Marshall MGP 9004 - The Forgotten Marshall

Today we put the Marshall MGP 9004 through it's paces. A massive thank you to Chris Hastings for loaning me his preamp!
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[@Sodacake]

it sounded good on its own, but it sounded really killer in a mix. sometimes you just can't tell how good something is unless it's in a mix and you can hear it cut through.

[@courtney2018]

I love this series of videos! More old preamps, effects and processors to demo please! I've been wanting one of these for the longest time when I was a kid. I've looked for them off and on throughout the years. Need to get one of these.

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

Doing home recording onto four track cassette back in the '90s, all guitars and bass went through the beautiful 9004 and Alesis microverb III with stomp boxes to taste. Great pre-amp. Lovely to see and hear one again

[@cali4tune]

Thumbs up for the classic Rainbow riffs!

[@AndyNyle]

amen! frequently forgotten but essential for any serious rocker 101

[@McLeanAB88]

It was my first preamp back in the day... held on to it for years and kinda want to fool around with it again. Thanks for the vid!

[@666hokeypokey]

I like the full band jam thing really puts things in perspective. Also that Hamer is sweeeeet

[@Riffraff12571]

I've got to say that sounds pretty good. It's much better than I thought it would be. Cool video. I really like your rack gear series. Keep up the excellent work!

[@AndiKravljaca]

I've got a 9001 which is this thing's tube cousin. Still has the solid state thing going on the lead channel, but the clean and crunch channels are tube driven. It has two different distortion voices which you blend. Quite usable for an 800 type crunch!

[@LiamHumb]

That takes me back! Used one of those briefly with a 9000 power amp and a 4x12 each side of the stage (god only knows why, I don't think I used any stereo effects!) back in the early 90s. And then the JMP-1 turned up with its MIDI ability, and suddenly I could use my Boss ME-5 to change amp channels, as well as having a preamp that sounded substantially better. So the rather limited 9004 lived under my bed for a while, and then either evaporated (unlikely) or went back to its rightful owner (sincerely hope so, but memory is hazy on that score). I never remembered it with any particular joy (if at all), but your video definitely brought back some memories. +1 for a comparison with the JMP-1, and I'd love to hear them both through a 9000 series stereo tube power amp just for old times' sake.

[@tonyvermeer7409]

I still own 90's GFTPM mags with the full page ads for this pre. Back in the 90's, the preamp ads were all over the mag. Art, Zoom, Hafler, ADA, Digitech, Marshall all jockeying for position. Funny how the preamps with small or no ads ended up with the most valued today: Soldano, Bogner, Demeter.

[@redeyeddogproductions4222]

I love that riff that was right when you switched over to gain. Very deep purpleish

[@shitrigs6506]

Nice raunchy tone with the hammer. Love your vids, hello from England .

[@matt926uk1]

Sounds great man!

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Love it!!! But you gotta watch out for when dudes start shooting their personal units at you. 01:50

[@LeonTodd]

😂

[@shakeyjonez]

lulz

[@stevenmgyori3826]

Good morning Leon! I've not seen that pre? Thanks Chris for sharing! I like it with the Strat! Be Well All!

[@LeonTodd]

It's an odd duck!

[@ericharbauer]

Love love love these preamp vide ! between you and Michael Nielsen I'm Gassing after just about every single rack preamp ever made. LOL.

[@scottpeters4401]

I used to have the 9001 tube version back in the early 90’s.....I,however have the matching 9005 power amp...the big boat anchor,cinder block looking one...it weighs a thousand pounds,but it sounds amazing....running my AxeFXIII thru it at the moment..

[@coalfacechris1336]

Cool Leon! Own the 9001 all-valve preamp from this family. Very unusual, combo of clean, crunch, and lead, diode clipping, fixed TMB values, but with a switchable 5-band parametric, and stereo loop. Needs a bit of work, but hammers into the return of an SL/X 2100 (Mkiv) I have from the same era. That 900/9000 series of Marshall's doesn't get a lot of love, but they were doing some interesting stuff imo.

[@LeonTodd]

I've got the 9000 series catalogue and always lusted after them. The power amp is a beast!

[@Nikkibausch]

I had one of those was my first preamp and first Marshall

[@tatoler38]

I have one of these. Really like the sound of it. I put a cheap single 12ax7 ( Sovtek ) mic pre in the fx loop of this thing and it adds some warmth and growl. I think it sounds better with humbuckers.

[@InTheSh8]

Great idea! I have an ART Tube MP. Will try that with my solid state amp, too!

[@thefeloniousscot3955]

Great trick!

[@pastorkev777]

I like the clean sound on this preamp quite a bit.

[@johnmarshall3903]

I really like your 77 strat, sounds very good

[@AxZonChaudhary32]

Nobody can beat classic 🔥🔥

[@ShadyLurk3r92]

Man this thing actually sounds pretty killer

[@spetersonmusic]

Mixed in - killer. I remember that preamp, never tried it. That Hamer of yours... man. Every time you pull that guitar out, I have serious gear envy issues. LOL.

[@Mister_Greg]

Another great preamp demo! I mentioned the 9001 in your rack is back video a few months ago. It’s cool and I like the JMP1 but to me the 9004 sounds more like a classic Marshall. They’ve designed some really great solid state preamps over the years. Lead 12, Artist 30, VS100, Mode Four and JCM900 DR. They know what they’re doing. Count me in on the JMP1 comparison! One question, what is the quality of the note decay? Is it smooth or does it have that crackly static that is pretty common in SS designs?

[@MrScatalog]

Hughes & Kettner Attax rack next!!

[@lu4enp]

Shootout!!!!! Thanks

[@mr.banana4893]

Hell yeah. You gave us some Stargazer/ Gates of Babylon action. I thought it sounded fine. A warm sounding compressor pedal would really help the cleans, and really any decent overdrive will kick ass on the lead channel . A combination of both on the clean for some hot country tones.

[@LeonTodd]

Gotta love rainbow with RJD

[@SnappyJCM800]

Was that Fool For Your Lovin at 6:40? I learned how to play the Vai version of it. Know any Slaughter riffs like Wild Life or Desperately? Awesome videos and I love seeing the other guitars coming out. Happy Holidays brother

[@crazeyjoe]

Let the comparison begin!

[@bobach6083]

That neck pick up jam is just groovy man! I rock a Jem. But I gotta say...I love the sound of a strat. Those single coils give off such a crisp twangy crunch every note. Like a Pringles chip when you bite into it. Mixes very well with that pre-amp 🤘

[@LeonTodd]

The Suhr Landau pickups in there totally make it. Such a vibe.

[@bobach6083]

@@LeonTodd wow those are Suhr pickups??? Very interesting.

[@khalilhabib9607]

Yes please. Compare it to the JMP1 great video, mate

[@LeonTodd]

On it! Hope you're well mate.

[@LeviBulger]

Whoa I never even knew this existed. Sounds pretty good actually. But the JMP1 is just legendary, I'd feel bad for this thing in a shootout. The best marshall tone I've ever had was a JMP1 into a Boogie power amp. So maybe I'm already biased because of that experience.

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Yeah, but do you have a Rocktron Sidewinder in your closet? 😂 (Thanks for the fun preamp odyssey vlogging, and Happy Solstice!)

[@RicardoMartinez-or1wu]

Fool for your loving yeah dude!!

[@sean1121970]

Haha found it! Mate thanks for this, brings back memories. I remember the slogan for it was 'It doesn't just sound like a Marshall, it IS a Marshall!' 😂 See back then, if you had anything rack you were taken seriously. You'd tell your mates you had a rack mount Marshall preamp and hope to god they didn't know enough to ask if it was the jmp1.🤣

[@LeonTodd]

Hahaha what is it? Marshall! Which one? About that...

[@markfranke8326]

Sounds pretty good actually.

[@Mattbullseye]

Rainbow, whitesnake ecc.. Thumbs up!

[@visionsick]

Sounds good to me.

[@dyonight]

Comparison with the JMP-1 yesss!!

[@page29]

Might as well title this series: "The History of My Rigs" He covered almost my entire chronology of guitar rigs from '90-'01. ADA MP-1 to Mesa DC-5 to .50 Cal+. I'm sure there's a Pod PRO and XTLive video floating around somewhere!

[@LeonTodd]

Hahaha all I can say is watch this space :p

[@CueBald]

I've been gigging this preamp for 20 years and won't part with it

[@mikaelbiilmann6826]

Wait... I just watched your video where you tested the JMP-1 against the 9004, so I checked out this video. My 9004 is a lot deeper than the one you have.... Just went up and checked. Mine is the 9001 and it has 3 tubes in it apparently.

[@csgband]

I like the rawness, it would really cut through in a bad mix.

[@Atttuner]

Nice nostalgia trip but if someone thinks this is going to give them an "analogue" edge over the Fractal Modded Marshalls its not even in the carpark of the stadium holding the ball game

[@alteroccatv]

Ho man, this one too!!! ...so much gear I forgot I owned and/or used has been featured in the last few weeks 🙈🙈🙈

[@LeonTodd]

Wild hey!

[@alteroccatv]

@@LeonTodd Given you seem to like the 9200 Marshall power amp, please do a video with it fed by a Mesa Quad (my last live rig was made by those + Digitech 2120 Artist for FXs! Wild set up) into a 4 x 12 stereo Marshall 1960 cab. MONSTER TONE and the bastard child of Brits/USA sounds!

[@LeonTodd]

@@alteroccatv one of my best mates has one. Totally going to borrow it and recreate that rig!

[@alteroccatv]

@@LeonTodd WOW!!! Xmas came earlier for me in this effin' 2020!!! 🤟🤩🤘🙏 Thanks buddy!

[@masterchain3335]

I'm curious why you have the Fractal X-Load in your signal chain? Is the output of the 9004 not a line level?

[@juliandelrio]

Nice preamp. It seems better than jmp1... More organic and raw

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

Man. You can make anything sound good my friend. Those licks you played in the intro on the Hamer standard I believe it was were fucking killer. Your playing is just speaking to me today sir. 🤟💖🤟 I'm not too impressed with it to be honest. I used to have a valve state combo. It could be dialed in to get some decent tones with my boss multi effects especially. I'm still coveting that yellow strat.😂 Didn't you say your father built that one? The JMP1 would kill this thing. 🤣😂 Please do an interview with your father, or maybe a jam session with him. I want to know how he became so good at building guitars? The guy is a master!!! So are you sir. You are a maestro my down under friend! Be safe and I hope all your family and friends are well sir. 🤟💪🤙💖🤟💖🤟

[@sonicaids]

I'm wondering if this is basically just the preamp section of a MG100

[@luukderuijter1332]

Can you shoot this thing out on bass? I've been wanting to use this as a treble/distortion pre amp (i by amp my bass) as soon as i have the time to build another cabinet

[@jeremymarkowitz5524]

The 'clean' sound is really cool, not feeling the distortion so much

[@b.scottfarthingsworth]

Lookin a bit Dethklok mate😎👍

[@johncecilia4517]

Is this similar to the Guvner pedal or any of the other Marshall preamp pedals? Great demos on the channel!

[@LeonTodd]

Not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if it's basically a guv circuit in a rack

[@SergeiVlassov]

I also wonder if it similar to e.g. Marshall DRP-1

[@AndreaViolator]

what changes from black to gold? hello thanks

[@TelesPlayMetal]

Comparison? We always want comparisons!

[@brozio77]

very good in mix. by itself i feel it a little muddy

[@LeonTodd]

it's the okayest preamp ever

[@AngryTruckerBob]

Can you use a tube screamer to increase the gain with this preamp ?

[@LeonTodd]

Of course

[@gordontubbs]

IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!!!!!!!

[@michaelbarber590]

I just bought one of these at a yard sale for $10 bucks today. Unfortunately it doesn't have a power supply and I can't even find one online. Oh well.

[@sayhuhhhh]

You can be these used for 1/3 of the price of a Strymon Iridium.. :)

[@sawbones7977]

Whitesnake!!!

[@AndreaViolator]

Dove si può acquistare??

[@seventhsealhere]

It sits better in the mix but on its own to me it sounds a little flat. Would definitely like a comparison vid to the JMP1. 👍

[@ironblast5]

Id like to see it compared with the 9001 too

[@brotherdoom2406]

5:25 🌈

[@Yupppi]

Lately I've been wondering, a lot of these preamps demoed into a head's power amp. Now if you're a rack preamp guy or building a rack, do you really play through the heads? And are the power amps in the heads designed similarly to the rack power amps? What would be the most appropriate way to demo these? For this Marshall 9004 perhaps the Marshall 9000 power amp? They were released in the same series after all, as far as I understand. For JMP-1 perhaps 9100 or EL34 100/100 or 50/50? Peavey Classic 50/50? Mesa/Boogie Fifty-Fifty, Strategy 500 or 2:Ninety? Maybe something as luxurious as VHT 2150 (or 2902/2502)? Perhaps a budget solid state power amp like Lee Jackson SP-1000 (if you can find one) or Rocktron Velocity? Or the legendary H&H. I wonder what failed with this product? It sounds good. Was it the lack of tubes? Which they remedied by putting tubes in JMP-1 for marketing but doing a big portion of the sound with opamps. To me it seems like this one is easier to have a good sound by default than JMP-1. Actually I prefer this to JMP-1 on video. Will you be going through the Rocktron lineup in the future perhaps? They have such a huge pile of preamps and they float for cheap. It's just difficult to figure out what they are, they basically look like Intellifex and other effects from them with guitar preamps in the pack. I understand Bruce Egnater worked for them for a good while in the I think 90's, but I have no idea what he actually designed.

[@LeonTodd]

The shared power supply of a head vs individual pre/power amp is definitely a factor (Steve Fryette has an article about this from memory). I'd hazard a guess the tube thing you mentioned was a big factor! I've got a rocktron piranha and I want to try a few others like the Prophesy, Chameleon, Voodoo Valve and the rest!

[@Yupppi]

@@LeonTodd Would be cool! I recall I watched your preamp shootout from some years back with the Piranha, but I think the preamps didn't shine at their best in quick comparison. I remember some positive talk about Voodoo Valve back in time and the ads for Prophesy. I even think Dave Mustaine played through Prophesy for a short while! Also thanks for the tip about Fryette's article! Need to look that up. I've took a look at something like VHT 2150 schematics and there's quite a bit of circuitry you wouldn't expect when you compare to something like a basic Marshall Super Lead head's power section. That made me interested about tonal differences. Michael Nielsen swears by 2150 so there's gotta be something special about it. And David Friedman seems to be an advocate for Fryette's Power Station. Seems like Fryette knows his stuff regarding power amps. That said I used to run a rack preamp into Laney VH100R power amp and doing it that way definitely sounds fine, but I suppose getting lucky in pairing the right gear together is a thing. As it would be with different power amps as well. How big of a thing it is? Perhaps less than adjusting eq or choosing the right cabinet.

[@SnappyJCM800]

I’ve got a Prophesy I can ship to you to use. It’s just sitting in a rack right now

[@thechannelforeverything2170]

When I listen to it in the mix, I say. Does it have the "tube tone?" No. Does it have the "Marshall tone?" Yes it does.

[@dayglo98]

Hi Leon, where are you based ? I'm pondering sending you my Rocktron Chameleon for review. Also that Hamer is so sexy aaaaah !

[@carlosmanuelgonzalez310]

Well there's the reason it's been forgotten... Great playing!! But Tone something to forget

[@SergeiVlassov]

Why? Sounds great for me!

[@DaveSteele07]

My jcm 9000 power amp makes any preamp sound like a Marshall! Lol

[@NudnikShpilkus]

5:15 - that sounds downright mean....

[@NudnikShpilkus]

6:24 - that sounds sweet.

[@NudnikShpilkus]

7:46 - noice!

[@NudnikShpilkus]

Happy Kringle!

[@Atttuner]

Just revisited the Michael Nielsen Marshall preamps....he’s got the super sweet mic pre’s and golden ears he stole from Beethoven it’s not a fair fight 🤣🤷‍♂️ the freak can make a pod thru a champ sound epic that’s my excuse im sticking with

[@JohnSmith-ef2sx]

Not terrible... Little too fizzy for my taste.

[@christianbettinelli5004]

You are a Great musicians lol