This Amp Is So Loud It's Painful | Vintage 100W Marshall Plexi

[@RhettShull]

Now I want to mod my Plexi to sound like the old one.

[@PhilRocks]

How much the vintage one goes for? 🤔

[@brianpierce6877]

Rhett, when you started playing with the db meter on, I got chills

[@bm7376]

I have a 76 100w and the 60's coned greenback cab it came with. The volume stops getting louder before 50% but it just seems to project so much more and fill a room so much more. But I use the marshall powerbrake so I still can hear some.

[@lucistired]

@@PhilRocks you can find them for less than $30,000

[@kapstersmusic]

Forget using your 100 watt attenuator on those puppies if they are cranking out over 140! I wonder who makes a 150 watt attenuator?

[@nycshelbygt500]

My Favorite quote from Nick Bowcott, who represented Marshall for years...."If you suck and play through a Marshall Plexi, you will still suck. But you will suck louder and cooler than anyone else on the planet"

[@louiebee6745]

GRIM REAPER!!🤘🤘

[@corneliuscrewe677]

That’s an awesome quote 😆😆🤘

[@stevestevens1457]

Le wild SLO-100 *appears*

[@troyjenkins578]

Oh that is so awesome and true...lol. If I had the money to buy one of them I would be proud to let everyone in a half mile radius experience how little I know about playing guitar. LOL!!!

[@texasflood3165]

That was me..

[@LekkerDops]

Notice how we all seem to play differently at massive volumes? All of a sudden you forget how to play, it's intimidating

[@RhettShull]

It’s legit pretty scary.

[@onlyfromadistance7326]

Im a trucker and only get home about three weeks in the year. This is how i play every time im home. DAMN THE NEIGHBORS.... actually i do stop playing at night.

[@matthewgonzales3970]

It did change the way I played. Absolutely. After I got over the SHOCK of playing at high volume, I became much more in tune with my touch on the guitar.

[@EnigmaEuslam]

I told an old buddy of mine one time, “you gotta practice at gig volumes to really be practicing for the gig!” I got a stern talking too from his wife about that the next time I saw her! 🤣

[@floridaman7079]

It's the fear of having everyone on earth hearing you make a mistake

[@mark.guitar]

A plexi through a full stack is something to experience. I had the priviledge of playing through one at a festival in the eighties. It was a once in a lifetime experience... never again...

[@bryanclarke1927]

As someone who gigged a jcm 800 for two decades its an actual art to play these things cranked. The amp and cab become an instrument in themselves

[@tomasvanecek8626]

Thats where the magic happens - and the guitar becomes a real beast 🤟

[@MichaelSorensen-bl3ec]

So true. And once you have become accustomed to it, it's frustrating and difficult to go back to anything else!

[@1sttvbn]

The 800 was another Marshall milestone.

[@averyadrian1534]

They play you at that volume level - nothing is cooler than playing through a 100 watt and a 4 12

[@bread6085]

Do you have hearing loss? 🤣

[@Gearhart_Music]

I had the opportunity to play a large concert venue a few years ago(it was a local event and my singer knows people involved with the venue) and I have to say, I fully understand now why they needed that much power back in the day with so many cabinets and amp heads. It's crazy how sound just disappears in an outdoor venue. Also I'm used to only needing 20 feet of cable at any given time. But I found myself reaching the end of my cable rather quickly and I still had another 30 feet of stage in front of me. It was nuts!

[@schmoemi3386]

Thank God we have wireless today 😅😅

[@qua7771]

I only got to crank mine at a farm house, but your right. I can't imagine playing through a wall of them.

[@adrianguggisberg3656]

Transmitters are your friends my friend.

[@localbod]

@@schmoemi3386 Angus Young was using wireless back in the late 70s.

[@reykas1000]

Tantos geniales músicos con daño auditivo severo, a cuidarse los oídos muchachas y muchachos!

[@Cajundaddydave]

That Marshall "thump" is an iconic piece of the late 60s tone and is still very desirable. A trusted amp tech explained to me that it was a combination of the amp, speaker choice, and cabinet design that worked together to make it happen. Yes 125 db is crazy loud and used to get us kicked out of a lot of clubs back in the 70s. "Turn it down or pack up and go home" was a familiar phrase from bar owners who were attempting to contain the mayhem in their place. EVH chose a variac to lower the source voltage into his Plexi and reduce the volume when his amp was dimed. This science experiment contributed to his brown sound.

[@dansch19]

That reduced voltage only gains a few db's of reduction. The funny thing is, against most people's intuition a 50w isn't half the volume. Its a 3-4db reduction. Mostly the extra power tightens up the low end and contributes to that punch. An amp that's half the volume is probably more like a 20-30w amp like an AC30 or a Deluxe Reverb. Volume is so damn tricky. The only real tool is a good attenuator but then you loose the speakers responce and the force of air moving. Thats the punch he's talking about. I have several 100 watt Marshall's but I rarely play them. Just not practical.

[@imacmadman22]

I've watched Navy fighter jets (F-14, F-18, EA-6B & F-4 Phantoms) take off and land on aircraft carriers, I saw Deep Purple in concert, I've played my Fender Bassman 50 watt amp at full volume. I know loud and there is nothing quite like 100 Watt Marshall amp at full volume and yes, I've done that too. What made this video for me was that you played "Ten Years Gone" my favorite Jimmy Page riff of all. Great video, Rhett!

[@thomasvincennie3910]

If you ever heard a F-35 that would be next level - much louder than almost any other jet....I have been on the ground at the local airshow a few times and seen and heard plenty of jets - the warnings over the public address system in advance of the F-35 went on for an hour warning that it was much louder than the other jets - this monster shook the ground like nothing else.....

[@qua7771]

I worked on Navy aircraft, and with double hearing protection, they are almost unbearable. I have a plexi now, and it can get loud as hell, but no comparison. Maybe if the jet engine was at low power.

[@arnolddealiii4259]

To think Clapton at one point had 3 full stacks going along with Jack Bruce who also had 3. One day they were playing so loud Clapton said he quit playing and Ginger Baker quit too, but Jack Bruce couldn’t hear them and anyway so he kept on playing. Clapton said it was that exact moment he knew he didn’t like what they were doing because it was no longer musicians playing together, it was soloist doing their own thing!

[@juankplaysmusic]

Haha imagine quitting your band with such an excuse: you guys are too loud!

[@arnolddealiii4259]

@@juankplaysmusic from what I understand Clapton stopped because the volume was so loud it hurt. In his book he claimed he was completely deaf in one ear but he attributed the hearing loss to 80’s synths!

[@UToobSteak]

Look at Angus Young's wall. There are way more than 3

[@herringbone72]

That Plexi and that Lester were made for each other. Insane tone man. Love it.

[@Phil_Hayes]

These old Marshall was great when I was 14 in 1974! However, my ears were fried by the time I was 16. The wind that this would push was like no other. Great Video Rhett nonetheless! Brings me back to the 70’s and the great times I had! Thanks for a stroll down memory lane!

[@zeroboyrick1717]

Once again Rhett not afraid to play iconic songs so we can compare the sound of the amp in context to these songs we all know and love. Cudos.

[@kellyswoodyard]

When Richie Blackmore toured Australia with Rainbow, way back when, I worked for the concert hire company who provided pretty much everything for the Perth gig. 4 x 100 watt heads, and 8 x quads. One of the guys I worked with is a good guitarist, and he put his 335 onto this monstrosity, down in the workshop. It is something I'll never forget. You felt this thing in your soul. No hearing protection in those days, balls to the wall. I also worked for Rose Tattoo and AC/DC as audio crew, Marshall's everywhere. Yeah, I know what a Marshall can do.

[@MichaelSorensen-bl3ec]

Oh yeah! I saw Richie with Deep Purple back in the early 80's in Melbourne. He was so overwhelmingly loud it felt like putting your head in a vise. But damn, it was so good!

[@SynZ777]

Angus eats Plexis for breakfast... almost literally lol. He goes through them like a pair of shoes.

[@MichaelSorensen-bl3ec]

@@SynZ777 Happens when you are so short, he needs to take longer steps so he doesn't wear them out so fast.

[@jamesnewlyn1803]

Actually, Blackmore used the Marshall Majors. They were 200W heads.

[@qua7771]

One in your house is as loud.

[@Danilo8208SS]

I owned a 1969 Plexi for a while. I never cranked it once while I owned it because it was like an ice pick to the ear but in a good way. My amp tech told me it was one of the ones that had the “wrong” resistor in it somewhere that made it super bright. I guess it was a common mistake that produced the best Marshalls. The day I sold it, I decided I HAD to experience that amp at 10. I was not prepared for how unbelievably loud it would be. I think I got to 4 or 5 before I tapped out. I didn’t have earmuffs so I was trying to raw dog a super lead 100. Either way, it was an awesome experience to blast that thing at least once.

[@dansch19]

I've been modding and building these amps since the mid 90s. Not sure what resistor he's talking about. But there is a capacitor that is well known to be the culprit. The larger value 5000p (.005u) bright cap on the volume, that started turning up on amps in around 69 I believe, is way too large for many players. It makes the volume basically max out very early in the range and your basically adding back in low end from 4 to 10. Again, if ypu play them maxed out a lot, with all controls on 10 as many people do, that cap is nice to let you dial back the volume to tighten it up without losing much drive. But from a bluesy, edge of breakup territory, it's often way too much. 500p or 250p was more common on amps. Fender had 50p on a lot of amps. Its an extremely easy mod that even novices can do.

[@matthewgonzales3970]

Even with a master volume, my '72 100 Watt was brutal in small venues. I loved it, and a few soundmen who knew what they were doing would tell me to open up. LOL It was GLORIOUS!

[@JonTorrence]

This video was SO cool. I definitely know that intangible percussive “thud” you’re talking about. It’s incredible when I think of what my Dad and his band played through in the 70’s, when they had no idea how much meaning it would have 50 years later!!

[@rustymacneil3227]

Having started in the late 60's as a drummer and playing with these either in my right or left ear for 5yrs, my standard answer for how loud they were, " WHAT" ????

[@Rainyman63]

A volume reading of 129dB gives the expression "killer amp" a whole new meaning. If there were any small animals in your basement, they are probably gone by now.

[@danepaulstewart8464]

The Ghosting is TOTALLY INTEGRAL to the Marshal sound generated by those few amps. I remember being in my studio and having one of those AND a Fender Bassman AND a Jazz Chorus AND a big Peavy monster all being fed AT THE SAME TIME from a servo-driven splitter, each mic’d up for blending. Walking in the room was SCARY because you could feel all that electrical potential in the air! Fook yeah those were the best sessions ever. 🤘😆🤘 And that’s why we love them!

[@martinpickr9582]

Where may I hear the recordings

[@MichaelSorensen-bl3ec]

Love that aspect of a Marshall. Gives it so much character.

[@siriplaydopethrone8973]

I just realized my Marshall 3310 is ghosting at high volumes even tho it's a Mosfet amplifier. It's kind of annoying honestly😢

[@krisbeck319]

I have seen lots of people play a "real plexi" for the first time and its amazing how many will default to a Zeppelin riff. I have noticed you also use Slave which is one of my own go to test riffs. Nice stuff Rhett.

[@juankplaysmusic]

Probably because to get a shreddy sound you would need more gain (overdrive pedal, ala Yngwie), so you gotta play hard rock/clean stuff. If you try to play Yngwie or EVH with the amp's distortion you would fail miserably.

[@ltxr9973]

@@juankplaysmusic A cranked 100W plexi (at least the standard one, not sure about the black flag) should do EVH just well. His plexi wasn't nearly as heavily modified as the rumors in the earlier years said. And I think Van Halen II was just a stock plexi anyway. But if you wanted more gain than that you'd probably need a tubescreamer or something, yeah. With a master volume model just having a Super Distortion (or similar) pickup can yield you at least a nice rhythm tone. I never tried the X2N but the levels of distortion it gets you even without a pedal must be insane.

[@Rainyman63]

A lot of Page's riffs are about dynamics. There often is a clean, folk-y verse and a barking blues-y chorus. If you want to know how a dimed amp reacts to the volume pots of the guitar or your picking, they are incredible fun to play.

[@artreno5135]

There were so many great guitarists using multiple Marshall Plexi Heads and cabs … my favorite album covers featured that look .. Cream Live Vol. 2 , Rush All The World’s A Stage , and so many others .. just made you want to crank it up and ROCK !!!!

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

In '71 I played one every day for about 3 months that I rented while playing in London UK's West End clubs in the Prog band Tallis. They really are too loud, lol. So, I bought the 50 watt. Two less EL34 's and much more gainy with better sustain. Still too loud. I now use a antinuator and keep it at 95dB. Since you asked I'm 75 :-)

[@50Something]

It's cool that you still own the amp!

[@bluzzjazz]

I played through a 70s Ampeg V4 w/4x12s and imagine it was similar to the Marshall experience. Such a glorious sounding amp.

[@CatDieselPwr]

Love the sound of those old Ampeg's. I have the old Gemini20 combo that has two 6L6GC's and is only a 2x10 but it is friggin' loud! And sounds amazing with its' Baxandahl eq. Takes pedals fantastic and has lots of harmonic magic. A great example of those old Ampeg's is The Rolling Stones concert footage on here from Texas 1972. With Mick Taylor doing "Dead Flowers" and "All Down The Line". Sounds absolutely killer. Both Mick and Keef rocking them.

[@jeremywilliams703]

I was poor as a kid. I made my first guitar amps out of old valve radios or record player amp-sections. My first real valve amp was a SoundCity 120R, circa 1975. It sounded sublime, amazing, it really moved me, literally, when played through a quad-four cab. I owned that for about 30 years and sold it because it was just too heavy to lift. Over all those years I never got to gig with that amp in the sweet spot. It was just too darn loud. I miss the sound of my SG with humbuckers playing AC/DC, The Sweet and Bad Company etc. LOUD, man. ✌️❤️🙏🇦🇺

[@Bloodbvzzed]

I once played a gig with a 100w marshall jcm900 and an ac30, both completely dimed at full volume. One of the most insane sounds I’ve ever heard, couldn’t hear correctly for a week.

[@jeffjfindley4802]

There's no way to understand that kind of raw power without experiencing it, like getting kicked in the chest by a bronco. Insane. Love your work as always!

[@caramanico1]

LOVE Marshalls - owned a half stack and a gorgeous '05 Les Paul before life intervened... One of the craziest things from back in the day - big fan of Deep Purple, saw their reunion tour in 1985. Great show. However... it was so loud at times that I actually could not make out what they were playing! Seriously, at those times it was just a tidal wave of incoherent sound crushing me. My buddy sitting next to me tore the filters off a couple of cigarettes and - with trembling hands - stuffed them into his ears.

[@Liam_Sims]

i absolutely loved the addition of Twice as Hard by the Black Crowes when you were riffing, that was actually the first riff i ever learned 5 years ago. Extremely nostalgic for me, so thanks for that :D

[@rudolphpyatt4833]

Listening to live Cream recordings you can feel the Marshall power.

[@gregdolecki8530]

and hear the power tube compression.

[@whiteon5627]

Wish I could listen them live…

[@PhilipReevesMusic]

I used to gig with an early 1970's Marshall 100 watt ... with volume on 4 had a great tone with punch and edge of crunch. Very loud. At club gigs, I used 1/2 stack with cab turned to face wall and covered with heavy blanket. Loudest I ever played it was on 6 with full stack which had the famous crunch full tilt at an outdoor gig. The police arrived and said they could hear the guitar from a mile away.

[@sebia12]

Did you share a beer with them ?

[@PhilipReevesMusic]

@@sebia12 😅 rock n roll

[@richardmerriam7044]

I did some repairs on an early Ampeg V4 with a 4-12 cab (Altec Lansing). Did a sound check on about 4 or 5. My ears rang for hours. The neighbors thought there was a concert downtown. Now THAT'S loud!

[@diegoambrosio9121]

5:00 What a sound, what a song!

[@OldStreetDoc]

I’ve never owned one of the big Marshall heads or cabs. Only a couple of smaller Marshall practice amps. I’ve played a few times on a vintage Marshall that a buddy owns though. He’s always described vintage Marshalls as being “like a family member. They’re lovely and important to you. Your memories are filled with the experiences you have shared with them, as well as with all the things you’ve learned & discovered together. Being like family… you LOVE them & can’t imagine one day not having them in your life. And like family… sometimes they also make you angry as all get out & wanting to toss them in a wood chipper.” Still though… we all want one. And if we have one… we likely want another.

[@robinjgill]

Rhett's LZ repertoire through a vintage Plexi. Sounds great. Loved this video. I have to thank you Rhett for getting me into fuzz. Since your video on 5 different fuzzes my pedalboard has shrunk considerably because instead of drives I just use a fuzz face and a boost and it sounds killer.

[@ronswinford4952]

The part where you are talking to the amp is hilarious, because everyone can relate to doing something like that when we have run out of options for the day. Good vid, and hope you and Tilly and the entire family have a great Christmas, once you get the amp fixed again that is.

[@nunziobusiness1509]

Fun story: I played this outdoor gig for 5,000+ and was playing through a borrowed 1968 Super Lead. It was an extremely loud amp, but...This was in maybe 1983, and we played started playing Dream On, by Aerosmith. I played the intro piano part on guitar as we were a trio. Well, the crowd went nuckin futs and suddenly I could not hear myself. So I reached back and nudged the volume up (no master volume, remember). Still couldn't hear. Nudged it up some more. Nope. Ended up pegging the volume. I could feel it blasting through my pant legs but had a hard time hearing it the crowd was so loud. I have no idea how it sounded because I was using muscle memory to play the damn song.

[@bluesalamander5527]

There’s no way you were standing in from of a cranked Marshall stack and couldn’t hear it

[@nunziobusiness1509]

@@bluesalamander5527 I ain't lyin. It was a half stack, on the stage. The speaker box was pretty low relative to my sound receptors. I bet the people in front of me heard it just fine.

[@TRCGA]

shoutout Acorn! I live across the street and have been super rad when I've needed last minute repairs

[@theBanalBrother]

❤❤❤

[@1Rockstok]

I had both 100 watt and a 50 watt Plexi in the early 70s, along with a top “metal handle “ slant cab, a bottom plastic handle cab AND an 8-10” cabinet. They were in the shop ALL the time. Speakers in the 8-10” blew a lot. Repairs were tough to pay for in my teens and early 20s. I was never sure what impedance to set them on. The music changed and I got rid of all of them a got a Peavey Vintage 4-10”. That amp was bullet prof.

[@richarderiksen5210]

You are extremely correct. As A drummer I love this amp. It cuts through everything. Great job.

[@cdbrown30]

Good video Rhett! The more I understand about amps the more easier to choose what amp actually suits my playing needs or whatever.

[@andriealinsangao613]

Indeed!

[@lynncowden5740]

The magic of the originals of that era were in the massive volume they kicked out. It wasn't just the head, it was the head/speaker/volume combination that kicked it into over drive. I grew up playing guitar in the 60's/70's and owned a number of what are now vintage amps. These smaller amps, with all their high tech gizmo's installed, just can't get it. What does get it is MASSIVE VOLUME where the speakers are pumping hard enough to do CPR with.

[@youropionmattersnot]

So glad you went to Acorn. Those guys are great! Need tube amp work near Decatur GA.? Acorn amps all day.

[@dennismcmahan632]

Agree with your evaluation the older Marshall had that bottom end that was sweeter and can’t know that until you put them side by side. Great video!

[@runabout76]

Love the sound of old Marshalls. I've had several 2203/4 models over the years and also a 1959RR and 1987X. The 1959RR I had tested by my amp tech, full output was 219watts. Absolutely punishingly loud.

[@FlagadaJohn]

O_O

[@tyleraguilarphotography]

Loved the “Twice as Hard” style riff at 6:12. Awesome video!

[@jean-philippemorin1176]

What every guy does when the girlfriend and family is gone for errands, grocery, shopping etc and your alone at the house? Crank that marshall until the walls shake! :D

[@rod9050]

I saw hendrix with 3 Marshall stacks blew my mind in a beautiful way

[@seanbaines]

144 watts. I like how he said every Marshall 100 watt they test comes in at at least 140. And Jim Marshall used to soup up the ones he built for Ritchie Blackmore! How Deep Purple didn't blow people out through the back walls of auditoriums, I have no idea. :)

[@sohamsarker]

Well they were the guiness loudest band in the world for a reason.🤣🤣🤣🤣 I believe people did pass out at some of their concerts. But what's really something that never gets talked about are Cream gigs, I believe they were some of the first groups to crank up Marshall Amps that too in small clubs. I can only imagine what each of those 100W stacks must've sounded like.

[@ilmisxx2]

Well, its's peak power for very short amount of time. Also amp wattage doest not equal volume, speaker efficiency is a much bigger factor to how loud it is. Wattage is more of an indicator to clean headroom than anything

[@funkster007]

@@sohamsarker The Who were up there on the deaf-o-meter as well. I think Townshend was JM's first 100w client.

[@misterknightowlandco]

You guys have to remember that they had to do this because PA systems were such crap that without the stacks a stadium of people couldn’t hear the guitar.

[@jeremywilliams703]

I saw Deep Purple at Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia, some time back in the 70’s. My ears are still ringing. ✌️❤️🙏🇦🇺

[@billylindsay5712]

In the seventies when I still lived in the UK I owned several Marshall amps (not all at the same time), a 50W, a couple of 100W and a 100W bass, I played bars and clubs and I had the volume set at 6, I felt that was the sweet spot for me, I used 2 cabinets, a Marshall Slant 4x12 and an open back Vox 2x12. For a long time I used no pedals but eventually got a Morley Wah/Vol. I loved my marshalls and I used to lug them around in an old Ford Escort, the 4x12 fit in the trunk the 2x12 and amp in the back seat area and the guitar in the passenger seat.

[@kennethday9747]

Best clean sounds ever ! Better than any fender clean.

[@bjhale542]

I played a half stack in small venues all throughout my time of playing out alongside a loud as hell drummer, but we consciously asserted our dynamics. I had to play the amp to the room, in the band context, sometimes with poor or no in house sound. House shows were the best.There was a distinct, resounding punch in the chest, kicking with percussive elements permeated all around, a fantastic vibration standing with that cab leveraged squarely behind...a synergy achieved alongside the fantastic beings I loved creating music with. I only wish I had savored those moments more carefully. I still play through these leviathans. Though not as loud composing and writing from home. Great video. 4x12 cabs, yes please. Merry Christmas!

[@lanceconnolly3954]

I had one and played a 61 Les Paul (SG Style) and gigged with it regularly. 100 watt top and 2 4x12 celestions bottoms (greenbacks). IT WAS LOUD but beautiful!!

[@vextract4662]

I love the "thud". It's why I play guitar and specifically with loud amps. Slash opening "welcome to the jungle" is the best example of "thud" on a recorded Marshall amp. The bottom end is so perfect and just so gratifying to listen to.

[@sambochen2010]

Wow, Good Times Bad Times, Ten Years Gone, and In My Time Of Dying on 1 single video? Rhett knows Zep is perfect for bringing out the best in vintage Marshalls. 👏

[@MuneebChiken]

Isn't that hard to handle by black crowes right? Not in my time of dying

[@j.f.brunet6218]

Great, great, GREAT video Rhett. I’m a Marshall guy, I own a few. Your qualitative descriptors are so well chosen, they articulate the sound you hear and feel so well, that I could’ve watched the video without sound, with closed caption of your description, and I would’ve understood the sound. The video sounds don’t do the amps 100% justice, but your description does. Well done.

[@pyroman6000]

Makes sense, Guys like Pete Townshend were always after Jim Marshall to make it louder. So, these were designed to be as LOUD as possible. I always wondered how the hell guys could stand to be that close to them- cranked wide open- night after night... No wonder so many of them can't hear shit today, lol. Thanks for making this! Sounded great, and it was awesome just to see the look on your face while you played through it. It's cool to experience what different animals amps become when you push them hard.

[@roncarter2188]

I played my 1973 100 watt super bass this morning and those old Marshall amps the real deal. So now you have christened your new up-and-coming studio.

[@formulajoe2]

The black flag is a more of a bass circuit like the JTM45 and 45/100. Less filtering than the 68 lead circuit and also shared cathodes on V1 like the JTM45. It’s really a transition between the JTM45 and what would become the Super Lead. Super cool amp!

[@mykelc205]

Yep. Love bass over lead.

[@kevinwagner8497]

@666kty3 ok so what is the circuit like then? if the above is "so full of misinformation" please correct.

[@amalgamaudioLV]

It's called a 100W amp, but it actually puts out close to 200W cranked, at least the later ones with more filtering. And, wow, a black flag - love the tones and playing!

[@bulletproofzest]

That kick is one of the reasons I’ve had a long love affair with higher wattage amps. Definitely love lower wattage stuff too, but my current gig favorites, the V4 & 2466, both have it in spades and they’re insanely fun to play.

[@brutalslam8443]

This was really cool. Loved hearing the playthroughs and your impressions of the amps. I also thought the vintage Marshall superior.

[@bradh6185]

I watched a great documentary on the Marshall amp the other day. The objective was to make the guitar loud enough that the drums didn't drown it out. This was back when the main purpose of a PA was to amplify the vocals. Fascinating stuff.

[@Shiznitt_]

🤘the sound of rock and roll

[@copperaudio9664]

Damn Rhett thanks for the demo. That original blows away the modern stuff by miles and miles and miles. Seriously though, amazingly better than the new stuff.

[@glennjames7107]

Imagine what it must feel like to be Jimmy Page, or Angus playing in front of a wall of these (and yes, i know Angus isn't dime-ing his amps, but he's got'em close enough), except theirs are a wall of full stacks ! Of course for those two legends (and many others) it's just another day at the office. But it's not hard to understand why they have that look on their faces while hammering out a killer riff, like they are way above you mere mortals. Because of course that must be what it feels like to unleash such amazing, powerful sounds, capable of instantaneously melting the faces off of people !!!

[@MrShockleader]

Don't forget that Paul Kossoff used to stick his through a full stack of bass speakers. Just a Les Paul straight into that monster.

[@ricknagy1639]

When I worked at a guitar store a customer brought in TWO full Plexi stacks for inspection. We cranked these after closing for the day and it's as close to a religious experience as I've ever had.

[@MrRockntube]

For me the vintage vs new argument was over when I got my 75' 1959 SLP MKII. The thump this thing gives you is just unbelievable. I played it at 3 bridged and could feel my ear drum pushed inside in a scary way. I have 4 new production marshalls and even a 2204 clone I built with top of the line components. none of them have the thump or magic the 1975 amp has. After building several tube amplifiers I think this has a lot to do with old transformers, resistors and coupling caps(mustards). You will never understand the feeling of playing one of those thru youtube. You will never understand the fear of turning the volume higher thru a video. It is exactly like you said Rhett Shull. It changes your playing, it makes you make music differently. IT IS EPIC!😍 I will sell all my amps but never my 75 1959 SLP MKII. It is unreplaceable!

[@matthewf1979]

If you want some speakers that absolutely nail the vintage Pulsonic cone Greenback tone, the Mojotone BV-25M-SP is it! Fantastic right out of the box. I bet Mojotone will sponsor a set. Vintage Marshall's used linear taper pots. Hence the sensitivity. It makes a huge difference to our ears. Electrically, it's the same, just at different points in the sweep.

[@WardCarroll]

Props to our local gear doctors who calm us down while fixing our problems.

[@luckyjak117]

Gotta love that sound tho

[@everonlyallforthee]

The THUD. Standing in front of a Marshall and getting the thud in your chest is such a great feeling. Even happens on high notes. If the cab is transparent enough to see the speakers, you can watch them twitch on the transient of every note. It makes you feel powerful haha.

[@gotta56forme]

Enjoyed the vid, and have a question... the amp tech was powering it at 121-122v. I find they sound better (more musical) if powered down at around 110v (their original design voltage). Rhett: Do you use any voltage correction when powering vintage amps? I find my Marshall, my plexi clone, and even a recent made AC15 sound better at lowered voltages. I'm not browning really low like EVH, just trying to get to design voltage. Keep the vids coming...

[@verjason]

Marshall, being an English brand, would have been built for 240 volts?

[@jtcgtr71]

@@verjason Yes. ;-)

[@gotta56forme]

It's too much to write here but wall voltage increases occurred in both the US, and Great Britian over the passage of time, due to improvements and standardizations in power generation. Google searches show Britian went to 240v in the 70's, and it had been 220v before. The US went from 110 to 120 in a few different stages. Actually, wall voltages in the US can vary - 120 is not a guarantee. My house is generally 121-123vac. I've seen it has high as 125vac. A friend's home ranges from 126-128vac. A local practice space I was recently at was only 119vac.

[@JimmyDevere]

Yes he should have lowered the voltage to 110. Likely the tubes were biased at a lower voltage and when he went home at 120 or 125v AC he redplated the tubes do to the higher bias values.

[@qua7771]

Richie Blackmore said he always pointed his at the singer. The singer is deaf, but his hearing is perfect.

[@fuzzingthewah]

Like you said, how these guys back in the ‘60s - Clapton, Hendrix, etc. - used one or several cranked Marshall full-stacks on stage without any sort of hearing protection is insane. I’m not sure how they had any hearing left whatsoever, especially after continued and prolonged exposure.

[@musicplaylists59]

well apparently Hendrix had a hearing test at one point and they found he was almost completely deaf in one ear by then.

[@tomasvanecek8626]

@@musicplaylists59 Theres no logic in this - if it were due to the exposure to the volume of sound, both his ears would be shot. I know of many young people who suddenly lost hearing in one ear with no clear reason...

[@musicplaylists59]

@@tomasvanecek8626 well for some reason all the musicians i know who have hearing loss from loud volumes have it worse in one ear than the other, including myself haha (i blame the layout of the practice room with a band i was in about 10 years ago, our other guitarist's extremely loud amp was always pointed straight at one side of my head, and we used to practice really loud). im not saying that loud volume is definitely the cause of Hendrix's hearing problems though, but it cant have helped haha.

[@tomasvanecek8626]

@@musicplaylists59 I lost my hearing (only bass frequencies left) on left ear suddenly in 1987.. the one that was close to a cymbal in a small rehearsal room.. But the right one still had excellent score on audiogram - go figure ... Thats why I dont think it was loud music related, you know ? If the other ear was at least a bit shot, I´d understand it - but not this way.. My GF at that time had the same problem - and she never listened to loud music 🤪

[@roxtar38]

It cracks me up when one goes to see a local cover/bar band and the guitarist has this or a similar 100w/412 set up (mic'd). I had "heartbeat tinnitus" for a couple of years after such an experience. Now I always take earplugs. That sound is killer.

[@ColinDaviesGTR]

One thing about vintage amps is how unforgiving they are. They give you nothing more than you put in.

[@musicplaylists59]

my favourite sound in this video was the clean tone with the strat playing Angel, those old Marshall JTM's with loads of bass and great clean tone are perfect for getting the Hendrix style strat tone where its clear but thick and not all brittle and thin like a lot of peoples strat tones

[@OpaWisdom]

As an old analog sound man, I hated loud amps. There would be times when the amps were so loud coming off the stage I could not get a good balance between vocals and instruments. I even got fired for unplugging a bass players second stack after the sound check and before the performance. My goal was to make the band sound good despite the band members egos. I would tell all musicians get the tone you want at the lowest volume and let the PA and sound man do the rest😉

[@3rdStoreyChemist]

It’s not particularly difficult to make it work. Just if the guitarists and bassist want to be -that- loud: 1) get a loud drummer. 2) position the amps properly so they can hear them, not stood over them or off to the side and turning them up or adding silly amounts of bass or treble because they can’t hear it properly. 3) all the mids that Internet forums tell you to not turn down, that’s getting in the way of the singer, save all that for solos as that’s why boost pedals and Tubescreamers exist. Your job as sound engineer is then piss easy for the night and only reacting to changes in the acoustic volume. Getting a guitarist to turn down a mediocre tone is only going to make it worse, then you’ve got to get that to sound decent and try to get it to balance with the rest of what is probably a total mess to start with. Never experienced a decent engineer wanting a decent guitar sound turned down, unless it is genuinely silly as the work is already done. Forgot to add 4). No guitars in the monitors for anyone, if the band can’t hear loud guitar amps, there is clearly an issue and turning up more stuff isn’t the solution.

[@donaldsmith188]

When we used the loud amps like this, the PA was just for singers. No one mic'd the amplifiers. Outdoor shows is where the babies shine. Awesome video

[@LiamNashMiller]

Early Squad.

[@SpecialTaco9]

Another Painfully Loud amp thats quite underrated, the Gibson GA-30RVS. I never see anybody talk about it and its one of my favorite combos.

[@brucekagan1810]

Thank you! I used to work at a high end guitar parlour in Hell-A. One day I was asked to demo a vintage 100 watt super Tremelo vs a Bogner Shiva. Both into the vintage 4x12 that the super came with. Now the Shiva is a fabulous amp, but the Super was the best thing I've ever been lucky enough to play through. It's a real "macho" sound and feel, quite visceral. But yeah, it was loud enough to kill birds, but boy oh boy what an absolute rush.

[@i8ittoo]

My guitar instructor in the 80s had an old marshall , and it was so , so loud. I plugged in once. And I never wanted to play through it again. Not sure what model, but looked very similar to what I'm seeing in this video. I was young then didn't know how good it was ....

[@chrisshaw6451]

I can remember going to see live bands in the seventies, Zep, the Who, Purple, Sabbath, Free, etc.. etc.. When we were on our way home after, everything in the outside world seemed REALLY quiet, and our conversations consisted of four or so people yelling really loudly at each other, lol! Glory days man, glory days! 👍❤️

[@harshtruth9148]

Rhett your videos and personality are shining through better and better each one. lol

[@normanmozley3659]

Have played them all, started with a 200w Marshall major, currently using an SV20H and a rockcrusher. Your friend in tone, Norman Mozley Mr Analog

[@Nghilifa]

I had a 9200 power amp (5881 tubes) and a JMP-1 preamp once. I dimed the poweramp a couple of times.... It was deafening! It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that Jimi Hendrix played through two stacks of plexi's (the 3rd being a spare) simultaneously onstage. Absolute madness, but the sound was glorious!

[@keenanpage9790]

Just a perfect example of why they call it the Plexi even at full volume still so clean!!! 🤘🏾🤘🏾

[@SabreAce33]

Thanks for the awesome text description of ghosting. I could clearly hear it, but the text helped me be certain I was hearing what you you were referring to.

[@leosun8469]

Great video, Rhett- I can totally understand why the Black Flag was AC/DC’s weapon of choice. Fantastic sounding amp! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@501chorusecho]

100 watt super bass plexi....everyone is afraid of them, but they are the best recording amps in history

[@FuzzImp]

This is something I’m getting into. Going to build a bunch of my own Marshall’s this year. It’s truly amazing how right they got it that long ago

[@joebro77]

I agree with that unique low end percussive thud. I only have an Engl Rock 20w combo, but with a Les Paul, a Plexitone pedal, a Klon Clone or Tubescreamer as boost only and a Wampler Compressor can reproduce that at acceptable noise levels of around 90-100db. I can only imagine what the real deal in room sound experience is, but I can fully relate to how you describe this unique punch

[@Bluesky5553]

I never played through Marshalls that big . I went from using Fender Dual Showman amps to an Ampeg V-4 head with twin cabs with JBL's, and for smaller venues the Ampeg VT-22 100 watt combo with JBL's. I would love to have my VT-22 combo back or one of the Dual Showman setups that I had. These were great amps that were rock solid.

[@ArgueWithDont]

used to gig with a jcm 800 full stack. I grinned ear to ear when you mentioned the "thud"...that setup would make any guitar sound phenomenal.

[@mikestillwagon5675]

I had a 1974 Super Lead head. Every time I start to miss it I remember how incredibly loud it and how I never really got to use it at a volume that made the most of its potential.

[@jamesbillingsley1505]

it's how it was done. My band...CBs...1979....dimed twin and an SVT. Rock and roll my young man.

[@chrisstratton987]

fond memories of my ampeg 100w amp. so loud it sent my effects pedals dancing across the floor from the vibration. no greater therapy session.

[@eddieholmes3236]

Great job Rhett. Really interesting to see it opened up. If folks are interested in vintage Marshalls please check on John Segeborn. He is *the* king! Happy holidays.

[@greagandev]

I think the most important difference between my vintage and my modern amps is the single volume knob. No gain knob. Some of the best sounds I get are at the high volumes, but that is the beauty of it. I just turn it up and ride the volume knob on my guitar. My 60's fender bassman is probably my favorite.