Marshall 2555 Jubilee

My 2555 is a black faced version, so it probably was built in 88. This amp is good for getting that Marshall harmonic rich distorted sound. It has two distortion options. You can pull the preamp output knob ("input gain") and get a nice glassy distortion and then pull the output master knob to distort the output tubes for the full balls out Marshall "end of the world" sound. You can also use either distortion by itself, which is nice. I haven't used the effects loops. Also, I am using a cheap 4X12 cab with cheap speakers, and I probably will get a better sounding cab in the future, for better sound. The only drawback with this amp is the lack of a reverb, which makes the clean channel kind of just loud with no color.
I only use this amp for amateur playing, not for gigs, since I am only a hacker. The amp has plenty of power at 50 or 100 watts.

I use every guitar I have in this amp. It sounds absolutely great with my strat, but my Jaguar really sounds great. The Jag has single coil pickups and aren't very powerful, but they have a wide band response, and when the distortion channels are on, the Jag gets a sound that is rich in harmonics, which come through clearly, not muddy. I also use a G&L Comanche, and guitars with humbuckers as well, and they drive the input harder and the distortion is more complete, with more crunch, but less definition of the harmonics, as in the single coil case.
The clean channel is just not very colorful. I use my Fender Twin for clean playing with a color rich sound that the 2555 doesn't have when played clean. If it had a reverb, then I probably would like the clean sound better.
The distortion is beautiful. I use a compressor, and a wah wah pedal when I want to tighten up the notes, for riffing. Unless a wah wah is used, the notes are a bit sloppy, so I like to use the compressor between the wah wah and the amp to tighten them up.

The biggest problem is to get good tubes for this amp. I recently switched to Groove tubes, but I have to bias the amp, which will mean lugging it down my cellar and hooking it up to an oscilloscope. I have never done this, so it will be a learning experience. I noticed that the 12XA7 preamp tube pin holes in the sockets are a little too wide so the tube sits loosely in the socket. This can cause noise problems. I will probably have to take the chassis out and tighten the pin holders. This is common for these small tubes with the thin pins. The power tubes which are fat and have big octal sockets don't have this problem. Also, it is hard to find information on bias settings and where the bias pot is.
The amp's reliability is fine, but I haven't used it outside of my home.

I contacted Marshall and asked for and got a schematic for the 2555. I wish the schematic had along with it, some information on how to bias the amp, however. I have contacted Groove Tubes for this.

I have been playing for 20 years, but as an amateur only. I also have a Fender Twin that I use for clean playing.
If it were lost or stolen, I probably would look for another, but they are hard to find, so I might then consider a Mesa Dual Rectifier.

1987 Silver Jubilee series, serial #000023?, EL34's, 12AX7's, two channels, etc.

Has the classic Marshall tones; however, it was much thinner than the 2550 jubilee. I tried tinkering with all kinds of settings, retubed the entire amp, switching to the half power setting (50 watt), but no matter what it didn't compare to the fatness and warm overdrive tones of the 2550 jubilee head. Don't misunderstand me, this is a relatively nice sounding Marshall head (my second favorite Marshall). However, when played alongside a 2550 head, it's like comparing a Camero to a Corvette!

I performed many a show for a few years with this baby, and it never completely failed on me. I bought this amp used at Black Market Music in San Francisco (CA), as I was looking for a Jubilee head (I couldn't find the 2550 head). Anyways, when I got it home I noticed the second channel wasn't functioning (and I think there was something tricky going on with the effects loop too - can't remeber). Although this discouraged me, I stuck with the amp as I new this would be a collectors item someday. I don't use a lot of effects (pedals, rack gear, etc.), so I never really bothered taking the head in to get fixed. Anyways with the advent of the internet several years later, I was finally able to locate and purchase a 2550 head (eBay) and I have since sold the 2555 head. If you do decide to purchase a 2555 head, I've spoken with others who own it and have had similar experiences with channel and / or effects loop failure. I was told that some of these amps simply came that way from the factory (oops!). This doesn't surprise me, since I've heard they were hand made (point to point wiring). Maybe the inspector had a drinking problem then...

I had trouble trying to locate the schematics on this amp. However, maybe it's easier to obtain these things now that we are in the information age (Internet).

Like I stated earlier, this is a nice sounding Marshall; however, I prefer the 2550 head more. It has all of the balls, warmer and clearer tones, and is more versatile since it can be used at 25 watts or 50 watts. This gives you quite an advantage in small venues and when recording in the studio. No matter which you choose though, these amps sound best when driven hard!

This was my first "Marshall". Loved the sound in the store with a 1960A single cab.It's a 2 channel amp, simple tone controls w/efx loop. This is my living room amp for jamming when friends come over. I usually use it's half power feature too keep from going deaf.It does what it does very well.

I play mostly loud, distorted music through this amp. It rules with the Crunch of a humbucker. For AC/DC or GnR this amp rocks

I have had this almost a year without any problems. I am investing in a new(N.O.S. GE)set of tubes real soon just in case.

Never dealt with Marshall, I'd love to get a owner's manual sometime.

Didn't know how special this amp was when I got it. I have thanked the seller repeatedly since. Stolen or lost? Could not be replaced at that cost. I'd like to get the matching silver cabinets too.

made as a more versitle jcm800 hense the effects loop and footswithable lead and clean channels. also has a rhythem clip option for distorted rhythem and distorted leads. can set relative levels between the two through the use of master volume and lead volume. presence, bass, mids, trebble controls as well as input gain.
option at back for different cabs and ohms etc. 100 watts switchable to 50. a bit of a one trick pony by does it so bloody well its not even worth worrying about. on eeq for both channels. heaps of grunt as any good marshall should have. all tube 4 x el34's, 3 x ecc83's.
no other frills. pretty basic set up.

using with a gibson les paul dc studio fitted with stock buckers. best rock amp i have ever heard period. dont expect to play nice clean fender clean though as clean channel breaks up easily responding greatly to how hard you play. distortion is very clear while remaining fat and warm. reasonably noisy but thats to be expected with tubes and reasonable gain. its classic marshall. id go as far as to say this is marshall. clean is nice and brittle with heaps of punch as long as you play it reasonably loud. forget it at bedroom voulme though as its not designed for it and sounds muddy when you not jenerous on the wattage. its rock all the way. think fat crunch with awesome harmonics. oh its too good to explain.

very dependable never had a problem. its an old amp though but very very sturdy. itll break you back its so strong.

never dealt with marshall.

its so hard to find one of these. this is marshall tone. forget those new fangled super jcm2000 etc they are too complicated. this is where it is at in rock tone. its my pride and joy and i will never part with it. it has no frills but if you can get over that your in for a hell of an ear beating. love it more than my girl friend. ive compared it to everything. and i mean everything. the 2555 wins hands down and its a cool silver to boot!

This amp was probably manufactured in 1988, not 1987, because the casing isn't silver but black. Best suited for rock, blues or a bit of jazz: versatility is not the strongest point of this amp. It suits my styles perfectly though.
The amp basically has two channels (clean/distortion) which can be alternated by using the pull/pot function of the Output Master knob, or by using a footswitch. There's a third channel (crunch) which adds some (diode-?)clipping to the clean channel, nice for rythm guitar and non heavy stuff. No headphone jack. It comes with an effects loop (between pre-amp and power stage) and you can switch the speaker output impedance from 4, to 8, to 16 Ohms (as opposed to only 8 and 16 for most (all?) other Marshalls). A DI jack is also present. It doesn't have a reverb, but that's no problem since I don't need one, I just use the acoustics of the room I'm playing in.
When I bought it, I used it in my room but you can't expect to get a great tone from a tube-amp without setting the Output Master volume knob to 6 or higher (eg, where power-tube saturation will kick in).
I now use it for gigs, but most of the PA people don't like me to crank the thing up, because of sound-bleeding off the stage, interfering with the PA output. You can switch between 50 and 100 watt output, but somehow when switching to 50 watt my amp starts buzzing loudly, maybe a broken tube? I don't know, gotta ask a specialist. It also has a stereo feature although I haven't tried it.

This amp is an all-tube (pre-amp and power-amp) amplifier completely wired by hand, made to celebrate Marshall's 25th anniversary and to celebrate the fact that Jim Marshall had been around in the music-business for 50 years. It's got 3 12AX7 tubes in the pre-amp stage, and 4 EL34 tubes in the power-stage. Its pre-amp stage is setup like the newer JCM 800's: diodes are added after the second gain-stage to add more clipping (eg, distortion). 7 knobs: Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble, Output Master, Lead Master (adjust volume difference between clean and distortion channel) and Input Gain. More than 'nuf for me.

I drive my amp with a Gibson Les Paul Standard, with in the neck position a Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro pickup, and in the bridge the stock pickup (498T or 490R, I always forget which sits where). It's the best sounding amplifier I've ever heard for distortion. The distortion is so rich and dynamic and physical it's almost unbelievable. I play heavy blues and jazz and stuff.
The clean channel is good enough for me, not as good as the sound you get from Fender Tweed's but better than most of the other Marshalls. It's got its own characteristics. I rarely use the crunch feature on the clean channel.

As I mentioned earlier, it's a bit noisy in 50 watt mode. Switch to 100 watt and the noise is almost completely gone in the clean channel, although you'll hear a buzz in the distortion channel. To get a nice 'middley' class rock distortion I use these settings: Presence 8, Bass 7, Middle 6-7, Treble 4.5, Output Master 6 or higher, Lead Master 6, Input Gain 7.5. Looks a little bit familiar doesn' it? (hint: Saul 'Sl*sh' Hudson).

Versatility is not the strongest point on this amp, but it's got all the features I need. I once owned a Zoom 3030 to let me be able to have a whole spectrum of effects, but I sold it 3 months after I bought it. I don't want to be a cameleon (eg, studio musician), I want to be myself.

Oh, and did I mention I love the distortion? It hasn't got enough clipping for Heavy Metal, or Doom Metal, but I guess you already know you'll have to buy a Soldano or Mesa Boogie to get those sounds. Everything from fairly clean to Guns and Roses distortion is there.

This thing is damn heavy! It's built like a tank, but as with all tube amps, you have to be careful not to break the tubes by agressively putting the amp down or moving it. It has never failed on me, except once, when I wanted to break into a lead while performing with my band. Somehow the distortion channel's volume was way lower than when I did the sound check, and I didn't even touch the knobs! It could be the soundman tho', who turned down the volume of my amp on the monitors..

I never had to deal with Marshall, so I really don't have any comments on this.

I bought this amp used. I stumbled upon it by accident in a store, I asked one of the people there if I could try a JCM 900 SLX, and then the JCM 2555 caught my eye. I'm feel really lucky that the previous owner sold this amp to the store. This amp is hard to find. I drive it through a Marshall 1922 2x12" Celestion speaker cabinet. If lost or stolen I wouldn't know what to do, I'd certainly buy another one, but the problem is that these amps are sooo hard to find! It's become part of my sound.

In my opinion this amp beats all the other amps distortion wise. I tried several solidstates, Marshall Valvestates, and then some, and this one was and is the best sounding.

As I said before, it has all the features I need. I don't need all the fancy knobs to fine-tune the sound of the wood of the guitar etc.. What I'd like to buy sometimes is a wah-wah and a graphic equalizer pedal. That's all I need.

This is one of the Silver Jubilee 100 watt Guitar Heads. Mine has 6CA7 tubes on board, although I'd rather have 5881's next change out. No reverb is not a problem since I use an RP-3 pedal board anyway. Lots and lots of head room. The dirt channel and clip settings work well. As you may have heard and I can confirm, you have to spend some time trying to balence the two channels. It's a volume and tone thing as they interact more than any other Marshall I have.

Mostly Fender Bolt on Neck Guitars with Single Coil Pickups. I just like the sound... I have a pair of Fender Venus Guitars I'm now using. The 6 String has a humbucker that seems to get a louder dirt out of the distortion settings. I mostly use the amp as a clean animal, so it works well for me. Maybe I'm the only one who's not a big Slash fan as I had mine long before he did. Plus I can't hold a Les Paul all night without my back hurting... what a log.

Never even thought about failing since I bought it. Even has the original tubes in it. Crappy EL-34's that will soon say good bye for the 5881 sound I like better.

Marshall service was almost unknown for years. But they're amps are great and I've only had one sneeze out of the many I've owned. My questions and comments to Marshall in England actually get answered. I was impressed and they seem to be there for help.

I've been playing this amplifier for some years now. It's one of many I own. I'd replace it if possible with another, but they were crazy to find back then...
It's a great Marshall, used by itself, it really needs a little reverb. The pedal board companies love this type of amplifier. It's a classic that works well and honks loud...

This amp was made in 1987 to celebrate Marshall's 25th anniversary. It looks unique because it has silver tolex, faceplate, and controls. The amp has been actively used and endorsed by Slash and Steve Morse among other pro guitarists.
I believe this amp is probably one of the best heads that Marshall has ever manufactured. It has many sounds available and even a usable clean sound (not as clean as the new JCM2000s but much better than most other Marshall amps.) This amp does not have true channel switching, but has seperate clean and lead "modes". An effects loop is available through 1/4" jacks on the rear of the amp. There is a DI (direct input) jack on the rear of the head but it probably does not sound very realistic. A footswitch can control switching effects loop and clean/overdriven modes.
The amp is very simple to use and operate, but I would really like more tone controls and separate channels for clean/lead modes. Also, I'd like there to be more preamp stage distortion available. This amp has the capability of having "enough" distortion but it needs to be cranked to get that type of sound.
I use my 2555 at home with a Peavey 5150 4x12 cabinet. These jubilee heads can be operated in 50% power, so I use mine in 50 watt mode most of the time so I can drive the power stage at lower volumes.
I will rate the amp low in the Features category. Versatility is not a strength for this amplifier - many tonal varieties are available, and the amp can really fit in a role for many musical styles, but it is not as versatile as a maxed-out Mesa Boogie or Soldano amplifier (e.g no N-band EQ, no separate channels, no separate tone controls for each channel or mode, no reverb, and so on.)

I am using this amplifier with many "rock" type guitars (Fender HM Strat, BC Rich, Steinberger) and a G&L Legacy. I play mostly rock music. I bought this amp used from a local music store after plugging into it. It was "the sound" I was looking for.
This amplifier is perfect for my style of music. It is also suitable for most styles of rock/metal (even modern pop) and its clean mode is probably appropriate for other types but it is not pristine clean like other amps and probably overdrives at maximum volume levels. The clean channel is not outstanding but is effective.
For those that like Marshall-style overdrive, this amp may be "the one". It is distinctive compared to other Marshalls I have used including the JCM 2000 - to my ears it has more "character". I tend to have the preamp gain cranked, and I think the distortion (especially with the power tube drive) is really complex and rich. It's not complete over-the-top like a SLO, JCM2000, or a Peavey 5150 -- the overdrive is "clear" and warm and retains the characteristics of the instrument. The bottom is not ultra-focused at moderate sound levels, it's big and loose and sounds "broken up". It sounds very "juicy" with my G&L Legacy (hot single coil pickups.) For those that reqiure an ultra-saturated distortion, some additional preamp drive may be necessary unless the amp is really cranked _loud_, but high-output pickups such as EMG-81s may also work here. Others have mentioned that this amp will not "hide" imperfections in your playing and this is absolutely correct.
This is the type of amp I enjoy playing at high sound levels and just put my head close to the cabinet for a short time while playing big power chords just to hear the warm Marshall "crunch". It sounds very, very good to me.
The sounds from this amp sound a bit darker (warmer?) than other Marshalls of its genre. I usually leave all of the tone controls on 10 except for bass and presence (both on 8 or so.)
The "clean channel" also has a clip mode where it can emulate AC/DC type overdrive. I usually leave this off so I have distinct clean and distorted sounds available to me.
The amp sounds (to me - especially compared to ultra-distortion amps) pretty quiet when not played.

I haven't had this amp long enough (about 7 months) to form a strong opinion either way. This amp appears to have gone through a lot and still works and sounds great, so it appears to be reliable.

No opinion.

If you're looking for warm Marshall overdrive, this one is very hard to top with any Marshall or higher-end tube amp. It does not have an exceptional set of features, but it seems to have more character in its overdrive than the new JCM2000's or most other Marshalls I've used. If you need versatility and a wide set of features and sounds, this might not be the best solution (check out the JCM2000... Great amp!), but if you want "that" Marshall sound, definitely check this amp out!

This amp is a monster, if you know how to toy with it. It basically has 2 chnnels, whith a rhythm clip on the clean channel. The clean channel is similar to an old HiWatt. It doesn't get dirty with either the master or input volumes. The lead channel wakes the amp up with an enormous amount of crunch an gain. The rhythm clip will add a lighter crunch to the amp than the lead channel.

I use a PRS Custom whit this amp and various vintage effects. The best way I've found to use this amp is to leave thie clean channel on for rhythm and use an old overdrive or distortion unit alway's on (A Marshall Guv'nor would do nicely). Then if you want a heavier rhythm, pull the rhythm clip. If you want total anarchy use the lead channel at this time. I use the lead channel mostly for solos, as it will completely satisfy the boost factor without loosing volume. Another thing to point out, use enough volume. Too little volume will make the amp sputter.

I use Mullard EL-34's in this amp, and would recomend the same if you can find them. This way you can gig without tube problems. If these are un-obtainable, try Seimens. Other than that, this is a Marshall, which means reliability can go either way. Marshall is still around, and probably has the original componets for this amp (they reissued this amp as the 2555 Slash model.

I assume Marshall would be very helpful if needed. Never had to use them yet.

I have an old Super Lead 100, from 69' but it is impossible to gig with. It would kill any eardrum within a 20 mile radius. I use it in the studio. The 2555 is very practical for me. If I get the right setting, it delivers the full Marshall Glory at moderate volume levels. For all those interested, however, no Marshall will deliver its goods without overdriving the power tubes, somewhat.

Basically 2 channels, one gain for both, 3 tones, presence, effect loop 2 pull pots for channel switching and boost for the clean. I had my old 50watt version (small chasse) modded to have a 2nd gain for the clean channel and a bypass for a bright circut in the clean (a push-pull pot on the back) which made it a great distortion and clean amp, but unfortunatly I dont have it on this one. With the mod, it was perfect (although reverb would be nice)

I have had tons of amps, including the 30th, and the 50 watt version of this, which pretty much sounds the same, and the combo also For a nice warm marshall crunch, this is it. I play 3 custom shop LPs, 2 with '57 classics, once with p-90's. One is semi-hollow. I have never found a distortion I like better, warm, fat, and big, but not to overdriven, that is why I got another. Clean is OK, a little bright, but not bad for marshall. I play in a rock band ( a little alternative) and use %90 distortion, so this is perfect, I would recomend it for this type of application

no problems

Expensive, a plastic logo for a cab is over $20

The best amp period for its distortion sound. As mentioned, it should have a 2nd gain for the clean, and something to warm the clean up (as my 50 watt was modded) It would be nice to have reverb, but my Real Tube 12 spring reverb (which I would highly recomend) does the job. For what it is I would give it the highest rating