A History of Vintage Marshall Amps 1962-1973
January 31, 2011 by GoofyDawg
In my previous article, I cited the Marshall Shoppers Guide as the definitive resource to help you make a decision in purchasing a Marshall amp, both vintage and modern. In that article, I mentioned that my very good friend, Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps was especially helpful in guiding me towards the type of Marshall amp sound that appealed to me. Jeff specializes in building vintage Marshall-style amps, and in order for him to be able to build those types of amps, he had to acquire quite a bit of knowledge about the vintage Marshalls. On top of that, he’s also a collector, and has an original JTM 45. Niiiiice!
Jeff’s such a great guy in sharing information, and he has written an EXCELLENT article that covers the vintage Marshall amps from 1962 to 1973. It is entitled: “History of Early Marshall Amplifiers.” In the article, he talks about the various Marshall amps and their configurations. It’s lots of information that is really geared towards the collector.
So now there’s another definitive resource on vintage Marshall amps!!!
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Posted in Guitars | Tagged amp, amplification, amplifiers, aracom, aracom amps, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Marshall amps, Music, musicians, vintage marshall amps | 5 Comments
Very cool.. Until a few years back, the only marshall I had owned was a JCM 900 model 4100 and to say it sucked would be giving crate and other amps that suck a bad name. To all the Crate owners out there, don’t be mad at me, it’s not my fault your amp sucks. talk to Crate.
That being said tubes in the early to mid 90’s weren’t very good, I knew nothing abiout making an amp sound better using different values of pre and power amp tubes etc..
A few years ago a friend that know the tones I like talk me into going on a quest for a good Marshall in my price range which meant 81 JCM 800 50 watt..
I found one in Alameda, first year NOS 6550’s with a bright cap removed from the input. Frikkin A..
My friend called a few weeks ago and asked me if I still have it… I told him of course and for future reference, you don’t have to ask that again..
This JCM 800 has the lowest plate voltage I’ve ever seen, coming in at about 320…
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In case you’re reffering to my ramblings about my JCM 800 and it not fitting into the topic yearwise, I was reflecting on his comments of Jeff helping him pick out his amp.
I also have an early 90’s Plexi RI which is closer in line with his overall initial topic and a very good amp but not quite as fun as the 800.
I hope to own a Celtic Edana one of these days soon, which is a JTM 45 clone with KT-66 tubes. I love the cleans that tube delivers, plus they can crunch like Beano.
Good stuff. I’ve kinda gone full circle: Started with a JCM800 then proceeded to use a variety of other manufacturers, now been using a Vintage/Modern for over a year.