The Marshall 1987x reissue

[Loobster]

I'm very interested in a mint second hand reissue 1987x for sale at a local shop. Looks to be at the most a couple of years old, the price is £600 - new they never sell for under a grand. If I could get them down to £500 or close it'd be a great deal.

Anyway...does anyone own one of these amps? How do you like it? Threads on these on TGP are patchy... I hear that a lot of people clip out the bright cap on the high treble channel and replace it with something else which gives the volume a better taper and gives the amp more headroom.

My band's sound is somewhere between Fugazi, King Crimson, old Floyd, Jawbox, Drive Like Jehu, mewithoutyou etc. A mix of prog-rock and post hardcore I guess. I like raw tones, not too much overdrive but I could push it further with the Timmy and fuzzes if need be. Guitars used will be a Tokai LP Custom with BK Mules and a Gibson LP Special with Lollar P90s. Tell me how you like this amp and what you've done with it mods wise. I think maybe a PPIMV might be a nice mod somewhere down the line.

 

[jrrosel]

I had one. Used it with a THD hotplate and old Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks for stuff similar to what you list. It was awesome! I sold it. I regret it still! They are loud little suckers.

 

[Loobster]

Awesome, I was thinking that greenbacks would be great to pair it with. Loud is good. We rehearse and gig pretty loud...I can always use a boost or whatever to get some grit at a less defeaning volume though.

 

[jboyjams]

I love mine. It's from 1997 with Drake transformers and no effects loop - mint from e-bay.
I tried all kinds of bright cap values - silver mica and ceramic discs and decided to use no cap.
It works great with attenuators and effects, and sounds sweet into either the 1960AV or 1960AX cab.
Mine is a great sounding amp.

 

[dmb70]

I can't speak to the 1987x specifically, but I always here people say they sound much closer to the metal panels than the 1987 plexi. So that being said I do own a 1971 JMP 1987 & it's an awesome amp with plenty of head room & dirt when you want it. It's quite loud so an attenuator is recommended.

 

[mj07]

I had one of the white limited issue ones. Great amp. Only thing that kicked it out of the house was a '69 metal panel 50w. They are loud as %#$*, I'd suggest attenuation for the sake of your hearing.

 

[Clyde Billt]

I'm very happy with mine.
It's into a 1960AX (4 greenbacks) and an Alex's attenuator.
I've left it stock, i.e. no bright cap mod, and it sounds the bollocks.
It's got plenty of gain. I usually have it dimed on the amp and play my LP with Bare Knuckle P91's with the volume on 6-ish then full up for solo's.

By the way it's LOUD

I'm down Croydon way if you want to try it out.

 

[jmp]

I've owned several of them, as well as 60's originals.

Clip the bright cap or replace it with a lower value silver mica (250pF or 500pF value) and you will be happy. It is a classic amp for a reason.

-Mike

 

[jmp]

I'm very happy with mine.
It's into a 1960AX (4 greenbacks) and an Alex's attenuator.
I've left it stock, i.e. no bright cap mod, and it sounds the bollocks.
It's got plenty of gain. I usually have it dimed on the amp and play my LP with Bare Knuckle P91's with the volume on 6-ish then full up for solo's.

When the amp is at max volume the bright cap has no effect on the tone.

If you ever want to run the amp clean or with mild break up then the bright cap mod is essential.

 

[Zingeroo]

I'd recommend a Ceriatone 1987. Point-to-point turret construction. Sozo caps are an option. I built one from a kit and could not do without it.

 

[Loobster]

I'm thinking it'd be a bit too much power and I should spring for a JTM45 instead. I'd rather not have to attenuate it and most people say the 1987x is super loud.

 

[StevenS]

To be truthful unless you're running it really clean and using pedals you may as well just invest in a good attenuator. There are some fine ones out there these days, and you can save your ears and still get great tone.

The one I had sounded great, and I really only sold it because I found a 71 JMP 50. It was a fine amp.
You couldn't get much volume though before it started to break up.

Mine went to pretty much full volume at about 8:00 or 9:00 and just got fuller as the dial went up.

As mentioned before, they are classic for a reason.

 

[Loobster]

It's more cash though, I'd rather have something I can turn up somewhat and get it cooking (ie a JTM45) without having to buy an attenuator.

 

[vmjoe]

I can't comment on the Marshall 1987X, but I do own a Germino Club 40. This is basically a reproduction of the original JTM-50 (1986)/JMP-50 Bass (it has the option of using a tube or ss rectifier). I certainly don't know positively, but I assume the volume level is very similar to the Marshall 1987X. I recently went with a pair of Scumback M-75 speakers in my 2x12 cab. These speakers are supposedly as close to Pre-Rola G12M Greenback Celestions as you can find. Again, I'm assuming they are very similar to the efficiancy of the current Celestion Greenback's. If so, these speakers really decrease the perceived volume of the amp, so you may still be fine using the 1987X paired with the Greenback's without an attenuator, especially if you use a pedal for earlier breakup. My setup doesn't seem that loud to me.

 

[jboyjams]

I'm thinking it'd be a bit too much power and I should spring for a JTM45 instead. I'd rather not have to attenuate it and most people say the 1987x is super loud.

Sounds like a good plan.
I owned one of those two years ago - similar to my 1987x, I got it off ebay and it was mint with Drake transformers - 1989 I believe.
Since I had my 1987x bright cap removed, the JTM45 had much more saturation than the 1987x surprisingly to me. The headroom was decent at moderate volume and sounded very nice, but when pushed hard it wasn't what I preferred. I prefer the 1987x but it is a lot louder than the JTM.
I had them both at a gig and played the first half with the JTM and the 2nd half with the 1987x and an Ultimate Attenuator. I chose the 1987x but both amps sounded good.
These are 30 watts, tube rectified, and I did not need an attenuator. It would sound great with a 1960AX 4x12 cab.
I also had the 62 BluesBreaker reissue, same amp in a 2x12 open back GB combo and I much prefer the head and 4x12 - huge difference for me.

 

[gtrnstuff]

My 90's 1987 reissue gets a lot of use. I put the brite cap on a switch, a pull pot replacing the original treble pot.

 

[gbravo]

They are great amps. I still own my 1999 1987X with no effects loop. Definitely closer to the mid 70s metal panel sound than the 60s plexi. I lowered the bright cap value to 100pF. An excellent pedal platform...beware, though, it'll blow your head off at full volume.