Marshall 1987XW "Plexi" Reissue

1997 reissue supposedly of a 1968 'plexi'. As mentioned in another review only 250 of these were made in all white with gold trimmings. Basic 1987 marshall layout, 2 channels with 4 inputs (lower two inputs are -6db) Presence, bass, mid, treble, high treble vol, normal vol controls. Theres no effects loop on this model of the reissue. Powered by a pair of EL34s, mine was recently fitted with Svetlana tubes. Channels can be bridged. If you go into the 2nd channel from your guitar you can control the high treble (1st) channel volume without bridging for some reason, but not the other way around.

The first thing you notice with this head is how seriously loud it is. The volume control on the high treble channel acts effectively as an on-off switch. Between 0-1 this channel gets rapidly louder, and from there on just gets more and more distorted as you push it to 10. The normal channel is a bit more reasonable and can be pushed closer to 4-5 before it begins to break up. Going into the lower input on channel 1 and bridging the high input on channel 1 to the lower on channel 2 I can set the volumes to about 0.5 on channel 1 and 3.5 on channel 2 and be well and truly heard on stage.

The gain in the amp is pretty unbelievable. Theres no real fuzz tones in here, but theres not a lot of clean either. The high treble (1) channel pretty much has no clean tone at all using the first input. Pushing the amp to 10 gets a fair bit of gain but if you're after fuzz, you'll still need a pedal or two. This amp is full of warm bluesy overdrive.

I'm mostly using Fender guitars through this amp. An early 80s Jap Tele, 90s American strat and a Japanese Mustang. I'm running the amp through a 1998 Marshall 1960TV cabinet.

My band plays noisy melodic post-rock type songs, with influences from bands like Mogwai. This amp is a massive improvement over my old Line 6 Flextone for that kind of sound. The amp is very responsive to picking dynamics. Right now I have it setup just on the edge of breaking up (see earlier volume settings) and push it over with a Boss OD-2 and a Boss DF-2 pedal. I use these effects more as a volume boost than to add additional gain, and the amp reacts really well to these.

The EQ on the amp is pretty flexible when combined with the different tones you can get from mixing the high treble and normal channels. Without any of the high treble channel the amp is really bassy, but the moment you introduce the high treble channel you will want to turn the treble and presence controls down a lot. The settings I'm using at the moment are roughly P-9oc, B-12oc, M-9oc, T-9oc ch1-0.5, ch2-3.5.

The clean tone is good, but ideally i'd like a fender for clean and to use this for gain. Thats a lot of gear to lug around though so i'll settle for this for now :).

Its a tube amp following a classic design. It's never broken down in the time I've had it, nor the guy I bought it off. If it did I can't imagine it would be very hard to fix.

Never dealt with Marshall, probably never will.

I've been playing about 8 years now, that makes me feel old. This is actually my first tube amp as I got thoroughly frustrated with my Line 6 after a year or two. It's a really nice amp but ideally i'd prefer to get an original or something close like a Blockhead if it were stolen/lost.

As the amp is a reissue I guess it should be authentic, but the new reissues have an effects loop and this would have been a nice addition to the amp. As it is i'm told the amp is closer to a '72 than a real plexi (as indicated by the on/off volume controls), so I wouldn't care if an 'improvement' such as that were added. Lack of master volume isn't a real problem and is actually kinda cool. It's a limiting feature but that's what this amp is about. No bells and whistles.

I bought the amp on a whim (mate wanted to upgrade to something a little quieter), so I didn't really shop around. It really does make my Line 6 sound quite poor, although to be fair to Line 6 the original Flextone series have long since been superceeded.

Overall I wish there was a little bit less gain in the early stages of the volume control to give the clean tone a little bit more headroom. Other than that this amp is one of the better purchases i've made over the years. The tone is clear and it moves an almost silly amount of air out of my quadbox. Blues/Classic Rock and people into more ambient/noisy indie/shoegazer type stuff would probably find something nice in this amp.

Features? We don't need no steenkeeng features!

I just can't put into words how I feel about the sound. With just my 75 Les Paul custom with Dimarzio's (I know, done b4 I bought it) and my stock 75 strat straight in, I can go from freaky Hendrix & Purple to downright Sabbath, Priest & Maiden. The clean sounds are great too just like the old plexi's. She's noisy but it's worth the trade-off. Mine is completely stock but I've heard they sound even better tweaked a little. The Marshall book says it actually sounds more like one of the 1972 distortion beasts and I believe it. Mine has the matching white cab with the reissue greenbacks. I've got a 1974 blackback cab with 30 watters and the greenbacks sound a little warmer. I've been playing since 1979 and I've had plenty of Marshalls, Fenders, Ampegs etc... and all my bandmates have had others like Hiwatt and Boogies. This amp sounds as good or better than them all. I can look past the circuit board and just let my ears guide my heart and I'm glad I did. I also had a JMP-1 preamp that sounded like garbage through any other amp but sounded awesome through this amp and my bluesbreaker reissue (purple no less!).

Can't form a valid opinion as I've only had it about eight months--leftover stock from a music store. I never EVER bring it out of the house.

Never had to call

For what I wanted, this amp is perfect. I wanted a plexi with the small gold logo and the panel that was only about 3/4 of the face, not all the way across. I wanted the little piping that went across the middle of the amp face from one end to the other. I wanted purple and could have bought a Hendrix stack for $2500.00 NEW, but was broke, when this came along a little later(actually was there but didn't sell). And I WANTED no master volume. Just for this amp. I DIDN'T want to pay $2,000.00 for just a head. I got a head and cabinet in a special color, no less, for less than an original head--and they sound the same. If you're not a Marshall fan, or if you want something you can go and gig with, this amp may not be for you. I Just enjoy uncovering it, blasting it for about a minute before the neighbors call the police, and covering it back up for another few months until it is time to unleash the beast again.

This 1987XW was made in 1997 as part of a group of 35th anniversary Marshall amps. There were only 250 of each group made (1987XW; 1959 and 1962 Bluesbreaker ). All of these amps are white. Marshall even made white powerbrakes for this series. The 1987XW has 4 inputs, 2 volumes ( high treble & normal ), treble, middle, bass and presence. To unlock this amps full potential, I jump short wire from the lower input volume 1 to the upper input volume 2. I'm using a very short George L wire with straight jack ends to jump the volumes which in essence bridges 2 very different volume colors. This wire is only about 1 inch and you really hear a tone and clarity difference with the George L cable.
This is a loud 50 watt EL34 plexi re-issue ( it's really not a plexi, but that's what Marshall wants us to think ).
The front panel is pretty much a basic amp.
This is a basic bare bones nice British tone amp.
Oh yeah, the 1987XW and 1960AW come with the book "The History of Marshall" with Jim Marshall's signature.

I'm into European rock stuff......Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore and all other cats that have been influenced by these great players. I use quality guitars....Les Pauls, SG's, Flying V's, 335's, Tele's, Strats and occationaly a Parker Classic and a Firebird. All of these guitars retain their identity through this amp. Having a matching white 4x12 cabinet with 25 watt greenbacks helps.
The volume comes up pretty quick on the 1987. With both volumes on 2, my ears are ringing. I like to play an amplifier at low volume when checking it out. Hearing the notes and tone is important......I hate when I hear a music store Mozart turn up the gain and start some olympic self indulgent sweep picking. It's just silly finger fumbling and a childish tantrum. I guess that's why there are metal zone pedals and other toneless toys out there for the pre Berklee kids.
Anyway, if you must turn up the volume, the 1987XW really shines. It has that classic Brit sound that guitarist search for. My 56 Les Paul jr makes me feel right at home when I'm noodling on Mountain's "Never In My Life". THE TONE. With my 52 re-issue Tele, the 1987XW hops across the room. Twang meets Marshall bang.
If you must use a pedal or fx, I found that my Bixonic Expandora and Fender Reverb tank compliment this halfstack well.
Classic British Sound.

Well, my wife gave it to me as a Christmas present ( the spouse of a guitaraholic knows her stuff ).
It still works......I don't abuse my stuff.
I expect it to last a long time.

I own a bunch of Marshall toys for over 10 years.
Never had to use a factory warranty.
Never needed to contact customer service at Marshall.

I've been playing for 30+ years. I've done the Beatle boots to skinny ties to current stuff ( which is retro, right? )
My taste in amps and guitars has always been sort of backwards. I like tone and the volume to replicate that tone. The 1987XW and 1960AW have a very basic but distinguishable tone. It's not as versatile as a Matchless or any of the boutique thingys, but it's very pleasing. I also own a Groove Tubes Soul O 75 with KT88s that is very versatile. Marshall is Marshall....it has a specific identity. If you want a creamy classic tone with a lot of bite, then this is your amp. Adding a P 90 Les Paul helps.