Back with Marshall after a long time away. New AFD100

[Mark2c]

After years of going through a love hate relationship with Marshall, the last being a beloved 2555 Silver Jubilee, I have come back home to where I started over 25 years ago. I am not saying that Marshall did not make some pretty good amps, preamps or power amps, but to me they lacked the primitive growl of my late 69 and 71 , which I stupidly sold to go to a full rack in the late 80's. It has been an experience that has led me to Boogie's, Soldano SLO's( which I adore), Diezel VH4 and Herbert, also wonderful in their own right. Looking back, I eventually realized I missed the overall simplicity of a Marshall and decided to see what they had to offer. I followed the AFD 100 project and really enjoyed the whole process from start to finish, but I just could not find an AFD when they came out and eventually my interest faded. I am a guy who has to play an amp before I pull the trigger and before I knew it, even my local dealer sold the two they ordered within days. In the interim I decide to try out a JVM and it was quite impressive as was an older DSL. They still lacked what was important to me. Touch sensitivity. Great amps regardless, and pretty decent at small gig levels but in typical Marshall style the louder they were the better. At 40 and finally admitting Tinnitus was a problem from years of shrill 80's amps, I needed to keep the output down And stay away from the really trebly gain structures.

Enter a boring day at work an finding an AFD100. I bought it and it got to me in three days. It was an agonizing wait as I anticipated my return to Marshall. My hope was not too high, because remember I am a guy who has to play before I buy.
I justified the fact that regardless of the YouTube clips and negative comments from every 15 year old dogging the amp because of a tube failure, this amp had the promise to be my ultimate Marshall. I enjoy Slash as much as the next guy, but I am not a diehard devotee. I personally prefer George Lynch type tone over Slash, but if the amp was all it was cracked up to be it could cover most Marshall bases ala Angus, Gary Moore maybe even Lynch. I could also care less about the mystery surrounding the #39, #36 etc. I just hoped for a killer amp.

As usual, the day the amp came I was dead tired but determined to give it a shot. I grabbed my trusty Charvel strat head single hum with a JB in the bridge and set out unpacking the AFD. Again, I could care less about how the amp looked or any complaints regarding the choice of headshell and colors, but when it came out of the box I was thrilled at the appearance of this amp. It was so Oakland Raiders to me, but I do appreciate it's look compared to a standard Marshall.

I pulled the back cover off and re-seated the 6550's after there journey and peeked at the iron. Pretty beefy PT and a decent stack of laminates on the OT, not too far off the thickness of the SLO or Diezel's. I quickly proceeded to the auto bias function and let their warm up for a few minutes. I used a Soldano 4X12 with broken in Vintage 30's that I got with my SLO 100 in late 93'. Off standby with my favorite Marshall settings of yesteryear, treble 3, mids 4, bass at 7' gain maxed with the master at 3 o'clock. I set the presence at noon expecting to turn it off and the power control at noon.
Commencing with the obligatory E chord, my jaw literally dropped. Pure unadulterated Marshall balls with perfect string to string definition. This was #34 mode and I can say that this mode is not thin at all. It's aggressive and has a superior growl with the perfect amount of Marshall bark. I was thrilled that the amp offered such instant gratification, but after going into single note mode this amp has what most amps just can't seem to capture in single note definition. The AFD has it in spades. Gooey, dripping harmonics popping off the fret board and before you know it you have been playing an hour !!!
Next, realizing there was actually another mode I switched it in to AFD. Whoa' the jaw hit the floor. What a thick, defined chunk with gain and controlled feedback to spare. Adding a bit more treble and presence I felt this channel could easily hang with the Diezel VH4's revered channel three, but with better string to string definition. For giggles, I tried boosting both 34 and AFD with a few BB preamps, am OCD and a Tim. All I could say it it was like adding rocket fuel to a fire, pure shred with amazing definition. After a while of tweaking I found the amp to have numerous sweet spots, but unfortunately they are not available at the same gain levels. Rolling the gain back on the AFD mode made the amp even more harmonic with a seriously wide soundstage. Rolling the gain back on the 34 mode and it had a lot of the odd JCM800 behavior and was also typically sweet at 1 or maxed. I took the next day off work and I was determined to put the amp through it's paces again.

I took the amp out of the shell and inspected the chassis and circuit board. For all of the complaints about component and build quality, I hate to say the PCB and components are not too different from a Diezel at twice the cost of an AFD. In Marshall's defense, I really don't care that they may have save .20 cent by not using Wima caps and .25 watt metal film resistors in the signal path. They are consistent, low noise resistors and only see Mv so no need for .5 watt resistors. As for the caps, they chose the, for a reason and this amp is alive. As for filter caps, the days of large can caps are coming to an end. Even Soldano is using computer grade smaller electrolytically. The PCB appears as thick as any other high quality amp and the layout looks clean and consistent. Ultimately, again I just want to know that it will sound good and by the design of this amp there is no reason to think it will not last a lifetime.

Lastly, I would personally like to thank the designer. Santiago Alvarez obviously knows how to coax the most out of what he has to work with. He is obviously a brilliant designer and time will tell how great of an asset he is to have at Marshall.

Now, as for trying to balance the sweet spots, I could find no better way than to get another AFD to have all of the tones I want at my disposal. My second AFD will be in my hands tomorrow........

[surfnorthwest]

First welcome back to Marshall and welcome to the Roadhouse Mark2c. Lot of AFD owners here.

Your story was a great read. You know there are some great amps on the market today that are not branded Marshall. But like you I played around with those other amps but always came back to the Marshall sound. The sound of the amps has been a part of my playing for 30 years and when I go to another amp it screws with my playing because I just hear everything differently.

I think amps such as the Vintage Modern and the new JVM410JS are as good as any Marshall ever made. I hope that Marshall will keep on with those amps from the late 60s and early 70 guys like you and I cut our teeth on as well as define a new Modern Marshall sound, they certainly have the engineering talent to do it.

Glad to have you as part of the community.

[longfxukxnhair]

Welcome to the forum and welcome back to Marshall Mark

[Soulcaster]

Welcome to the forum...,,,I'm a big fan of the AFD100, after owning one for over a year now I am still awestruck everytime I play it.

[gtrman]

Great story ... the 800's have always been my favorites tones.
The AFD has a unique 800 crunch and I love how it sings.

[Encore]

It's great that you've found the amp you were looking for a long time. AFD100 is my first tube amp and it feels most friendly to me, it is really easy to play it. If you have more or less straight hands then you just have to play your guitar and AFD will take care about everything else. This amp makes you a better player than you really are.
And you've got that right with setting Gain on 10 on #34 mode. Gain knob makes tone more dark when you crank it.

[Mark2c]

AFD #2 on the UPS truck and out for delivery.

Thanks again for the welcome.

[blue]

i totally agree with you about the string to string clarity, you can make out every string in a chord, even through masses of gain. it really is a fabulous amplifier. glad you're enjoying yours, and hope your second is even more fun! i know where i can get my hands on another one myself, and you have me considering it now

[Mark2c]

i totally agree with you about the string to string clarity, you can make out every string in a chord, even through masses of gain. it really is a fabulous amplifier. glad you're enjoying yours, and hope your second is even more fun! i know where i can get my hands on another one myself, and you have me considering it now

Addictive amp is'nt it ? Number 2 was just delivered !!!!!

I think it's going to be thunderous to run two of these at the same time.
One for the highs and one for the lows or one for #34 and one for AFD.

Go get it !!!

[mr.brownstone]

Glad another one finds the beauty sound this amp delivers. It's been almost a year and no matter what I always manage to find a sweet spot for everything I want to play. This amp can make everything from sparkling clean to ear bleeing gain tones.

This is not a one trick poney like some people insist on saying.

[Mark2c]

Glad another one finds the beauty sound this amp delivers. It's been almost a year and no matter what I always manage to find a sweet spot for everything I want to play. This amp can make everything from sparkling clean to ear bleeing gain tones.

This is not a one trick poney like some people insist on saying.

Any tips on your clean settings ? I have to work on that because this is a gainy beast.

[mr.brownstone]

Well, the guitar picks ups will have a major effect on this subject. I have the AFD Les Paul and cleans is something that it's not easy to do with this one. They will always come with a little crunch attached (but that's something that doesn't boder me, I like it).

Also the AFD mode with it's extra valve making more distortion won't be the best way to go for cleans.

The way to go is def the #34 mode Gain rolled back (and guitar volume). Presence 2, Bass 7, Mids, 6, Treble 2, Master Volume 4 (it will clean the sound a bit).

[surfnorthwest]

Doesn't Slash still switch to a 2555 for his cleans?

[mr.brownstone]

Doesn't Slash still switch to a 2555 for his cleans?

No, he's only using AFD100 for everything now: 1 Clean, 1 Dirty, 1 Talkbox.

EDIT: I guess he added a 2203 Reissue with 6550's to his rig. I think he's using it for the clean sound.

[Mark2c]

I too disagree with the one trick pony moniker. I used not only my 58 RI, but my 96' Music Man Luke with EMG 85's. The amp makes the guitars sound different, unlike 90% of the amps out there that make all of your guitars sound the same. With the Luke in AFD mode with high gain this friggin amp get brutal !!! I also find the tone controls are very active and the presence does react differently to different speakers. It seemed more adjustable with Vintage 30's and less so with the stock Eminence in my G-Flex 2X12, which was also a blast to play, but I had to lower all the gain levels to clear the tone up. Not uncommon with that cab but it's not my first rodeo either. I also tweak the master volume for subtle overtones between 3 and max. A lot of nuances in this thing. Easier to remember too.

Using the G-Flex on #34 and boosting the amp with a Tim (Clean Boost) I got very close to Lynch's Back for The Attack tone. A chewy, grunting, growling bark. I would then let the beast loose with full volume on the guitar volume pot and it just ripped. Very, Very clear and articulate alternate picking with just the right amount of smear for easier playing.

Still tweaking, and awaiting the dual assualt for tonight.

Simplicity has its benefits......