Some maintenance work had clearly been done over the years, with a handful of replaced capacitors. The earliest 1930s had Elac alnicos and a plexiglass control panel, but this one has the brushed metal panel. This 1930 is in great shape cosmetically, and is still fitted with its original Celestion 7442 ceramic speakers. The triodes are used as phase inverters/drivers for the power pentodes to generate 10 watts of power. These are very similar to the ECL82s used in the WEM Westminster because each glass envelope contains a preamp triode along with a power pentode. Unlike the 1974, which runs on EL84s, the 1930 has a pair of ECL86s. I also found the Marshall cabinet plate, along with a boxed Mullard ECC83 and a couple of AEG power valves. The cabinet contained a treasure trove of period goodies, including the cabinet plate, a Mullard ECC83, the trem footswitch and an official amp schematic from Marshall This was both helpful and exciting, because I couldn’t find this schematic online and the only 1930 diagram that is available is a hand drawn effort containing a couple of component errors – if you’re restoring your own 1930 and would like to take a look at the schematic, drop us an email. Inside, there was an envelope with a typed address post-marked with a 19/1/73 date containing an official Marshall schematic. You’ve no doubt heard of ‘case candy’ so let’s say this amp came with ‘cabinet candy’ courtesy of its original owner. One theory holds that supplies have dried up because unscrupulous types have been converting 1930s to sell as bona fide 18-watt 1974 models. Consequently they’re regarded as fairly rare, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that few were sold. The 1930 Popular is slightly obscure Marshall model – it was only in production from around 1967 to 1973 and it was only sold via mail order. Since the amp came out of the loft, the 2×10 combo has emitted a loud wooshing hiss that made it totally unusable, and lacking the know-how to correct the issue himself, this handsome-looking Marshall has remained unused by its owner for over a decade since.
Upon discovering it, the Strat was understandably kept for sentimental reasons, but the amp was offered to a guitar playing family friend, who couldn’t believe his luck… at least until he turned it on. The Marshall had been bought new, along with an Olympic White Stratocaster, by its original owner, who used it extensively for a number of years, before circumstances caused both to be retired until a house move decades later. How many golden era guitar amps were bought by keen guitarists who, when life got in the way, simply shoved them up the loft to sit unplayed for decades? Being the lucky person to come across such a vintage treasure is one of the ultimate guitar hunter dreams, and that’s basically the story of how this Marshall 1930 Popular combo came into the hands of its current custodian.
0 kommentar(er)
