Price watch (74)

This is a portable Marshall speaker, it's called the Willen. It operates on bluetooth connectivity (among others) & can easily fulfil your need for audio amplification for a small room. Yours for $179.

The JBL Go & Philip TAS2505B fulfil similar needs for less money. The price differences here are rather huge. Inevitable reality check - why should you buy a Marshall for this need when you can buy something else? Marshall has its standards when it comes to guitar amplification but does it specialize in general audio amplification as well? We fall for this too often - we cascade a certain inclination unto other applications just because the brand name bears a certain benchmark for a particular performance. In this instance, names like JBL, Audio Technica & B&O (among others) are clear audio specialists. Marshall is riding on its guitar amp reputation to propel something similar. $179? No thanks.

Pics: Times OI / JBL / Forbes

Selling: Marshall Shred Master

Painful times ahead... letting go of this Marshall Shred Master (re-issue) pedal. Played like 5 times (indoors) so it's in very good condition (9/10). No velcro at the baseplate, box included as depicted.

• Marshall: Shred Master distortion pedal (box included)
• Condition: 9/10
• Self-collect: Yew Tee / CCK mrt station
• Queries / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• No reservations / trades
• Price: $220 (final)

Slashed

Slash leaving the Marshall camp is news. Really. We are also starting to read bits about how Marshall had not been living up to its name & how players are beginning to embrace something else. In this day of technological development, brand loyalty shouldn't be a big deal. In fact, it should have been quality focus all along. Also, it's Slash. He moves money even when he played a fake guitar. Magnatone - let's see who will bring this in here.

Pic: Arsenbach / Scanpix

JTM45

Marshall brought back the JTM45 for its founder's 100th birthday. Swee Lee has this amp on its coming soon list.

Shred box

Not suppossed to but... Only this one.

Marshall reissue pedals: IN

Pic: Guitar

The much talked about, somewhat highly anticipated Marshall reissue pedals you see above are now available at Swee Lee: $229 ea. That's kinda fast considering its official announcement was rather recent (not even a week ago).

Edit: The Guv'nor is out of stock. 

Marshall pedals: Revived

Marshall had officially announced the revival of its fab four pedals of yore: The Guv'nor, Shred Master, Drive Master & the affable Blues Breaker. Out of this line up, The Guv'nor & Blues Breaker were standout models with the latter achieving cult status. The manufacturer made efforts to be accurate in the duplication of parts & circuits, striving for authenticity. However, among the four, the revived Shred Master sounds a little different from its historical counterpart. If this is your initial acquaintance with the pedals, be informed that these are low-gain units less the Shred Master. 

Pic: Marshall UK

Marshall music

When I saw this at Marshall's webpage, I was thinking Marshall's still trying to pull a fast one on us since it's still April but heck no. This is a genuine valve driven vinyl jukebox. The manufacturer is trying to push it as your chance to relive any music moment with a touch of Marshall valve goodness. Yes & no.

Yes - it's an amp. If you walk into any audiophile stores, they will show you a tube / valve driven amp. This tech has been there for a while, nothing new (solid state / tube). If you wish to re-live your music in the valve moment, it's possible without the Marshall name.

No - if you tell me your guitar rig has a Marshall vibe to it because you invested in a 100W all valve Marshall amp, I'll vouch for your happiness. If you tell me to spin my music in this one & hear the Marshall magic in action then it's a load of hot air. 

This jukebox is manufactured by Sound Leisure on behalf of Marshall so an external party handling + the Marshall brand name will definitely add to costs. 

Pic: Marshall UK

G & H

Goodbye.

Hello.

Not quite

I was in the mood for a Gibson- birthday present to self. I went over to the guitar store to try the 2017 SG Standard because it features a pair of 57s. Within the Gibson circle, there's quite a following for these pickups so it's time for me to find out what the hype's about.

It was paired up with the Marshall DSL 100 as depicted here.

The guitar wasn't well set up. OK, so maybe it wasn't set up at all. It could also be that the neck reacted to the colder room temperature. The action at the 12th fret was beyond 3mm & it might be due to both a high default action & the neck bow. Upper fret finger gymnastics were unpleasant. The neck profile per se is, in my books, one of the best Gibson has to offer in terms of comfort & playability. I always believe that the neck to body thickness ratio defines an SG's goodness & this is a fine example.

The '57s- judging from this performance, they aren't my thing. It's got that under-wound chemistry that some would find astounding. I just can't stand how they sound very restrained under high gain performance. You might argue that these are meant to crunch, not crush. In the metal realm, they might fit the bill if you pedal doom; a coarse-sounding tone with high tendencies of fuzzing out. With that said, palm-muted notes are simply not this guitar's forte. When it comes to restrained goodness, the Seymour Duncan '59 might be the standard to beat. I didn't allocate a clean time for the tone test, I didn't intend this to be a clean machine to begin with; I prefer Strats for that.

Left the store empty handed.

Brewed?

When you are drunk, everything sounds good, yes? 😐

Selling: Marshall 50th Ann JVM 1W combo (SOLD)

Investing in some clean tones, letting this go:

• Marshall JVM 50th Anniversary 1W all tube combo (power cord included)
• Condition: 8/10, please NOTE- the clean channel indicator is NOT working
• Self-collect @ CCK mrt stn, no testing
• No trades/ reservations
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $449 (final)

Item SOLD 😀 

The DSL (minor) turn

I'm alright with the low power Marshalls & it's good to know that the DSL had made a return of sorts this 2018. The DSL tone is as modern as it gets when it comes to the Marshall voicing & this release proved the fact that the manufacturer is in the small/ lunchbox amp league that's rather difficult to avoid. The 1W head you see here reminds us of the very successful albeit limited run of the 50th Anniversary small amps but some 'extra' goodness is in store.

They've included reverb in both head/combo versions & Softube cab emulation for direct-to-console recording as well as headphones application. Everything seems to be in place in anticipation of that unmistakable Marshall voicing but I foresee some anxiety when it comes to prices. It's listing for close to SGD500 with reference to external price lists. Let's hope things won't go a little out of hand in this aspect considering it's a 1W unit & there's nothing really new/evolutionary when it comes to features. 

Seen above: DSL 1HR head/ 1CR combo

Go with your needs

Suppose you own an awesome amp, something that gives you what you want to hear, do you still need pedal reinforcements?

I believe Marshall's JVM gives me what I want to hear even its mini-me version here. It doesn't need a BOSS DS-1 to please me. However, I still hook it up for two main reasons:

1. A different type of drive. That's right, the JVM on its own versus a JVM plus the DS-1 are two different voicings. I tend to tame the gain down on the JVM with the DS-1 in use. If the gain over at the amp is maxed out, the DS-1 presence wouldn't be heard. I just amplifies the background hissing more than anything else. I need a marked contribution from the DS-1 but it shouldn't overpower the amp. It's quite a balancing act depending on the guitars used. Most of the time it's also because I have different pickups in various guitars so there's no fixed setting that will adapt to the different guitars, it's the joy of tweaking (both amp & pedal) & discovering the sweet spot.
2. Increased sensitivity. That's right, I discovered that a cascading drive set up (doesn't matter if it's an amp-pedal or a pedal-pedal combo) gives off extra picking sensitivity. Simple reason- we are dealing with two sources of gain. It's definitely different from cranking the gain up on the amp only; that's only a single gain source. The set back is that increased background hissing.

So go with your needs. If you need to hear your favourite amp being kicked by a mild distortion unit so that you can become what you are (& not under-perform)- do it. 

Clean living

The real reason why I purchased the Marshall MX112 cab is seen here. I need a good, working clean tone. The best bet is to invest in a Fender amp but I'd like to capitalize on what I currently own. The cab is supplementing my JCM800 & I know what you folks out there are thinking; that's the wrong amp to be taking my cleans to another level. You are absolutely right. The 800 is known for its bark; the more distortion you pump into one, the more menacing the 800 becomes. Provided of course, you crank things up which I'm not planning to do to keep things clean. I've been plugging the 800 into a Blackstar cab all this while but I hear excessive bass in there so in the name of keeping things all Marshall-y, the MX112 was factored into the equation.

Still on the MX112 cab, the driver in there is a Celestion Seventy 80. It's best described as an outstanding no reaction model, often equipped into a budget range across manufacturers. Translation- there's nothing outstanding this driver has to offer except that it makes what you already like to hear a little more appealing. You know, removing that wee bit of harshness from the top end & making sure the bottom end doesn't boom too much that it kills definition. If you are into this kind of offering, the Seventy 80 in any manufacturer's cab should be considered.

Finally, a good clean isn't a good clean if you don't understand what goes into making a good clean; it's not the amp per se. I must say that the Tele & chorus played this one nicely (no pun intended). On that note, I'm not after a pristine, chimey type of clean, it's my type of clean- something that propels me to play & not mess up motivation considering I'm not the clean type to begin with. Also, if I'm sick of hearing too much cleans along the way, then I know what the JCM800 is good for. 

Happy Tuesday, everyone. 😆

The cab

Managed to unbox this last night.

How things look like from the rear. Gave it some playing time, appraisal to come 😁

Cab end

Ending August on a good note- I thought this one would never make it here but good to know that it's available. 

JCM twang

Guitar geeks out there would know what it means to pair a Fender with a Marshall amp for some good cleans. Hendrix did it to good effect. That was a Strat with a non-fiery Marshall, of course. Following my 'discovery' of how a JCM800 clean proved to be more appealing than I thought it would be, plugging in my Tele into this set up was a clear winner. The Tele honk as they call it (playing both pickups via the middle position selector option), opened up some enjoyable finger picking ideas which I dwelled on today from start to end. Once again, some tools were meant to address a certain approach & it's a matter of stepping back to embrace the stuff beyond one's comfort zone. 

OK, maybe I'm getting old & prefer those distortion-free tones instead. 🙉

JCM clean

I'm beginning to love this amp more. Whatever drive tones it was fabled for, the cleans in here were much overlooked. It accepted the chorus pedal well. The JCM800 wasn't known for go-to cleans. Its JTM/JMP siblings have more appealing cleans & that legendary break up tone unlike the excessive manifestation by the JCMs in general. Yes, I'm still wallowing in clean tones. Not after chimey, crystal clear voicings, just that appealing measure which helps get my ideas through. I'm not looking to buy any more Marshalls in time to come, I'm treasuring what I have right now. 

Combo magic

Still playing my Ibanez RG460 but looking for some tight end tone-wise so it's a combo reference. There's something about small drivers that limit excessive bottom end responses. It usually works better with single coils but with the right amount of resonance going, it'd be equally appealing. Of course, having your preferred pickups in the guitar, help as well. 😁