Marshall 2061X Head

Features? The only feature you need is what this has - 2 channel's - one lead and one bass channel each with it's own tone and volume control. Simple is better - plug it in adjust tone and volume. It's one of the main reason's I purchased it.. the other reason is explained below..

If you are seeking pure rock tone heaven of the 60's and 70's this is THE amp. Clapton - The Cream Years, Ritchie Blackmore, Led Zep, Humble Pie, Free, Allman Bros, AC/DC. Hendrix... For me 20watts is the perfect volume and I only run it through a 1-12 Avatar Vintage open back cabinet with a Celestion G12H-30 Speaker. I have had and played out with many amps over the years - other higher watt Marshalls (1959, 1987X), Boogie's - MKIIB, Express 50 watt, Maverick, Orange Tiny Terror (Awesome amp by the way), Orange Rocker 30 Head, Valvetech, Ceriatone, Fender 65 Bassman, Rivera etc, etc. I am glad that Marshall came out with these reissue's. I typically have the Volume around 7 and the tone around 7 in the lead channel (LP Standard) and jumper with Bass channel with volume at 5-6 and tone 6-7. Amp is very touch sensitive, roll volume back on the guitar and she cleans up well, but as you max out the volume on the guitar it just fills in with this ballsey, raunchy, powerful, sweet crunch and sustain. I am not a pedal fan for gain or distortion yet this amp is very pedal friendly for those that are.

Really is a fabulous amp if again you want simplicity and the sound of Rock as only a Marshall can provide and all without removing the hairs off of your scrotum when cranking it up.

So far so good...

Not needed. Hopefully it stays that way.

Best amp I have owned period for the sound I am after as explained above...

This is a 20 watt dual channel all tube head. 2 inputs per channel. No channel switching. One volume and one tone control per channel. Very basic and that is the feature I like most. It still possible to get a lot of different sounds, but it's not a Mesa Road King.....

If you play Blues or Rock, even if it's on the heavier side, this amp is for you. Pure Marshall crunch. Warm, punchy and very satisfying. I personally use Les Pauls with it but it shows the strengths or flaws of every guitar you plug into it. That goes for your playing as well. But if you suck, at least you suck with incredible tone:-)
What I love most about this amp is the fact that you can drive it hard without getting too loud. But don't be fooled, this amp is still loud. Enough to compete with a loud drummer.
Just like the other non master volume Marshalls, the lead channel is very bright and the bass channel very dark sounding. To get the most of it, bridge the channels(a short patch cable into the low input of channel one and into the high input of channel two, plug your guitar into the high input of channel one) and mix the volume and tone controls to your liking. That's where this little monster really shines in my opinion. There is not a lot of clean headroom but if you roll back the volume of your guitar and play lightly it does clean up.
I used to have a 50 watt Plexi(was stolen..), then a Fender Twin(great clean sound and that's it), then a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier(great clean sound and that's it), then a Marshall 2204(great crunch, a little too much bite for my taste) but the 2061x completely blows me away.

Mine runs strong. I have heard of people having a lot of issues with both the 2061x and the 1974x. No complaints so far and if it built anything like the other Marshalls I used to own I don't foresee any trouble in the future. However this amp is less than a year old, so you never know......

I emailed them once to find authorized service facilities, got a response the same day. That's the extend of my customer service experience though. Therefore I can't really rate it.

I've been playing for 17 years now, in a lot of bands and a lot of styles. I've owned other Marshalls, Mesa/Boogie, Fender, Line6, Carvin and checked out about every major brand, a few boutique manufactures aside. If this was lost or stolen I'd be royally fu**ed, because I don't have anything left to trade in to replace it......
To make a long story short, best fu**ing amp I've ever owned.

I have taken a long time to finally submit my review for my matching 2061 head and cabinet. Like a few people have stated in this particular review, this amp/cab combination sounds like a little plexi w/o the tone controls with the power amp clipping tones. A lot less weight than your typical halfstack (understandably). I love playing my Les Pauls through the amp with maybe a Boss DD-3 for good echo/reverb qualities. As for versatility, since I love guys like Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Page, etc. which this amp does tonewise in spades, it is more than tonally versatile enough for me.

I have several Les Pauls, one with Timbuckers, one with Tom Holmes, one with vintage DiMarzio PAF's. At present I've been using a Keeley Boss Blues Driver (Phat Mod) with these Pauls and I'm just totally flabberghasted. Because the 2061 amp is cathode biased, and the phase inverter/driver tube is designed to drive the power output stage hard, this little amp really gives up the goods beautifully. The tone is punchy, articulate, and all the harmonic overtones are there as well. I replaced the tube set that came with the amp with JJ/Tesla ECC83's and JJ/Tesla EL-84's which is what came in the amp and they sound phenomenal.

Reliability? No problems after 3/4 years of ownership and usage.

What more features do you need? Many people want more EQ but all those knobs get in teh way of tone. This is volume and one tone - thats it. For me that works. I use an OD pedal for boost and can Q with that.

Fantastic. This thing really is a lil plexi. I had the 100w Hand wired 1959hw but it was so loud I had to let it go. I was very shocked how the 2061x truly sounds like the 1959 but manageable volume.

So far so good. There are some interesting issues that seem to be accross the board with these. Mine is biased so hot that you need to search for cold tubes to run it properly. My 2061 sounded like god until I put new tubes in then it was mud city. Turns out this thing was frying the new tubes. The kicker - the cold tubes are real hard to find. May hae to hard bias the amp which will likely change the tone.

Great lil head. Perfect for any practice or club dates. Unless you are doing stadium tours there is no need for a larger head. I struggled with 50 watt and 100 watt heads for years and now - I have a lil lightweight baby that sounds great. I'm not playing stadiums.

Only looses a point for the previously mentioned bias issue. If anyone has solved this issue I'd love to hear from you.

First we've got to make one thing clear.

DON'T BUY THIS AMP AND EXPECT HEAPLOADS OF HEADROOM!
I'm just saying this since people really think they are going to get it.

I mean Marshall has never been very known for their clean sounds in the first place, but we're speaking of 20 watts here. To a sane man like me, I wouldn't buy this amp and think I'll get loud cleans out of it.

On to the features part.
I've read about people mentioning PHASE PROBLEMS when linking the channels. I cannot hear any phase problems myself an I'm usually a big anti-fan of out of phase sounds.

I'm not going to mention how to work the amp, because you should be able to figure that out yourself.

I'm rating this amp 1 because the explanation for one is "Very limited" and that is just what this amp is, which the beauty with it!

This amp sounds great to me. But before I realised that it suffers from something I'd like to call "The Marshall syndrome" I had problems with finding a good tone out of it.
Thing is that just like it's bigger brother Plexi, it's very directional in its sound, more than other brands of amps.
What I mean is that if you stand too close and off to the side of the amp (speakers) as you usually do as the guitarist, it can sound muffled and dull.
Then if you just take a couple of steps away from the amp and stand right in front of it, it sounds very different. Now with GREAT PUNCH, ATTACK, AND CRISPY HIGHS!

Before I bought this amp I tried my best to research about its VOLUME.
Everywhere I read, people said it's enough to gig with, but I wasn't conserned of that. I wanted to hear whether it's LOUD ENOUGH for REHEARSAL.
I don't know about the rest of the world, but to me it sounds logic that you play louder when rehearsing than on stage??

So my short answer is: YES, THIS AMP IS LOUD ENOUGH TO REHEARSE WITH.
I play with a seriously LOUD DRUMMER, and this amp is just enough to make it. My other amps are all louder and compete better to my drummer though. And yes, if you're already thinking, my drummer is louder than yours. ;)

I haven't had any problems with this amp for pretty much exactly a year, then one day it blew a fuse. I popped in a new one and it blew instantly. It shows to be a BLOWN MAINS TRANSFORMER and I returned the amp for warranty repair on the same day I bought it, one year after.

I'm picking up the amp today.

Marshall is too big of a company to actually deal with them, you just don't. If you have a problem with a Marshall product you deal with your retailer.

Otherwise I sent Marshall a mail via their website and asked them for a sticker to put on my guitar case. I didn't expect anything but recieved lots of stickers along with a keyring, a pin and a couple of brochures.

That's enough for me to give an 8, saving the 9s and 10s for the special ones..

This amp is a one trick pony, it produces a great tone for in your face rock and roll!

The best thing with this amp is that it's so portable. It weighs less than 10kg and doesn't take up almost any space in the car.

It's cathode biased so when it's time for a tube change you just swap them and continue playing, no bias adjustment needed.

mostly for overdriven 60's and 70's rock and blues tones.
not as versatile as the 18w 1974x combo (which is better for clean tones) but as unreliable

good 60's /70's marshall overdrive but not that great for clean tones.
depends on the speaker yoiu use but it's got a good overall sound.
don't know the original but i like those reissues (compared to my vintage 50w or 100w , he can face the compare)

very unreliable, i broke down the 3rd or 4th head (after they replaced very slowly the other ones that broke down quiet fast).
i only have problems with this amp (and the 18w 1974x that i broke 3 times as well).
my 30 and 40 years old marshall work much better !!

very slow and not easy to deal with in France !

i can't give it more than 3 seeing all the time i lost with those amps !!

Bare bones amp , had this amp for one year , played lots of gigs with it..we play classic rock and blues, it has plenty of power for any job that we have played , it keeps up with our drummer real good , he is a very hard hitter

This amp is bad to the bone, it don,t get no better, I have 3 pre cbs fender amps and a soldano and Reverend Hellhound, and a crate power block

perfect amp so far, but I take my crate power block for a back up

No problems at all ,

I been playing at a pro level for 30 years , and I was always useing two amps to get this sound that was in my head , when I got the 2061 that was the end of that, just amazing amp . could not be happier..

Well it's a 2005 Marshall 2061X head. I bought it used from a Gear Page member earlier this year. Two channels - one dark and one bright. Can be mixed/jumped. Four tubes, one 12AX7 pre-amp tube, a 12AX7 phase inverter, and two EL-84's for power. Volume and tone for each two channels. Very simple and it's versatile for classic rock and blues styles, pretty loud and sounds like a Marshall should. Very nicely made with mostly high quality parts and hand wiring.

I use it mainly with a LP Standard and a Nash relic Strat. The spakle of EL-84's are apparent in this modest design. Very quiet amp until cranked nearly all the way up, at that point some hiss comes in as expected of any amp. No idling or grounding hum and is a bit quieter than even my Germino Masonette which is very quiet. (Noise and hum is a pet peave of mine so I'm very critcal. A properly designed, constructed, and maintained amp with good tubes should be very quiet, there is no excuse. My old and well maintained tube Fenders are quiet as little church mice). I'm going to compare it to my Germino Masonette I've had for a couple of months now. I'm liking my Germino Masonette better because it really does the big Marshall thang at less than rip yer head off volumes (mainly because it is pretty much the Marshall Super Lead circuit at a reduced scale and smaller OT). The 2061X is quite a bit different circuit & has greater clean headroom and has the El-84 sparkle/chime (not quite Vox-y). Available bass response is less but I've only used it through an Avatar open back 2 x 12 and a 1 x 12 open back, I don't have the matching closed back cab - and feel it really needs this style of cab to deliver the lows. My Masonette is open back and has plenty o' bass (only run the bass on about 4 - no higher. The upper mids on the 2061 are prominent, at lower volume settings especially. Some might find it harsh - others may love it, it depends on style and guitar used. It has no problems cutting through the mix. I played a classic rock gig with a single 12 cab and just plugged straight in and controlled dirt with my volume control. Cleans up real nice. Also, the tone cap and mixer bypass cap on the treble channel are up there at 4700 pf. This does boost the gain quite a bit and is needed for this single gain stage amp to get it to grind sufficiently. The original 2061's did not have caps that high - they used 500p I'm pretty sure. Mixing in the dark channel helps. If you need a punchy compact head with vintage Marshall style tone this amp is hard to beat. It does gind well when cranked to 7 or 8. The Germ will get there quicker (and go beyond) with it's additional gain stage. If I crank the Germ to 7 that is plenty of gain for old ZZ top and Allman Bros. The Germ does these tones a bit better. But the 2061X really sounded great.... for a while... more on that now....

The problem with mine was a blown output transformer. I was playing it and it suddenly lost power and it got real spitty/fuzzy sounding, not good at all. I've maintained & serviced my amps for many years and thought it was probably just a tube issue. Nope. Long story short: After going through the amp components and consulting some sources on the Gear Page and testing the resistance of the OT windings to the center tap, the only suspect was the OT (thanks to John Phillips and others -names escape me a this moment!). The problem with blowing the Dagnal OT's in these has been pretty well documented on the net. I emailed Marshall about sending it in for service and they said to send it in with original receipt for warranty service. Since I wasn't the original owner and did'nt have the receipt (which I probably could've got from the previous owner) and since I was contemplating the dubious option of having them install another Dagnal OT, shipping, hassle, etc... I decided that I would install a nice Heyboer tranny. So I did that last night and it sounds wonderful now. I fully expect the Heyboer to hold up well, it's a bit bigger and more robust than the Dag. We'll see. It defintely sounds better than the old one (when it was working) and worth the $60 and time to install. Just my opinion but Marshall should be ashamed. They should use really good Mercury Mags or Heyboer for these amps. Drake made really good transformers at one time too in the 800 series. There are other better transformers too. These hand wired Marshalls are just too much cabbage for this crap. These amps run the EL-84's pretty hot, which contributes to the excellent sound but you really need to bulletproof an amp like this as much as possible and I think they dropped the ball. Maybe they'll correct it. Other than that issue I don't think there have been any other problems except for burning some EL-84's pretty quickly (these should be checked to see how hot your particular tubes are running).

They were responsive to email and I'm confident they would've fixed it at one of their service centers. You have to set it up on your own though, you can't just "send it back to Korg". That's one advantage about a small shop like Greg Germino. You can call and talk to him about anything, send the amp in for a check-up, or whatever. Real personal service. He's a small shop but hopefully he and his company will be around for a long time. Marshall will be around I'm sure but you're dealing with a beeeeeeg company....

I play in a classic rock band but also do the blues thang. We regularly play one or two gigs a month (sometimes more, sometimes less). Been playing for over 35 years semi-pro I guess (we get paid a little). We cover Steely Dan to CCR to Atlanta Rhythm Section, Stones, Beatles, you name it - if it's old R&R we play it! I love old Marshall tones - Zepplin, Cream, Jeff Beck, ZZ Top, Allman Bros, ARS, Blackfoot, SRV, you get the idea. Yes, I'm ancient.

I think I'll keep it around for now. It is a nice sound to have available but the Germ will probably be getting the most use. I go through a lot of amps but hold on to a few old Fenders and an Allen kit amp I built (very cool). I'm not sure I'd get another if it was lost or stolen. Any questions - look me up at the Gear Page (if it ever comes back on line that is :^(
tmac

Volume (2) tone (2) this is it. Can't be simpler.

It sound good on a 2061cx 2x12. Not very powerful though. True Marshall mid sound. I think it is quite good for recording. For live application, you'll get not much headroom for clean sound.

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I tried it with a 2061CX cab. Actually, I have a Peavey Classic 50 head that I mated with the cabinet. It sound much better and more powerfull than the 20W.

I think its about 1 year old. I'm the 3rd owner & the previous owner had purchased from a collector of vintage amps. (This isnt a vintage Lead & Bass 20 )
If your after something thats versatile, then obvioulsy this isnt the ideal amp. If your into the older Plexi tones ,then its as good as anything I've played through. Admittedly, other than the JMP-1 ( which is fantastic )I havent owned a Marshall amp & cabinet for almost 15 years. .
I'm not a fan of the modern Marshalls. .In looking for an amp I tried out a JCM800 2204 , JCM 800 Combo 50 watt, JCM 900 twin channel, & an Orange OR80. Ideally I hoped to find an older 50 watt Marshall Plexi, but after hearing the Orange OR80 ( first time I'd heard one ) started to rethink . The OR80 was a rare combo from 72'& therefore quite expensive. I considered the more contemporary Orange range ( AD30TC ) when the 2061X fell into my lap. I'm originally from London. so my inspiration to play came from seeing R Blackmore, JImmy Page, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy . LIving in Australia, Angus, Ian Moss, listening to J Hendrix , Roy Buchanan, early Van Halen , love Gary Moore.
I'm with the last reviewer, in that if it had Reverb I'd give it a 10.

I like things simple, though with the 2 channels you could spend hours blending/experimenting . I just wanted to plug in & go & this amp allows you to do that. Its only 20 watts , but its easily enough to gig with .

I'm using 2 strats ( both scalloped ) & 2 vintage Washburn A-20's with brass fittings ( both 79' models with no modification )
One of the strats is tuned down a half step.
11 gauge strings on the strats ,gauge 10 on the Washburn.
One strat has dimarzio single coils & the other seymour duncan quarter pounders.
Both Washburn use humbuckers ( les paul set up, with push pull volume / coil tapped. )
One Washburn set up for slide guitar ( open D )
I'm using a Behringer as a pre-amp/ to add Reverb /effect/ & an eq.
The amp feeds into the 2061CX Cabinet designed to complement the amp
Running dry into one Lead channel/ wet into another.
I guess no matter how wonderful the amp or guitar you use,
ultimately its in your hands or technique & possibly your mood.
I've been playing for 35 years, occasionally professionally , but mostly for the love of it, worked as a transcriptionist & teacher.
I've owned this amp for all of 5 minutes ( 4 days ).
I used Harmony Central as well as other sites as a guide when considering the Marshall re-issue series.
I'm grateful to the other reviewers & hopefully this review will help someone else.
It has all the characteristics of a larger Plexi, possibly a little warmer. Its not as brutal as a 100 watt Super Lead, but with the right pre amp, add some reverb, scoop out the mids & your in Van Halen land. As previous reviewers have said, the classic rock tones from the 60's/70's. To my ears it has a great clean sound I purchased the 2061CX 2 x 12 as its designed to complement the amp but the previous owner ran it through a 1960cabinet. I'm giving it a 10 as I honestly couldnt be happier.

As I've had it for less than a week I cant comment.
If performing live its always a good idea to have a backup.
I'd at least make sure I had some basic tools, spare fuses , valves, surge protector.

Marshall's Australian distributor was great. Got to elfa.com.au
Supplied a list within 24hrs of the dealers that had recently ordered the 2061CX 2x 12 Cabinet.
I have one year warranty on the cabinet purchased new @ AUS$1100
The amp has no warranty as it was 2nd hand

I love thats its like a mini plexi ( The cabinet is also scaled down in size.) The quality of the workmanship ( asthetically its beautiful), that its been hand wired, that it can replicate tones associated with the guitarists who have inspired me to play.
I didnt exactly choose this amp,I believe fate had a hand in it.
I was still in the middle of deciding between a Vintage Orange OR80 & possibly a contemporary Orange combo/head ( ad30TC ).
I couldnt sleep, it was 3am
I turned the computer on to look for an AD30TC on e-Bay & accidently scrolled in a previous search for the 2061X.
The amp hadnt been listed for more than a few hours
It was as new,with a BIN option @ AUS$1650 which included a bonus Marshall Guv'nor 2 pedal thrown in & free insured delivery.
I thought about it for a moment, used the Buy It Now option & went back to bed.
So I think fate had a hand in this.