Marshall Major

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Marshall Major

Two hundred measely watts out of a tube amp...

Yeah, that's 6 6550s you see behind that grate...

Fender PS-400. Only seen one in my entire life and I found it in a pawn shop. Told a buddy of mine and he picked it up...now I'm kicking myself for not buying it for myself! But I wasn't playing bass at the time

 

[wahwah]

Re: Marshall Major

i think blackmore also had his modded

but he used a treble booster non stop

I wouldn't worry about it, pick it up, rock it out

Blackmore had an extra 12AX7 preamp stage put in, voiced to emulate the Hornby Skewes Treble Booster he had used for years, and after 1974 he was also using the Akai tape deck's overdriven preamp as well. Most of the earlier Deep Purple recordings were a Vox AC30, (also with the Hornby Skewes) because trying to record with the Major would have been a recording engineer's nightmare. When DP did TV appearances or smaller rooms, Blackmore would use a smaller amp, because the Major was really only usable on large concert stages, and back in the days when PA systems were relatively inefficient and much of the guitar sound was coming straight off the stage. Even then, Blackmore was renowned for pissing off the rest of the band by being stupidly loud.

Other than being able to say "I've got a Marshall Major," these amps would otherwise be pretty much useless unless you are doing major concert venues, and even then they would be an absolute bitch to control. Still, if it's something you just want to own for the sake of it, who can argue? If it's intended for personal enjoyment, it would be similar to buying a monster truck to pick up the groceries.


Cheers.................wahwah

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Marshall Major

Fender PS-400. Only seen one in my entire life and I found it in a pawn shop. Told a buddy of mine and he picked it up...now I'm kicking myself for not buying it for myself! But I wasn't playing bass at the time

My brother in law bought a repair store- in the stock from the previous owner was a PS-300. He said we could work on that and I could have it. I was pretty stoked, until we found out the transformer was shot.

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Marshall Major

My brother in law bought a repair store- in the stock from the previous owner was a PS-300. He said we could work on that and I could have it. I was pretty stoked, until we found out the transformer was shot.

Man, those transformers would be almost as expensive as one of the amps to replace! They're pretty freakin big. But I bet that thing had the best bass tone. Besides the fact that you need super strength topic the thing up! It was heavier than my Super Reverb!

 

[Smilemon]

Re: Marshall Major

blackmore had his modded to 280 watts

but they put out somethin like 500 watts of distortion

Gigitty gigitty, that would rock da house, i wonder if it would break any of the 7 5x8 windows we have in my house....

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Marshall Major

Gigitty gigitty, that would rock da house, i wonder if it would break any of the 7 5x8 windows we have in my house....

prolly not, unless the room is air tight & that's the most brittle thing in the room

yeah i watch myth busters too much

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Marshall Major

Maybe you should just get a normal plexi reissue or something if that falls through and you wind up not getting it. Even a 50 or 100 watt plexi sort of thing (doesn't have to be Marshall, always be on the lookout for clones and such) will give you some nice headroom and you'll be able to raise the volume a little higher so you can have a thicker clean sound... Just a suggestion if the major or pig doesnt work out.

Words of Wisdom, From one 15 year old to another. Amps come in a few different flavors. There are Cool amps,Practical amps and dependable amps. Thats a cool amp... But I'd rather have practical & dependable.:smokin:

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Marshall Major

Words of Wisdom, From one 15 year old to another. Amps come in a few different flavors. There are Cool amps,Practical amps and dependable amps. Thats a cool amp... But I'd rather have practical & dependable.:smokin:

Oh yeah? what are you gonna do when you have to play Smoke on the Water ? :28:

 

[wahwah]

Re: Marshall Major

Oh yeah? what are you gonna do when you have to play Smoke on the Water ? :28:

Hehehee....Use an AC30 and a treble booster like Blackmore did?

 

[Stratovarious]

Re: Marshall Major

Hehehee....Use an AC30 and a treble booster like Blackmore did?

*whipcrack*

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Marshall Major

Hehehee....Use an AC30 and a treble booster like Blackmore did?

You are not suppose to say this outloud, now the "M" people will visit you at night, when you are all alone.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Marshall Major

Oh yeah? what are you gonna do when you have to play Smoke on the Water ? :28:

Your kidding?... Right?:butkick:

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Marshall Major

Your kidding?... Right?:butkick:

what do you think?

 

[wahwah]

Re: Marshall Major

You are not suppose to say this outloud, now the "M" people will visit you at night, when you are all alone.

Oh, ****, I'm sorry, I meant "dust off the Marshall Major, fork lift it onto the double stack...now, stand back everyone, this is gonna hurt a little...."

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Marshall Major

All this Blackmore/Deep Purple/Smoke on the Water stuff is hilarious (made all the moreso by the facts that 1) As a youth, I worshipped Ritchie Blackmore, and 2) As an adult, I've come to realize he's a doucherocket who takes himself way too seriously).

BUT...

Smilemon said this amp only has three knobs, so it's a Pig, not a major. It has nothing to do with Blackmore, but it's a lot harder to be funny about Mick Ronson, isn't it?

I don't understand why the discussion hasn't gone over to the dark side, "collectibility". It seems to me that any discussion of the practical (or impractical) applications of an old 200-watt Marshall is moot, because no one actually uses such amps. They just get bought up by rich collectors who use them briefly once a month or so to keep wild animals scared away from their country estates.

If Smiley or his music-store-owner friend have really found a Pig, they either won't be able to afford it, because the collectors have driven the price up, or CAN afford it, because the collectors don't know it's there yet. In that case, they'd be foolish NOT to buy it, because they can make a bundle flipping it.

I'm no expert on the investment value of vintage Marshall Pigs, but you ought to confirm what it is and what it's worth. Sorry to take all the fun out of it.

P.S. And yes, the good Dr. is right - Ritchie was most likely playing his treble-booster-> AC30 rig on "Smoke". However, at some point, that amp was transplanted to a Marshall headshell, so perhaps it was an AC30 through a Marshall 4x12 cab?

 

[Axl H]

Re: Marshall Major

If they are that loud, you could do like Wolf Hoffman did with hs 100watt non-MV's. Run a Distortion+ infront of it, and control the volume with the Output control. worked wonders for him.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Marshall Major

As long as we're talking really stupid-big tube amps, I'll see Wattage's PS-400 with a super-rare Hiwatt DR405.

Linky.

Says THE HIWATT STORY website about Glenn Hughes:

"Glenn used mainly HIWATT gear. His "live" set-up in DEEP PURPLE, which consisted of 3 DR405 400 watt bass heads driving 6 to 9 Martin bass bins, has become legendary among bass equipment enthusiasts, and no doubt was a source of constant frustration for Mr. Blackmore's Marshalls.":laugh2:

'Nuther Linky

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Marshall Major

:eek13: What is wrong with huge clean amps???
:laughing:

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Marshall Major

Says THE HIWATT STORY website about Glenn Hughes: "Glenn used mainly HIWATT gear. His "live" set-up in DEEP PURPLE, which consisted of 3 DR405 400 watt bass heads driving 6 to 9 Martin bass bins, has become legendary among bass equipment enthusiasts, and no doubt was a source of constant frustration for Mr. Blackmore's Marshalls.":laugh2:

'Nuther Linky

I always wondered about those times, when they played arenas it was still not enough, so it was miced anyway, I assume they had monitors infront blasting keybords and drums back at them so they could like, hear the other two guys you know, so can you imagine the rape and pillage to their ears on that stage????

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Marshall Major

:eek13: What is wrong with huge clean amps???
:laughing:

He needs this amp like he needs to have a condom tear and Father a child.

Actually, the child would likely be the better option as eventually it will grow up and move out on his or her own. The Major will always serve as an albatross to remind him of buying something so woefully past what he or any human on this planet needs.