Marshall 30th Anniversary

[mars_hall]

I just brought my 30th Anniversary Combo home from the shop after its having been down and out of commission for about 4 years. This amp is so good and I had actually forgotten just how fine of a sound it can produce, not to mention the settings I had dialed in long ago.

 

Static electricity had taken out the power tubes during a particularly cold and dry winter. What with being married and having daughters in college, I wasn't overly anxious to go out and drop the $180 I would need for the top-of-the-line matched quad of GT-6L6-S tubes I had been using. I had several other amps, including another 30th Anniversary head with lesser output tubes, so I could continue on mindlessly without thinking much about it or looking back. One of the benefits of repeated expulsion of GAS. I eventually sold the 30th Anniversary head to help finance a cycle, knowing I had the combo, though in limbo. I didn't know at that point the extent of the damage that had taken place during that extreme loud and noisy pop. Had I taken out a transformer? Did the amp need to be recapped? No smoke, good! It could wait.

 

Upon firing the amp up when I got it home, I heard a cold brittle amp without much low end and none of the mournful singing I could remember. I discovered that while the tech had replaced the tubes (Svetlana's) , he had not changed a HT fuse that had blown during the original event leaving a pair of output tubes out of the circuit. This is the price you pay by having an amp repaired by a well-respected and reputable guy that has the monopoly on amp work in the area, but just too many jobs. http://www.unclealberts.com/clients.html

 

I replaced the blown fuse, broke out my pics of the amp face I had taken of the settings for such an occasion, placed my effects processor inline (parallel loop), and there it was. The second coming. The amp seems to have more sustain (bloom) now than I remember it having before and can go from smooth to growl. I didn't have the H150s then so that may be one factor. I am well pleased.

 

Now, not all of you may appreciate the textures a Marshall can bring to bare and you may said "ugh huh" and have placed it in that tiny box in the corner of your mind's eye. The 30th Anniversary was designed to bring together the best features of Marshall and as such stands in a separate class by itself. I have heard the newer JVMs are the only Marshalls that may be comparable, so you may want to try one of these.

 

Anyway, one of my best friends just came home and he has some fine tales yet to tell.

[Thundersteel]

Great story! I tried a Mesa Dual Rectumfrier, but it had too much power, and it sounded buzzy. Plus there were way too many controls. Each control affected the other; I prefer simplicity.

 

That's why I like my DSL50. When I powered it up for the first time in the store, I thought, "That's the sound I've been looking for!"

 

It still has too much power, so now I'm looking for a small combo amp, in the 18 watt range. Maybe a Fuchs or Swart is in my future...

[JeffB]

4yrs! Worth the wait.

One of the few pieces of gear I moved on was a DSL50. Still regret it.

Still have a jtm45 RI head. Different Marshall's to me is an undeniable voice in r'n'r. A must have.

[brentrocks]

Congrats on getting her back!!!

[squawken]

I have the JVM 410. Very nice amp. Pretty versatile, but fo the most part too much amp for me, as I play mostly in the basement. But I will not get rid of it.

[smurph1]

Great story!! I have an amp or two in my past that I wish I had kept..Glad you got your baby back..Having some 150's to run through it, makes it even sweeter!!Rock On!!

[gloryforixseal]

its been a while since the last post on this thread but your wishes have come true Marshall has been dating the cute chick from the NSA who has been working with CIA