This Marshall ain't no Fender! Help?

[Staff]

I recently bought a bandmate's Marshall amp. I'm not a big Marshall fan, but the price was too good to pass up. It's been modded, it's been abused, it currently doesn't even work, but the price was right and I've done some cap jobs on my Fenders etc., so how different could it be right? WRONG. I can't even figure out what it is. I think it's a 100w Lead head from the early 80's. It possibly has had an effects loop added, a master volume added, and been modded to use EL34's. At least that's what I've been told by my short memory minded buddy. I have heard the amp on many occasions and only remember telling him to "turn it down". Incredibly loud, painful ice pick tone, sounds good on 10 (when you're far, far away) or turned off completely. There is no in between. I'd love to tear into it and fully plan to. It has had holes drilled for knobs, jacks, etc, so I can't undo the damage, but I would like to see if I can make it useable. The label says it's a 100W Lead 8078 and has some signatures and the test date looks like 9-81. Non original face plate and back plate so that doesn't help me. Can some one tell me what it is so I can start tracking down web info on it and what possiblilities it holds? I've tried searches and can't find anything but a Super Lead, and never a 8078. Thanks, I think I'm in over my head.

[John Phillips]

Could you post some pics of it (no matter how lo-res)?

[TBOM Perez]

http://ax84.com/bbs/

[Staff]

This is my first attempt at pics so we'll see.... http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h236/Staff_2006/marshall_0747.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h236/Staff_2006/marshall_0746.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h236/Staff_2006/marshall_0748.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h236/Staff_2006/marshall_07491.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h236/Staff_2006/marshall_0750.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h236/Staff_2006/marshall_0743.jpg I have no idea if this worked, but thanks for the website to check out, I'll see what I can find and go from there. I'm sure learning a lot just browsing TGP and reading you all's posts. Thanks again. S

[Dai H.]

It's a 1959 100W Super Lead. Doesn't look too bad. Some goofy-looking stuff here and there though. I'd check over it very closely before powering up. There are some things that look a bit concerning such as the area near a fuse (orange wire in free air??), no grommet for the power cord(!), etc.

[mailman]

It's a 1959 100W Super Lead...
'59??? Pic of Test tag says 9-81. What's with that?

[John Phillips]

Model 1959 :).

Actually I think it may be an 'other Marshall brand' amp that has been 'de-badged' in order to make it more of a Marshall... like a Park, but not a Park since they have the two pairs of input jacks separated, not all four together - Marshall made quite a few 'other brand' amps for various (mostly obscure!) reasons.

Many of these are basically the exact same amps as Marshalls, but have different cosmetics... often including silver control panels not gold. Nowadays, Parks are quite cool and desirable in their own right, but twenty years ago they were very much considered 'poor man's Marshalls', and I've seen a fair few attempts at Marshall-izing them. The other brands were even less favored.

The good news is that it doesn't actually look badly hacked - the circuit board doesn't appear to have been modified and only has a few replacement components. There aren't even any definitely drilled holes, except the two above and below the missing voltage selector (and even then I'm not certain, some export models were paneled over there, I think with two screws in those positions, and they would have been covered by the original back panel). The MV on the front is where the polarity switch was (a hole was drilled in the chassis for one, covered by the panel), and the extra jacks on the back could be where the US-market four speaker jacks were fitted... although they don't look perfectly lined up, so I'm not 100% sure.

It's certainly restorable, probably not even too expensive. You MUST get some safety work done on it before you do anything though - the unsecured power cord is potentially highly dangerous. There's also a fuse holder missing (and the other one has been badly replaced), which means it isn't properly protected... and nor are you.

After that, it needs a proper filter cap job most likely - only two have been changed (always a sign of bodging, really), and a careful check over and any non-original parts replaced with the right ones, and it should be good to go. It might be a good idea to a better job of the MV (if you want to keep it at all) - a good post-PI type is considered better nowadays.

It's potentially a great 'stealth Marshall' :). It should sound fine when properly returned to stock spec... they all do, even though they do also vary a fair amount.

[trisonic]

Restore it. Please.

Looks like a very nice amp in hiding......

Marshall's model numbers still cause confusion, I see. It's like talking about a 1965 Model 1962. The 1963 which came out in 1966, the 1964 which came out in 1973...............................

Best, Pete.

[Staff]

Thanks all! Very encouraging news. With my experience level I have to make it safe first, work second, and sound good third. So I have some way to go before bothering you all again in my "sound quest". I have seen some info on the super lead 100 1959, and have found some schematics that look similar enough to run off of for a bit of restoration. I've been told the faceplate is just "misplaced" and he's looking for it. The cabinet was destroyed in a "boating accident", and the fuse holder and cord grommet were crushed when his 1968 VW was rolled last year with the amp inside. Why do you think they call it "dope"? I'll do my best and will check in with more questions as they arise. Take care, Steve

[trisonic]

The cabinet was destroyed in a "boating accident",


That's a first!

Best, Pete.

[that_brianm_guy]

two places to check out:

marshall circuits 101: http://marshall.redpt.com/clay/marshall_circuits_101.html

and the Metro Amps forums - tons of knowledge there!

http://forum.metroamp.com/


let us know how it goes!

[Swarty]

It is actually about a '73. The input/speaker jacks, filter caps, power/standby switches are clearly from the early '70s and those pressed in bolt dealies were only around for a year.

[John Phillips]

I was assuming it was a left-over chassis with the old-style switches etc assembled in '81 to use up old stock - Marshall did this a lot with their 'other' brands.

But in fact, the date on the inspection tag is 18-6-74 - it's written upside down :). (Not uncommon.) The model number is B078 too - which doesn't mean it's a Bass model, the circuit is clearly a Lead (split cathode networks on V1).

That means that the rotary-switch impedance selector (which I didn't think to question on an '81 chassis) isn't original - it would have been one of those dreadful pull-out/fall-out ones, so the rotary is a very worthwhile upgrade.

Good catch :D.

[Staff]

Thanks for the links, that'll will save me some time. As far as the manufacture date, the guy swore it was from the mid 70's, but saw the date on the label and figured (like I did) it must be an '81 model, and that he must have suffered more brain damage than he thought in the boating accident! Anyways, I only got $100 in this so far, I hate the way it sounded before, so I can play and have fun with it for a while before I start scratching my head too hard on tone issues (there's plenty of work to do in making it safe and work before I try to "tune it"). I'm looking forward to the challenge! Any recommendations on the caps for these animals? Favorite brand or supplier? I hate to spend the money experimenting on an amp I'm afraid I won't like anyway. If I can figure out how to get a decent MV working on it all this could change though, I have to just keep reminding myself that this isn't supposed to sound like my Fender Brown Super, now that's an amp!! Take care, Steve

[Swarty]

It would take very little to turn it into a JTM100, which will make it a very close cousin of a hi-power tweed twin. Was it orignally a combo?

[chris_d]

+1 for the metroamp.com forums. Lots of Marshall knowledge in those guys, especially for the 50- and 100- watters. They will tell you what you have and what to do with it. And probably the business attached to the forums will have any parts you need to bring it back, as well. Definitely a cool place for the big marshalls.

-chris