#Marshall stack menu plus

Gain, Volume and Tone controls are in a line, with a red LED (to show Boost or Normal channel 'on'), there's a stereo jack socket for the two-way footswitch (supplied with the amp), then 'Normal channel' volume, treble, middle and bass pots. These provide a single jack input, followed by pots for the 'Boost' (overdrive) channel.

The front panel features the usual illuminated Marshall mains switch, plus a twin-channel arrangement of controls.

The back panel sports six ¼' jack sockets two for effects send and return, one for connection to a mixer (provided with a variable output control, enabling you to send exactly the signal required to your mixer - a very good idea, of course) plus two speaker outlets, allowing cabs from 4 to 6 ohms to be connected. Again it's beautifully built, but much lighter than the equivalent valve unit. The new Marshall head is unusual in several respects.

On the road, this reputation for reliability (never mind Marshall's sound quality!) has kept them at the forefront since the 1960s - and they obviously refuse to compromise their own legend. The slope-fronted and straight 4x10 cabs were both to their usual ultra-high woodworking quality, and the head was built like a Marshall always is. In a world where trash seems to be increasingly common, Marshall stand out like renegades with their integrity, and refuse to compromise their legendary build quality for the sake of convenience - and that applies just as much to this 'mini-stack' as it does their full-size models. Marshall products continuously represent traditional British engineering values at their absolute best. Even small saloon car owners should be able to carry their Compact Stacks with no problems - the weight is considerably less than that of a normal twin 4x12 arrangement, the size ditto. At the other end of our journey, the light weight and smaller size of the stack made for very easy transportation. One 4x10 fitted snugly in the average-sized boot, the other, plus the head, went on the back seat, with no difficulties at all. To give you an idea of the transportation ease which this smaller package affords, we collected our sample Compact Stack in a non-hatchback Alfasud. Two major factors differentiate this stack from the classic Marshall set-up, the first being that the amp uses a MOS-FET power amp stage (not valves - but not traditional bi-polar transistors, either), the second being that the cabs house those excellent Celestion 10' 35-watt rated speakers, as opposed to the traditional Celestion 12' types. That answer is the brand new Marshall 'Compact Stack', recently launched in their booming export markets (where it's already a top seller) and shortly to be appearing on the U.K. Their reputation being founded on unequalled valve heads and 4x12s, it's only natural that Marshall, of all makers, should have come up with an answer for guitarists who want a stack, but either can't afford or can't physically transport a traditional valve head and two 4x12s.

Unfortunately, the component and manufacturing costs of a traditional valve amp are such that prices are beginning to be prohibitive for many younger players, and the size of a standard 4x12 (let alone two of them) poses obvious transport problems.

However powerful a modern 1x12 100 watt combo sounds, the sheer spread of muscle power from eight speakers in two cabs cannot easily be equalled. Recent years, for example, have seen the growth in popularity of high-powered combos, while (at the same time) heavy metal players have gone in the opposite direction, towards employing increasing numbers of valve stacks - often used as a macho cosmetic adornment of their stage sets!īut still the 'stack' has a strong appeal, and not all of it just for show, either. There's no doubt that fashion affects tastes in amp formats, just as it does every aspect of music - from playing styles to the actual gear we use.

#Marshall stack menu plus