MARSHALL 50 WATT PLEXI AMPS
There have been several Marshall 50 watt Plexi amps over the years. I have owned 3. The differences are there for the lint pickers and navel gazers to enjoy. I have owned them and can attest to them having personalities much like identical twins that are indeed not identical. Bottom line in a blindfold test the difference are beyond inconsequential.
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Dave Barber of Barber Electronics was modding Marshall amps for a living for years before he started his now famous pedals. He has a small mod that can be done to the Origin 50 that does indeed remove the final piece of lint of the two. Marshall use a microfarad 1 on the first cathode exchange it for a 10 or if want or a bit higher. It gives you the nice bump in the lows. Marshall put in the microfarad 1 to tame the amp for the bedroom boys. I can live with the goofy taps they did to drop the level because they can be switched out. in fact I use the low one as a standby switch between sets.
So put on some headphones and play this video LOUD!
Better still ...before you watch what you are hearing. Get a friend to watch the screen and when the one amp is switched to the other take note as to which one you think you are hearing. The amps are dimed. I wish they were both set on around 6 or 7 as the level is the same but the tone is richer by a lot.
For those that are wondering. Yes I do use an attenuator. I keep my volume settings level with my drummer who puts out about 90db. So I do not crank it to 120db. I set my attenuator to about 20 watts at home and I still get the same tone and more importantly the response Another thing is the criticism about this and that by the reviewer are non existence at 90dB. Also note although he owns both he has had the 1987X for several years so overly justifying it is a given. LOL
If you get one put the wattage switch on full. Try these settings that I have used on all my Plexi amps since the first one I got used in 1971.
Presence 4__Master 7__Treble 4__Mids 6__Bass 5__Tilt__6__Gain 2
Try and leave it for a few days before tweaking the settings. I expect you will not
go too far from these. I got them from a guy in '71 who had worked with Marshall starting in the '68.
AFTER THOUGHTS
I would love to see Marshall do a bare bones Plexi. Just pull out the toys from the ORIGIN 50 and give us a basic original model Plexi. It would not take much ...nothing but changing the values of a few parts. It is not about adding complete new sections to the amp but taking them out.
Paul you nailed it. This is the best sounding most underrated amp out there. People are finally starting to catch on. The biggest movement will be the bass setting. 7 across all settings except presence will give the growl. You can't even come close with anything else in the price range. To make it truly sing you need a green or cream back type speaker.
ReplyDeleteI am using a Creamback. I also use an attenuator. My first Marshall was a '69 I bought used in mint in London UK at Boosey & Hawkes. They were the show case for Selmer and they had all their reeds and horns. They also had a lot of high end Jazz guitars including all the Gibsons. I met Steve Howe of yes their. We went to a Jazz workshop together to see Herb Ellis. He always got free tickets.lol No I did not meet all of yes. lol he like to talk about Jazz guitar and gear just like us. lol He did not talk about himself.I paid about $300.00 USD for my Marshall. They just wanted it gon. In fact it was mint but not on display. They thought it would put their Jazz customers off. I had ro sell it when needed money. I did get a twin Reverb next and closely followed by another mint Marshall with a few small mods.It did not sound different. I was back from Brit and this Marshall had export specs that had been changed back to Brit specs.
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