marshall class 5....

[mikethebike500]

well....I ordered one...from musicians frend...basically cost 340 bucks, shipped...I KNOW..better deals have been had on this amp, but this was my deal....I got the black one with the block Mashall logo....it was the limited edition...blah, blah, blah....I just liked the look....as far as asthetics are concerned............

I HAVE spent much more on high dollar amps....I'm a Dr. Z fan boi....I wont deny that...I love/like his amps..had to let them go....had to let them go...for financial reasons...or imagined financial reason......loved my old maz jr...didn't care as much for the sr.....but ohwell...stlll lotto love for dr. Z amps...dig it......................

fast forward to today.......I was wanting to get an amp...my only amp I have currently...is my old homebrew bassman..that I built....tweed flavor......I KNOW....I built it right...and it works just fine.....but it just hasnt pleased me....I can rely on it for higher volumn situations....but it just doesnt knock me out..............

I played a marshall class five only once....and I'[ve listened to a ton of clips on the webz.....some of the clips make me go ....meh..........but alot of the clips make me go ....wow!!!!!

I dont play out anymore...or get tempted to eat black beans at goofy party's anymore........never owned a marshall amp....I DONT expecct it to be spot on...with "plexis" or "blues breakers"///blah, blah, blah........but I like the vibe I've heard....might just be what I like in my living room..dig it......


Mike

[chptunes]

Cool Mike.. those little amps do look like fun. I hope it 'floats your boat'.

For low volume play, at home, I've discovered that low gain NOS preamp tubes are nice. I'm surprised that there's not more emphasis put on rollin' preamps tubes during such online discussions, regarding low volume strategies.

A pair of NOS 12BH7 tubes in my 18 watt Ghia's V1 and V2 slots put her right in the basement friendly volume range for me.. and I love the poweramp growl that ensues.

Happy jammin' Mike.. let us know your thoughts.

[Mark N]

Awesome Mike! I have never played one but I saw a fella playing one a couple summers ago while we were in Ottawa (that's the capital of Canada...LOL) and he was a street musician...not sure where he was getting his power from to fire the amp up but he was getting some pretty neat tones out of it! I too am a Z boi!

[mikethebike500]

update on class five........................

welllllll.....I ended up sending it back, but I'll give my opinion/impressions.................

first off, appearance of the amp, was steller.....looked very nice...no issues that i could see, no complaints in that department....

sound, hmmmmmm...well, I would say that it sounded very good...BUT, it also depends on what you want or expect outta it.....first off, yes, its loud, but not ear splitting...and i'm fortunate that I can pretty much crank any amp I've owned any time I want. it has the headphone jack, didnt try that, but it does have a switch to engage a "bedroom" level....thur the regual speaker....for me, i didn't really dig that ...it just cut the volume...WAY TOOO much, but again...for a guy that really needed that whisper volume....it might be nice for them.

actuall tonz.............I wouldn't say the tone controls made AMAZING changes, but depending on how they were set, yes, they affected the overall tone of the amp....bass could get flubby, dial me back, no problem...mids would cut, and treble to taste. I liked the amp better with a strat, than any humbucker gibson I have.

...I really couldnt say whether or not it cops that authentic marshall flavor, because I'm just not that familiar with marshall amps...BUT....It wasn't a fender sound for sure.....but it did crunch very nicely, and made a strat fun to rock out to.....

my only niggles would be.....that even though its LOUD.....I dont think its quite loud enough for my personal taste, to rock out with my buds in a jam session...based on the amp by itself.....ad extenstion cab...sure, maybe. Other thing.....I like to roll back volume on guitar, and just get a little bit clearer clean sound....didn't do quite what I like for that......again, not bad at all, for what it does....but just not 100 percent, what i'd like............

soooooooo......for the cost to ship it back 28 bucks.....it was fine to have it for a week or so, and put it thru my personal examination...........

also, should mention......stock tubes, stock speakers, nothing changed at all, pulled it outta the box, let it warm up to room temp for a bit.....and it played like a champ, no issues at all, everything worked as it should, and I played it LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mark N]

hmmm perhaps you need a Carmen Ghia or a Maz 8....or even a Maz Jr!!! Too bad it didn't work out for you Mike...but like you said, for 28 bucks, to have it a week...no loss there...what have you got your eye on now?

[chptunes]

Agree with Mark.. what's next Mike?

If I was gonna buy a single-ended amp right this minute, it'd be an Emery Superbaby (or Microbaby).

[mikethebike500]

hey Mark, Hey Corey.............

to answer your suggestions Mark...I did have a carmen ghia head, and z best cab for a short period of time....it did sound pretty remarkable, but ultimately I sent it back....at that time, I guess I just wanted more that two knobs to turn..lol.. And yes, I had a maz jr rev, had that amp for about 10 years, and to this day, its been my most favorite I have ever owned, but I let it go when money was gettin a little tight. Long story short, when I got the chance to spend big money on an amp again, I was trying different Z flavors, but should have just gotten a maz jr rev again......

Anywho, fastforward to now....suppose to start back to work at the end of the month, so my self imposed budget went up by just a little bit...but not alot. I was checking out the Fender Supersonic 22...and liked what I heard, but just a little scared by some of the noise issues, I'd read about the amp...and again, it was a bit more than I wanted to spend right now.

Soooooo, back in the mid 90's I had owned a Vox ac15tbx(UK made). And I liked it alot. Now , I realize the Vox Ac15c1, isn't quite the same amp, as the earlier ones were...but for 499 shipped to my door....thats what I'm going to try. Again, I listened to a ton of clips, did alot of reading on it....so thats how I"m gonna roll right now......

And hopefully, sometime later this year, or early next.....I'll get myself back into a Z...we shall see....

[Mark N]

ya know. I wouldn't mind trying out the AC15...I bet that is a cool little amp!