Marshall 1974x 18W 112 handwired reissue.

briany

Has anyone tried one of these ever? http://www.marshallamps.com/product.asp?productCode=1974X

It is part of the Marshall hand wired series and I have not heard a bad word said about it's tone, pretty much only raves. I have heard a few horror stories about blown transformers though.

I am looking for a last amp I'll ever need to own type of amp for gigs if that makes sense to anyone because I don't like to mess around with gear too much and there are other things I need to buy. Does the amp justify it's 1400+ price tag in it's sound do you think?

Seziertisch

It is without doubt a great amp. Though you might also want to check out the Blackstar Artisan 15 which isn't a million miles away from it. Both are constructed to a similarly high standard.

The Marshall has a rather nice sounding tremolo and the speaker is particularly sweet (a specially treated Greenback), while the Blackstar is quite a bit cheaper (for significantly less than the price difference you could also upgrade the speaker) and it can be switched between 5 and 15 watts (a very useful feature for playing at home).

If you want a keeper amp, I would also suggest that you consider upgrading the capacitors in either of these amps. The Sozo Vintage ones sound excellent and are the real deal for that authentic Marshall tone. Relative to the improvement they will bring they really are a no-brainer, particularly if you do a lot of recording.

Another possible consideration might be that both the Marshall and the Blackstar have EF86 amps; this tube type is inclined to become microphonic, and obviously in a combo amp this is going to be more of an issue.

Neither amp is going to offer you masses of clean headroom, if you don't mind playing with a tiny bit of crunch all the time at higher levels then they are fine for gigging. Depending on the kind of music you play this may or may not be an issue.

Fingers Mcginty

If you're gonna spend that ammount of dosh I'd go for a Dr Z Maz18. Fab sounding amp.

Seziertisch

You should also consider going the head and cab route just for the sake of making them a bit easier to carry around. The Marshall combo isn't a particularly light lift for the size of it.

briany

I would spend that kind of dosh on an amp if I could be reasonably sure that it would not die within a reasonable time of getting the thing! I was originally considering an Orange rocker 30 or an Egnater rebel but then I thought I may as well go the whole hog and just get something that that would allow me to draw a line under the amp thing for the forseeable future.

I must say, I am not as impressed by the sound of the Doctor z maz 18 as the Marshall. Now don't get me wrong, it sounds great just not quite as good
as the Marshall. That is only my opinion though. With amps like these unfortunately, especially with the Doctor Z, you can't just walk into a music shop and see one sitting on the floor so scarily sound clips are all you have to go on. If the Maz 18 and the 1974x are around the same price though, I'd still go for the marshall.

Would such an 18 watter be enough to carry a small gig unmiked? I use a blackstar ht-5 to gig at the moment and that could theoretically gig unmiked at a small gig (but totally dimed). I've heard some people say that these 18 watters would have no problem doing so and others disagreeing. Maybe some are playing with a drummer and some aren't.....

Seziertisch

briany wrote: »

I would spend that kind of dosh on an amp if I could be reasonably sure that it would not die within a reasonable time of getting the thing! I was originally considering an Orange rocker 30 or an Egnater rebel but then I thought I may as well go the whole hog and just get something that that would allow me to draw a line under the amp thing for the forseeable future.

I must say, I am not as impressed by the sound of the Doctor z maz 18 as the Marshall. Now don't get me wrong, it sounds great just not quite asgood
as the Marshall. That is only my opinion though. With amps like these unfortunately, especially with the Doctor Z, you can't just walk into a music shop and see one sitting on the floor so scarily sound clips are all you have to go on. If the Maz 18 and the 1974x are around the same price though, I'd still go for the marshall.

I wouldn't rule out the Maz based on sounds clips.

briany

Seziertisch wrote: »

I wouldn't rule out the Maz based on sounds clips.

I'm not ruling it out, I'm just saying based on what I've heard so far I would choose the marshall still. If the maz offered a the same quality of tone at say a hundred euros cheaper or better reliability then I would seriously look at getting it.

Seziertisch

briany wrote: »

I'm not ruling it out, I'm just saying based on what I've heard so far I would choose the marshall still. If the maz offered a the same quality of tone at say a hundred euros cheaper or better reliability then I would seriously look at getting it.

I know a number of people who own that particular Marshall amp and have had issues with the reliability, above and beyond the transformer issues that some of the earlier models had. One guy has an as yet undiagnosed hum/buzz problem (might be just a microphonic tube) and the other guy ended up soldering a connection in the footswitch which hadn't been soldered in the first place.

Though these issues are moot if you decide to shop locally.

Fingers Mcginty

18 watts of Tube is perfect for pub gigs. I have owned a 50 watt Engl...too loud for pub gigs. 38 Watt DR Z MAz 38...beautiful tone but I had to attenuate it quite a bit as it was very loud but also very heavy which is why I sold it. It was too damn heavy (2x12)...An 18 watt should be just the ticket.

Fingers Mcginty

BTW there's a Marshall 1974 for sale on adverts.ie for 875

briany

Seziertisch wrote: »

I know a number of people who own that particular Marshall amp and have had issues with the reliability, above and beyond the transformer issues that some of the earlier models had. One guy has an as yet undiagnosed hum/buzz problem (might be just a microphonic tube) and the other guy ended up soldering a connection in the footswitch which hadn't been soldered in the first place.

Though these issues are moot if you decide to shop locally.

I must say I love Marshall's dedication to authenticity, even down to reliability issues. With amps like the marshall, shopping locally may not even be a great guarantee because it could develop a problem shortly after but at least you could have it serviced I suppose. You could have it serviced it on mail order too but who wants the hassle? Do you know anyone who owns the Maz 18 by any chance?:)

Fingers, was that the Engl screamer you owned by any chance? Did you get that maz on mail order or in store?

Fingers Mcginty

Yeah it was a screamer I had. Nice amp but it sounded a little harsh on it's own. I always used it with a 112 extension cab as recommended by someone here and it made the world of difference.
I got the Maz18 form peach guitars in the UK. I l also have a Mini Z head for home use and it's sweeeeeet also from peach guitars. I'd say it would sound fab mic'd up through a PA for gigs.

briany

Oh thanks for the heads up about the marshall for sale on adverts.ie Fingers There's actually a couple there. That is very interesting, though at 875 it's going to make me wonder what other more previously unattainable amps I could afford going second hand. The search has only just begun I fear/hope. Definately hope to be sitting on a total keeper by the end though.

There's but a squeaker of a difference price wise between the maz and 1974 new though. Someone said that the transformer issues of the 1974 were something that dogged the first run only according to their information from a marshall techie. There's also the possibility of the bluesbreaker which is a bigger amp for not much more and the soldano astroverb 112 but I cannot find much info about that one.

Also, the ceriatone and metroamp clones look quite interesting.

Fingers Mcginty

briany wrote: »

There's but a squeaker of a difference price wise between the maz and 1974 new though.

Z stuff really hold their value in the second hand market though unfortunately for potential buyers and rarely pop up on this side of the pond. I have seen some Z stuff occasionally on ebay.co.uk but far from bargains they were.

Eoin Madsen

There are clones of the various Marshalls, including the 18w, that are reputedly far better than Marshall's current reissues (or any of its past reissues). I'd go shopping for one of those long before I considered paying for the privilege of a genuine Marshall(tm) logo.