Marshall JVM 410H

I don't need to run through the features again. This amp scores a 10 easily. Instead I will use this section to tell you that there is another review of the JVM 410H (a double up) and after reading it I was highly annoyed. Some idiot has ended up in an argument with another member, and in his reviews he gives the amp a VERY low rating. Thus bringing the overall rating of the amp down. It's complete abuse of the review system. So thankfully this review doesn't have the same monkey spouting off and gives and honest overall impression. It also seems that purists that don't even own the amp are giving it a bad wrap. I'm a sound engineer so I'm fairly confident I have good ears.

I'm using this amp with a Les Paul style guitar made from mahogany with a quilted mable top. I'm running a Dimarzio Fred pickup in the bridge. I have been playing around 14 years and owned a few different amps including a Mesa combo. The amp suits almost any style EXCEPT metal, which is a good thing! I play all styles blues, rock, jazz, dub, funk etc.. On higher gain settings on the OD1 and OD2 channel, this amp is quite noisy/feedbacky. But guess what, a gate fixes this problem. As said a million times, OD2 isn't fantastic but it has it's uses. OD1 is sweet. I only ever use green and orange on OD1. The crunch channel is just awesome. If I'm looking for a sound that breaks up when the strings are hit hard, and stays sweet and clean with softer playing, I use the Crunch channel with the gain turned down and volume up. It would be wise to buy some kind of attenuator like a THD hotplate if you're playing in the bedroom, this amp sings beautifully at medium to high volumes...After all it is 120W of tube power. The reverb is pretty good, I have never been a fan of spring reverbs so I was quite happy to have a digital reverb.

Okay this is the amps downfall. Unlike other Marshalls, it's not built like a brick ###thouse. In the first 2 weeks of owning it the footswitch crapped out, and the amp needed re-biasing. So I was without it for 2 weeks. It's all fixed now though and sounds as sweet as ever. I'm nervous about owning this amp past the warranty period. The knobs are a bit plasticky and I don't think they're a traditional pot held to the chassis with a nut. I may be wrong.

Customer support was great. I didn't deal with marshall, but rather the retailer i bought it from. They were more than helpful.

I'm giving this amp a 9. I would give it a 10 if I felt it was a bit more robust. If it were stolen or lost I would get another without a doubt. Just remember, it's a Marshall. If you want a Mesa sound, buy a Mesa. If you want a metal sound buy a 5150..This amp is a jack of all trades and master of most styles. My next amp with probably be a Bogner, but who can afford one of them.

If you are reading this, you already know the features: 4 channels, 3 modes per channel, dual master volumes, independent reverb controls, compensated recording out, programmable footswitch, etc.

The amp is designed to be a "be all/end all" Marshall for the working musician and tone freak alike.

Tons of features, front panel is pretty easy to figure out. The pedal board is great and easy to program. You can even switch master volumes here, making your "boost" pedals obsolete!

I have played this thing left and right, with everything from a Les Paul to a PRS to the cheapest Fender. I cannot get a bad sound out of it! Period.

The clean sound is absolutely wonderful, the best they've ever done. The channels are designed to take you through each era of Marshall, from JTM 45 to JCM 2000.

Now on to the tone. I own a '71 Super Lead, so I am VERY picky about tone, especially gain. This amp does not disappoint. You can get everything from that wonderful "singing" break up to AC/DC raunch without getting out of the Clean channel.

Going to the Crunch channel is where I seem to find the most pleasure here. Even with all the tone controls set on "5", simply toying with the Gain and Volume controls dials in some awesome tone.

The OD1 channel seems to take you into the "modded" JCM 800 tone and beyond. Nice crunch, great singing sustain.

The OD 2 is a bit much for me. I would never use that much gain, but metal players would have a field day, although a noise gate would serve well here. The OD2 channel gets noisy. That's fine with me, I'll never need that much.

I love the distortion on this amp. I have always been critical of "newer" Marshalls for that "Bacon frying" distortion they seem to get once you pass a certain point on the gain control. The crunch this amp puts out is much more "organic" and packs a whallop! It really moves the air at high volume and is very musical.

A quick note: I have read some negative reviews involving the use of Hot Plates and such. You guys are MISSING THE IDEA completely! This amp was designed specifically get great sounds without the need for modifications, power attenuators, and preamp pedals! Using a Power Brake or Hot Plate defeats the purpose of the amp completely!

No issues to report.

I have not dealt with them in a long time. The people at Korg were very helpful when I needed an output transformer for my Plexi years ago. I have not needed to contact them.

As a longtime Marshall owner and tone snob, this is the best Marshall I've heard in 20 years. I owned a JCM 900 and it was good but not that Tone Machine I was seeking at the time. I have not been crazy about their modern amps for a long time. I can't say enough about it.

I don't like taking the Plexi out anymore, it's far too precious to me and it's not replaceable. That's why I love this amp. I can get that good loud crunch and still manipulate the gain level with my guitar volume, just like my old amp. It's almost as dynamic and responsive, which is hard to find in modern day Gain monsters.

The only other thing I would recommend is using it with the Greenback loaded cabinets. That's a personal preference, but I use the Greenbacks with it and it sounds better than the setup in the store. Better breakup and more pleasing crunch, at least to me.

My amp was made in mid-2007. It has 4 channels and 3 degrees of each which supposedly give you 12 different tones at any given time. Has a parallel/serial FX loop that is bypassable. They give you a wet/dry knob but then tell you in the manual that it is best to go full wet when you use the loop. Why even bother putting one there? It has plenty of power. It features 5 ECC83 and 4 EL34 tubes. It is an all tube circuit.

Here's where it gets sticky. I use a Gibson SG Standard with stock pickups and a Schecter C-1 Hellraiser modded with a Duncan JB/59 set. I bought this amp in hopes that it would cover the styles I play which are "heavy metal" and modern metal. It handles tones from the 60s through the 80s and early 90s quite well if you don't push it.

I run the amp through a THD Hot Plate, but with that set on -8 db which is still loud enough through a 412 to get some speaker cone breakup. Master 1 is dimed. Master 2 is at 1:00. This is to compensate for the difference in output between the X Channel/Green and their Orange/Red. I use Master 2 on the Orange/Reds on all channels.

For some reason, Marshalls seem to be very anal about incoming signal. Initially I plugged my pedal board that was practically noiseless with a Fender amp into a Marshall and it hummed and hissed all continually. I ended up replacing power supplies to solve that. You cannot use the OD1 and OD2 on Orange or Red without a noise gate. ISP Decimator G-string. There you go. Noise problem solved.

I find the amp is prone to signal overload. It doesn't like overdrive or boost pedals at all. With signal overload it turns to mud. I noticed this in particular with the Schecter. The SG has no such issue. I thought it was the pickups. I pulled the EMGs on the Schecter because they were too loud into it. The Duncan passive replacements made no difference (yes I changed the pots to those spec'd by Duncan). It's that particular piece of wood that just is so dense everything goes into the pickup, even though it is mahogany. So volume knob time. No problem into the 5150.

I'm not impressed with its ability to handle low tunings like C and Drop B. I really don't understand why, but I suspect it might have something to do with the EL34s instead of 6L6s. But it does standard E and Drop D well enough.

And regardless of what you hear, Marshall does not recommend pulling the two outer power valves to reduce power to 50W even if you rebias. They say it could damage the amp. They recommend a Power Brake instead. Okay.... technically you can do this, but if you do, look at this as a way out of honoring the warranty. So Hot Plate time.

Overall because I'm satisfied with Clean, Crunch on all settings, and OD1 on Green, and OD2 on Green but the OD Channels on Orange and Red I'm still searching I give an 8 in this category.

If you're going to play this amp only at bedroom volumes, but you want a tube amp, do yourself a favor and get a Blackheart. It's like a why bother?

You know I wouldn't gig without a backup. I'll have my 5150 available. Failing bringing another head, get a POD XT Live or X3 Live and have a bank set up to be able to run with an amp model through the PA.

The pedal switch unit it comes with seems to be flimsy which isn't good if you don't have a POD, GT-10, or G-system, or other means of channel switching.

Mine has been reliable, so far. I know someone else who has had a nightmare. So I can't in good conscience give a 10. I have to give a ... 7

The warranty is 3 years parts and labor and 5 years parts. Mod it at all and you void the warranty. Not that it is that good. Tubes are only covered for 90 days. Any warranty service by an authorized center and you might be without the amp for about 4 weeks or longer -- I know this from a previous Marshall. This is probably because techs get paid squat for warranty service so the stuff sits on the shelf. It's not like getting your car fixed. Also on the Marshall web site they reiterate over and over that any valve changes (including preamp valves) should be made by a qualified technician. What's a qualified technician?

Then there's this friend's unit, and he's had a nightmare. Korg is friendly and all that, but....

This brings me to an opinion about warranties on musical equipment: you buy it; it's yours.

I also have a 5150 II and a POD 2.0 w/ Footswitch, but I mostly use a pedal board with my FX in the loop.

I wish the handle on it felt more solid. The handle on the 5150 II doesn't feel like it would break when you grab it, but this one doesn't give me that sense of security. I like the four channels. I like the tone on most of the channel settings. I'm not fond of the way it tends to be subject to signal oversaturation. I compared it to other products and it is a big step up from the DSL and TSL. It has the Vintage Modern covered in the Clean channel alone.

Granted tubes should last a while. Preamp tubes about 4 to 5 years, and power tubes about 2 to 3. So I'm thinking I shouldn't have to change tubes for a while. However, when it comes time for a power tube revalving, the bias trim pots are not accessible. The test points are not accessible. You have to pull the amp out of the chassis. My 5150 has the test points on the back panel. So when this time comes if I want to do this myself in the future it will require a mod to the amp that will void whatever is left of the warranty. Basically this amp does not have user serviceable parts unless you just don't say anything. Keep the original valves in a safe place if you change them so if there is any trouble you can swap them back in.

The store where I bought it had a 30 day exchange period. I had another Marshall initially but didn't like it and exchanged it for this one. If this amp were stolen, I'd probably go for a Splawn, Ceriatone, or an Orange with the insurance money.

You all know it is a 4 channel, 3 mode per channel all valve amp, with digital reverb, look up any other specs you need

I bought this amp in March of 2007. I was a bit apprehensive due to the cost, and it's unproven design, but since I have used Marshalls forever, I made the plunge. I have to say that it is the best amp I have ever played thru, and It meets all my sonic needs. I did buy a decimator prorack G to calm the high gain noise on the orange and red modes of the OD1 and OD2 channels. The amp remembers your last setting on a channel, so when you switch back, it knows if the loop was on, and what mode. It has all the old Marshall tones in it. Don't use an attenuator-Duh, I repeat Don't! You can find a balance for whatever tone you need if you have some patience, (or experience-saves time), and a little understanding of gain structure. You can overdrive the main power and cut the channel volume while maintaining pre gain on any mode and any channel. The Green clean bypasses the volume pot, and has reversed Eq, like a Fenders config, and it will shimmer if you want that. It takes no work at all to get the best clean you ever heard, especially out of a Marshall. It does it all. If you can't get it to do it, either you got a dud, you can't hear, or you work for another amp company and write reviews as a shill to Dis Marshall.

Not one issue with any of my Marshalls, except the retubing as needed. No maintenence or retube or any issue with the JVM. I play about 10 hrs a week, and no issue. I use a road case, and move it hot sometimes, but still on stock tubes. Very tuff!

Never ever ever needed them. Hope I don't, but hey, every experience with any companies Customer support is individual, and varies, so there.

I want another as a spare, to keep at the house so I can play thru it all the time. I leave mine at the studio, so I miss it during the days we aren't playing out or rehearsing. It is that good. Go try one, you will love it. You can find every marsh ever made, and then some new ones--all in this amp. Do you believe the words of the one or the words of the many?!?!?!?

Usually, I only bother to review equipment that I like. I don't like to waste words on equipment that isn't to my taste, but I feel a word in edgeways is needed here to counterbalance the superlative, glowing reviews.

It has a lot of features. I don't get scared by having so much control of the sound as I like the better multi-effects units on the market, but I do mind if the features are bloated. Here, they are. Too many things cluttering up the tone stack. You don't need a bunch of knobs to make an amp sound great. You can have a simpler control scheme with better versatility. So although it has 12 different sounds most of those are too mediocre to be usable, in my opinion.

Right. This was a store tryout. I was using my own Burns Brian May replica modified for 21 different sounds instead of the standard 13, a Gibson SG '61 RI, an Epiphone Les Paul fitted with active Zakk Wylde EMGs, a stock AVRI Fender Jaguar and a '72 Tele Custom. That's a fair gamete of guitars right there. I chose a high quality noiseless cable straight to the amp for some tests, and two noiseless cables with a clean boost (MXR Micro Amp) for others. The amp was running through a 12 ohm THD HotPlate (great piece of kit) into a 1960A cab, standard Marshall stuff.

Basically, I tested the amp as if I'd be using it for all my tones. I figured, what the hell, with 12 available tones there's gotta be a handful of good ones, right? Sadly, I didn't find this to be the truth.

It started well enough though. We had the usual weak clean channel when set on GREEN mode. Even with the amp cooking on about 7, THD Hotplate on -12dB, the clean didn't move me. It lacked bottom end unless the bass was dimed and the Bass Boost on the THD was on. It wasn't dynamic, it didn't sparkle much except with the Jaguar with 'strangle switch' on plus the Micro Amp where it got a little piercing. And it did break up, but it sounded like someone had stuck some opamps in there to make it do that. Not a good sign.

Moving on to the ORANGE and RED settings of the clean channel, both channel and master at about 6, things improved. We were in Plexi territory with ORANGE and in JMP/JCM800 territory with RED. As these are famous, distinct tones I was pretty happy with them. Although, unlike the amps it so shamelessly wants to be, the tone sounded more compressed, less responsive to picking dynamics and lacking that special something. Playing around with the channel volume, master volume, Micro Amp boost levels and such didn't help that much. But it was here I did find two tones I could use.

The second channel picks up where Clean left off. More aggressive, more of that high midrange that Marshall is known for. Perhaps a tad too much actually; the EMG-loaded Les Paul helped bring it under control. GREEN setting was fine. ORANGE was a good solo tone, although it seemed by the time I racheted up to RED, the tone was all about oppresive midrange and the bass felt even more loose. Messing with the Bass on the channel and the bass boost on the THD helped a little, but not too much.

The third channel started to worry me. I don't know what it is, but Marshall cannot get high gain tones right. They have lots of gain, too much midrange, the bass starts to disappear and the whole thing feeds back and enchances instrument handling noises like no-one's business. GREEN reminded me of a DSL or TSL with the gain just past noon on the dial. ORANGE and RED were messy. If I tried to compensate for noise and excessive middy gain tones by turning down gain and/or channel volume, the tone just felt weak and weedy. No balls. The THD was still on -12dB with the Master still on 7. If an amp can't sound good under these conditions, you have a problem.

The fourth channel felt like an afterthought. Everything that was bad about the third channel was intensified here. I like Laney amps one hell of a lot, and Mesas aren't too bad either because when you have a lot of gain those amps still retain a tight bottom end, great for palm-mutes and sustained solos. They also don't compress too much. The Marshall does, and on singlecoil guitars is completely useless. Even the potted pickups of the AVRI Jag produced so much hum, I couldn't tell what I was playing. Having lots of gain is fine if the dynamics and individual sounds of each guitar you use shine through.

Although the JVM sounds okay with the volume down, channel four seeming usable, at gig volumes they fall apart. As if Marshall expected everyone to be buying these huge 100w heads and running them on master set to 2 on the dial, without a powerbrake.

Modern Marshalls are terribly made. If your modern valve Marshall (post JCM900) is out of warranty, do yourself a favour and open it up. You'll find lots of thin circuit boards, brittle cheap componants, cracked solder joints or ones just about to crack thanks to cold soldering processes and - biggest crime of any valve amp - valve bases mounted directly to the circuit boards which are brittle to start with, just aching to warp under heavy use. I'm not expecting hand-wired P2P construction on a multi-channel beast like this, but I know I'd rather have a bigger box for the amp and thicker ply circuit boards. I used to see this generations of amps come in for repair all the time, whereas my old JMP heads could go years without ending up on the bench.

Crap. I've had more luck finding out about my Marshalls, old and new, over at Plexi Palace. I think I've sent them five emails - some praise, criticism and requests for advice - and never heard a word back. My motto is 'the first line of customer support is building a great sturdy product' and they don't do that, nor do they reply to anything else.

On the plus side though, ordering replacement parts over the phone for the many damaged Marshalls I saw was a breeze. I had a very interesting talk with one of the techs down there who even went as far as calling some of the latest cost-cutting measures 'questionable' and said he'd never upgrade from his '69 plexi, '71 master volume and '87 Silver Jubilee heads. Wise choice!

I've been playing since I was six, starting with classical-style acoustics. I'm 23 years old at the time of writing, you do the math. I've done about one hundred gigs up and down the country, in various styles of bands. I'm no veteran old-hand, but I'm at least semi-pro and know the ins and outs of getting great tones, even on a tight budget. My current rig includes the guitar I've mentioned, a Boss GT-8 and a Laney LC50. By keeping it simple and not using too many effects I can get a tone that even boutique snobs can appreciate.

I didn't buy this. I wouldn't buy this. I wouldn't use it even if it were offered to me. I'm basically saying Marshall would have to pay me to use this. And even then I'd make sure I had my actual mic'd amps hidden behind. Ever since the 6100 head, I've been getting annoyed with how poor modern Marshalls are. They cram in more features every model, but at the cost of tone. They have complex tone stacks, they have some elements of solid state that you can't switch off. It isn't pretty. I could care less about those 'tone purist' issues if the amp sounded killer. As it is, the only sounds worth a damn on this are pale photocopies of superior tones, the ones that have kept Marshall afloat for this long; Plexi and JCM800.

It's an interesting idea, poorly executed. Being able to save a handful of your favourite tones is nice too, or would be if the tones were worth saving. As it stands, amps are the one thing in a guitar rig that works best when simplified. All the best tones I've heard or used come from one or two channel amps, and even on the two channel ones I tend to stick with the clean side. Get an amp with a killer clean sound that takes well to OD pedals, don't use too much gain, make sure your pickups are up to snuff and you're away.

I compared to this every amp I've used, and apart from the fact it's valve it doesn't do anything for me. You'd be better off running three seperate amp heads with a switcher... the Plexi for your cleans/slight grit, the JMPs for your classic rock overdrive and the 1987X Silver Jubilees for the hard rock tones, maybe with a clean boost to add a little flavour. Although it'd be more expensive, that combination would whip every single tone this over-engineered thing has to offer.

Please note that this review is entirely subjective and by no means am I a Marshall hater. I just think that all their best work is behind them. All attempts at making modern high-gain amps have not delivered the goods. Better luck next time.

Made in 2007.

This amp is very versatile and can pretty much do any style you want. I play rock/shred and a little blues and it nails it.

I won't go into the features you can get that on the Marshall website. Suffice it to say this thing has them all.

I am just a bedroom player and obviously it has more power than I will ever need.

I use a Gibson 1991 Les Paul Goldtop and a 2007 Fender Malmsteen strat.

The sound quality is great. Classic marshall and then some! I have the half stack but I plan on buying another cab to have the full stack.

It can be a little noisy but I have a Rockman Noise Gate so no big deal.

I LOVE THE SOUND ON THIS AMP!! Brutal distortion if you want it and also fantastic clean and anything in between.

I just bought it a few days ago from Guitar Center so I can't comment on the reliability.

no comment.

I have been playing for 30 years and have owned several Boogies and this amp blows them away.

I would definitely buy another one if this one was stolen.

I just smile everytime I play this amp. I always wanted a Marshall and I am just giddy over this one. I tried out several Marshalls at Guitar Center before choosing this one. I recommend you do the same.

It cost me 2800.00 including the half stack.

I won't repeat. Read here or go to Marshall.com

Fantastic. I've been through many amps and this one I kiss when I'm finished. If you can't find the perfect sound/tone you're after with this amp, you must be hearing impaired. You can achieve Fender clean (wow for Marshall) to Boogie onslaught - Everything between (all the Marshall classic sounds). - Yeah, you may need a noise-gate on some high gain stuff... but don't you usually? I literally give the amp a little peck when I'm finished playing it... I love it!

Been fine thus far...so I can't fault it.

Never dealt with them

errr... I kiss my amp when I turn it off. Is there an option for '11'? It sure goes there... Look, I've been playing for 16 years, been in many bands, played hundreds and hundreds of gigs (including big day out) and I rate this amp 10+. The only negative aspect of this amp is when it's off.

Purchased new in 2007 from Victor Litz Music---[Great place to deal with].I had already written an earlier review of this head. A very favorable review that I won't be changing. I had not commented on a feature on this amp [I hadn't used it yet when last review posted].I'll talk about it below..The features on this amp are second to none!!

Simply awesome! Any style covered with this head. From great cleans, to blues, crunch, and the heaviest tone you have ever heard.Now the feature I talked about above.On a lot of amps I own or have owned, I have always been less than satisfied with the cabinet voiced speaker emulation, direct line outs.This Marshall has an XLR direct out that is so good I hardly use a mic anymore when recording guitar parts on my VS2400 digital recorder. The tone using this line-out is that good! It sounds like a real 4X12 vintage cab that it has been modelled to emulate.Just great!!

Very good finish on this one. Very well built.Quiet switching, and it looks great as well.

I refer to this head as a 'one stop-tone factory'...Excellent live at full out volume, or low level practice volume in an apartment or whatever [the volume controls bring levels down smoothly without abandoning the tone]. The direct out XLR is excellent, the best I've heard.This amp is a must in a studio or live. Every Marshall tone imaginable as well as Fender clean/crunch/and Blues tones.With the 12 modes and the very well thought out foot-switch you will definitely program in your favorites [you don't have to use all 12 if you don't want to, but it's great to know you have endless choices!!]Take some time dialing in your tones. Use the Resonance control in the 'master' section as well. Very effective. I bought a Carvin V3 [new head], Carvin XT-112 [single 12 combo 50 watt-'hot-rod' mode] [used-rare], and the JVM all in the same week [a bit of an amp binge]. I am the luckiest guitar player around! All of these amps are fantastic!

The Marshall JVM410H is the first end all, be all, all in one amp. Sticking true to the Marshall tone, and even spicing the High Gain end up even a tad more than I've heard on many other previous amps from Marshall's right out of the box. Honestly, compared to Mesa's, and hell any amp on the market right now that is at all easily accessible, this is the best sounding amp I've played out of many.

The amp has actually now totally replaced my need for any sort of digital distortion pedals, and the reverb is pretty nice as well for being one of the first tube marshall's with digital reverb, it sounds great and each of the 12 voicing channels all have their own amazing tone. The JVM410H's 4 seperate 3 Band EQ's-Gain-Volume-Reverb controls, and also the 12 total channels (3 on each of the main 4 channels), and also a great resonance and presence controls as well.

It has enough power to play any gig, except maybe a house party, unless you have it hooked into a 2x12. Nonetheless, the 100W of all tube power, is more than enough.

Double FX Loop is also very nice, and silent recording is also pretty good quality.

I mainly use 2 guitars. A Gibson Les Paul Studio, with Seymour Duncan JB in the Bridge and 59' Humbucker in the neck. And then my complete custom built by myself, which is strat style body, with a thru-body SG neck with 2 Burstbucker Pro's and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail single coil in the middle.

Now I must say, this amp sounds one way, and then the way that I've made it sound that has pleased my very very picky ears, especially distorted. I must say this amp's quality is about an 8 on a good day with no preamp.

Now with a Line6 PodXT Pro running through the FX loop, this is by far the most insanely versatile amp I've ever heard, and using only a Boss Noise Supressor in front of the guitar to cut out the high gain feedback.

Now that is also the other thing, with the JVM410H you need to definitely check out getting a NS-2 or some type of noise supression because the Gain is insane especially with Hot Output picks up's used in both my guitars.

But honestly, YOU HAVE 12 POSSIBLE CHANNELS, and trust me you'll have you're number one favorite in each of the 4 channel. And with the 6 way footswitch with dual master volume control, bumping the volume up for leads and chorus's is so amazingly easy now.

It's Marshall. I've had it since about a month and a half after they first came on the scene. And never HAD to replace tubes. No tubes have burnt yet and I usually play for 2 hours at least. And this amp is not one to be neglected. Marshall's reliability is long known.

I Dunno?

I'm very much into the recording and overall ability to reproduce sounds as beautifully or as the most disgusting, singing, clean, high gain sounds. And this amp, it covers everything it needs to cover.

Not to say you won't ever need another amp. But this is worth the price, but takes a little time with tweaking, and having a preamp at the very least for it is a must to, to achieve the ultimate Marshall tone we all think of and love.

Imagine that, no amp's perfect. But this is close.

Do you know what year the amp was made in?

* I would assume it was manufactured in 2007 because that year is part of what is on the serial number stamp on back the amp!!


Is the amp versatile enough for you and the styles of music you play? What are those styles?

* I honestly don't think it gets any more vesatile than this in an amp head. And yes it can cover all styles of music no matter what you throw at it. I play in both a pop/rock cover band as well as an original pop/rock cover band. In the cover band we cover everything from Ozzy, to Lifehouse, Bon Jovi, Theory Of A Deadman and even Christina Aguilera. It works well for all styles!!

How many channels? Does it have channel switching? Effects loops? Headphone jack?

* 4 Channels and each channel has 3 accessable modes which can be accessed on both the amp and floor controller giving you a total of 12 useable channels all with diffeerent gain structures. There are 2 effects loops, one series, one parallel, a direct recording out, loop level for both pedals and rack units which is adjustable, several different cabinet plug in options and full midi implementation.

What features do you wish it had? Why? Are there features you never use?

* Maybe I'm being picky here but I kind of wish that the footswitch had memory capability to remember different settings in all the different modes (ie: 12 different EQ settings to go with the 12 modes). Features I don't use???? Well right now I plug my pedalboard directly into the front of the amp so I don't use the loop HOWEVER, as you read down, that may have to change as I will explain so read on....


Where do you use this amp? Does it have enough power for you?

* Every gig, every recording session. It's the swiss army knife of amps!! It has MORE THAN ENOUGH POWER!!

Feel free to enter any other features (stereo, tube or solid state, etc.).

* I like the 4 discreet reverbs that are assignable to any channel and user defineable as far as the level goes. Plus you can punch it in and out on each channel and with the different levels it's really useable for anything. Plus I like the digital reverb in there better than any of their spring verbs. This amp has a resonance knob for the low end!! Nice!! And I like the two master volumes so I can use one as a boost!!!

What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with?

* Les Pauls, Esp Eclipse II Standard with EMG ZW pickups, Music Man Axis Custom Made


How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?

* It suits me perfect otherwise I wouldn't own it!! ;~)


Is it noisy? On what settings, and in what environments?

* YES!! On the high gain channels when using my pedalboard too!!




What kind of sounds can the amp make? How much variety?

* It can do anything


Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? In what settings?

No not in the green mode!!


How brutal is the distortion?

* Seriously, about as brutal as it gets!!

Can you depend on it? Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

* Too early to tell. It's only a week old!!

Has the amp ever broken down? Because of neglect of regular servicing (as in tubes), or just plain neglect?

* Not yet!! It's still new!! I take care of my stuff anyway!!

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?

* I have talked to tech support several times (Mike) and he is always prompt to answer the phone and helps me with everything providing great answers to all of my questions!!


Ever try and get it repaired? Was the repair done under warranty?

* Not yet! I have owned plenty of Marshalls with no issues whatsoever! This should be no different!!!

Were you able to findan authorized service center easily?

* I know where they are!! Will I need them in the future?? Perhaps?? Only time will tell!!


How long is the warranty?

* 5 Years!! 90 days on the tubes!!

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?

* Been playing 32 years, 28 faithfully!! I used to own a ton of amps, racks etc.... It's all gone now ampwise and I only have this head and a very old Marshall Lead 20 combo as a backup!! I have my guitars as mentioned above and a pedalboard with all Dunlop MXR Pedals except for a few fine gems on there being the exception to the rule. My pedalboard is: (Wylde Wah, Rotovibe, MXR EVH Phase 90, MXR Wylde Overdrive, Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble, Maxon Vintage Series AD999 Analog Delay, Peterson Strobostomp 2 Tuner, Dunlop DC Brick, and an MXR M135 Smart Gate on its way this week!!

I run this amp and pedalboard combination into a single Genz Benz G Flex 2/12 Ported Cabinet with the flexed baffle and for speakers I pulled the stock Eminence Drivers and put in a pair of Electro Voice EVM12L Black Label Speakers!!


If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?

* Without question I would buy this!!



* Truthfully no, because this amp is so feature laden and contains the tone of every Marshall known to man I can't see owning anything else!!

What do you love about it? What do you hate?

* I love the versatility. That's why I made the purchase!! And the tone???? You'll never find better IMHO but that can be debated person to person!! What do I hate??? The noise floor on the higher gain channels (OD1 and OD2)

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?

* Mentally to my previously owned gear I just got rid of yes!!! And as well, I tried the H&K Triamp Mk II. I chose this because it had everything I could ever need. With all of its features it seemed timeless and I wouldn't be replacing it soon. Plus I just love the Marshall tone!

Anything you wish it had?

* Yeah, actually I wish it would accept not only EL34 tubes, but like the Peavey JSX I just sold be able to accept more than one type of tube. Ithis amp I would have honestly preferred 6550's for their beefiness and as such would have loved to see them add a user friendly bias section like the JSX.

Anything else you'd like to share?

* As a logtime gigging guitarist on both the studio and live spectrum I tried to make this as unbiased and to the point as possible. I know alot of people who force feed reviews here do so because they own the product reviewed and love it, as is the case here. But bear in mind that over the years I have owned anything and everything and was compelled to finally add as honest a review as possible regarding this fine product. A true testament to how good this amp really is lies in the fact that I just sold every amp I owned (11 total) and just have this and my small Marshall Lead 20 combo as a backup now!! It's all in here trust me! Once you tweak it and crank it up there is no equal for your dollar!!