Marshall Amp Serial Number Question

[SilvioDante]

Go easy here. I have a dumb question.

I bought a Marshall Lead 12 Microstack back in the 80's. Trouble is, I can't remember the year. I was wondering, by reading the serial number could tell someone here when it was amd and if it was made in England.

The only number I found was stamped on the front:

V22008

Thanks for the help...

[SNIPER]

I always thought those Microstacks would make awesome end tables.

[SilvioDante]

I always thought those Microstacks would make awesome end tables.

I know people laugh at them, but I think it is a great sounding practice amp. Love the chuncky sound out of it.

[SNIPER]

I know people laugh at them, but I think it is a great sounding practice amp. Love the chuncky sound out of it.

No no no! Not making fun of them at all. I have always loved them, they are bad ass. I just always thought it would be cool to have a bunch of them around the house.

[SilvioDante]

No no no! Not making fun of them at all. I have always loved them, they are bad ass. I just always thought it would be cool to have a bunch of them around the house.

For a while, in my "man cave", I actually did use it as a end table. I love it. Just wish I knew more of the history of them. Get alot of people that hate it because it is solid state, but I think they are being closed minded. Back in my teen years, I have used it out before, did the job.

It is a white/black one. I remember seeing it in the store and had to have it. I am rebuilding a Squier Strat (my first attempt at a mod job). I thought about doing a bumble bee Frankie, but I thought about doing the original black and white Frankie to match the amp.

[SNIPER]

Nothing wrong with solid state. I used to have a little mosfet Marshall head back in 91ish that sounded fucking amazing.

[SNIPER]

If your Fender has a pick plate I would go for the black and white myself. That way you can always turn it into a red Frankie down the road too if you wanted.

[Nitro Express]

I had a Marshall Lead 12 combo and it said Made In England right on the back of the chassis. I traded that amp in for a Peavey Classic 20. Both were great amps that I wish I still had. If the Lead 12 combo was made in the UK if bet the mini stack was as well. A lot of solid state amps have real thin chassis but the Marshal had a nice heavy duty galvanized steel chassis. It was built for some heavy use.

[Hardrock69]

Silvio, my bruddah, it was made in 1987...

Actual Marshall model no. is 3005. Here is what I have on it from my book "The History Of Marshall":


Based on the 5005 solid-state 12-watt combo, this miniature monster won the hearts of all who saw it, and in one of it's custom colors of white, silver, green, or red it looked like an overgrown lollipop and just as enticing! Many major stars, like Billy Gibbons and Steve Lukather, bought the stack, junked the cabinets, and installed head in a rack system to use as a preamp!
The head would easily drive a stack of 4 X 12s and sounded astonishingly good. A Valvestate version was offered when that range was introduced, but it was never as popular as the original.

Schematic for the head - pretty sure these were made at Milton Keynes, UK at the factory....

http://www.drtube.com/schematics/marshall/3005.gif

And if you want to do some mods, here is a thread devoted to modding this amp:

http://www.marshallforum.com/workbench/590-mods-marshall-3005-lead-12-a.html

[Nitro Express]

For a while, in my "man cave", I actually did use it as a end table. I love it. Just wish I knew more of the history of them. Get alot of people that hate it because it is solid state, but I think they are being closed minded. Back in my teen years, I have used it out before, did the job.

It is a white/black one. I remember seeing it in the store and had to have it. I am rebuilding a Squier Strat (my first attempt at a mod job). I thought about doing a bumble bee Frankie, but I thought about doing the original black and white Frankie to match the amp.

I've heard some great sounding solid state amps and some really shitty sounding tube amps. What throws me with a solid state amp is you don't have the spongy feel of a tube amp. They are too efficient. With a tube amp there is an interaction between the power tubes, the output transformer, and the speaker coil. There is an interaction there you don't get with a solid state amp and nobody has ever quite copied it. I actually play different with a solid state amp. I have some great solid state rack gear but I still drag a heavy tube head out if I'm playing guitar at a gig.

[Hardrock69]

I have a crate 65-watt combo amp (1x12) which sounds great on tape, but when you try to put it in a room with a band, the drums actually beat the shit out of the amp, even if it is on 10, and you really cannot hear anything. Just has no balls at all. I have a Park G10 amp from 1992 I got for 5 bucks on CL last year. Sounds great by itself. Only 10 watts, so can't try it with a band, lol.

Been thinking of perhaps modding the G10...changing speakers, or perhaps put a 12 AX7 in it. But that is on my to-do list for "someday".

[Nitro Express]

I had one of those Park amps. It had two gain knobs. It wasn't my cup of tea. The amp I really liked was that little Peavey Classic 20. That little amp could put out and worked great with pedals. It would even drive a 4x12 pretty good. I traded it for a Sovtek Mig 60 when those first came out. I still have it but I blew the output transformer on it.

[SilvioDante]

I've heard some great sounding solid state amps and some really shitty sounding tube amps. What throws me with a solid state amp is you don't have the spongy feel of a tube amp. They are too efficient. With a tube amp there is an interaction between the power tubes, the output transformer, and the speaker coil. There is an interaction there you don't get with a solid state amp and nobody has ever quite copied it. I actually play different with a solid state amp. I have some great solid state rack gear but I still drag a heavy tube head out if I'm playing guitar at a gig.

There is no doubt if I had the room and money I would have a nice half stack of some kind. With my playing career over, all I need is a nice little amp to noodle around with and this one more than does the trick. My first "real" amp I ever bought. At 17 the price and the sound was right. Sentiment won't let me get rid of it...

[Hardrock69]

Perfect amp for what I call a "furniture amp", meaning, it sits around the house and looks nice, and once in awhile you actually do something with it, lol.

[SilvioDante]

Perfect amp for what I call a "furniture amp", meaning, it sits around the house and looks nice, and once in awhile you actually do something with it, lol.

Exactly. Me and that little amp been thru a lot together. It's an old friend.

[Nitro Express]

There is no doubt if I had the room and money I would have a nice half stack of some kind. With my playing career over, all I need is a nice little amp to noodle around with and this one more than does the trick. My first "real" amp I ever bought. At 17 the price and the sound was right. Sentiment won't let me get rid of it...

Those Lead 12's are great amps. Like I said, I wish I still had mine. I was amazed how good the build quality is. Marshall put as much build quality into those little solid states as they did in the big daddy tube amps.

[Hardrock69]

I had a lead 12 once for a short period of time. I think I traded it in on something. Don't recall. It was nice.