Marshall 2068 JMP Artist Head

this is an update to previous review after finally consulting reverb experts and trying different reverb tanks i found the correct reverb tank for my head and it sounds very deep AND kills the famous fender reverb.

reverb sounds great with the right reverb tank.

this amp is all original with new tubes and has never failed.

korg wanted $50 for a reverb tank! korg has no toll free # and will put you on hold all day. fxck korg with a tomahawk missile. i bought 2 reverb tanks for less than $40. korg is useless. marshall only supports england so fix it yourself or find a tech in usa.

these artist' amps are the only ones i have kept.

1978 MARSHALL ARTISTE' 100-WATT, 4-el-34, 4-12ax7, toneful transformers, 6 can caps for pure tone when vol is dimed, tube driven reverb(das right),2 channels and no master volume! the reverb is weak like my 50 watt artiste' head but is still useful enough to never need a fender! enough power? i hooked it up to 2 vin 30's and smoke emitted from 1 of the celestions, i will be pulling 2 output tubes out and halfing the impedance so i can use a 2x12 cab with the head. sounds alot better than 99% of the popular tube amps i've had over the years.

hmmmm USA gibson lp custom, signature guitar co. superstrat and charvel 750xl superstrat with schaller trem and duncans all sound great. all kinds of different pickups dual and single coil sound sound so good i need to buy some decent recording gear to capture the tone. the amp is not noisy. my tone has not been better in the 23 years i've been playing guitar. 2 distinct and complementing channels, rev ch is clean with better tone than fender twin rev and the normal ch is classic marshall. at loud vol the gain is just right. channels switch easy through whirlwind selector box. the reverb does get a little noisy when i get a decent level out of it, for that i can only rate this amp a 9. this amp is made for classic rock to jazz. this is the most versatile amp i've had that still has the tone.

1978 made and still stock and working fine. i believe that the reverb in the artiste' amps is just not the optimum circuit due to increased noise as rev level is raised.

marshall supports their stuff. any updates for the weak/noisy reverb post here!

one of the best amps i could find. i've had dozens of tube amps over the years and none do what this head does, offers 2 channels with 1 clean and 1 higher gain and BOTH CHANNELS ROCK. AKA: holy grail at a poor mans price. as rik emmet said: where do you go when you've gone all the way? now that i'm done hunting down amps that deliver tone i can finally save up for some recording gear that i need. if you have one of these amps and it's broke or you don't like it list it on ebay and i'll buy it if it's cheap.

My amp was made in 1972.
It does what it is supposed to. Sounds like a Marshall.
2 channels not switchable, no loops, no headphone jack.
It's perfect as it is. Reverb isn't used much. It's weak anyway.
I play in small to medium clubs, out door biker bashes, etc... 100wats is MORE than enough power!

I use a 70s Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Strat with Lace PUs. I play classic rock, and Metal.

It suits the music that I play through it. It can't handle surf or early country as well as it does rock and metal. I have a Fender Twin for those sounds.

It is, by nature, a noisy amp, but you don't notice it much in the dives we play. Everyones head is numb by the end of the first set.

I can coax some convincing simi-clean sounds from it when needed and, ofcourse, it'll scream and grind all night. Not real versitile for all types of music.

I can depend on it. It hasn't let me down, but I keep it serviced so my sound doesn't deminish over time.

Cheeper and faster to have a local tech fix what I can't. Shipping this thing to England and back would be too expensive.

No warranty... Find one GOOD Tech that you can depend on and let him do any repairs you need.

I've enjoyed 33 years of playing electric guitar (since 1969). I've owned/used about ever device that has come out on the market throughout the years. I've tried the new-fangled digital modeling and boootique amps and pedals, but I'm set in my old ways. I like it simple. I play a strat, Les Paul Custom, Fender '65 Twin RI for clean and blues tones, Marshall JMP 2150 100 watt combo and this marshall head with an old Marshall 4x12 cabinet (greenbacks) for rock/leads. Sometimes I use an old FuzzFace, crybaby and univibe for Hendrix-ish sounds.

I'd buy one again if I needed an amp. They are great amps and getting harder to find in "UnMolested" condition. Please Don't Perminately Mod a Marshall! If you don't like the sound it makes after trying different tubes and speakers then- Buy One You Do Like with the options you need.
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You know what really Chaps My Hide?... You're going to hear it anyway... It's when people write a review about an amp who don't have enough experience to really know what a good amp is, or how to care for it.

I have read reviews where a kid buys their first old Marshall head that's been brutalized, modified and neglected and expects it to make em sound like Eric Clapton, or Jimi Hendrix or some other guitar Wiz...

Here are some EXAMPLES of what I'm talking about:
-Running microphonic preamp tubes and not properly biasing new/good power tubes.

-Playing a shitty guitar with an intermiting guitar cord.

-Hooking up their amp to a crapy speaker and cabinet without realizing a huge "Impedence mismatch".

-Connecting to their speaker cabinet with a regular "Signal" guitar cord (not a Speaker cord)

... ... and then bitch to the world on Harmony-Central that the amp sounds bad and is a P.O.S!

Look Fellers! To be Fair to any product you want to review, make sure you are hooking up to ALL KNOWN GOOD equipment and playing in a realitively good acoustic environment before you disrespect a peice of gear It may only need a good tune up and some respect from you Before you form your opinions. Helll... The first thing I do when I buy a used amp or guitar is go through it to make sure it's working within spec. (use and amp/guitar tech if you don't know what your doing) I've had Very good luck with my equipment and I drive em Hard... Spend an few extra bucks and you'll find a lot of Magic.

Oh and one more thing while I'm at it... If you leave your email address with your review, it lends to your credability. Opinions ain't worth much to anyone if you can't stand behind em.

just my observations...
Good Luck with this amp. It's a keeper!