Who owns a Marshall 30th anniversary combo?

[TNJ]

I'm interested in hearing about these blue beauties. If one comes along, I'll probably be snatching it up. I hear the cleans are great (see JohnnyA) and the overdrive...? I'd definitely like the 411 from anybody in the know.
Let's hear from you Annie owners...
Thanks,
S.
j

 

[matte]

Originally posted by TNJ
I'm interested in hearing about these blue beauties. If one comes along, I'll probably be snatching it up. I hear the cleans are great (see JohnnyA) and the overdrive...? I'd definitely like the 411 from anybody in the know.
Let's hear from you Annie owners...
Thanks,
S.
j

I had one that was modded by Tony Bruno and Reinhold Bogner. Great sounding amp. Unfortunately, it's build quality and components are on par with a BIC lighter.

 

[Stevo57]

Smoke'em if you got em!

 

[aleclee]

Didn't Ariel have one of these?

 

[TNJ]

I thought Ariel had the head...but he could have the combo too.
Yes, he did rave about this amp..with midi switching. His tone certainly didnt suck!

Matte...I've heard about maintainance issues too with the annie. BTW...in an unrelated topic, after hearing you extol the sonic praises of the alnico pup in the neck position, I took your advice and picked up a Gibby R4 Custom LP. Unreal fat clean neck tones with that guitar. Makes one wonder why the alnico isnt more widely used.

S.
j

 

[matte]

Originally posted by TNJ
I thought Ariel had the head...but he could have the combo too.
Yes, he did rave about this amp..with midi switching. His tone certainly didnt suck!

Matte...I've heard about maintainance issues too with the annie. BTW...in an unrelated topic, after hearing you extol the sonic praises of the alnico pup in the neck position, I took your advice and picked up a Gibby R4 Custom LP. Unreal fat clean neck tones with that guitar. Makes one wonder why the alnico isnt more widely used.

S.
j

They are, without question my #1 fave neck PUs. I have had a 7 string version of the PU on order with MJ @ SDCS for over a year now. The original D'Armond Dynasonic PU is remarkably simiiar in terms of design and execution. Crazy deep magnets. I believe that the reason that those PUs are not more popular is based on the fact that they are extremely labor intensive to make. Gibson's dealer cost for them is around $300.00 and the GCS never seems to have them in stock.

 

[Ariel Pozzo]

I used one of the Limited Edition heads as my main live amp for 12 years. Absolutely reliable...only had to take it to the tech once due to a component failing (the diode in the power supply went ballistic) but once replaced by a sturdier one it never failed again.
I also had the Limited Edition combo for about two years...exactly the same sound and build quality. I didn't care that much for the speaker tho.
It was the King of Versatility...midi switching, parallel and series loops, discrete eq for all three channels.
Now, regarding tone: The amp's cleans are great, the crunch channel is wonderful, the lead channel is good but it doesn't shine.
But...
My Soldano's lead tone is WAY better.
My Rivera's cleans and crunch tones are WAY better.
So I sold them and went with what I have now.
But if I'd have to use only one amp for everything...I'd get a 30th Anniversary again.

 

[TNJ]

Originally posted by Matte
They are, without question my #1 fave neck PUs.

Mine too, now. Thanks for sharing.

S.
j

 

[TNJ]

Originally posted by Ariel Pozzo
I used one of the Limited Edition heads as my main live amp for 12 years. Absolutely reliable...only had to take it to the tech once due to a component failing (the diode in the power supply went ballistic) but once replaced by a sturdier one it never failed again.
I also had the Limited Edition combo for about two years...exactly the same sound and build quality. I didn't care that much for the speaker tho.
It was the King of Versatility...midi switching, parallel and series loops, discrete eq for all three channels.
Now, regarding tone: The amp's cleans are great, the crunch channel is wonderful, the lead channel is good but it doesn't shine.
But...
My Soldano's lead tone is WAY better.
My Rivera's cleans and crunch tones are WAY better.
So I sold them and went with what I have now.
But if I'd have to use only one amp for everything...I'd get a 30th Anniversary again.

Ariel...who got your combo?
S.
j

 

[Ariel Pozzo]

Originally posted by TNJ
Ariel...who got your combo?
S.
j

I sold it locally to a friend. I don't think it has left this country!

 

[TNJ]

O.K.,
Thanks!
S.
j

 

[drbob1]

I've owned both a combo and a head. I'd have to say that the clean is the best Marshall ever put in an amp and rivals some of the better multi-channel amps. The crunch channel is the jewel of the amp, the high gain sounds were good but no exceptional. I'd take another one if it came along at a decent price. However, the switching and pots and similar hardware did seem to be a little substandard. Both of mine required some tender loving care to keep working properly. There's a site somewhere on the net that talks about upgrading the switching parts to make it more reliable. He also recommends replacing the resistor in the pi filter with a choke...

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Originally posted by Matte
I had one that was modded by Tony Bruno and Reinhold Bogner. Great sounding amp. Unfortunately, it's build quality and components are on par with a BIC lighter.

Hey Matte,
Did you sell that one??
I loved the third channel of that amp! Reinhold's mods are great!! I think I like Reinhold's modded amps more than his Bogners!!!
I sold that amp to you...
What did Tony mod on it??
Keith

 

[rastaman]

Originally posted by drbob1
I've owned both a combo and a head. I'd have to say that the clean is the best Marshall ever put in an amp and rivals some of the better multi-channel amps. The crunch channel is the jewel of the amp, the high gain sounds were good but no exceptional. I'd take another one if it came along at a decent price. However, the switching and pots and similar hardware did seem to be a little substandard. Both of mine required some tender loving care to keep working properly. There's a site somewhere on the net that talks about upgrading the switching parts to make it more reliable. He also recommends replacing the resistor in the pi filter with a choke...

Does anybody have a link to this site? Or a clue on how to find this info?

 

[MikeyG]

Steve, it has a real decent clean by modern era Marshall standards.

But with your refined tastes in cleans, you'll be disappointed. You've owned 50 amps that have better cleans.

You would love channel 2 for vintage rawk. Guarantee you'll hate channel 3 ... or at best have no need for it....

 

[AD]

Originally posted by MikeyG

But with your refined tastes in cleans, you'll be disappointed. You've owned 50 amps that have better cleans.

Steve, knowing your tastes - I also don't think this amp is for you. I owned the head for a while, decent amp overall.

Alex

 

[oldgtarz]

I have had one since they came out in '92, limited edition 295/300. Never had one problem with it, in fact I only retubed it once in all these years. It has all great Marshall sounds built in but you'll need to spend some time with it to get the best out of it.

 

[Ariel Pozzo]

Originally posted by oldgtarz
I have had one since they came out in '92, limited edition 295/300. Never had one problem with it, in fact I only retubed it once in all these years. It has all great Marshall sounds built in but you'll need to spend some time with it to get the best out of it.

There were 500 combos (not 300) and 800 heads made in the Limited Edition range. I had Head #608 and Combo #447.

 

[oldgtarz]

My bad... and lets not remind anyone I worked for Marshall over 3 years...

So mine is 295/500, I still love it!

 

[TNJ]

Great info, all around.
MikeyG and Alex, you both know my clean fetish, so I will heed your advice and siphon off my GAS.
S.
j