Marshall Lead 12

[toomanycats]

I found this Marshall Lead 12 of 1985 vintage back in May in a pawn shop. These little solid state amps are legendary, not least of all because Billy Gibbons famously recorded with one. I tested it, and other than the pots being scratchy it seemed to work fine.

When I got it home and cranked it the thing sounded awesome . . . for about ten minutes. Then it began having an intermittent problem. I turned if off, restarted it, played for a little while, then the same thing again. It eventually ceased to do anything other than hum when I powered it up. I opened it up, looked up some stuff online, poked around with a wooden chopstick, scratched my head a bit, and very soon came to the conclusion that this was over my pay grade.

That's when I reached out to @andrewsrea. I don't know much about amp repair, but fortunately he does . . . and I do mean whole lot. Those of you who have read his posts will know that the guy is like a living encyclopedia of amp knowledge. Andrew told me to send the amp to him, which I did, and when I got it back is was like it was fresh from the factory.

The lead 12 does the warm, organic, mild break up thing so well, which in my experience is such an elusive tone for a solid state amp. When pushed to it's max it sounds like an angry little Plexi, with the bite, pointy nosed mids, "clang," and musical overtones that characterizes those special amps. It's very full, open sounding, and loud for a 12 watt amp with a single 10" Celestion speaker, and I suspect that the oversized enclosure may contribute to this. When used to drive a 2X12 or 4X12 it sounds truly amazing. When the situation arrises that I don't need too much stage volume I will absolutely bring this amp out to gig.

So thank you again Andrew, you are truly a gentleman and amp scholar. But Andrew doesn't just know amps. He wound me a mean set of Johnny Winter Firebird pickups a while back. I know that he also builds pedals, and God knows what other mad scientist skills are part of Andrew's repertoire. We are so fortunate to have a guy like this on the forum who is so generous with his wealth of knowledge, his skills, and his time.

If any of you ever get a chance to score a Marshall Lead 12 at a good price, I wouldn't hesitate. The price has gone up considerably in recent history, so unless you get really lucky, the days of picking one up for next to nothing are probably past. And if it happens that you need your vintage Marshall 12 refreshed, or any amp worked on for that matter, or need to avail yourself of any of the other services he offers, then trust me, Andrew is the man.

How good does it sound? This good. But good luck getting one for 50 Bucks!




The ZZ Top song on which Billy Gibbons plays the Marshall Lead 12.

[jtcnj]

Great story, happy ending!

I needed that - sounds like you could as well.

I am often scoping out used Valvestate models; I hear they bring a good Marshall tone on the cheap.
Never got serious about it, but if the right local find comes up I'll likely bite.

[toomanycats]

Great story, happy ending!

I needed that - sounds like you could as well.

I am often scoping out used Valvestate models; I hear they bring a good Marshall tone on the cheap.
Never got serious about it, but if the right local find comes up I'll likely bite.

I believe that the Master Lead series (being the Lead 12, Master Lead 20, and Master Lead 30) was Marshall's solid state line previous to the Valvestate line. Actually, that's not entirely correct, as the Valvestate amps are hybrids, having a single preamp tube.

I'm not sure at all where the MGs fit in this timeline, but who wants an MG anyways?

Twenty years ago I did own a Valvestate AVT50 combo and I thought it sounded just like a Marshall, by which I mean like a JCM800, which is the sound I was going for. I'd grab another if I came across one locally at a good price.

[Tiga]

Great story and looks to be a cool amp. I'm usually shopping/hunting around for guitars to buy/try/fix/ release etc. but lately I've noticed I've been hunting for amps. I feel like my overall amp knowledge is lacking. I'll keep an eye out for one of these - thanks!

[glasshand]

I wish I'd picked one of these up back when they were going for about $125. There's one for sale in my neighborhood and they want almost $300 for it!

[toomanycats]

I wish I'd picked one of these up back when they were going for about $125. There's one for sale in my neighborhood and they want almost $300 for it!

I paid more than $125 but way less than $300. But any way you do the math Andrew financially saved my butt on this one.

Andrew replaced transistor #2 (a rare BC184) which was shorted between the collector and base. Transistor #2 was in tandem with Transistor #1 and they needed to be matched, so he replaced both. The mangled headphone jack was replaced. He also replaced the 37 years old electrolytics.

I've got to imagine that many of the Marshall Lead 12s floating around have at this point either been similarly serviced, or are teetering on the verge of requiring such attention. Anyone who buys one should take that into consideration. I'm so happy to have one with the "odometer" reset. At my age it'll probably outlast me, though my Grandmother passed away not to long ago just a month shy of 104, so you never know. I'll plan on another servicing around the year 2070.

[honyock]

Great story, happy ending!

I needed that - sounds like you could as well.

I am often scoping out used Valvestate models; I hear they bring a good Marshall tone on the cheap.
Never got serious about it, but if the right local find comes up I'll likely bite.

I really like my AVT20.

The only weak point was the volume drop between channels, but I fixed that.

I do wish I had put in an extension jack. I'd like to see if the bigger closed back cabinet is why I like it so much more than my DSL5CR.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[andrewsrea]

I found this Marshall Lead 12 of 1985 vintage back in May in a pawn shop. These little solid state amps are legendary, not least of all because Billy Gibbons famously recorded with one. I tested it, and other than the pots being scratchy it seemed to work fine.

When I got it home and cranked it the thing sounded awesome . . . for about ten minutes. Then it began having an intermittent problem. I turned if off, restarted it, played for a little while, then the same thing again. It eventually ceased to do anything other than hum when I powered it up. I opened it up, looked up some stuff online, poked around with a wooden chopstick, scratched my head a bit, and very soon came to the conclusion that this was over my pay grade.


C5392AF1-C6F9-48C3-A7C9-CC4937EDAA4D.jpeg


That's when I reached out to @andrewsrea. I don't know much about amp repair, but fortunately he does . . . and I do mean whole lot. Those of you who have read his posts will know that the guy is like a living encyclopedia of amp knowledge. Andrew told me to send the amp to him, which I did, and when I got it back is was like it was fresh from the factory.

The lead 12 does the warm, organic, mild break up thing so well, which in my experience is such an elusive tone for a solid state amp. When pushed to it's max it sounds like an angry little Plexi, with the bite, pointy nosed mids, "clang," and musical overtones that characterizes those special amps. It's very full, open sounding, and loud for a 12 watt amp with a single 10" Celestion speaker, and I suspect that the oversized enclosure may contribute to this. When used to drive a 2X12 or 4X12 it sounds truly amazing. When the situation arrises that I don't need too much stage volume I will absolutely bring this amp out to gig.

So thank you again Andrew, you are truly a gentleman and amp scholar. But Andrew doesn't just know amps. He wound me a mean set of Johnny Winter Firebird pickups a while back. I know that he also builds pedals, and God knows what other mad scientist skills are part of Andrew's repertoire. We are so fortunate to have a guy like this on the forum who is so generous with his wealth of knowledge, his skills, and his time.

If any of you ever get a chance to score a Marshall Lead 12 at a good price, I wouldn't hesitate. The price has gone up considerably in recent history, so unless you get really lucky, the days of picking one up for next to nothing are probably past. And if it happens that you need your vintage Marshall 12 refreshed, or any amp worked on for that matter, or need to avail yourself of any of the other services he offers, then trust me, Andrew is the man.


EC750045-4E54-4D61-A4E4-BCEBA70E291F.jpeg


How good does it sound? This good. But good luck getting one for 50 Bucks!




The ZZ Top song on which Billy Gibbons plays the Marshall Lead 12.

I appreciate the opportunity to help. Like you, I like to spare these gems from the trash dump. Your's is a great design and solid built. It had some righteous tones when I tested it using a Fender 10" speaker.

[Rollin Hand]

Isn't it amazing how people thought these were trash when new, but now love them?

Personally, I would love one of the old Lead 15 stacks.

[honyock]

Isn't it amazing how people thought these were trash when new, but now love them?

Personally, I would love one of the old Lead 15 stacks.

Had one got it surprisingly cheap, it was cool as heck, but once I saw what people were getting for them, I decided to sell. Some metal dude paid me what I thought was stupid money for it.

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