Marshall 1959HW Super Lead reissue head

with neat lacing around the main
bundles of cable and twisted heater
leads pushed into the chassis corner to
reduce hum. The control panel consists
of four input jacks feeding two parallel
preamp stages, one voiced brighter
than the other, with separate volume
knobs, a shared three-band EQ and a
presence control. No master volumes
here, and no channel switching – this is
a simple brute of an amplifi er, but that’s
the secret behind its legendary
monstrous tonal power.
It’s worth pointing out that amps
from this period were very much ‘works
in progress’. They experienced
numerous small and not-so-small
component changes, sometimes
because of a change in design or
supplier, other times purely for
expedience – for example, changing to
the nearest value when stocks of a
certain resistor or capacitor ran out in
order to keep production going. This
explains why these early amps varied
so much in tone. However, much time
and trouble has been taken to ensure
Using a small jumper lead to combine both channels is the secret
for real ‘Plexi’ tone. You get a thicker sound which can be fi ne-tuned
by balancing one volume control against the other
MARSHALL 1959HW SUPER LEAD REISSUE HEAD £1,399
GUITAR AMPS
JUNE 2005 131
Orange AD140 £1,069
HiWatt DR103 £1,190
THD Flexi 50 £1,399
Orange’s AD140 has
a similar vintage hand-
wired vibe, with typical
Orange styling that
demands you buy at
least one 4 x 12 cab for
it to sit on. With a huge,
midrange-heavy lead
tone that can be heard
for miles if you wind it
up, this is serious stadi-
um-class gear. HiWatt’s
DR103 is a faithful
hand-wired recreation
of another earthshak-
ing seventies classic.
Original spec Fane
speakers give this amp
the sound that launched
the power chord. THD’s
Flexi 50 head doesn’t
have the 1959’s sheer
volume and headroom
but makes up for it
with a fabulous tone
that easily matches the
1959, and with a lot of
extra fl exibility
The rivals
To get the ultimate ‘Plexi’ sound,
run the jumper lead from bottom
left input to top right – then plug
your guitar into the top left
GIT264.marshall 131GIT264.marshall 131 29/4/05 11:49:35 am29/4/05 11:49:35 am