Marshall Major Help

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NowYou'rePlayingWithPower

NowYou'rePlayingWithPower

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Going to check out a guitar this weekend and noticed the seller also has a Marshall Major which I have been interested in checking out for a while, but mainly it's an amp my husband used to have and loved and talks about sometimes in his back in the day stories. So, was thinking of possibly picking it up and giving it to him for our anniversary later this year. The thing is that I have no idea what to look for on these old vintage Marshalls, what a good price is, and what mods are common and if any are okay. I see that it has only a two prong power cord. Tips? Thanks for your time! ❤️
 
I have heard people say they don't like them because of the ultralinear transformers, and say they are "loud but not toneful". I have never played one so...but yeah if it has that 2 prong power cord you can probably feel safe knowing it hasn't been too tampered with.
 
JackBootedThug said:
Probably has not been touched if it has the two prong cord.
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I'm assuming as much from most of the gut shot pics, but I don't mind proactively getting into it either if there are known issues or mods that are common as I want it to be ready for him day one if I do end up buying it.
 
japetus said:
I have heard people say they don't like them because of the ultralinear transformers, and say they are "loud but not toneful". I have never played one so...but yeah if it has that 2 prong power cord you can probably feel safe knowing it hasn't been too tampered with.
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Yeah, I have no clue. Only interest for me was always the output so have always been on my radar to check out. But it's one of those things where my interest would be second to his and perhaps he can have some new stories to tell :ROFLMAO:
 
I think they are badass and incredible mod platforms :dunno:

Marshall Majors aren't as "toneful" because no one wants to crank them like they do the 50 and 100 watters because its bad for your health - they sound relatively similar when actually cranked though.
 
RaceU4her said:
Can you really not boost these because they blow up or something?
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Is that a thing? :ROFLMAO:

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RaceU4her said:
Can you really not boost these because they blow up or something?
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Yup that's correct.. In stock form if you Hit them with a boost pedal you will get the smoke on the water effect. Toasted. If I recall boosting a Marshall Major will arc the power tube sockets and fry the output transformer
I seem to recall they can be easily modded though so they can be used with pedals safely.

Richie Blackmore used the Majors quite a lot. I had a few myself back in the day and they can be cranked without really much volume difference to a 100 watter and they do break up very nicely.
 
DanTravis62 said:
I think they are badass and incredible mod platforms :dunno:

Marshall Majors aren't as "toneful" because no one wants to crank them like they do the 50 and 100 watters because its bad for your health - they sound relatively similar when actually cranked though.
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No neighbors to worry about except for squirrels, deer, the occasional sasquatch. I have a few quads of redbacks, gk100s, and heritage 100s on hand that I thought might work okay. Not sure about a good cab to go with though, either. What speakers would have been used back then?
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
No neighbors to worry about except for squirrels, deer, the occasional sasquatch. I have a few quads of redbacks, gk100s, and heritage 100s on hand that I thought might work okay. Not sure about a good cab to go with though, either. What speakers would have been used back then?
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Yeah it would have been greenbacks.

It's a hell of an amp

Really good with drive pedals, IDK what race is talking about i've experienced one blowing up lol
 
DanTravis62 said:
Yeah it would have been greenbacks.

It's a hell of an amp

Really good with drive pedals, IDK what race is talking about i've experienced one blowing up lol
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In stock form they will 100% definitely fail=Fry if boosted so it's worth checking before using with a pedal to see if the amp has been modded or not
I would think that by now though that most Marshall Majors that are still running would have already been modded so they can be run with pedals, But it's still safer to check first to see if they have
 
DanTravis62 said:
I think they are badass and incredible mod platforms :dunno:

Marshall Majors aren't as "toneful" because no one wants to crank them like they do the 50 and 100 watters because its bad for your health - they sound relatively similar when actually cranked though.
Click to expand...

What mods are common? Is it dumb to mod one if it's original? Not that it's super important because it would probably be a lifelong amp. Was def feeling adding a grounded power cord, but what else do you think is a good idea? Here are some gut shots. There are other pics that look like the caps are probably NOS or original, but have pretty much everything in that department on hand if needed. Not seeing any service labels, either. Not the best pics, will probably try and get more to get a better idea before heading to Seattle this weekend to check it out. It's $3500.

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NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
What mods are common? Is it dumb to mod one if it's original? Not that it's super important because it would probably be a lifelong amp. Was def feeling adding a grounded power cord, but what else do you think is a good idea? Here are some gut shots. There are other pics that look like the caps are probably NOS or original, but have pretty much everything in that department on hand if needed. Not seeing any service labels, either. Not the best pics, will probably try and get more to get a better idea before heading to Seattle this weekend to check it out. It's $3500.

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Man, that looks pristine

I would add a grounded cable for safety at the very least, if you want to keep it stock but actually play it

If it was my marshall major, or IF you want to be able to get gain out of it at sensible volumes:

I would ask Jeremy to do a MOAB+ or try to convince Matt to do his Aldrich+ mod

If you want gain at sensible volumes without paying a bunch of money, I would get a hotmod for an extra gain stage (minimally invasive and reversible)


That looks clean as heck though, if the transformers are original its probably worth the cash IMO
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
What mods are common? Is it dumb to mod one if it's original? Not that it's super important because it would probably be a lifelong amp. Was def feeling adding a grounded power cord, but what else do you think is a good idea? Here are some gut shots. There are other pics that look like the caps are probably NOS or original, but have pretty much everything in that department on hand if needed. Not seeing any service labels, either. Not the best pics, will probably try and get more to get a better idea before heading to Seattle this weekend to check it out. It's $3500.

View attachment 382595View attachment 382598
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A Common mod was to add a master volume to the amp or as mentioned mod it so it can work with pedals without it spontaneously combusting.
Once the mod for pedals are done it's safe or alternatively if the Master volume is added then that also overcomes the challenge of Pedals.
A chap called Dawk famously modde Richie Blackmore's amps back in the day, plus Marshall themselves eventually strated modding them if you you took them back to marshall. I owned a few that were modded with both kinds of mods and they are incredible sounding amps and not as loud as you would think. I think the first year for marshall majors was around 1967 so it's worth checking the filter caps plus I think I recall the first one's didn't even have a bias control.
FWIW those orange drops are not original. Also I think $3500 is a good price, in terms of collectability it's probably an investment and will be worth way more if it only has minimal mods, Doing something like a MOAB or an Aldrich mod would destroy any collectors value
 
those orange drops original ??? I don't think I've ever seen Marshall use them ..... but I'm far from a Marshall circuit guru
 
griff10672 said:
those orange drops original ??? I don't think I've ever seen Marshall use them ..... but I'm far from a Marshall circuit guru
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I have no clue.

DanTravis62 said:
Man, that looks pristine

I would add a grounded cable for safety at the very least, if you want to keep it stock but actually play it

If it was my marshall major, or IF you want to be able to get gain out of it at sensible volumes:

I would ask Jeremy to do a MOAB+ or try to convince Matt to do his Aldrich+ mod

If you want gain at sensible volumes without paying a bunch of money, I would get a hotmod for an extra gain stage (minimally invasive and reversible)


That looks clean as heck though, if the transformers are original its probably worth the cash IMO
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Though my amp experience is little other than general maintenance, I'm 100% comfortable modding and/or repairing myself as I've done a lot of other from scratch/mod synths, radios, microcontrollers, computer builds and repairs since I was a kid. I know troubleshooting and safety, but I would have to look at schematics or really sit down and think about mods with trial and error otherwise. I can appreciate well known modders and builders, but that doesn't really help expand my knowledge much going that route, tbh. I was raised poor, so everything was DIY.
 
Kipple said:
A Common mod was to add a master volume to the amp or as mentioned mod it so it can work with pedals without it spontaneously combusting.
Once the mod for pedals are done it's safe or alternatively if the Master volume is added then that also overcomes the challenge of Pedals.
A chap called Dawk famously modde Richie Blackmore's amps back in the day, plus Marshall themselves eventually strated modding them if you you took them back to marshall. I owned a few that were modded with both kinds of mods and they are incredible sounding amps and not as loud as you would think. I think the first year for marshall majors was around 1967 so it's worth checking the filter caps plus I think I recall the first one's didn't even have a bias control.
FWIW those orange drops are not original. Also I think $3500 is a good price, in terms of collectability it's probably an investment and will be worth way more if it only has minimal mods, Doing something like a MOAB or an Aldrich mod would destroy any collectors value
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Yes, some people actually play what's known as "music" through their "music gear," instead of letting it collect dust in their mancave - which is why I noted both options
 
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