Marshall 2104/2204

erky32

Looking for ideas/info.....

I've got a 1979 2104 with 2x black G12M 25W Celestions (I think), so it's a 50watt Master Lead DeLuxe MkII ....and it was incredibly heavy, so many years ago I wrote to Mr J. Marshall and bought Tolex, Gold binding & small logo and transferred the chassis into a self-built head box. Brilliant, now it had the same sound but in two managable packages instead of one huge lump! It could easily be reverted back into a combo if anybody insanely wanted to, ....but it's a mighty powerful amp, and at my age maybe I could use something a little bit more tame - I really like the looks of the Fender Bassbreaker 18/30 which would fit my spec needs but I would need in the order of £550 or so to buy one when they become available. What would anybody place the value of my mighty 2104 or 2204 whichever way you look at it!! ....the head is, as I stated diy, the cab is tatty, the sound is 70's Marshall!!. Any thoughts?

http://imgur.com/a/ktaSN

Richardj

I'll give you a fiver for it, if you deliver....

ICBM

Difficult to value, but I'll try.

A completely original one of these in good condition is only worth about £500-£600, so that sets an upper limit.

The head box is of no commercial value (as I'm sure you know) even though quite nice looking.

The chassis itself is identical to a 2204 which are actually worth more than the combos, so in fact, it could be *upgraded* in value terms by finding an original head box and ditching the rest of the combo. But an original head box will not be free, so that cost would have to be taken off..

The chassis appears to be in reasonable condition but needs to see a tech - at minimum, you *must* get that dodgy impedance selector fixed or there's a very real risk of blowing the output transformer. (Has it been blowing fuses and is that why there's a spare one held on with the same tape? A loose selector is a major cause of this and it will be stressing the amp heavily.) For safety, have the mains selector done too. The easiest way is to hardwire them internally for 240V and either 8 ohms to both jacks (as stock) or 8 to one and 16 to the other, which gives more options. It could quite likely need other servicing too at the age it is, although I think the filter caps are already replacements.

The speakers are nice but not hugely valuable - less than equivalent Greenbacks, which is ironic as they tend to fail less.

The cabinet is not worth a lot - the extra foot mountings on top and castor sockets in the end really don't help, and the grille looks rough but not in a 'cool' way unfortunately. It's not worth nothing but it probably doesn't add much if anything to the total if you're selling in one lot.

Overall I'd be surprised if you could get more than about £400 for it, certainly less than £500, but you should still probably be able to get that since what you can see is worth that much even if it needs a bit of work.

Sorry if that's a bit harsh! Just as honest as I can be.

erky32

thanks @ICBM , I like your matter-of-factness! ...and I think you're dead on with yr comments. I'm actually sorely tempted just to hang onto it anyway, I've had it over 20yrs along with my LP, and the two are a match made! ....although I use the amp now more than the LP (I've just bought a SG 2016 P90 which is more forgiving on the bones and sounds awesome in the Marshall). In fact only this week I've found a new trick, that is to whack the master vol up to 90% and then control level with the gain. The sound is so much fuller than setting the vol & teasing the gain into drive. Near full vol , then only a smidge of gain gives good volume, and the rest is on the pedals. Any thoughts/advice on that?

ICBM

Yes, that will work fine - essentially you're running it like a non-MV amp like that, and they do take pedals very well.

If it's still too much amp, you could possibly swap the power valves for 6V6s - they will run safely in JMP 50s of this era - which will give about half the power and soften the sound... not a huge volume reduction but it will take some of the aggressiveness out of it.

Sort that selector out first though .

erky32

...cheers @ICBM , thanks for yer thoughts - actually theres nothing wrong with the selector - I stuck that pce of tape on many moons ago, to stop anybody idly wondering what they could do with that plug - a bit pointless really but it just stayed like that - I forgot it was on there!!

...you know I think this amp just really belongs to me - had it so long, many gigs etc, ...i'm just doing a deal with a nice guy on here tonight for a 8100 to carry as a safety net. I like some redundancy when I go out!

erky32

BTW ....would 6v6 plug straight in? ....presume I would have to rebias?

ICBM

Yes, I would keep it. It's worth more as an amp than its commercial value - they are even if they're in pristine condition!

To me they're the absolutely definitive Marshall - I know the purists will shout Heresy and Plexi at me , but I honestly think the early 2203s and 2204s are the sound anyone has in their heads when you ask what rock guitar sounds like. AC/DC's Back In Black was likely recorded with one and it really doesn't get any more definitive than that.

I had a particularly great '76 2203 a while back which I had restored from a wreck, but its original owner wanted to buy it back and I really couldn't say no. Possibly the best-sounding Marshall I've ever played - and although capable of quite scary volume, actually it sounded great down low too.

english_bob

Nice. I recorded with one of those a few months back- belonged to the owner of the studio. We had a cab in the main room and all my gear set up in the control room because it was stupid loud. Sounded utterly fantastic though, even through the wall with all the mics off

What surprised me was that it was a really good barely-breaking-up sound. I had Marshalls down as one trick amps (bloody good trick, mind) that did period-appropriate heavy rock sounds consummate with their age and not a lot besides.