Marshall JCM-2000 DSL 100

I believe that mine was made in 1997? This is the all tube, 100 watt Marshall Duel Super Lead Head.
I play in a hard rock band, with two guitar players. We play hard rock, early heavy metal (Not that screamo, mid scoop crap), and blues styles. We are active and working musicians, and play at medium sized venues at least every two weeks. I think anyone reading this already knows what features that this amp has. The deep switch is just too much low end, and the tone shift makes the amp sound dry and hollow. I don't like the fact that this amp only has one eq setup for both channels, and the amp defiantly does not have enough mid range. I wish that this amp had a fuller range of tone, but what do you expect for a new Marshall.

I play a 67 reissue Gibson Flying V with Seymour Duncan SH-4 (Bridge), and SH-1 (Neck) pickups; a Gibson SG with Dimarzio Super Distortion (Bridge) and a Gibson 498R ceramic (Neck); A Fender American Standard Stratocaster with Dimarzio Super Distortion (Bridge), stock Fender noiseless single coil (Middle), and Dimarzio PAF Pro (Neck). My other amp is a Laney AOR 100 watt head, from 1986. The Laney is a duel preamp setup, and is basically Laney's answer to the JCM800, but with more gain, more versatile, and more balls. I use an analog pedal board: Guitar-> Boss TU-2 Chromatic tuner -> Dunlop Crybaby-> Ibanez Tube Screamer-> Boss Stereo Chorus-> Ibanez Phaser-> Front of amp. I also use a linear power boost through my FX loop to provide a lead volume boost. The tone I go for is reminiscent of eighties Heavy Metal (i.e.: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Danzig, Dio, Judas Priest). Don???t confuse it with scooped mid's metal of today. I hate scooping the mids, it sounds like your amp wants to crap itself or maybe vomit. For a while, I thought that I could use a two-channel amp, to make things easier during live performance. Either switch between clean/brutal distortion, or have a good distortion, use the guitars volume knob to clean it up, and use the other channel as a lead boost. The DSL played by itself, on the clean/crunch channel sounds pretty good. Marshall obviously put a substantial amount of effort into replicating the tones of their prior and past production. This is where the shortcomings of this amp come into play: The Ultra channel SUX!!!! No sustain, no character, not at all useful to me. In concept it's great, but when you switch from crunch to ultra, you have to re-tweek your eq settings to remedy the problem, as the tone seems to become thin and brittle with too much clipping. So basically, the only solution that I could conceive, was to put an Ibanez tube screamer in front of the amp, on the crunch channel, set the gain at about half on the amp, on the pedal: drive on 1, tone at about 8, and volume at about 8 for unity. IT SOUNDS AWSOME! This is the tone I was looking for, although this renders the other channel basically useless. The other lacking feature of this amp is the non-exhistant lead boost option. Yeah... There is Lead 1/Lead 2 on the ultra channel.. And yes you might think: why don???t I just set the volume on the Ultra channel slightly higher with the gain a little lower, use the tube screamer through both channels, and bam.. I have a lead boost channel. Well.... To answer that, I have done such and not only does the tone on the Ultra channel sound thinner, nasty, and unsatisfying, it also feeds back uncontrollably, and still has absolutely no sustain. HORRIBLE!! If you have to have the Marshall sound, than think simple, eat the cost (Because it's worth it), and buy a Marshall JMP Master Model or Super Lead from the 70's or a vintage JCM800, and put the Tube Screamer in front of it. It's a one-channel amp, it has six knobs, but that???s all I need. That???s how all of the greats did it, and that???s just how it's done. Personally I am happier with my Laney.

I bought this amp about 4 months ago. I have used it for live performance, studio practice with my band, and some recording. I have had to take this amp to service three times. Once it just stopped working, with no signal; it ended up being a bad tube socket. Another time, it started making really annoying noises while I was playing, feeding back and squealing; for some reason the amp threw itself out of bias (how does that work?). On the third occasion I was playing live and my volume dropped dramatically; my repair tech told me that the V1 preamp section had fried itself. Comparing this track record to My 20+ year old Laney AOR head: I have had to take this amp in for service every six months to a year for scheduled maintenance, to have it retubed and biased and nothing more in the three years that I have owned it. I have never needed a backup amp for my ???Vintage??? ???Obsolete??? Laney.

Why bother? I have attempted contact before regarding other Marshall products and the experience is much like talking to the Great Wall of China. Every time I need service I go to the same guy. He is certified as a repair tech and works out of a local reputable music store.

I have been playing for about 15 years. I've owned and operated many different types of amps, and played in numerous bands. I have had other Marshall???s, and played many more. As for picking an amp for it's Brand Name, I think it's a marketing scam. Once upon a time Marshall was the one to buy, but now days you can go to Guitar Center and pick out all of the useless, made in China/assembled in England Garbage you want. If it were stolen I would only be unhappy since I would rather get the money from selling it. I chose this amp because I read a lot of good reviews on it and was confident in the purchase. I'm extremely disappointed. I wish it had a useful Ultra gain channel, since that is my main sound.

I bought this amp used, though based on the serial number, I think it was built in 2002.

Features have been covered over and over again, and frankly, the feature set is a bit disappointing. Everyone wants separate eqs per channel, foot switchable sub-modes, etc... And yeah, these would be great things and it is annoying that these things don't exist and of course weird decisions like footwitchable reverb but not fx loop, the tone shift button, those sorts of things. Nevertheless, its best feature is the sound, and really thats all that matters.

When I first plugged into the amp, I was sort of impressed. It sounded very Marshally and thats never a bad thing in my book, but it wasn't "incredible". After getting it home and working with it a bit, I figured out how to get some amazing tones out of it. First off, I HIGHLY recommend what another user said here in regards to putting a sonic maximizer in the fx loop as it REALLY wakes the amp up. This is pretty true of most instruments, but even with just a VERY small amount of processing from the BBE, it brought out some great overtones. A friend who knows NOTHING about amps said it made the distorted tones sound distorted and clean at the same time, really added clarity and made each note ring well. So now then, to the kinds of tones...

Classic channel clean: Absolutely the best clean I've ever heard from a Marshall. I'm not a giant fan of solid state cleans as they just sound sterile, and I've been using a Fender Bassman for cleans (great sound BTW) and the DSL 100 can hang with it in all regards. I like to turn the gain all the way up and use the guitar volume to control the dirt as I can really dial in the sound that way.

Classic channel crunch: GREAT classic tone, but TOO much bass, especially with the deep switch set. The bass isn't bad or out of control, but for my taste its a bit heavy. It is great for trying to emulate classic Marshall tones and while it doesn't sound exactly like the old school Marshall amps, its pretty close and sounds tremendous.

Ultra channel lead 1: Pretty good tone, though at lower gain and volume settings, the deep switch makes a big difference though, with clever eqing, you can get some really great sounds from it. With the gain turned up about halfway though, it really starts to sing and break up beautifully. Good again for getting some classic tones, but more apt to get some good modern rock sounds too.

Ultra channel lead 2: Not bad, but adds too much in the way of overtones and tends to mush the sound up a bit. Its excellent, however, at low gain settings and works well in conjunction with lead 1, at least when the gain is no more than 3 or so. Above that gain, its good for getting thick lead sounds with controlled feedback, but thats sort of it. Its too rich for comping or any other general rhythm work.

The tone shift switch seems to be much maligned and well, is mostly worthless to me, but sounds interesting with clean tones. Kind of removes the "tubeyness" of the sound and gets closer to the solid state sound some people like. On dirtier settings, it just sounds like a poor mid scoop switch and sort of takes away the Marshall quality of the sound. Its a shame that Marshall felt the need to try to make a jack of all trades instead of making some better design decisions, but whatever...

The eq doesn't have a profound impact on the sound, but the sound tends to be very treble heavy. It takes some time to figure out how to balance the presence and treble but once you get it, it sounds great, but it DOES take time to get the brightness down. It'd be great to have separate channel eq as the classic channel is awfully bassy, but some tweaking gets a decent balance for all channels, well sort of.

The FX loop seems to suck some tone with certain effects processors, but not all oddly. I use a Digitech RP500 in the loop and its completely transparent. Not the case with some rack effects I had been using.

Overall the best sounding amp I've ever owned. Sounds awesome at nearly any setting, but spending time with it really yields incredible results. The sonic maximizer really unlocks the tone though, but again, thats for any amp.

It seems rock solid, though I've heard people say otherwise. Mine is a few years old and works just fine.

Biasing the amp is very easy and can be done by anyone, A+ for that.

Good web presence and well, its Marshall. They're legendary for taking care of their customers. In the UK at least. I have no idea how they in the US though, but that said, all the user groups and what not seem more than adequate with schematics available for download and some knowledgeable users who are always willing to help.

I also have a Crate Blue Voodoo and Fender Bassman ('65 black face) and I play all three amps through a Bassman 2 X 12" and a Marshall 1960 cabinet with 2 12GT75s and 2 Vintage 30s. This is hands down the best sounding and most versatile amp I've ever owned. Not so much in the wide variety of tones (it all sounds very Marshally) but in terms of each mode being quite unique and instantly good sounding. It would be nice if there were separate channel eq and if the eq had more impact, but still a super versatile tone. Plus if you need more tweaking, an eq in the loop works beautifully to dial in the tone.

Compared to the Blue Voodoo; it just has a more usable tone plain and simple. The Voodoo is decent, but doesn't really hold a candle to the DSL.

Compared to the Bassman, the clean is just about comparable, but the dirty sounds really beat the hell out of the bassman, which while good, just doesn't have the richness of the Marshall.

If it were lost or stolen, I might look at the JVM series from Marshall, but I love the DSL and if it didn't sound as good, I'd try to find another DSL 100. At used prices, they can be had pretty cheaply.

One great thing about the amp is it works well with effects. I know that may sound dumb, but some amps I've used sound poor with chorusing our other kinds of effects that just tend to muddy up the sound. This one sounds great with everything I've used.

I'd give it top marks, but the lack of separate channel eq, and the goofy design decisions (e.g. poor foot switching options) keep it from top marks. Still, sound is the ultimate measure and from that perspective, you can't beat beat it. It may not be for everyone, but for those who like the Marshall sound, its as good as it gets, particularly for the price.

I bought this amp new in Jan 2007. It is a limited run matching silver covered head and quad. It is a two channel amp with two modes per channel. It has a deep switch which is helpful to pull a good sound depending on venue and the volume you can get away with. It also has a 'tone shift' which is just plain nasty. It has a noisy effects loop. I don't want to sound uneccessarily harsh as I actually like this amp a lot. I want Marshall to make an amp that sounds like this amp but with independent eq and footswitchable modes for each channel, a quiet effects loop and no 'tone ****' (sic) switch. I would buy that amp!

I have a bunch of different gigs ranging from 1990 til current poprock, classic rock (Lizzy, Purple, Who) and OZ Rock. I sometimes switch to the clean mode of ch 1 and compensate the subsequent volume drop with an MI Audio Boost n Buff. I am lucky enough to play some big shows all across Australia and I specify DSL 100s as hire backline. I used to get 800s but they were too hit and miss in terms of sound. As far as Marshalls go this is a versatile machine - unfortunately not all the sounds it is capable of producing are readily available. If you switch between modes without compensating with volume and eq changes you can end up with some dud sounds. One of my favourite gigs is classic Oz Rock played exceptionally loud. I plug a 335 or LP straight in to a DSL 100 and use Ch 1 crunch mode for rhythm guitar and Ch 2 OD1 set louder for leads.

I hope I'm not going to jinx myself, but this amp has been 100% reliable. Each of the hire DSL 100s I have used have been reliable as well including on short tours (14 shows in 16 days). I have seen DSLs dropped from trucks (in flight cases, of course) fire up and run hard for hours with no problems. I my experience these are supremely reliable machines.

I haven't dealt with Marshall regarding this amp specifically but I did email them to query the claim of the store I bought it from about its limited production nature. Marshall responded very quickly (and assured me it was a legit limited run). I have dealt with Marshall in the past about an incredibly unreliable 900 and the exact specs of a 1962 Bluesbreaker combo I once owned (and stupidly sold) - they were very helpful on both occasions.

I decided I needed to get another half stack in 2006. I tried Mesas, Engls, Oranges, Fenders, Peaveys, TSLs. After initially being turned off new Marshalls because of the TSL (YUCK!), I tried the DSL and just about bought it on the spot. It has an interesting mix of classic and modernish sounds in the one amp. I have been playing for 20 years. I have a bunch of guitars of each of the popular persuasions as well as some oddball sweeties. I have a great pedal collection that changes at a whim - Carl Martin or Roland chorus, vintage SD-1 or Blackstar? I love how this amp looks and for the most part I love how it sounds. I love how it responds to the volume pots on my guitars and I love that it doesn't mask the character of the guitar being used. It could be made better so easily (see features). I have had 3 different JCM900 models, a BBreaker combo, a MESA combo (maybe a 22 cal - I can't remember), various Fenders, a JC120...If this was lost or stolen I would certainly check out other amps but not because I am unhappy with the DSL - Marshall and many other manufacturers are doing some great things. It would be silly to go and blindly buy exactly the same thing without checking that someone else hasn't made a 'DSL 100ish thing with footswitchable modes, independent eq, a quiet effects loop and no stupid tone shift switch'. I already said that is the amp I would buy.

2007 Model, 2 channels; 4 modes. 100 Watts of EL34 power, FX Loop etc etc...

I play metal, the heavier/extreme form of metal. Some call it Death Metal.

It's versatile enough but a half power switch/built in attenuator would be awesome. Also, separate EQ for both channels would be awesome. And a master volume... damn!

Many people dismiss these amps for metal, simply because they aren't BROOOOOT or they don't have enough GAHINZ for TEH SWEEEPZ, but simply put... these people are fools. I went to a guitar store to try out a guitar, the guy said to me - you've gotta use this Boogie Stiletto, its like a Marshall, but much better. Sure enough my eyebrows went very high and I tried it... it sounded like fuzzy crap; so a modern, post MKIV boogie then. I wandered over, grabbed a cable and cranked a Marshall up, the DSL 100... and WHAT AN AMP IT IS!!!
I've used ENGL, MESA, ORANGE, KRANK, PEAVEY live and I can honestly say MARSHALL are the only amps that cut it.
My live rig right now is a JCM800 through a 1960BV cab... but the DSL needs a mention, the trick is to watch the bass and treble, the presence is a wide band, high frequency pot so it controls most of the high end, the treble is quite brittle and does not need to be abused, its a narrow band pot so it only ads some real high HIGH end, so use that to fine tune.

IF YOU SCOOP YOUR MIDS, IT WILL SOUND LIKE A BAG OF BALLS. Crank those mids and get that sound cooking.

The clean is nice and usable, it's no ultra amazing clean, but like I said; live no one is going to complain, The crunch really tasteful for those classic rock moments during sound check!

OD1 is my personal favorite, its got some nice over tones, especially with the deep switch in. I don't rock the gain past halfway because thats when the definition starts to disappear.
OD2 is not where my tone lies, the gain is boosted but so is the bass; but that just swamps you out. With single coils though it sounds pretty fat.

Great metal tones, great rock tones. Completely underrated, a worthwhile shot if you're in the price bracket

the shift button is redundant if you ask me

Never broken, Marshall's are like trucks man, you can tinker and they'll snap out of it!

Got some new marshall logos for the cab etc... free, Marshall rule.

GREAT AMP

Set it up right and you'll be laughing when people ask what you're using. It's happened to me, sort yourself out; get a DSL.

Everyone pretty much has posted all the specs by now. I gave it a 6 because the features are a little weak. No footswitchable FX loop and no footswitchable modes in each channel.Those are my two complaints. Besides having the option of footswitchable reverb(WTF?!?) Later models of Marshalls have added this feature but they don't have the good raw tone that the DSL 100 has.

I have finally found a combination of pedals that make this thing incredible. By itself it's an 8 at best. The classic channel is really good with articulate highs and tight warm lows, gives a good classic rock crunch, probably the best I've heard on an amp made after 1975. The second channel is good if you don't scoop the mids, don't use the OD2 button and play it really loud. In fact I've found that the secret to this amp is to lay off on the Treble Eq, jack up the mids and use the presence for the treble. The treble frequency is really high and crispy on this amp and unmusical. If you really want a good sound out of this use a Tubescreamer or any good classic overdrive on low gain, high volume in front of the amp through the input, then use a BBE Sonic Stomp throught the FX loop with a Boss NS-2 to calm the storm.The overdrive enriches harmonics of the amp and gives it more life. The Sonic Stomp with this amp has made the rating a 10+ for me because i can quickly adjust the TWO knobs on the pedal to compensate for the tonal qualities of whatever guitar I'm using at the time. And it makes it sound like you are pulling a blanket off of your amp. No kiddin. Also make sure the next time you get it retubed and biased, have the tech increase the plate draw to the power tubes to make it run hotter. They are initially biased and set up pretty cold. You'll burn through tubes alot faster this way but, oh sweet tone city, will it sound a hell of a lot better.
I have the best distortion I've ever heard now and I'll take the pepsi challenge with this statement. It also helps that you play a good heavy piece of mahogany with good pickups too. Hamer USA Standard with EMG 81,85 and high output tone pots is my weapon of choice!

Power Transformer sucks. "nuff said. Everyone who has these amps and plays them loud for any length of time will encounter this problem with this amp. The originals are garbage. When replacing power transformers make sure that you get a different brand in there. Other than that I had a problem with the tube socket screen resistors and had it promptly fixed. This is isn't the best out of the box amp I've ever experienced but tube amps are notoriously inefficient and fickle.

haven't ever used this service.

I've been playing for 15 years and have tried many other amps but after finding the right pedal combination with the DSL100 I have been least inclined to replace it with something new. It works for me for now. The features are kind of a drag for me. It they reissued this amp with more footswitchable options (FX loop, modes on each channel) and kept the exact same preamp schematic and upgraded the power transformer, Marshall would have its best amplifier ever made. I've tried newer models from Marshall and they fail in comparison (distortion sucks, modes all sound alike, clean sucks). Overall if you find this amp available for less than $900 then buy it. If not then don't. I got mine in a trade for a Rivera era Fender 75 head and mid 80's fender champ. I got the better end of the deal.

not sure what year, possible 04. this thing Kicks a@#, its a 100 watt head that features ec83's in the pre-amp section and el34 power amp tubes, classic marshall valve setup.it has 2 channels with two switchable modes on each, 1st channel is a clean, very clean, the best clean tone on a marshall ive ever heard, then it features a classic gain channel thats similar to the old plexi's and old supers. then the other channel has two switchable lead's the 1st is your jcm 800 gain and the 2nd is a ultra gain witch is the only real beef i have with this head, its very grainy and fuzzy as metioned in previous reviews but lower the gain setting will counteract that crap for the most part. you got your typical eq , presense t. m. b. for all the channels, no idependent eq for each channel(doesnt bother me, i have eq in fx loop) this thing has 2 buttons, the deep switch which tightens the end and boosts the lows, a mid scoop button thats self explanitory. also has an fx loop which is good for us effect geeks. another beef is that you can only switch between channel A and B and not the others but its a minor beef. its really loud amp so dont use at room volumes to gauge this thing, its gotta be cranked up to get the true tone of this thing.

Killer.. everything and every style of music can be dailed up on this thing, the most impressive thing on the amp is the clean channel, as i said early its the best clean channel on a marshall ive heard, been playing for 18 yrs and have heard many a marshalls. the lead channel is just as killer, pure marshall tone. very versatile for any gig, covers ,blues, jazz(yes jazz), rock and metal. it will keep up with anything you through at it. I know because all those styles i mentioned above im doing. I have a custom tele that has S.D. pearly gates in the bridge and vintage rails in the neck and a olp mmluke that has the luke emgs in it, both guitars sound ballzy coming out of this amp, can get that old van halen/zz top ,classic rock sound to more edger tones like my man steve lukather(by no means will you play like him if you get this amp)from toto.

its a marshall, its the harley davidson of amps.

overall this thnig gets an 9 cause of flaws i mentioned above. ive had this amp for about 3 mnths know, i own many other boutique amps and effects, to many to list. this thing will sing with a good overdrive pedal like a fulltone or a klon. i really love this amp for its versatility and tone. i would cry if it were stolen and eventually replace it. always hear stff for yourself before buying.

You all know what it does. I'm writing this to share the misery I'v gon through in the last year. Read on...

Sounds Awesome! It is a Marshall that sounds like a true Marshall, actually, 3 different Marshalls. Classic gain sounds like a jtm 45 with it set right. When you push in the button it is very JMP or JCM 800, throw an sd-1 or tube screamer in front of it and hold on. Depending on your settings you get everything you heard back in the day, ZZ, Zep, SRV, AC/DC, Blackfoot, Mollyhatchet, Motorhead...
Got the ultra gain and you have a hotrodded jcm 800 and with a pedal in front you get the firs 3 Metallica albums, Anthrax, Tesla, G-n-R, again all depending on your settings. Best sounding Marshall I ever owned.
I love it! I hate it!

This thing craps out on me every 8-10 weeks. I play out 4-7 nights a week 4-5 hrs a night. The first time I lost the effects loop, I still made it through the gig. Next time I lost the classic channel, I couldn't switch to it, still made it through the night. Then on night,2nd set, the place is blowing up, we're in such a groove it was out oof this world, then, i'm playing air guitar. Still lit up but no output. I did wha any rockstar without a tech would do, I gave it shaken baby syndrome and turned it back on and finished the night. My repair shop said it was probably a tube, since we coundn't re create the issue. I retubed it, went to rehearsal before we were gonna open for Marshall Tucker and one of the power tube went nucular! Now I'm 2 hrs. from soundcheck and I have an amp that greenpeace would sue me for. I scrambled and borrowed my friends 5150 (Bulletproof, he hoses it out after every gig and puts it away wet)and it saved me. We went on and it sounded sweet, not Marshall sweet, but sweet in it's own way,,as a side note, it sounded nothing like any Van Halen recored I ever heard, but it sounded great with my Les Paul. I took the Marshall back to the shop and he said that the bias was floating and when it goes away the tube goes Chernobyl. I sold it AS IS and dropped the hammer and bought a brand new one, they are now discontinued by the way. So for $1271.00 out the door I got a five year warranty, YAYYY??? No BOOOO!!!! They only cover Parts, I gotta eat the labor, how do I know you may ask? 3rd gig with the new head, stock power tubes, never touched them The tube ran away again and CAUGHT FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Kept playing though, It was so Rock n Roll, We wer killing it playing For whom the Bell Tolls and I smelled that smell, you know the one, the smell of electronic DEATH, I turned around and I couldn't tell because of the fog machine, but I could tell because the flames were flickering out from behind the head. I quickly unplugged it and another musician at tthe gig ran home a brought me his Bogner Shiva (A$$hole) Thanks for kicking me when I'm down. But it saved the gig. So tomorrow morning I am returning this 54 pound piece of fire wood to Sam Ash. I have 6 days left on their 30 day return policy. I hate it. I love the sound but I need the reliability. Iam going back to my old 5150. Everyone can rag on peavey, but, when you hit the standby switch the play and sound sweet too. Not Marshall sweet, but Peavey sweet. Great for getting Skynyrd and .38 special sounds, and on the ultra channel you get moderm Metallica, Godsmack,Lamb Of God stuff.

As a final note, I know what I do. I know my equipment, so it's not because of me wiring cabinet wrong or useing power brakes. I use 1 2x12 vintage 30 cab at 8 ohms. Marshal won, game over man, game over, I tapped out. I love it but I can't afford to keep fixing these things. I need to save up and get an old handwired ptp Marshall, maybe that will be mor reliable.
I saw Zakk wylde at Ozzfest and he had 8 halfstacks, only 3 wer mic'd... I'm guessing clean dirty and lead tone. During his 2 hr. guitar solo, to give ozzy a break, his shit cut in & out then it did it again and the stage hand moved the mic to another stack. Lesson here. Play til you can hang like Zak and afford 10 G's worth Of Marshalls. Done!

Roll the Dice, The three I went through this year were made of glass. My other 2 friends never had a problem with theirs, but they play half as much as I do.

Marshall DSL 100 with 1960 A&B cabs (full stack). I would have given this a 10 if the Marshall foot switch supplied could switch between the high low setting on each channel and not just between channels.

I play this with a PRS Single Cut Standard guitar - just amp and guitar and the sound is great. I would give sound a 10 however, the amp is very bright, the treble knob never goes over 3 and I don't use the presence knob for the same reason. If there is one improvement for the amp it would be to knock down the treble a bit so the player has some control over the high end EQ settings.

I own two DSL 100 heads (one for a back up). After a year neither amp has given me any problems. A huge improvement over the 1959HW horror story I went through prior to owning these two heads.

I have not had to deal with customer support on this line of amp so no comment.

I have been playing for roughly 40 years. This amp with a PRS guitar provides an excellent classic rock sound without the need for any stomp boxes or rack gear (key). I tried a lot of different Marshall heads before settling on this line. Some advice to new buyers: not all Marshall heads sound (or work) good. A good strategy is to free-trial as many different heads and cabinets as you can with YOUR GUITAR before you make your purchase. Finding the right guitar/amp combination that fits your style of music takes time - don't rush it and don't rush into a wrong purchase and then try to fix a bad tone with stomp boxes, rack gear or modifications to your guitar or amp because you can't fix something that's not there to begin with. Lastly, buy the best guitar/amp you can afford (make payments if you have to) as there is nothing worse than settling for a bad tone and nothing more exciting than finding and playing with a great one. This amp & guitar combination provides a great tone for what I play - Good luck in finding your tone!

I believe my amp was made in 2004, but it is not so important, it whether works or not for me... It has 4 12AX7 valves and 4 EL34,2 separate footswitchable channels with separate spring reverb, standard TMB equalization with presence pot and Scoop and Deep switches, effect loop. Basically this amp has 4 gain settings or channels however you please, as it has on first channel Clean/Crunch and on the other (Ultra Gain) Lead 1/Lead 2.

I'll start describing the sound by channels:
Clean - very very nice, gutsy, lots of bass, treble, very articulated and when cranked up does nice sweet vintage distorsion, but it is very loud so you wouldn't find that distorsion at bedroom level unless u have some killing pickups.
Crunch - think 1959 plexi distorsion, crunchy, full, proper valvy sound! Great for vintage tones - think Led Zepp, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Cream, Hendrix and stuff...
Lead 1 - My favorite here - sort of like a hot rodded jcm800, great distorsion for reaching that Gary Moore sound, nice harmonics. I like it when it is a bit toppy or trebly however u like. A tiny remark here.. it is a bit fuzzy, but that's all
Lead 2 - Could be very nice but this actually made me give it a 9. It is too fuzzy... It isn't noisy, it is actually very good, but just too fuzzy... maybe a new set of valves would do - thinking of getting a set of matched JJ EL34L and JJ 12AX7... If you really don't like it and have 400$ spare send it to these guys who do mods and have the fuzz removed... i haven't :)
I am using it with my Epiphone Les Paul with Seymour Duncan Antiquity humbuckers and my Fender USA Standard Strat with DigiTech Bad Monkey and Marshall Guv'nor 2... Sounds amazing with Les Paul on every setting with every pedal i've tried, but i prefer playing Strat directly without pedals - completely relying on amps distorsion as pedals add some strange noise to the Strat - anyway most of the time i use Strat on clean where it is in its element and Les Paul for muddy jazz clean and everything else.
I mostly play blues and rock, from some Dire Straits stuff, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC to Guns N' Roses...

Cmon, it's Marshall - My teacher who is one of the best Serbian musicians used to tell me: "Get a Marshall, but a proper 100W one! It can never let you down you will always have enough power and it is reliable as a tank!" So so far it is :) Just take care of it and it will take care that you sound great! I would use it on a gig definitely if i was good enough to gig, but i'd have a backup... People die of heart-attack out of a sudden, so could an amp - maybe not a hear attack but valves or transformers :)

I've never tried to reach Marshall, i bought it used... Shouldn't be too bad though... Anything u need call the Marshall factory - spares department and get it... No idea about the warranty as again, i've bought it used

I've been playing for a year and a half, I own also an Epiphone Valve Junior 5W practice amp and another small valve amp which i've made that runs on 12ax7 and 6V6 valves. Digitech Bad Monkey, Marshall Guv'nor, Epiphone Les Paul Standard (SD Antiquity pups), Fender USA Stratocaster Standard...
I'd be really gutted to have it lost or stolen, but it is not a needle to loose it it is a huge 20+ kilos monster. I would definitely buy it again if i am able to find such a great value again. In my opinion MUCH MUCH better than JCM2000 TSL series, and also for its original price of about ??650 much more sensible solution than a plexi or JCM800 wich cost at least ??200 more and are not nearly as versatile.
Haven't tried any of its rivals - Soldano SLO or Boogies so i can't judge.
I've wanted to get this amp cause of it versatility and a bit due to the fact that my favorite guitarist Gary Moore is using one.
I am giving it a 9 as the sound is not perfect, but pleases me and will definitely please nearly everyone who is after proper Marshall rock tone.
Try buying amps used, much better value, it is whether they work or not, it can't be worse than new one if it is in good shape, change the valves and you'll be more than glad that you have saved a lot of money. Get some nice pedals for that money!

one channel of two distortions and one channel of a clean or drive

I've tried everything from hell and back. I play in a cover band that covers everthing from CCR to Blue Rodeo (Canadians know who) to Green Day to U2, And let me tell you Im an extremist when it comes to U2. This Amp can do it all. Clean, Blues, Hard Rock,(death metal type in Mesa Boggie)). I accidently stumbled upon this amp and was floored by the versatility. If it a seperate channel switch between the clean and drive it would be absolutely perfect

Dont buy this new, buy it used and save half the money cause its built well

For the sound versatility this thing cannot be beat. Rent one and you'll find awe in every pickup configuration on all types of guitars. My Strat sound amazing on this. Goes from heavy distortion to prestine clean with the roll of you volume pot. NOT A ONE TRICK PONY BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION.