Marshall Vintage Modern
List: $1,600
Marshall’s Vintage Modern (VM) was a later 2006 debutant, hence its 2007 appearance on our shores. At a single glance, the VM seems to be another blast-from-the-past Marshall whose tonal pedigree then (and now, mind you) pretty much set the standard for ‘loud’. The grille cloth devoid front underscores the vintage of its moniker but that’s strictly looks my friends, the VM is a contemporary Marshall for your exploit
Build/ features
There’s no hiding the
single channeled nature of the VM; a quick reference to its front panel reveals an absence of channel switching. Unlike its 1959 Super Lead predecessor, the VM’s power/ standby switches are the black click-press variety. The octet knobs are essential 3-band EQ section, master volume, reverb & an interesting pair of frequency specific pre-amp controls. The VM also sports a single instrument input access as opposed to the ‘59’s quartet.
Over at the rear, the VM has a series FX loop with added boost (push-push button) should the need arises. Should you refuse this function, an on/ off switch is there for your deactivation. This posterior also reveals a steel grille section which protects the valves- 4 x ECC83/ 12AX7 & 4 X
KT66 power valve. What?! No EL34s?
Rating: 80%
Tone
Steve Dawson, the VM chief engineer, stated that the KT66 inclusion is to invoke the JTM45 voicing of yore so the classic
Bluesbreaker tone would be there as a working basis. This fundamental, upon the employment of power section saturation, would result in a high gain response;
what Blackmore did for the early Deep Purple records. We can see where the VM is geared toward; a pre-EL34 tonality, as the KT66 is effectively a 6L6 substitute which has more emphasis in midrange & overall punch without crossing over to the aforementioned valve’s ferocity.
The VM was conceived to be a single channel offering for a simple reason-
it thrives on guitar drive. The first guitar plugged into it was an LTD M-50, a modern injection & the VM had no problems adapting. If you are a purveyor of the modern drive, the
Dynamic Range button, upon activation, gives you more distortion. In addition to the 3-band EQ, the Detail/ Body knobs help sculpture the treble & bass response respectively, do ignore the ‘volume’ label here, what these control did was to
highlight the targeted frequencies’ performances, volume emphasis, if any, was marginal. The overall note sharpness is further manipulated by the presence control. With a satin-body guitar like the M-50, bass enhancement is necessary to prevent the overall proceedings from turning into a midrange showdown.
Subsequently, a P-90 equipped PRS SE Soapbar II was plugged in & the tonal change was rather drastic. Due to the lower output nature of the pickups, no amount of Dynamic Range injection could help bolster convincing high gain saturation. In fact, the VM became a crunch menace; if you thrive on a
blues-type drive, forget about employing a pedal, the VM has all the sweet break-up tones you’ll ever need. With the Dynamic Range button deactivated, higher master volume settings here augment the crunch instead of adding more gain per se.
The VM
performs readily with single coils for clean tones. If one uses a humbucker, do restrict the volume to prevent dirt from kicking in.
With all those historical tonal accolades,
the VM in isolated use wouldn’t quite appeal to high-gain shredmongers. Nevertheless, a simple drive adage in the form of an Ibanez TS-9 (or any equivalent mild-drive unit)ensures this amp’s relevance in various music settings.
Tone test equipment:
• Guitars: LTD M-50, PRS SE Soapbar II
• Pedal: Ibanez TS-9 (reissue)
• Cab: Marshall 1960
Rating: 90%
Conclusion
There you have it, a true oxymoron which isn’t only effective but stellar in tonal performance. If you are lamenting the absence of channel switching, you’ve missed what the VM is all about. Do not despair though; there are other Marshall amps to address your needs. The single channel insistence here gives more emphasis to your guitar’s drive/ tone capacity & playing nuances.
Do note the 3-band EQ sweep; the range isn’t as drastic as what the pre-amp controls, Dynamic Range, Mid Boost switch offer. In fact, these subtle frequency authorities reward guitar enthusiasts tremendously. The midrange price tag is also a bona fide lure to the boutique tones available here. If you wish for a glorious Marshall tone of yesterday with fine revisions to cultivate a more wholesome contemporary response, the Vintage Marshall is it.
Overall rating: 88%
Likes:
• User-friendly
• Overall dynamism, responsiveness
• Price
Dislikes:
• 3-band EQ- subtle sweep range
• Weight (yes, the VM is slightly taller to give proper housing to the KT66 valves, hence its added weight…)
**PS: Thank you Janet & all @
Davis GMC for the review invitation & audition.
Marshall: Vintage Modern 2466H
