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Help with old marshall head

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6/29/1997 9:34 AM

Help with old marshall head

I am trying to bring a 1959T circa 1970 Marshall head (metal panel) back to life after many years of not being used. Everything seems to work fine with two small problems. 1) The tremelo does not work and it's not a tube problem. 2) When up loud, there is a real harsh midrange grinding on certain notes especially. They really jump out with almost the sound of being played through a blown speaker (the speakers are OK however). Again this does not appear to be tube related. If anyone has any thoughts, I'm all ears. Thanks.

6/30/1997 2:47 PM

I don't know about the tremelo, but the other problem sounds like one of several possibilities:

1. Unwanted positive feedback due to lead dress problems,

2. Arcing on the power tube sockets or high-voltage lead arcing to the chassis, or

3. Physical vibration within a tube (preamp or power amp tube).

By the way, I'm assuming you have already replaced the filter capacitors. If not, do so. Angela Instruments, (301) 725-0451, sells exact replacements for $5.50.

Good luck!

7/24/1997 3:24 PM

Hey, I have a 1967 plexi and a 1971 100w super tremelo and I think I can at least address the tremelo problem. At first I thought something might be wrong with my Marshalls, but remember, much like other British amps such as VOX, the tremelo only works in the NORMAL channel. On a Marshall, that is channel "2" or "II". Try turning the INTENSETY all the way up, start with the SPEED in the middle, and plug your guitar into the top plug of channel "II". If you set the channel II's volume anywhere below 3/4 of the way up, the effect will be heard the best. I hope this helps you locate your tremelo. If it does not, then you may have a bad cap. or other bad component. Good luck, keep us posted!

_Derrick

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