Official Marshall Amp Club!

[Taurusmoo]

I can supply some information on the 1540 -

Introduced 1987 as part of the Silver Jubilee Bass System. For the first year it was finished in silver/grey tolex, after that in black tolex. I think the range was discontinued in 1992.

From the catalogue :

1540: 4x10 Bass Cabinet
100 Watt 10" speakers of the highest possible quality were designed specially for this cabinet and give tight and punchy performance.

I've put scans of the 1987 and 1991 catalogue pages here :

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]


I'll post my Marshall bass rig once it arrives!

Andy

Just what I was looking for Andy, thanks!

 

[kissmybASS01]

kissmybASS01 - #01 Founder
LowRanger - #02
bass bart - #03
CanadaMan #04
Happy Face - #05
Femto - #06
greencow - #7
Evilface - #8
Woofman - #9
JimB52 - #10
nysbob - #11
dotzy - #12
jfenderp - #13
bassmachine2112 - #14
??? (aka Tel-X) - #15
alembicguy - #16
tom once dead - #17
D.A.R.K. - #18
neonrust - #19
Darkstrike - #20
absenttrojan - #21
The Golden Boy - #22
kaputsport - #23

 

[D.A.R.K.]

picked up a jcm900 lead 1960 4x12 dirt cheap...
i intended on getting a straight cab, but couldn't pass this up. i'm really surprised at how good it sounds for bass...

 

[godofthunder59]

Here is my rig, I have had the Major since about '83 Sitting under it is a mid 70's baffeled 2x12 cab that came with Marshall's first solid state amps.

On stage this summer, to bad I'n stanging in font of the rig.

 

[kissmybASS01]

kissmybASS01 - #01 Founder
LowRanger - #02
bass bart - #03
CanadaMan #04
Happy Face - #05
Femto - #06
greencow - #7
Evilface - #8
Woofman - #9
JimB52 - #10
nysbob - #11
dotzy - #12
jfenderp - #13
bassmachine2112 - #14
??? (aka Tel-X) - #15
alembicguy - #16
tom once dead - #17
D.A.R.K. - #18
neonrust - #19
Darkstrike - #20
absenttrojan - #21
The Golden Boy - #22
kaputsport - #23
god of thunder59 - #24

 

[kissmybASS01]

Getting a tad worried. Apparently the "authorized repair centre" didn't find anything wrong with my MBC410. I'm picking it up today and hopefully I can try it out at home before they close for the long weekend. I hope they cured my cab......

PS To my fellow Canadians, have a great Thanksgiving weekend.!!

PPS Godofthunder, that's an AWESOME rig!!!! As well, check out the bellbottoms on that singer WHOA!

Late news edit: Cab seems to sound fine. Maybe just a loose screw. Oh well!

 

[LeftyJack]

O.K., my MBC 410 cabinet just arrived from UPS this morning and my MB 450H got here last Friday....talk about a long weekend! Pics to follow when I get home this evening and get it all set up. From what you all have been saying I can't wait to fire her up.
Cheers.
P.S. Please don't let my brothers over at the GK club know that I made the switch.

 

[kissmybASS01]

kissmybASS01 - #01 Founder
LowRanger - #02
bass bart - #03
CanadaMan #04
Happy Face - #05
Femto - #06
greencow - #7
Evilface - #8
Woofman - #9
JimB52 - #10
nysbob - #11
dotzy - #12
jfenderp - #13
bassmachine2112 - #14
??? (aka Tel-X) - #15
alembicguy - #16
tom once dead - #17
D.A.R.K. - #18
neonrust - #19
Darkstrike - #20
absenttrojan - #21
The Golden Boy - #22
kaputsport - #23
god of thunder59 - #24
LeftyJack - #25

 

[LeftyJack]

I finally got home and hooked her up. My initial review?

Wow! I didn't have the energy to mess with the settings too much but found the sound I liked on the classic channel right away. Played some 60's stuff on my PBass on that for awhile. Fiddled around with the modern channel and low and behold..it was rockin'. As exhausted as I am, I just wanted to keep playing, which I did for about an hour! I just can't get over the sound.
Anyway, here's the pic.
Cheers.

 

[gumtown]

Ahh OK !! so this is where all the Marshall owners hang out.

I have a MB450H + 4x10 + 1x15, so i get the full 450 watts, but have never had to turn the level past '2' (yet), even playing at a stadium gig, maybe i'm doing something wrong, like driving the input a bit too hot?

I can't wait until the warranty period is up, then i'm going to open up the head and made some hot-rod mods to the Modern channel eq. If that works out all right i will post some details on how to do it. ;-)

 

[kissmybASS01]

kissmybASS01 - #01 Founder
LowRanger - #02
bass bart - #03
CanadaMan #04
Happy Face - #05
Femto - #06
greencow - #7
Evilface - #8
Woofman - #9
JimB52 - #10
nysbob - #11
dotzy - #12
jfenderp - #13
bassmachine2112 - #14
??? (aka Tel-X) - #15
alembicguy - #16
tom once dead - #17
D.A.R.K. - #18
neonrust - #19
Darkstrike - #20
absenttrojan - #21
The Golden Boy - #22
kaputsport - #23
god of thunder59 - #24
LeftyJack - #25
gumtownbassman - #26

 

[D.M.N.]

Hey, I'm looking at a JCM 800 bass series (50w) as a possibility for a new amp and was wondering what people had to say about them. How loud can they really go? How would you describe their sound? Whats a good cab to pair them with?

 

[D.A.R.K.]

Hey, I'm looking at a JCM 800 bass series (50w) as a possibility for a new amp and was wondering what people had to say about them. How loud can they really go? How would you describe their sound? Whats a good cab to pair them with?

i have the 1986 model, it is surprisingly loud for 50 watts, i've been able to hang with a trio using a 4x12 1960 cab or my bag end loaded 18. granted, i have to run it full out right before clipping the power section to do this, but the tone is really nice. replacing the tubes with tung sols really helped a lot as far as getting max clean volume. i initially bought the amp for studio use, but i've been using it as my primary lately. the tone controls on this amp are really cool, having slope (high pass), bass cut/boost, mid, mid frequency, and treble cut/boost. the mid freq knob is like a shift, not sure exactly how it works/how it corresponds to the mid knob but it is not a typical freq. select cut/boost pairing. you can get the more grindy, overdriven sound you'd expect but there is a wealth of other tones in there, including lots of hi-fi sounds. for example, i was able to get a nice, punchy slap tone quite easily, which is not something i thought i'd get out of this amp. definitely a much different animal from, say, their superbass. bottom line though, you would probably fair best with some more power, having some reserve is probably wiser than pushing it constantly...but it really depends on your situation.

 

[kissmybASS01]

So after a bit of courage, I decided to take a VERY CAREFUL peek inside my head. The actual "guts" are held in place by those 8 bigger black machine screws. I loosened and removed the two screws on each side first, and then after loosening the screws on the top, I flipped the head upside down and slid it out.

The first picture shows the overall construction - neat and tidy. The second pic shows a closeup of the single (and lonely) ECC83 tube. Sorry the pic is so small, but had to reduce quality and size to post here. The actual pic is a lot sharper and much bigger. (Anyone wanting the full size pic can PM me and I can send it to you.)

 

[GGman]

So, all you owners of the Marshall MB450H and 4x10, what's the latest? How is this setup working out for you? Any problems, tips, loud enough, etc.

 

[jokerjkny]

here's mine...
model 1986, hand built built in england in 1984.
suspended circuit board, 3 12ax7/ 2 6550's.

only rated at 50 watts, but stomps the hell out of the old fender bassman 100 and older traynor heads i've had. i actually can keep up in a 3 piece clean with a jazz bass, and with the piccolo it just plain rips.
interesting eq section, slope seems to be a high pass, bass and treble are boost and cut while there is a mid and mid frequency which are interactive...but not quite like you would expect...
i can actually dial in some real hi-fi sounds, as well as some nice round vintage tones.
i tried a few different pre tubes, groove tubes, jj, etc. and currently have a tung sol first and a couple of eh after... liking the tung sol so much i'm going to put in more.
so nice to have such a quiet amp for recording, and works awesome as a dirty rig in a dual amp setup.....hoping to find a 4x12 to go with it soon.
in the pic it is sitting on top of a bag end loaded swr 1x18".
what tubes are you guys using?
any thoughts/ suggestions?

woah...

 

[jokerjkny]

Here is my rig, I have had the Major since about '83 Sitting under it is a mid 70's baffeled 2x12 cab that came with Marshall's first solid state amps.

On stage this summer, to bad I'n stanging in font of the rig.

awesome...

but cmon, SOMEONE on tb must be using a super lead bass... someone!

 

[kissmybASS01]

I have recently found that the type of music my band has been playing has slightly shifted, and the overall volume level has creeped up. I've been running my Marshall at about 96-97% max output.
Keep in mind these have been mostly in mid size rooms, where I'm not going to drag both my MBC410, my GB neox 212T, and my basses. Due to its weight, recently Ive just been taking my neox 212.
I used both cabs with my head at a Halloween gig and I sure noticed those extra 100+ watts (Instead of having ALL of the volume knobs around the 3:30 - 4'o'clock position, the most I had was 12:30 - 1'o'clock.)

Right now, I'm currently re-evaluating my rig. Don't get me wrong, these new Marshalls' are very competent and I have not regretted purchasing this rig.

 

[gumtown]

So, all you owners of the Marshall MB450H and 4x10, what's the latest? How is this setup working out for you? Any problems, tips, loud enough, etc.

No problems for me, i am using the MBC115 and the MBC410 cabs with the MB450H and it is really loud with power to spare too.
I use either the Classic tube channel on it's own, or a Blend of the two channels, with about 80% classic and 20% modern mixed.

I have also been informed by a sound engineer that the D.I level to the desk is a little bit on the hot side from the MB450H.

 

[Femto]

Hey everybody, just a small update for you. I was planning on getting a Marshall VBC810 to go with my VBA400 head but I just got a pretty darn good deal on what you see below..