Anyone have experience of the Marshall 5275 reverb - solid state?

Voxman

Came across this video by chance and I have to be honest (& hope I'm not going senile here!), if I'd heard this and not known it was solid-state, I really would have thought it was valve!   Anyone have any 'real-life' experience of these amps?

ICBM

It’s a great amp. It was basically Marshall’s answer to the Sessionette 75 - which was the most popular solid-state amp of the time - the feature set is identical. It’s extremely well made - the same construction as the later JCM800 valve amps - and sounds like a Marshall.

Originally they came with a Celestion Sidewinder speaker, but many have lost them now because they’re worth as much as the rest of the amp, and in fact the amp actually sounds better with a more vintage-voiced speaker like a Classic Lead 80 - the Sidewinder is quite ‘hard’ sounding. That one appears to be going through a standard Marshall cab.

HAL9000

One on eBay right now (with Sidewinder) for £120.

Voxman

HAL9000 said:

One on eBay right now (with Sidewinder) for £120.

Thanks, yes ... saw that. 

Voxman

ICBM said:

It’s a great amp. It was basically Marshall’s answer to the Sessionette 75 - which was the most popular solid-state amp of the time - the feature set is identical. It’s extremely well made - the same construction as the later JCM800 valve amps - and sounds like a Marshall.

Originally they came with a Celestion Sidewinder speaker, but many have lost them now because they’re worth as much as the rest of the amp, and in fact the amp actually sounds better with a more vintage-voiced speaker like a Classic Lead 80 - the Sidewinder is quite ‘hard’ sounding. That one appears to be going through a standard Marshall cab.

Hmm. I had a Sessionette 75 'mosfet' .. it was 'ok but it lacked warmth and sounded too sterile.  Advantages were portability, volume, reliability and it had a good speaker (vintage 30 IIRC?), but it's distortion wasn't great and neither was it's reverb. I lived with it for a couple of years but sold it and got a Marshall Valvestate 1x12 8080. 

ICBM

Voxman said:

Hmm. I had a Sessionette 75 'mosfet' .. it was 'ok but it lacked warmth and sounded too sterile.  Advantages were portability, volume, reliability and it had a good speaker (vintage 30 IIRC?), but it's distortion wasn't great and neither was it's reverb. I lived with it for a couple of years but sold it and got a Marshall Valvestate 1x12 8080. 

Don't worry, the Marshall 75 sounds a lot better than the Sessionette! It's just that it's a 75W 1x12", with a lead channel and clean channel with EQ assignable to the lead channel, reverb... it's pretty clear what market it was aimed at, given that it came out shortly afterwards. It was never as successful as the Sessionette though.

clarkefan

ICBM, are these from the same series as the Lead 12, just louder?

ICBM

clarkefan said:

ICBM, are these from the same series as the Lead 12, just louder?

Yes.

Ddigger

I have a 50w 5210 and it sounds pretty much like that (later mark II version with 5 jacks on the back).  I just got a 100w 3210 head about 10 days ago and that is exactly the same as the 5275.  Bought both of Gumtree, cheap.  The 3210 effects loop isn't working, but I don't think it will take much to fix (I know a man who can...).

A 5213 popped up on gumtree a couple of hours ago (not original speakers).  If I hadn't just gotten the 3210, I might have bought it.  It has dual effects loops (never seen that before) and seems to be pretty much a 3210 or 5275.


Cheers,  Ddig

ICBM

Ddigger said:

I have a 50w 5210 and it sounds pretty much like that (later mark II version with 5 jacks on the back).  I just got a 100w 3210 head about 10 days ago and that is exactly the same as the 5275.  Bought both of Gumtree, cheap.  The 3210 effects loop isn't working, but I don't think it will take much to fix (I know a man who can...).

A 5213 popped up on gumtree a couple of hours ago (not original speakers).  If I hadn't just gotten the 3210, I might have bought it.  It has dual effects loops (never seen that before) and seems to be pretty much a 3210 or 5275.

It's a bit more complicated - it has three channels, two are switchable like the 5275/3210, but one is a completely separate channel so you can run another instrument into it. Bit of an old-fashioned concept by the 1980s...

The two loops are one for the guitar channels only, and one for the whole amp.

Which version of the 3210 do you have - with or without the 'Pull EQ' switch? The one with is identical to the 5275 but more powerful, the one without is surprisingly different inside! Not just lacking the switch.

Ddigger

Mine has the pull EQ switch ( didn't know there was another version).

ICBM

Ddigger said:

Mine has the pull EQ switch ( didn't know there was another version).

Yes, it came later. With yours, it’s actually more of a single-channel amp with switchable control networks (if that makes sense!), with the later one it’s two fully separate channels, and the ‘tone’ control on the boost channel is the treble control in a preset tone stack.

The practical difference is that yours is better for crunch and edge-of-breakup sounds, the later one is better for clean and high gain. The later one was also 100W even in the combo version and is incredibly loud for such a small amp.

Calum13

I think these amps were made around 1985, I have a 5203 from ‘88 which is also a solid state. I think the 5275 is higher quality and has a boost and some of them have 2 channels. My 5203 only has 1 channel with a volume control and pre amp control. I’ve not played the 5275 but it can’t be too different from the 5203 both being solid state amps from the same era, but the 5275 is more versatile and higher quality.

ICBM

Calum13 said:

I think these amps were made around 1985, I have a 5203 from ‘88 which is also a solid state. I think the 5275 is higher quality and has a boost and some of them have 2 channels. My 5203 only has 1 channel with a volume control and pre amp control. I’ve not played the 5275 but it can’t be too different from the 5203 both being solid state amps from the same era, but the 5275 is more versatile and higher quality.

I would say they're the same quality, but the 5275 is a more sophisticated circuit. All this series of Marshalls are exceptionally well-made for solid-state amps - basically the same as the later JCM800 valve amps with PCB-mounted controls. They have ply cabinets, full welded-box chassis and use the same quality of internal components. They usually use slightly cheaper speakers than were standard in the valve amps, but they're not too bad apart from the G10D-25 in the Lead 12 which is a bit tinny, and I think the earlier non-reverb Master Lead 30 had a Mackenzie of some sort (not a bad speaker, but a bit dull). The Sidewinder in the 75 was actually Celestion's most expensive speaker at the time.