 2 NOW YOU YOU CAN ADJUST YOUR TONE BY THE HIGH TREBLE VOLUME. YOU CAN GET A FAT OR NICE BITTING TONE FOR DISTORTION USE QUALITY PEDALS DISTORTION TS-9 KEELY MOD OR TONE MAN, OR I WILL MOD ALMOST ANY PEDAL. IN MY CHAIN OF PEDAL USE BOSS DS-1 ZAK WILDER MXR. YOU WILL NOT BELIVE HOW PROFFESSIONAL YOU WILL SOUND WITH THIS REISSUE 1959 PLEXI. I PURCHASE ORIGINAL REISSUE AV CHECKER GREENBACK 4/12 CAB TO MATCH THE PLEXI HEAD AND SOUND.

SIMPLE THE BEST . THIS AMP WILL LAST A LIFE TIME TAKING CARE OF IT.

I HAVE THREE MARSHALL ALL TUBE HEADS NEVER HAD TO CALL MARSHALL COMPANY. PURCHASE WITH AV MATCHING GREENBACK CHECKER CAB.

IF THIS AMP WAS TO LEAVE ILL BUY ANOTHER ONE IN ONE MIN.

I own 4 heads of this amps, If you want a clean sound you can have it without noise, If you want a warm distortion for a blusy sound you will get it, but I recoment it to use with heavy distortions sound with a lot of punch, and heavier than any other amp, and I include the other marshall amps. Sounds incredible loud too.

I play alternative music with a lot of disto, I been playing for the last 18 years and I been tryin a lot of heads but nothing like this, this is the real deal, the profesional choice.

This Baby never turn me down, If this amp broke, stole, or something bad happens, I dont have a doubt, I Will buy it again.

Purchased Dec 2001 'NOS' (new old stock) MINT.

The Marshall 1959S 100 Watt (all-tube) head was offered in the year 1988 along with the 1987S 50 Watt head as Marshall's first re-issues. Only 100 of each of the 50 watters and 100 watters were made to be sold in America, and 1988 was the only year they were made. They were loosely based on the 1973 metal-panel Marshalls.

Aesthetically, the 1959S has the 'old' Marshall styling complete with black vinyl covering, gold piping, small white Marshall logo, and control panel cutout - although the center 'bead' or gold line is actually lower than the originals; it's set in the center - and the control panel cutout radius is much rounder. It also has metal-panels in the front and back, and the thin gold vent on top.

The front panel, from L to R has:

Black polarity switch, black on/off switch, black standby switch, square red on/off indicator lamp, presence knob, bass knob, middle knob, treble knob, volume 1 knob, volume 2 knob, and the old 4-input (hi/low for both channels) setup.

The rear panel has:

4 speaker jacks, ohms selector switch (4,8,16), voltage selector switch, mains input (power jack), 4 amp and 1 amp fuse holders.

This head is the of the old 2 channel 4 input Marshall design; there is no reverb, master volume, or effects loop built in.

The head uses 3 12AX7/ECC83's for the preamp section and 4 EL34's for the poweramp section.

It's simplicity at it's finest for the purest tone. I rate this head a '5' for 'Features' simply because versatility is not what this head was built for. It does one 'tone', but for that one 'tone' it does in spades.

This head by itself is best for early rock or later 'super' rock sounds. You need to turn up the volume to get the lush powertube saturation distortion; therefore I highly recommend using a power attenuator such as a THD Hotplate.

You can experiment with the two channels by linking them together with a patch cable; and old 'trick' with the 4 input style Marshalls.

The type of guitar you use with this head makes a big difference in the overall tone and distortion you get.

The tone is warm, fat, punchy and crunchy when distorted; turn down the presence and the treble and you get a sweet smooth tone.

Using the guitar's volume knob, you can turn down to a cleaner tone; but it's not a 'pristine sparkly' type of clean.

Complex chord voicings ring true even at full distortion; lay off the pick attack and you lessen the amount of crunch. Leads sing and sustain.

There simply is no substitute for the 4 input non-master volume type of Marshall tone - this is a very DYNAMIC circuit! As they say, let your fingers do the talking!

Other than the usual tube servicing; solid as a brick.

I have never had to deal with Marshall.

I have been playing for 16 years. I also own a Marshall 2210 100 Watt head, and an ADA MP-1 + B200S rack system.

To finish, I have to say that this head has been a lesson of sorts: Simplicity = tone. And you can't get much simpler or more toneful than with a Marshall 4 input non-master volume type head!