Marshall 2100 Lead & Bass 50

This is a 1974 model and as the previous poster has indicated these were made for mail order only. Curious. It was available as a head or a combo. Paul Weller used the combo version in his Jam days (he had it at the City Hall in Newcastle and in Sunderland when he played there too in the late 1970's) but the head is pretty rare. It gives a warm vintage rock sound. Not blistering distortion. The sound is very transparent but the crunch is lovely and mellow. It starts to warm up at 6. The bass channel is quite interesting and although lacking in the upper register it gives a Tele a nice sound and it's worth A/Bing the two channels if you knock up a switch. However it is the lead channel which really shines for me. There is a separate volume for each channel, treble, bass and presence. There are two outputs and the selector gives you 4, 8 or 16 ohms. The power lead is hard wired in these amps so there is no bulgin. The 50 watt head is ideal for getting that great Marshall sound at acceptable volume levels. Great for pup gigs and if you are going to play Madison Square Gardens then you can always mic it up! Some chance.

It definitely sounds best with a Les Paul but it still sings with single coils. It gives you Free, Thin Lizzy/Gary Moore, AC/DC, Hendrix, Led Zepppelin by just plugging in! There's no need for any effects though a Tubescreamer really does sound nice as does an old Marshall Governor. (Not one of the later models which are pretty naff imo)It is not noisey for a tube amp even with single coils. I like to run it at about 6 on the volume knob and I put it through a 1960A fitted with 4X 25 Watts Celestions. It's amazing how your sound cleans up on the guitar's volume controls. The PCB board which is on a sturdy steel chassis, is packed full of mustards. I have a couple of Mullard and a Brimar ECC 83's in the pre-amp and the power valves are Svetlanas. There are two channels (lead & bass) but thankfully there's no master volume. A plague on anyone who would violate such a beautiful amp with such a horrible and entirely unneccessary thing.
If you like vintage rock this is your amp.

It seems reliable though I've only had it for a few months. I carry spare tubes but I have no other back-up nor have I ever needed it. So far. These old Marshalls just seem to go on for ever. They are built like a tank. It's quite heavy too.

I bought a new set of control knobs for about a fiver and Marshall were great. Thanks Georgie! This amp is long out of warranty.

I've been playing for nigh on 40 years and I've owned most makes of amp at some time. Boogies are too muddy and dark, Fenders are too sparklie and any tranny amp wants putting into a hole in the ground and nuking. As a kid I used to have a 100 watt Superlead but it was just too loud; this 50 watt Marshall is just right. Pretty much on a par with an old AC30 I had as far as I can recall. This is basically a Plexi but as the previous contributor observed, because it has the bass channel something weird and wonderful has happened to the tone and it is truly pleasant on the ear. There's loads of sustain, feedback as and when you want it and it cleans up so easily on your volume knob. I suspect that these amps are going to get more valuable sooner rather than later. Plexis go more than 2K at the moment but I honestly rate this amp alongside the Plexi. You'll have to hear it for yourself though. Don't take my word for it. I'd look far and wide to get a replacement if someone stole it. I'd get one of these now while they're still quite cheap 'cos I'm certain they'll appreciate in the years to come.

Mine is a 1976 version but some parts like the tranny date to 75. Mine is probably one of the last ones off the line. Its loaded with two Celestion Blackback speakers, not sure if they are a black version of the Greenys or 30Hs but they do sound good in this amp. Its a two channel monster, bass and lead, duh! Sort of like a 1987 but much more versatile. It has the standard presence, volume for each channel, bass, mid and treble controls as well as four inputs. I dont wish it had reverb or effects loop, its just fine as it is.

Man, this thing is great!! I use a Les Paul, Strat, V, Ibanez through it and it sounds good with all my guitars. I jump the channels and just add a wee amount of the bass channel for some bottom end. This amp gets me the closet to Jimi, SRV tones than ANY Fender amp I have ever owned. It will also do a very sweet clean sound when I roll the volume back on the Strat. The Les Paul, V and Ibanez will push this thing into classic rock territory and when I kick in the Fulldrive, metal tones are there and the leads will soar without the buzzy preamp distortion. When I first got it I noticed a little hum so popped out the chassis and moved the filament wires around and now its quiet until you slam the input. This has got to be one of Marshalls most versatile amps. Forget the DSLs, TSLs and the rest of what they now offer, they cant touch this thing in tone and if you've been playing for a while and know how to "use" your gear, you can get ANY sound out of it you want. I'm very impressed with this amp and have been looking for the head version, model 1964. I may even have Tommy from Tatoo Amps build me a head version of this. Believe the hype in Doyles book as well as the other reviews here, this amp IS all they say it is. They pop up from time to time on eBay so grab them while you can at halfway decent prices.

I can depend on it but I do take a backup with me and always have. I gig quite a bit at times and this thing has never let me down. Very easy to service if something should go wrong and I could probably fix it myself if I had to. Just keep good tubes in it and it will serve you well. Sure its PCB but the pots, tube sockets, switchs, input jacks and trannys are all handwired to their respective terminals so its a no brainer working on it and you dont have to be an E.E. with all the knowledge on the web these days. You just have to be careful. Some of these guys think they know everything and dont know anything and some of the more mathmatical people dont use their ears, just their education. Luckily I've made a few friends I can call or email to help me through.

Marshall U.K. is great. Ever try to deal with Korg before? I have and they have been worthless for me but other people have gotten good results. Maybe its because of my southern accent and they think I'm some doofball who doesnt know jack. Very sad and I dont even bother with them anymore. I call Marshall U.K. directly and they have sent me schematics, small parts and even walked me through some trouble with an amp I had once. The phone call wasnt anymore expensive than being put on hold by Korg. If you call Marshall U.K. a very nice lady with a very sweet accent and personality answers and quickly routes your call to where it should go. Man it would be great if we could get that kind of service here. Marshall U.K. have always answered my emails as well. If it didnt cost so much to ship something across the pond I would send my amps to them for servicing and would probably get it back much quicker than the techs I've dealt with. I give it all 10s, it deserves it and so does Marshall for putting these on the market when they did. Too bad many werent produced as it was only available through mail order. Like they say, if only........... :)

Been playing for 20 plus years and have owned my share of amps in the process. Recently I have turned down the gain and really started to listen to the amp and guitar and not so much myself. This amp will reveal YOU and your playing. You cant run and you cant hide from the tone and your mistakes, it will let you and everyone else here them. I imagine most high gain players would sound very sloppy through this thing until they slowed down. I own quite a few Marshall amps as well as an 18 watter from Tatoo Amps and this is the cream of the crop for me. I've also owned other brands of amps including a few "boutiques" and they cant touch this amp. Most of them are Fender or Marshall copys anyway and most of them arent worth the prices they charge. Do yourself a favor and find one of these or have an 1987 head modded to the Lead & Bass circuit.

Rating a friend's Lead/Bass combo from memory. Bought at Birmingham's Music Exchange in 1987 for 175 pounds sterling. Also - I saw Paul Weller at the Docks on the Reeperbahn in December of 1998 and he and his lead player, the guy with the curly dark hair and the moustache both played two of these each. I later saw the German MTV video of the concert, and man did they sound great.

Insane Bluesbraker glass, great grind when turned up. This is the truth. I don't know which power tubes this amp is supposed to have, but when my friend took his apart it had one 6L6 and one EL34 and it still sounded great. I'm not joking. He replaced one he thought was bad, and can't remember which one he replaced.

C'mon it sounded great with mismatched tubes. Also, to get it back to the USA from Holland, He removed the tubes and stuffed them in his dirty socks, stuffed his raggedy pillow in the back to protect the speakers, and then checked it as a suitcase with no flightcase/cardboard box, brown paper wrapper or anything. It came clunking out onto the baggage carrousel like a suitcase wham bam clunk. Also it is set for 220 Volt, but it had a center-tap on the mains transformer's primary and that was a snap. Before that we just ran an extension cord from the 220 in his garage. It's still screaming

NA

Back in 1987 Birmingham's Music Exchange had a whole room full of vintage AC30s that they couldn't give away. I think they were priced at 110 Pounds Sterling each. BTW I've never dealt with better people in my life than the wonderful staff of the Music Exchange. Love you folks. Hope to visit again someday!!!

Ok, here's the deal, this was made in 1974, standard non-master volume single channel 50 watt head sold mail order to the English market. Dead simple yeah? Oh no, this is, somehow, the best sounding Marshall I have ever played, and there have been MANY. The History of Marshall Book tells how good these are. It is right. However it is wrong in HOW it gets the sound. The book states that the amp has a lead channel from the super lead and a bass channel from the super bass. This is incorrect. It has the front end (preamp and driver) mostly (but not wholly) from a super lead, the back end (power amp) from a super bass. It does not have the front end gain of the seventies amps, it is more gentle, more toneful, altogether more full than other Marshalls. Many players prefer modified super bass amps for guitar, well guys, here it is, done for you by Marshall. One problem for you American guys though, this amp is 240V only - I'll dock it one mark for that.

I replaced the presence control with a factory type master volume. This takes about 20 minutes to do. This just makes this amp SO useable. This amp is just a tone monster, the best Marshall I have ever played. Its not about mega distortion, just TONE. Sell your plexi or JTM, buy 10 of these. Its just WARM, hit a chord, the notes blend together somehow. Put a tubescreamer in front and it just HOWLS

I'm not gigging it right now, so it would be wrong to give a mark, but it's been around since 74, it has the original valve (tube)set (!), no hiss, no crackles, nothing. Just turn on, plug in and go. I guess its just a Marshall, treat reliability as the same as any other Marshall in your experience.

Here in England, Marshall could hardly be more helpful.

I've played and owned lots of Marshalls from all eras through the years, some good, some average, some bad. This one is what all the fuss is about. If you can find one, go hunt it down. They remain cheap - for now. Just dont expect the typical early 70's fuzzy Marshall sound, this one's for the tone hounds!