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Amp too cheap to pass up...


Axisplayer

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Was on OfferUp today and saw a local ad that was too cheap to resist. The ad was for a Marshall Lead 100 MOSFET head (3210). It has no tears in tolex or grill cloth. All corners and logo are fine. All knobs are there. It has no cosmetic issues at all. Everything worked as it should, except for reverb and one switch on the pedal. The switch for the reverb is broken and it isn't coming out of the amp either, although if you rock the amp, you hear the reverb so it is working. I am assuming the guy turned it off and then the pedal broke so it is off until I can switch it back on. Anyway, I almost never like a SS amp. I am a tube guy and own a THD Univalve and a "The Valve 250-2" with lots of NOS tubes. This amp actually sounds pretty decent. For gigs that don't pay enough to haul out "The Valve" (Uni doesn't count because it is too limited in features for me to use live) I could get by with it. The price on this Marshall was $80. Everything I read online today said they were anywhere from very decent to really good sounding. I think the truth is in the middle, but it is certainly usable. Gotta say, for $80 I am pretty happy with it. I do wish it was a little darker sounding. There is too much high end, but I can dial it out for the most part. It reminds me a 2210 head I owned. Any words of wisdom on these amps?

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Congratulations and Happy New Amp Day. :thu: A quick eBay "sold listings" search shows those are going for $175-300 in working condition. The reverb itself may be bad, my Fender made the spring sound too but the tank was still bad. If so, you saved enough for a decent pedal.

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That heads a generation or two older then my Valvestate 100 so I'm not sure its got the same quality as mine. I've had my Valvestate for over 10 years and think it sounds wonderful myself.

 

Marshall does a much better job building SS heads compared to many other companies, mainly because they use Mosfets which electronically work very similar to tubes. They're clean channel sound very close to the Marshall Plexi I used to own and it does give you the tone and string touch of a marshall. The amp takes pedals very well and you can dial the levels down to reasonable levels. it will sound big on a big can and sound like a combo on a small cab so using the head with a small portable cab makes it easy to haul around.

 

Mine has a preamp tube so that may play a small part in the tone. I run it side by side with either my Music Man of Fender Bassman so I can use stereo effects. I do have a pair of the 15W combo's too which have similar tone qualities.

 

The price of $80 is very good. They normally sell for around $350, only $100 less then what they sold for new. Of course condition is a big factor. I've seen a few sell cheap because they were so ragged out.

 

Your Reverb tank output microphone element that picks up the spring seems to be working. It should work without the remote pedal, if not you may have a weak RCA input connection to the tank or the wires inside connecting the speaker element may have frayed/broken. Easy fix in any case. Rarely is a reverb circuit and issue with reverb, its usually the spring tank or cable related. Spring gets stretched out and rests on the frame or the wires to the elements break. You can buy a new tank for less then $20 in most cases too. You just have to be sure its the right one. I think most Marshalls use a 3 spring config with a shorter tank length, but its pretty easy to check by simply unscrewing it and looking.

 

Good buy, Hope you enjoy.

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