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whats your opinions on this amp. all pros and cons welcomed.

You could do worse, but as as far as Marshall's go this one is kind of a loser. All 900s except for the SLX model have diode clipping in the preamp that results in a buzzy distortion tone. In addition to this they lack lowend and punch compared to other MV Marhsalls. Unless you found a real good deal on one I'd look for a used DSL...

Yeah, I'm not a fan either.

what are the other differences in the slx model.

I have one of the early 900's and it is a great amp! If you find one that was made between 1990-1992 they are great sounding amps. For the most part 900's get a really bad rap. Jeff H, Gr8scott, MattPete, and a few others could vouch for mine sounding good. After those model years I heard they sound like the sterotypical buzzy, fizzy and crappy sounding amps that most people describe them as. BTW, mine is a model 2100.

yeah the 2100's are good

perfect match for an orange cab, actually

a friend of mine has that setup (along with a p-90 LP) and he can do everything from ac/dc to like death metal, with different tubes of course, but still

thanks, keep the reviews comin.


Originally Posted by hellrider77what are the other differences in the slx model.

The SLX had four 12ax7s and no diode clipping. I've only played through one once, at store, and it had much smoother preamp gain than other 900s I've played. There might be other differences as well, but that's what I know for sure.

As for Theodie's claim that the early 900s sounded better. That might well be true... maybe they put bigger transformers in the early models? Also I think there's a possibility that the early ones shipped setup for EL34s. Theodie... does yours run EL34s or 5881s?

They sound okay, very very bright, no real warmth. If you have a good bass player though it can sound pretty cool, but I wouldn't recommend it for recording... good live amp though.

very fuzzy OD compared to a JCM 800, but they record very well IMO. they really sparkle on record, and as such i love them when they're in the right setting..

one record you'll hear a lot of this is thursday's 'waiting' album.. its all JCM 900s, and they use SGs and Lesters (two guitarists, one of each)... awesome powerchording tones IMO..

tom

The 4100's and 4500's are a crapshoot. If you can find one with EL34's, those are OK. Once they started coming with 5881's is when they started sounding like trash. The SL-X (also known as the MkIV Master Volumes) was made from 1993-1999 so those even started to sound bad when they came with 5881's.

I can also vouch for Dave (theodie) on his 2100 (MkIII Master Volume) because I also own one of those. The MkIII 2100 or 2500 are sweet and they came only with EL34's. To me the SL-X was too brittle sounding. I couldn't really dial in a good tone with it. I've seen 2500 MkIII's (50 watt model) go for around $700 used.

EDIT: The SL-X preamp really has 3 preamp tubes. That 4th 12AX7 is the phase inverter which is right at the beginning of the power amp section. Same with the MkIII's, 2 preamp tubes, 3rd 12AX7 is the phase inverter.


Originally Posted by Benji2204The SLX had four 12ax7s and no diode clipping. I've only played through one once, at store, and it had much smoother preamp gain than other 900s I've played. There might be other differences as well, but that's what I know for sure.

As for Theodie's claim that the early 900s sounded better. That might well be true... maybe they put bigger transformers in the early models? Also I think there's a possibility that the early ones shipped setup for EL34s. Theodie... does yours run EL34s or 5881s?

Mine has the El 34's. Like I and ERIKH said before, the 2100's and 2500's are great sounding amps!!!

I will tell everyone this, I also used to have a Marshall 2555SL quot;Slashquot; that is the same thing as a Jubilee, and my 2100 sounds better!!!!!! Dont get me wrong, the Slash and Jubilees are great amps but, I found my 2100 to edge it out by a hair. How bout them apples?

I have a 900 50W combo. A very early one also. For what I do it is a good Amp. I am basically a Blues player, so I don't have the gain set real hot. I also switch between a 68 Super reverb and the 900. The cleans on this Amp are not as good as my Fender, but if you are willing to inverst a little time into tweaking the controls you can get a pretty good clean sound. The drive sound is excellet, it has a lot of dynamics. If I roll down the volume it cleans up nicely, If I play hard it yells back at me. It has good touch response. It works well for me.