1971 Marshall Super Lead

[@FriedmanAmplification]

Well the super leads had a huge bright cap that. You can have a pot that disconnects it they you will have clean

[@ethansizer]

Is the bright cap the one on the volume pot itself or is it on the board? If the former, can a push/pull be used with a lower value cap?

[@DRIIC-qw8us]

@@ethansizer He's talking about the cap on the volume pot. Yes, you could do that but honestly, they got the design right first time. If you want less breakup go into the lower input and then rolloff your guitar volume, you'll have great cleans and sparkling too due to having that bright cap.

[@cardbored_]

I love ya Dave but I’ve read this comment 3 times and still can’t figure out what you were trying to say. 😂

[@qua7771]

@milesonaught I wonder why they made it that way.

[@GoogleEqualsEvil]

@@qua7771 Simple...to create more, and earlier distortion (distortion, NOT gain...those are two completely different things). That huge ~ 5000pF bright capacitor across the bright channel's volume pot, along with less negative feedback, gives the 70's "Metal face / panel" Super Leads earlier and more distortion than the 60's "Plexi" Super Leads. The problem with that, as seen in this video, is that there is less clean headroom and the ability to get a really good clean tone from rolling back the guitar volume is affected. This can be corrected by turning the bright channel volume all the way up, since the bright cap no longer has any effect when the volume is at 10. But then you definitely need an attenuator.

[@LeonTodd]

Yep, that's what a Marshall should sound like. GLORIOUS!

[@dwftube]

The exact word I was about to type! :)

[@stephenchow5161]

LT would know fer sure!

[@aquilarossa5191]

Who the fv

[@nicdee316]

It doesn't do many tones, but it does THE TONE. There's something amazing about a Superlead that no other amp does, even other Marshalls. Sounds killer Michael !

[@matthewgonzales3970]

I had a '71 100 watt, and when I bought it, it had the channels jumped internally (all gain controlled by Volume 1 knob) and a master volume stuck in the bottom Channel 1 input (Rhoads mod?). It was an absolute FLAMETHROWER. Even with the master volume mod, it was too loud for my small studio, and most small stages. That being said it sounded absolutely awesome. When you roll the back on your guitars volume, the sound cleaned up beautifully - nice and glassy. My amp guy at the time said it was the loudest, most aggressive Marshall he had ever heard at that point. I used it for almost 25 years all over South Texas. I set the controls like this: Pres 3, Bass 10, Mid, 10, Treb 0, Vol1 5, Vol2 (disabled). I would goose the gain a bit on humid days because the amp would sag a bit. Enjoy it! They are veey dynamic and musical amps!

[@maryannmoran-smyth3453]

My 71 super lead is absolute monster one of the last of the hand wired amps and front loaded with distortion pedals are absolutely stellar . Its super clean and brings major balls and the pedal brings the sizzle all you gotta do is bring the rock and roll baby. keep on rocking

[@livefromstudioa8245]

Tapped the thumbnail so fast my thumb almost went through my phone. We are truly living in the golden age of Michael Nielsen playing a Super Lead and flipping through the pages of old issues of Guitar for the Practicing Musician on KZbin. Feels good, man.

[@BlueBanjoGrass]

Man you act like you’re disappointed! That is probably the best tone on your channel

[@stricknine8623]

Les Paul and Marshall !! The most iconic pairing ever. THE sound of classic and hard rock !!

[@johnmarshall3903]

So cool to hear you playing a real Marshall after playing every other amp in existence. It's your best tone yet.

[@blackzeb]

Now I feel like a dummy for selling it...sheesh

[@LambChopper678]

Love your show!

[@pcbullets8726]

That amp is pure rock and roll. Gotta love it.

[@eduardwilliams1245]

Instantly hear what all the fuss is about. Les Paul + super lead = magic. Not controlled gain, always gloriously a little out of control . Yum. This has become my reference tone now. When I've tweeked and tweeked so much that I've lost my way, this is the tone that resets the bar where it needs to be for me.

[@LucaMilierimusic]

It’s amazing how vintage and modern this head sounds. It’s just perfect. And they nailed it so so many years ago. Magic Thanks for your work Michael, love your channel!

[@jjdubois6101]

That tone when you reduce the gain a bit for unchained... that’s the ultimate guitar tone to me right there, especially with a bit of plate after.

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

This amp was brand new when I landed in London to join the Prog Rock band Tallis. I bought a used JCM 50 for about $350.00 USD. The West End Rock clubs were small even it took out the walls!

[@jpallen3673]

Had a 71 Marshall back in 71 . I was 19 then . Paid $ 650 for the 100 watt Super Lead and 4 x 12 cab . Not sure what celestion speakers where in the cab . The tubes were 6550’s and the overall tone was killer clean . Great Jimi tone ! Congratulations on a great amp !

[@williamlima9314]

About Angus Marshalls... watch the whole Rig Rundown, he's not leaning on Volume II, his amp is modded to be like a JCM where Volume I is the master and Volume II is the gain. The tech addresses that at the 17 : 30 mark of the rundown.

[@tonefordays3808]

@bighairyguitars If you skip the jumper you get way more control over the bottom end. The volume II is still in the circuit, it just doesn't get overbearing unless you turn it up to much. Oh, and then you can actually use the bass knob at least halfway up without ending up in flub city. Cheers!

[@DragonCrestPC]

Ahh yes my favorite plexi! I've owned a 68,69,70,71 and 73 and the 71 ended up being the keeper. The reason for the gain at low volume as it probably has a 4700 pf bright cap like mine did. Congrats!

[@rjo8500]

Back in the day I had several of these. I’ve actually owned one from every year starting in late ‘69 to early ‘74. The ‘70 I had sounded like this one (maybe browner). It came to me modded with a mod referred to as a cascading gain mod. I wish I kept them. Cool.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

wow! coooooool!

[@Sixstring-kb8ry]

Michael, this is probably the best sounding guitar + amp + cab combo on your channel! I love all the stuff you do, and everything sounds great, and this sound is just stupid good 😎👌

[@robertmayer2071]

my buddy had a 71 superlead i rememer it well it just had that grind this was back in 78

[@UOttawaScotty]

This amp sounds REALLY good.

[@Johnny-oy9fh]

The greatest marshall I've ever owned was a 72 one of these. It was amazing! Like a power tool rather than a guitar amp. Used mine flat out and controlled it from the guitar...no ear plugs or power soak...

[@1sttvbn]

I just bought a ‘72. Unmolested. I paid $4200.00 for it. A little much, but I’ve always wanted one. It’s a beast, I just put new Mullard AX7’s in it, and new old stock Seimen 34’s. My tech told me it’s pushing 134 watts. What became of yours? I’ll have this one till death.

[@ianfurqueron5850]

I'm also wondering if it might be modded. See if you can record your discussion with Dave about the amp. That could be fun to watch.

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

Absolutely!!

[@Jalliams]

Great idea!!

[@svenheineken8958]

That‘d be awesome!

[@Wardell43]

Why would anyone do that?? The Amp is perfection as it is. If it's not the sound that you are looking for then maybe it isn't for you.

[@ianfurqueron5850]

@@Wardell43 we're wondering if the amp is ALREADY modded. Since by most accounts it sounds like it has more gain than a typical version.

[@mikeshroedder1764]

By far my favorite Marshall,especially with Greenbacks Rock on Michael

[@RoccoPezzin]

Sounds amazing!!

[@Polentaccio]

The demartini sound is a superlead / plexi but pushed with those Furman pq3's. That'll do it. Angus also has had his Marshall's converted to MV so closer to 2203/04 specs for whatever reason. Such awesome amps though.

[@AnodyneHipsterInfluencer]

The best amps are always "one trick ponies." They do that one trick so well though that it far exceeds any multi-channel/multiple pre-amp rig that can't even come close to what a non-master volume 100 watt Marshall or a "blackface" Fender Twin, amps that have "one sound" that they *nail* perfectly.

[@stricknine8623]

Yep,..the only "trick" was to sound great for classic Rock and Hard Rock. It has not been surpassed or dethroned.

[@michaeljarret7725]

Great! I have the same head, running through a '68 4x12 cab 30 w pre- Rola Celestions

[@pedrolicks8316]

most favourite amp for vintage rock history

[@kevroyo]

The immediate realization of the copyright issue made me laugh lmao. What an absolutely KILLER sound though, god damn. Relatively new to your channel but it's quickly becoming one of my favorites, keep it up man!

[@peterschaefer1665]

Sounds amazing. Superleads just record really well.

[@JustinBryantdotcom]

That's an incredible sounding Marshall!- '71 -'73 ish have something special. Great video!

[@narvul]

I own and used a 1959 100 watt Super Lead from 1970 which has the preamp replaced with another 1959 poweramp, so basically a stereo poweramp with eight EL34's. The only controls are two volume and two presence pots. I especially use the presence to dial in different sounding stages and rooms. They give a very clean sound full of headroom (no breaking up) and I only used it on a self built 412 slant cabinet with Beyma 150 watt speakers. Works for me..!!

[@dehumanize93]

It sounds utterly perfect.

[@brownsfan7753]

Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to hear how it sounds after Dave goes through it!

[@flashy5150]

Lol, I like the blooper at the end, I think we all forget to tune the low E to a D now and again. 😆 It was nice hearing a vintage Plexi like that.

[@hybridnoisebloom]

Pete Thorn's livestream today is what got me here. So, vintage SLP in all its glory, check. Instant sub! Great job, Michael. Already looking forward to more.

[@kalejoe6599]

OMG it's so cool that you got a old Super Lead

[@truthfactreality6814]

I’m after a 1987x soon. Can’t wait

[@markn4526]

Super-cool vid on a Super Lead! I have a '72 1959 myself which is by far my favorite amp and I WILL NEVER SELL IT. I use it primarily with Greenbacks, but sometimes with G12-65's for a little bit more modern tone. Michael is right about the amp's tone controls not doing much. They really don't have to because the amp's inherent tone is so spot-on. They do do something with the way the amp feels though which changes the way you play and hence changes the tone. The amp is really good at bringing out the inherent tone qualities of whatever guitar you play through it too.

[@RCGreven]

This 71 probably has the really aggressive 4700pF bright cap across the bright volume pot, it basically acts as a gain boost and provides a lot of those aggressive mids and early breakup. I have it on a switch on mine, together with "no cap" and 200 pF, usually I go for the 200 setting.

[@DRIIC-qw8us]

All Super Leads have a 5000pf bright cap. My 69 has it, my 71 has it, my 1980 had it.

[@RCGreven]

@@DRIIC-qw8us All new ones (1987x) have it. In the 60's some had it, some had none and some had 500 pf and rarely some other values like 100 pf.

[@DRIIC-qw8us]

@@RCGreven Only some '67 amps. All since 68 have the 5000pf

[@Raunline]

I was just thinking about learning Street Fighting Man this morning and then Bam! You play it lol. The amp sounds AMAZING!

[@sahlomonic]

Street Fighting Man is a criminally underrated song in terms of guitar tone. I've been chasing that Wicked Sensation tone for years haha

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

@@sahlomonic Plexi & Greenbacks with a Boss or Ibanez pedal.

[@samfisherv30]

Nice sounding amp. I love that Lynch Mob riff you did!

[@error8418]

What an amazing amp! I think the second volume knob in Angus Young's amps has been turned into a master volume. They mention that in the rig rundown video if I remember correctly.

[@markn4526]

Yeah, the master volume basically turns a Super Lead into a JCM800...almost. If Angus were relying on the mostly normal channel with those EQ setting his tone would be extremely dark and indistinct. So Angus is all bright channel.

[@markmorrell3494]

That sounds amazing. Ridiculous how great the amp sounds and the headroom at it's sweat spot is exactly what I am looking for! Love the Power Station too! Makes super loud amp tame and even sweeter sounding. Could not play or record my FTR37 amp without it. Stadium loud!

[@jevinedric5390]

That Marshall roar! Great video!

[@thechannelforeverything2170]

This thing is an absolute monster.

[@Wardell43]

I was told that the power/standby/ground switches went from metal to plastic in 1972. I bought my full stack for $1,200 from Al Nalli Music, in August, 1972, It had plastic switches. My stack sat in the display window next to the stack that Ted Nugent bought for Danny Gore. The Head was used with Teds Twins and can be seen on the back side of the "Tooth Fang and Claw" Amboy Dukes album. Which is one of my favorite Nugent creations and hold "No Holds Barred" as one of my favorite Nugent tunes.

[@stiffrichard2816]

My tech said the '70/'71's were the brightest. He figured it was because players kept asking for more volume and the only remedy Marshall could think of was making them brighter. But also consider that the Celestions from those years may also have been extra-warm as well.

[@cliffords2315]

we bought Super Bass stacks back then the 71's were the best, you could get them to distort a mid volumes the late 60s amps you had to crank on 10 to get them to do that

[@BlueBanjoGrass]

Killer tone!!!

[@albecenex4890]

this is the amp this is the tone perfect on all frequences, any amp screams like a plexi if you run on crunch/distorsion .

[@californiasurfpunkmetal6207]

I have a 70’ straight cab with G12H30’s that your amp would love!!!

[@csemonik]

I got a '69/'70 1987 a few months back, and being used to my Friedmans it was a slight learning curve but awesome journey. Get some old greenback types in a 4x12, old Mullards in the preamp section, get in the same room with no attenuator, plug straight into the bright side with the amp on 6 or so & the mids cranked all the way and let it pummel you! (Just remember to stop for the day when >8khz starts to roll off from your hearing) I ended up living between 5-10 on my R9's volume knob and with just that and your hands, (and sometimes your guitar's tone knobs) you have the whole tone & gain spectrum and so much dynamics. Add the jumper to the normal channel to taste. Solo Dallas or Boss SD-1 optional if you want to juice it up more without it tuning into a hot mess but at the cost of some dynamics. Totally changed my approach to playing. If you can get your hands on an old echoplex and run it into the 1959 I'd love to see a vid of that.

[@ddzanovski]

Cool vid man! I think you'll find in that Angus Young Rig Rundown that the 1959s were modded: the VOL 2 is now a gain knob, VOL 1 is the Volume, like a 2203. Keep making your videos, love them !

[@markinthemix6055]

As much as we ALL “think” we want and love the classic Marshall gloriousness, that’s a word, l think most people including myself would constantly fiddle with knobs to find that mythical Marshall tone that is in our heads.

[@shorerocks]

Yeah. On the Kemper I find myself shifting from one amp to another. Thanks to Katzbach profiles I got a whole bunch of them, currently favoring the Black Flag JTM50. Which makes sense as I am a sucker for EL34s. The older I get, the less gain I want in the amp. I prefer to add it later with pedals.

[@johnmarshall3903]

No need to fiddle with knobs, get a boogie if you like playing with knobs

[@johnmarshall3903]

If you have a great old Marshall, there's no need to play with knobs, get a boogie if You're into turning knobs

[@lp59pete]

Great video demonstrating the various sounds.

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

I have had every modern amp under the sun: Bogner, Soldano, Mesa, ENGL, 5150s, Carvin, Laney, Friedman, Egnater, etc. ... at the end of the day, the old Marshall’s is always where you end-up at. You always think you need more gain, or more bass, etc. and once it is recorded, you realize that it is too much, you EQ the bass out and turn the gain down. The old Marshall already had you exactly where you needed to be ... you just needed to accept it.

[@Skoora]

Agree with this whole heartedly. Never understood modern guitar amps that have so much over the top low end and saturation. They don’t tend to mix well. For metal you still can’t beat a boosted Marshall

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

@@Skoora Well, you want to sound like the records ... although the records have a bass, maybe a Baritone in the background, and are double tracked ... the problem is when you record that, there is no room for everyone else, so things turn into mud. I’ve tried so hard to shift the band around in the audio spectrum, it is a complete waste of time. Even detuned instruments don’t really shift that much. They change timber, but they stay in the same part of the spectrum ... and that’s where the Marshall’s always were.

[@Skoora]

@@ThemFuzzyMonsters But I never been into what might be considered modern metal. Mostly because I dont like the way it sounds. Dont get me wrong its not a defined vs A440 argument. I like plenty of defined music. I just need to some decent separation (actually hear the bass guitar), a drum kit that sound real, a guitar tone that doesn't sound like an Andy Sneap preset and a singer who doesn't sound like a screeching emo adolescent.

[@smellytele9629]

My pal just scored a 71 SL full stack in absolute pristine condition. One owner, came with original bill of sale, everything on it is completely stock. We can't get it past 4 on the volume, it's so loud LOL! We want to crank it, but we literally can't, it's painful. But golly what a sound!

[@DansGuitarCorner888]

Great! It´s that typical bright cap agression!

[@kuzWich]

Gorgeous tones!

[@Johnny-oy9fh]

Would have been great to hear that into a cabinet in the room with no attenuation. As we used to use them back in the 70s...I used to stand right in front of mine....huge tone!!! Loud was good back then...😁👍😳🎸

[@nigel900]

Wonderful amp.

[@seventhsealhere]

Sounds fantastic! Good find! Perfect combo with that LP. Ahh...the growl as the chord sustains. Sweet...👍

[@fernandes5986]

It's the sound of thunder. Wonderful video man.

[@bwgti]

That strat tone is pretty great!

[@jake_peralta_BR]

Amazing tone!

[@michaeltoren]

That's that Marshall sound we all love!!!!

[@AdamGotheridge]

It sounds great, and yes those 1 or 2 sounds. And yes, that type volume is just really hard to deal with all around. And yes again, that Fryette helped a ton. You had a beautiful Shenker sound going there for a bit.

[@carlwagoner77]

Sounds awesome Michael 👍🏻

[@danriley5848]

Fantastic amplifiers, period. 👍🔥🤘

[@Guneslinger]

Love it!!!, I have a 71 Super trem that is stock and for all you guys that say it is modded, it's how they sound, the 71's have some changes in the power section and pre amp that make them a little more gainier than a plexi circuit, all i did with mine was clip out that huge bright cap and install the plexi value cap so it still has that snap, I don't like that circuit with no bright cap, it loses that crunch and zing in the high end, also installed a Post phase inverter Master volume so i can gig with it. Watch Pete Thorns amps in the zone series where he runs a old 4 holer through it's paces and that's how i run mine, I get compliments all the time on it, Clean boost in the front for leads and a volume bump.

[@diegopereze98]

we need a profile for TH U please it sounds really awesome 🥵🤘🔥🔥

[@mhoff7722]

Awesome! Would love to see a video of Dave's comments as well! 🤘🤘🤘

[@aferreyrola]

man, that thing is a beast.

[@waynetoneseekerandersen2213]

Really like your approach to videos.

[@mannyfragoza9652]

sounds really good here

[@barrymiller2272]

That's beyond awesome!

[@roberthurless4615]

That bright cap is the reason that the gain comes on so early. Either disconnect it, use a push/pull pot, or change it to a lower value. I have found the 250pf is a good balance. And remember that when that thing is cranking it is putting out about 150 watts not 100.

[@MrKenward777]

damn that thing sounds great!

[@tonelok]

Great amp! That sounded way cool, jr!

Best guitar tone for me.

[@MrDevins]

Don't know if it's stock or modded, but I do know that it sounds unbelievable!

[@madmack1981]

IMHO it’s modded. My Plexi at ten have less Gain…

[@blib3786]

@@madmack1981 This isn't a plexi, it has an aluminum nameplate. The later 70's models had more gain than the plexis.

[@Jalliams]

Comment made earlier by @IanFurqueron - to chorus, if you can film / record that meeting with Dave when he looks at your 71’ that would be epic!

[@svenheineken8958]

Yes, pleas! 🙏

[@evhstringer]

Please..............Michael

[@livingabovethe12th]

If you chuck the friedman buxum boost pedal in front of a old skool superlead and dial up the tight control and return the vol's to the 6-7 range, you will realize that belinda carlisle was right - heaven IS a place on earth.

[@Jediroller]

I really want to hear about the update since its been sent to your tech. I have a 75 and its very close sounding. Super aggressive and gain is full on almost straight away, trying to figure out ways to tame the beast. Thanks for the vid!

[@buddybeetle]

My ‘72 Superlead 100 is clean at 4. Think maybe yours has been modded ? Glorious amps tho. I love mine and yes, they are monsterously loud.

[@peterschaefer1665]

With the gain down low it's nice to have a Treble cap defeat switch.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Thanks. I have to get mine to Dave for that little mod

[@peterschaefer1665]

@@BigHairyGuitars nice amp...sounds phenomenal already!

[@zachariahwade8482]

I’ve got a 71 lead 50 that has more headroom than that. Using the same inputs as the video it’s still mostly clean on Bright 2, Normal 3. Stock bright cap too.

[@creamygoodness3018]

A Marshall Super Lead doesn't need to do much more than that one sound. Great video! 🤓👍🏼

[@KyleSG88]

Volume 2 in that picture of Angus's amp is actually not a volume 2 as in jumping channels. Channel 2 aka the normal/bass channel on the amp is not connected and volume 2 knob is actually wired up as a master volume of sorts.

[@jasonbaskin5360]

Sounds insane. Gotta be a .0047 bright cap on there. Love it.

[@gigiadd2816]

Great sound

[@MrScrofulous]

People are obsessed with turning these up to 10, but they were designed for stadiums at that level, not rooms. I just got an SV20, which does sound amazing, and yes, extremely loud. I just use a volume pedal in the effects loop. The tones are sublime. There was an interesting thread on TGP a decade ago, where someone used an oscilloscope to prove it's PI tube saturation, not power tube saturation that brings the tones anyway.

[@hammer5475]

Really cool!

[@BenBreard]

Love hearing Lynch Mob in there. Great sounding amp. I dumped George L cables for Carne a decade ago and haven't looked back. Highly recommend you give those Mogami another shot. Something about the GL sound just .......hard to put my finger on. Maybe that would make a good A/B vid. Cheers

[@Hehehehhehehehehehehehhe78]

I want a super lead so bad

[@YnJrbnN0cm5nego]

FWIW, this amp is not modded. I have a bone stock museum condition JMP from '74 and it sounds identical.

[@ericolson326]

My favorite sound was the brief moment you played chords on the Strat bridge pickup. That buzz though 😆