Archive
Musikmesse 2013 – Marshall Custom Shop JTM1 Offset
According to Guitarist Magazine’s twitter feed (@Guitarist_Mag): this is “the final word on Marshall Amplification’s 50th anniversary”.
So that begs the question of what Marshall is planning for 2013? Marshall Amplification’s 51st year of loud…. Speculate away, but only time will tell.
Confirmed: Marshall Slash SL-5 (aka AFD5 combo) will be released at Winter NAMM 2013
News just in! Slash (@Slash) tweeted the following on 21st Jan 2013:
“I won’t be able to attend myself, but the new Marshall AFD 5w Combo will be making its debut appearance at NAMM this weekend. iiii]; )’”
Shortly followed up by none other than Paul Marshall (@PaulM1962)
“@Slash absolutely true, the all new @MarshallAmpsUK AFD 5W combo can be seen @NAMM on the Marshall stand, super cool combo”
Note: The photo above IS NOT the AFD5 (also called the SL-5). The photo above is of a custom 5 watt combo that Marshall made for Slash a while back, but is not the same amp as the AFD5/SL-5
Marshall 50th Anniversary Purple Hendrix Stack
Rumour just in: A sighting of what seems to be a purple Marshall Plexi stack with 50th anniversary stickers on it.
I have 3 possible guesses:
1. It’s just the current reissue of a 1959SLP, but it’s had the Marshall custom shop treatment for the purple tolex, etc. (Explains the 50th anniversary stickers).
2. It’s an original 1994 Hendrix ltd edition stack And either is in perfect condition, or it’s been recovered (this doesn’t explain the new 50th stickers).
3. It’s actually a new golden jubilee amp that’s not released yet (but might be at NAMM in a few days).
I will let you decide for yourselves what it is 
Update 21st Jan: This is confirmed to be the only purple one, made by the Marshall custom shop specifically for Supatone Music in Norwich, England. Still no more details, but at least we know its a one off in this colour!
Marshall SL-5 Slash Update
Check out the latest edition of Total Guitar magazine, which landed a few days ago. It includes an interview with Slash, who again confirms the existence of his 5 watt Marshall amp due out soon, and added that it includes a 1watt / 5watt mode, which makes it ideal for a practice and rehearsal amp.
Marshall SL-5 Slash
Well it seems there are some real listings of the Marshall SL-5 showing up on European retailer sites, with prices starting as low as 719EURO but also rising up to 895EURO RRP.
There is little info about this amp yet, or photos, but I am told there may be a little more released in the coming weeks…. Perhaps 
Note: The image above is of a custom combo Marshall made for Slash several years back. Chris George (The new product coordinator from Marshall) has confirmed that the SL-5 will not be the same as this photographed amp. Chris George (Follow him on twitter @chrisgeorgeband) also said when referring to the amp photographed above: “That amp that’s done the rounds on the net was a one off 5w gift for Slash a few years ago. The SL-5 is completely different.”
So there we have it, we still know nothing about the SL-5, other than a rough idea of price, and that it’s likely to be released at winter NAMM in around a month.
Marshall 50th Anniversary Gig
Last night saw the most anticipated gig of the year: The Marshall 50th Anniversary & Jim Marshall Tribute Concert, which took place at Wembley Arena, London.
With appearances from some of the most talented and well known artists who use Marshall back lines, it was a gig I couldn’t miss.
From the articulate opening played by the house band (Chris George – guitar, Brian Tichy – drums, Jaz Lochrie – bass, Adam Wakeman – keys), through the crushing metal of Zakk Wylde/Kerry King, and a moving performance by Joe Satriani, to the finale of Smoke on the Water, featuring more than 8 guitarists and no less than 3 drummers: The whole night was faultless.
Particular highlights for me were:
Satch paying tribute to the late Jim Marshall with ‘Always With Me, Always With You’.
Satch and Paul Gilbert (aka G2, lol) doing a quick ad hoc blues shootout.
Paul Gilbert playing Cheap Sunglasses.
Billy Duffy and Corey Taylor playing/singing ‘Lil Devil.
The outrageous vocal range of Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and Glenn Hughes.
Al Murray playing the drums… Twice!
Brian Tichy showing what an outstanding drummer he is!
The gig was organised by Chris George, Marshall’s official product demonstrator, and new product coordinator.
Chris, who played in the house band at last nights gig, tweeted afterwards: “I’m at a complete loss for words. Tonight was everything I’d ever hoped it to be. Thank you ALL so much.” Chris also posted the following photo on his twitter feed: @chrisgeorgeband
Musikmesse 2012 – What Should We Expect This Year?
It’s the eve of Musikmesse 2012, and despite the fact that I’m not going this year, I am totally excited about a few products that we’ve seen info or rumours about so far.
Blackstar have hinted about some important new products they’re releasing. My guess is either a solidstate amp including built in FX (see the tempo light flashing in the video below), or if it’s not solidstate, then a hybrid amp with digital preamp and tube power amp. At a push you could say it might be a full tube amp with built in FX, afterall that’s nothing new that Marshall haven’t already done (Marshall Vintage Modern has digital reverb).
Obviously if it’s solidstate or hybrid, they’ll have to put in some effort to win market share from Line 6 with their Spider IV solidstate amps and Spider Valve MKII hybrid amps which have sold in excess of a million units, and are the best selling amps in the US. The same could also be said for the DT25/DT50 amps which standalone include some very sought after HD amp models and built in digital reverb, but with the potential when connected to a POD HD via Line 6 Link to have access to a whole host of HD amp models, which then also control the true analog tube power amp in the DT amp for the best tone and best flexibility… I think it’s time for Line 6 and Blackstar to drop trousers, and see who has the biggest! That’s of course assuming Blackstar does release a product that’s in direct competition with Line 6….. You’ll have to wait and see
Here’s the teaser Blackstar video:
If you’ve been living in a cave in the Misty Mountains for the past 18 months, you may have missed that Joe Satriani is working with Marshall to create his new signature JVM. This we know is being released at Messe, and you can see more info HERE.
Propellerhead are also due to announce something this evening, at an invitation only VIP event. It would seem that the announcement will be something for the new iPad, because the invitations for this VIP event went out only 1 day after Apple announced its new iPad. A coincidence perhaps… I doubt it!
That’s all for now…
Satch JVM – Musikmesse 2012
It’s almost official! The Satch JVM will be released at Musikmesse 2012, Which starts in less than one week. Marshall will also be showing off their 1 watt Anniversary amps, and a few other surprises. All of which I’m sure Chris George will be doing a fine job of demonstrating just like the AFD100 and YJM100 I saw him demo at Messe last year (See the photo below).
For more info just follow Marshall Amps UK on Twitter (which is the source for this information): https://twitter.com/#!/MarshallAmpsUK
Joe Satriani Marshall – Official Photo Leak!
Here is the first official photo of the Satch Sig Marshall!
What we can see from from the pic, and what can we learn from the chaps at Marshall who tweeted about it?
Well the tolex is a very nice shade of blue (Flying In A Blue Dream, cool), gold piping seems likely because of the cover having gold piping. The handle seems to be a cross between modern and vintage Marshall handles, with the actual handle part modern plastic style but the metal end piece, gold.
Did anyone else also notice the real amp name? JVM410HJS, or JVM Joe Satriani Edition!… That’s for the standard black one though, and the blue limited edition will be called JVM410HJSB (those names are confirmed by Chris George of Marshall… Thanks Chris).
We also learnt that Chris George is cool for posting this, but him and the Marshall Custom Shop guy like a good joke! Nice1 guys… Keep the pics coming.
Follow @chrisgeorgeband and @bubblephart to see more in the next few weeks!
Marshall 50th Anniversary Stack – Custom Shop
If only this were the real Golden Jubilee… I’d certainly be happy with a JCM800 as the Golden Jubilee (perhaps with a few extras like an additional gain stage that’s switchable with a pedal, power scaling and 50 watt switchable, and of course gold tolex)…
Just to be clear though, we have no official word from Marshall about whether there will be a Golden Jubilee (although all the hints suggest their will be), and the photo above is a production model JCM800 2203X reissue, with a custom shop option of an image printed on the grilles of both cabs and the head, specially for Marshall’s 50th anniversary year.
For more info on custom shop options, visit the Marshall Custom Shop
