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Marshall 1962 Bluesbreaker

This 1962 is part of the Marshall reissue from the 90's. While the accuracy of these reissues has been largely debated, this amp does sound pretty good and is very well built with chassis-mounted valve-bases and high quality pots. As with the original, the cabinet is too shallow to allow the bass end to develop properly. Therefore, it pays to connect the amp to an additional 4x12 if you seek real low end grunt but if the amp is mainly used for lead, then its bottom end is largely sufficient. For a good crunch levels, the 1962 needs to be pushed and it then rewards you with a fluid forgiving tone due to the compression induced by the rectifier valve.

This particular Bluesbreaker needed some TLC as it had been previously repaired by an unqualified and unnamed technician. It also needed new power valves as the original 5881 had long worn off. These were replaced by a more appropriate model than the Marshall preference of the nineties. Due to an inappropriate lead dress, the tremolo creates a small buzz when a footswitch is connected and it is switched off but it is a small price to pay for a great rocking tone.