New Marshall MA Series

[Sully]

Looks like its out. An entry level amp thats all valve. I just watched the videos on the Marshall site and it actually sounds pretty good. Wonder what the price point will be.

http://www.marshallamps.com/marshall_th ... clipCat=MA

[surfnorthwest]

I think it sounds great, Chris has some good chops (nice new haircut too) Looks like only three pre-amp valves with two channels....hmmm. Glad to see the EL34s in it with the built in spring reverb. Didn't notice what speakers they paired it with. Defenitly different sounding than the DSL.

[bluesbrother]

I think it sounds great, Chris has some good chops (nice new haircut too) Looks like only three pre-amp valves with two channels....hmmm. Glad to see the EL34s in it with the built in spring reverb. Didn't notice what speakers they paired it with. Defenitly different sounding than the DSL.

I watched the whole demo to hear the built in spring reverb.
Must be a real selling point by not showing.

[LivewireBlanco]

Wow, I think Marshall hit a homerun with this one! An entry level tube amp that sounds great! I love the crunch control idea and looks like it would pretty much take the place of an OD pedal. Lots of vintage Marshall sounds in that demo. I also dug that song that Chris did during the performace video, very AC/DCish. Wonder what the price tag will be and if the combo will take a hit from there already being the Haze 40.

[StephenRutledge]

I wonder what speaker cab he's playing through and the speaker this amp is designed to pair up with?

[lowenzz]

The cab appears to be a new series with speakers from Eminence.

[SteveD]

I wonder what speaker cab he's playing through and the speaker this amp is designed to pair up with?

The speakers are new and are called AX-75s. They are based on G12-75s but at a mid market price point.

[musicman]

I'm really liking the sound of this one
2 channels with independant tone controls & the crunch control would work well for me
Don't suppose there's any way to assign the reverb to the clean channel only ? (sorry !)

[Sully]

Price point:
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"The 2x12" MA100C (UK RRP £663) and 1x12" MA50C (UK RRP £548) combos both contain the newly developed AX-75 speaker, custom-voiced to match the tone, feel and response of the whole MA Series perfectly. These speakers can also be found in the new full-sized M412A and M412B 4x12" speaker cabs.

Finally, both the MA100H (UK RRP £599) and MA50H (UK RRP £480) heads feature semi-transparent baffles and illuminated chassis, allowing your valve-powered tone to literally shine."
-----------

So for the 50w head thats like $750 list, which will be $599 street maybe? Not bad, especially if it sounds good.

I don't understand why all 'cheaper' amps have to look cheap. Like the MA logo - where did that thing come from? And the transparent grille? Just put a piece of wood and clothe on it like the big boys. The more it looks like a high end Marshall the more attention it will get in my opinion. Other boards/forums are already saying it looks like an MG because of the cosmetics. Epiphone is another example. The headstocks are terrible... why not make it look like the Gibson headstock, which the Japanese Epi's DO have. It just looks so much more professional. An opposite example would be the Class 5. It looks great - very professional, very high-end looking just like the bluesbreaker. And its getting attention from high end names.

I don't know... just a personal pet peeve of mine with gear. I'm done.

[slowpokerhino]

I don't understand why all 'cheaper' amps have to look cheap. Like the MA logo - where did that thing come from? And the transparent grille? Just put a piece of wood and clothe on it like the big boys. The more it looks like a high end Marshall the more attention it will get in my opinion. Other boards/forums are already saying it looks like an MG because of the cosmetics. Epiphone is another example. The headstocks are terrible... why not make it look like the Gibson headstock, which the Japanese Epi's DO have. It just looks so much more professional. An opposite example would be the Class 5. It looks great - very professional, very high-end looking just like the bluesbreaker. And its getting attention from high end names.

I don't know... just a personal pet peeve of mine with gear. I'm done.

I agree totally. I see a lot of amps that are supposed to sound great but I wont even try them because they are either cheap looking or just plain ugly. Amps are like women, sure it's what's inside that matters most but if she's a pig you wouldn't give her a second look.

[DeanM]

I don't understand why all 'cheaper' amps have to look cheap. Like the MA logo - where did that thing come from? And the transparent grille? Just put a piece of wood and clothe on it like the big boys. The more it looks like a high end Marshall the more attention it will get in my opinion. Other boards/forums are already saying it looks like an MG because of the cosmetics. Epiphone is another example. The headstocks are terrible... why not make it look like the Gibson headstock, which the Japanese Epi's DO have. It just looks so much more professional. An opposite example would be the Class 5. It looks great - very professional, very high-end looking just like the bluesbreaker. And its getting attention from high end names.

I don't know... just a personal pet peeve of mine with gear. I'm done.

I agree totally. I see a lot of amps that are supposed to sound great but I wont even try them because they are either cheap looking or just plain ugly. Amps are like women, sure it's what's inside that matters most but if she's a pig you wouldn't give her a second look.

well to keep the price as low as possible or even to certain budget they prob compromised on looks to afford more towards how it actually sounds.

but yeah if yer at a club ya dont have time to "get to know" every single woman in there to see who's the nicest person so ya pick the hot ones and fingers crossed theyre nice!! if not.....then atleast she was hot while it lasted!!

[Sully]

well to keep the price as low as possible or even to certain budget they prob compromised on looks to afford more towards how it actually sounds.

but yeah if yer at a club ya dont have time to "get to know" every single woman in there to see who's the nicest person so ya pick the hot ones and fingers crossed theyre nice!! if not.....then atleast she was hot while it lasted!!

Yeah I totally get that they are trying to keep costs down, but that logo is keeping costs down? Using a metal grate instead of a piece of wood and cloth that every other Marshall uses is keeping costs down? Black piping instead of white? I know that's picky, but I've just always wondered why companies do that.

[SteveD]

Guys there has to be some kind of differentiation between our UK built flagships and our OEM partner built ranges. Please reserve judgement for when you see the MA models in the flesh. They're actually very decent IMO.

The front baffle on the heads is actually fret cloth with the logo fixed to a transparent plexiglass backplate.

[Spotted Dog]

Amps are like women, sure it's what's inside that matters most but if she's a pig you wouldn't give her a second look.

Maybe they could put some tits on it?
(Sorry Steve no disrespect intended, just easy sophomoric humor.)

Guys there has to be some kind of differentiation between our UK built flagships and our OEM partner built ranges. Please reserve judgement for when you see the MA models in the flesh.

Doh, there's that flesh thing again.

Actually that thing sounds damn good!!! And the looks while not traditional may be well received. I imagine they did some focus groups.

[surfnorthwest]

Since when do you guys give a shit about what a amp looks like? If it sounds great and is a good value it could look like a box of Corn Flakes. Heck use the bag you put over your girlfriends head on it.