Marshall Vintage Modern

ICBM

Voxman said:

Tried one several years ago on stage where I 'guested' for a couple of songs with a band we were friendly with.  Sounded OK - but not that 'Marshally'...didn't seem to have that much harmonic crunch that I love Marshall's for.  

That's what I felt about it too - just a bit weak and thin-sounding and lacking the 'teeth' of a cranked Plexi or a 2203, but also without the fatter warm sound of a JTM45. That might also be why they don't sound very loud even for their correct rated power. Not terrible, but just not what I want from a Marshall.

Chester

Had an early one for a short time, and moved it on quite quickly

Nothing more to add to the summaries above, other than to say there are many ways to scratch that itch. My current weapons of choice at EL34 loaded Carol Ann's, which do the brit classic rock thing extremely well .. and a lot more besides. Built like tanks by a UK born gigging guitarist who worked on vintage Marshalls before moving to the US. Really knows his stuff so worth checking out if you can find one

Some of the MJW options could cause spell certain divorce if one arrived here any time soon .. some great sounding amps at sensible UK pricing compared to US imports. Biding my time ...

Blacksheep

As someone who was daft enough to buy a VM 50 watt combo a few years without trying it first it would agree with most of the negatives above. But there was one positive. The celestion g12c greenbacks that came as standard are really nice speakers. 
I whipped them out of my combo and put them in a 2x12 for use with something decent.

Sadly Marshall is little more than an iconic logo nowadays

Nerine

Blacksheep said:

Sadly Marshall is little more than an iconic logo nowadays

Somewhat agree, although the 2203x JCM 800 RI is still probably one of the best amplifiers on sale today. Full stop. For pretty much any style, too. 

andyoz

Blacksheep said:

As someone who was daft enough to buy a VM 50 watt combo a few years without trying it first it would agree with most of the negatives above. But there was one positive. The celestion g12c greenbacks that came as standard are really nice speakers. 
I whipped them out of my combo and put them in a 2x12 for use with something decent.

You can get 4 x G12C in the VM cabinet mint for less than £300 second hand.  It's a nice looking 4 x 12 too with a deep blue/purple tolex and subtle blue/purple thread thru the grille weave.

Only other place they used those drivers was in the mega bucks Hendrix stack. 

mattdavis

I had the 50w head to use with a les Paul and a g12-65 loaded zilla cab. It took me quite a long time to learn how to set it up - but once I did, I loved it. 
Perosnally I thought the LDR setting boosted with an EP Booster produced a lovely old school tone. I loved the cleans I could get with the KT66s. 
Always found the high dynamic range a bit buzz-sawy. In 2 years of owning it, it worked fine other than the power light blowing (which is v common). 
A very different beast from EL34 marshalls. 
Only moved it on (for a big loss!!) as I wanted to try something different, and gave an old jcm800 which I love. 
I think you can pick them up very cheap used (less than high end pedals!) and I would argue are well worth a try. 
Cheers