1 watt Marshall

[mechanic1908]

I've been thinking of picking up one of those 1 watt Marshall heads.
I'm kinda undecided if I'm going to because the tube compliment seems odd to me.
The YouTube vids seem either over the top good or mediocre.
Anyone that has one or have played thru one care to offer an opinion?
Thank you in advance!
Eric

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[Rex_Rocker]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

I used to have one. It was good for what it was.

What will you be using it for? It kinda needs a boost for metal, as the "ultra gain" channel is flabby without it. The clean channel is really bright, which can be a good thing if you like chimey sparkly clean tones, not so much if you want something warm.The reverb is OK. It's nothing to write home about, but it's better than nothing, IMO. It really loves being put through big cabinets too.

The tube compliment is pretty standard for these little 1W amps. My guess is it has an input gain stage, a tone stack driver, and a a power tube (the 12AU7). I don't know what the deal is exactly, but my guess is that 12AU7 doubles as the phase inverter/power stage, each triode handles the negative and positive part of the waveform, respectively, to make it class AB, hence why it has a "big tube amp" kinda feel.

It's not a perfect amp, but it's really fun for what it is. It's surprisingly loud for 1W (not full-band-loud by any means, though), but it sounds great turned down as well.

I used to have a Randall RD1H as well. Both were great, but the Marshall is a lot more feature-packed. The Randall does metal better, but the Marshall can also get there with a boost, plus it has tons of other features.

Ola Englund did a demo of it recently and he pulled some great tones out of it:

[mechanic1908]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

Thanks for the reply!
I don't play much metal, earlier Metallica sometimes but not often.
I like cleans as I do play a lot of old school country.
My main style ( if you can call it that lol) is classic rock ( AC/DC , zep, Floyd ect)
I would be using it at home almost exclusively or to jams at friends places once in a blue moon where keeping the overall volume manageable wouldn't be a problem.

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[Aceman]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

1 watt Marshall is a sign of the Apocalypse and anyone who buys one is a minion of Satan.

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

I’d go for the DSL20HR. I own one and I really dig it.
For an extra $200 you buy yourself a lot more headroom,
and the ability to crank it up when you get the feeling.
The clean channel does everything I ask of it and it sounds
great at lower volumes. Good luck.

[PFDarkside]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

Those 1 Watt heads/combos seemed like cool collectibles for ultimate Marshall fans. Did they keep making the JVM or DSL one?

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

Oh, I thought we were talking about the Asian-made DSL1HR.

Did you mean the 50th Anniversary British-made ones from a few years back?

[mechanic1908]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

Oh, I thought we were talking about the Asian-made DSL1HR.

Did you mean the 50th Anniversary British-made ones from a few years back?

I was referencing the Asian made amp actually.

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[Rex_Rocker]

Re: 1 watt Marshall

Ah, gotcha. Well, mine was good, Asian or not. I've read the British-made DSL1 equivalente is ever-so-slightly better, but mine was great. It definitely does the Marshall thing coupled with a nice cabinet.