The Marshall Super Bass 100 Model Tube Amplifier (1973) is a legendary amplifier whose sound has shaped an entire genre and era of music
This model has a unique 'Custom Color' orange Tolex finish and was handwritten and signed by Jim Marshall himself with the name 'Orange Crush.' The orange Tolex design strongly resembles the amplifiers of the company Orange, Marshall's biggest competitor in the UK at that time. Most Marshall amplifiers are based on the Fender Bassman 5F6-A, which was further developed in the 1960s with components from England. The sound of these amps quickly became a trademark used bybig names like The Who, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix.
The Super Bass has four inputs and two channels, often connected with a short lead to achieve more pre-amplification. Each channel has different controls for volume, highs, mids, bass, and hi-mids. The amplifier uses 4 EL34 tubes and delivers an amazing 100 watts. It's often delivered with a closed cabinet that contains four 12-inch Celestion speakers and is known for its 'Wall of Sound.' These amplifiers became popular in the late 1960s when bands often played in large stadiums andplayed at festivals, often without PA sound reinforcement for the guitars. In 1969, amplifiers with this power were a necessity and became the new rock standard. Today we have the option to use attenuators to reduce the volume a bit and protect our ears.
This shiny orange Super Bass is a relatively early model and particularly rare due to its special color. The serial number of the amplifier head is 2951E and dates from 1973, just like the handwritten date on the chassis inspection seal. The 4×12 speaker cabinets can be dated to March 1972 based on the markings on them. This matching stack of orange Tolex would either be a one-off creation for exhibitions or a custom-ordered device, and we would love to know who received it first! wüssten, wer es zuerst erhalten hat!
As for the age, this 'Half Stack' is cosmetically very well preserved. The individual orange Tolex covering is very clean and shows only minor signs of use and slight cracks, especially at the rear edges of the speaker cabinet. The handle, gold piping, and white plastic logo are original and in excellent condition. The metal front panel is in excellent condition and shows very little wear. The original knobs show some corrosion spots but are all intact, freeof cracks and none are missing!
The grille cloth is also original and free from visible tears. Electrically, this amplifier is nicely original. The cabinet contains the original four 12-inch Celestion 'Greenback' G12 ceramic speakers, three of which are CE marked and date back to March 1972 (the fourth has worn off the date and is no longer legible, but from all visual information, it also seems to be original). They were all professionally reconed with contemporary parts and sound fantastic.The transformers and controls of theamplifier seem to be all original, and the controls show unprocessed solder joints.
Relatively little work was done to largely maintain the originality. The amplifier was serviced and checked, including replacing all electrolytic capacitors, installing a new grounded 3-prong power cable, cleaning all jacks and controls, and adjusting the power range to specifications with a new matched quartet of the robust and reliable JJ EL34 tubes. Equipped with a special detachable power cable and a speaker cable, this amplifier is set up for US voltage.set up and ready to go.
About the Marshall Super Bass 100:https://www.retrofret.com/product.asp?ProductID=11214&name=Marshall-Super-Bass-100-Tube-Amplifier-1973&fbclid=IwAR0rpikMBwQbDoKgCobSS0saUHiP0_4BOGRZyjt9lNAogn8PcbG8AFQcMGw
Several interesting vintage items here:https://mysoundbook.eu/News/vintage-News/
