Andertons now saying 20.05.18 for Marshall Origin 20w head.

hadded03

I'vphotek said:

Ok so I have spoken to a few people about this and the consensus is you cannot get it to overdrive at home volumes. Just had a chance to really crank it and it sounds lovely but for anyone wanting crunch at home levels this isn’t the amp for you without an external attenuator even on the 1w / low setting it will blow your windows out before getting AC/DC tones

Think it depends a little on what you consider home levels.  I've got the 20w Origin head and on the lowest power setting you can get some great drive at "2 kids asleep upstairs" levels.  Maybe a bit a loud for "live in a flat with people directly underneath you" levels though.  I'm chuffed with it.  Don't have a proper cab at the moment, so have been using a Morgan PR12 with a greenback as a (kind of pricey) 1x12 and think the amp sounds spectacular for the money.

photek

@hadded03 I will find out how it goes at rehearsal tonight. I agree it has a lovely core tone but I am wondering if mine is perhaps biased cold or something as it is genuinely loud as fook before it starts to break up (Low power setting, gain on full and gain boost engaged). Does yours have a bit of mains hum when you switch it on, mine does, it's not intrusive but is definitely noisier than my Jubilee?

hadded03

photek said:

Does yours have a bit of mains hum when you switch it on, mine does, it's not intrusive but is definitely noisier than my Jubilee?

Nothing noticeable, no.  Seems about as quiet as the Morgan and a Fender BDRI I have.

Have a good rehearsal tonight - hope the amp performs for you.

musteatbrain

@photek
if you don’t mind me asking, 
what do you think sounds better at home, the Jubilee or the origin?
and which is better at mid level gain tones?

photek

musteatbrain said:

@photek
if you don’t mind me asking, 
what do you think sounds better at home, the Jubilee or the origin?
and which is better at mid level gain tones?

The clean tone on the Origin is better, more open, a bit chimey but the lack of gain is no good for me at home. The Jubilee can do everything from clean through to shred at whisper volumes, and the crunch tones are really great, it sounds much better when it’s cranked though obviously

I will try and get a quick vid of the 2 tonight at decent volumes.

musteatbrain

That would be great. I went for a jubilee in the end. I decided the origin may have good clean tones, but I have that in other amps and I thought the Jubille would be better at dirty tones. I think I’m just looking to validate my guess.

I’ve been really surprised at how well my Laney IRT stands up against the jubilee at home levels. I’d actually go as far to say at whisper volume it’s a bit better than the Jubilee, but I don’t think it will be when they are both loud......
plus the Jubilee says Marshall on it and ticks the big kid mentality that I still have.

photek

@musteatbrain @hadded03 ;;;

So close but not quite... Dialled it in to its sweet spot and it sounded glorious, Fat, punchy, sustain, just the right amount of gain, lovely with the boost on as well.... Then the rest of the band started and it was way too loud so I dialled the master back and all of the gain and sustain drops out

Swap to 10w mode and it’s too quiet and loses a lot of its punch. Gutted really, it behaves like a non master volume amp and there is no way to get the amount of gain I want as a base crunch tone without cranking the nuts out of it.

Tried it with my 2061cx 2x12 with old greenbacks and my 1966a 2x12 with an old UK V30 and a really old 75.

I could bring my attenuator but I can’t be bothered lugging that to gigs and the jubilee is just more manageable at more volumes.

If you can play loud or don’t need a big cab then this could be that missing lower wattage Marshall, JTM / Superlead but for me it needs a much better range in the gain control. Damn shame but it’s going back

Gawd knows what the 50w Head I actually ordered would be like!!!

TTBZ

The 50 in mid power mode may have worked ok for your band level if you found the 20 in mid a bit too low? I think the 20 mid setting is a bit lower, from memory something like 3w.

musteatbrain

Thanks Photek. I think I made the right choice given my current situation

jaysmith

I tried one of these amps at Birmingham guitar show and was very unimpressed, however, the guy on the Marshall stand said those amps weren't exactly what the full production model will sound like