Marshall Class 5

Anyone have one? Any input?

I had one. It was one of the earlier ones with the one piece back. I liked it at first but great tired of its sound. I did not care for the clean sound at all and didn't like it with a Strat, though I liked it cranked with a Les Paul and a germanium treble booster. It had a good 1960s British blues rock crakned amp sound (Beano, etc...). At the volume level where it achieved this tone, it was too loud to use in my basement studio (my Express 5:50 is fine there) and it shook EL84 power tubes into submission pretty quickly!
I was unimpressed with how it sounded with a Fuzz Face and a Tone Bender.

Build quality was typical of recent made in the UK Marshalls- no where near Mesa quality. The chassis was thin steel and open at the ends and the PCB was thin with delicate traces.

It sure was pretty to look at and that one tone was a lot of fun to achieve!

Build quality was typical of recent made in the UK Marshalls

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Don't gimme that ****. My JVM is a tank and so are a bunch of other today-made Marshalls so I don't really know why generalize.

The combos were a little soft tough I admit - but I've played and seen the newer ones and they're built tougher.

My pops has one and I steal it from time to time I steal it and crank it to oblivion - the stock tube is crud though so I replaced that quickly - and to me it sounds beyond awesome when it's dimed. Great, responsive amp, true to the BONE, likes buckers, likes single coils a little less. Total Plexi in a box tone, especially with a 4x12. The internal speaker sounds great too.
As Don stated it isn't really a tone factory but to me one does not buy these things seeking versatility - for crying out loud it has a 3 band EQ and a Volume knob! And it's 5Watts - you want a Clean tone? With no Gain control? Nope, sorry, isn't happening. It stays clean to about 9 o'clock and even that can crunch if you smash it - cleans up beautifully with the guitar's volume though.

IMO it's a great amp, but
A) Not one of those amps that you buy for your "go-to" number one A choice amp
B) it's an amp to dime, rock the hell out and nothing more

The Express plows over it in terms of versatility etc., but talking tone, the Class5 is hard to beat if you're into the old-school cranked amp thing. Goes to eleven.

My apologies, Jackie, I shouldn't be comparing the Class 5 to all other recent Marshalls, I should only compare it to the JCM2000 DSL100 and DSL401 that I've had experience with that were not as well built as I expected them to be. These are not even current amps.

Don said:

My apologies, Jackie, I shouldn't be comparing the Class 5 to all other recent Marshalls, I should only compare it to the JCM2000 DSL100 and DSL401 that I've had experience with that were not as well built as I expected them to be. These are not even current amps.

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No biggie, I just jump when folks generalize Marshall as a brand that has poor build quality (I wonder why half the world uses them if they're so crap then?)... Usually the folks that have duds or treat it badly make such a big deal out of it it becomes a general consensus and the happy folks just stay quiet playing their amps 'till doomsday.
The 90s stuff could have used a little more "iron" so to speak, I agree there.

Anyway - Class5, dime it, smile, do it occasionally so you don't get tired of it

Don't forget about the price point also. Because it is a cheaper, smaller amp, the manufacturer will not put as much into the parts. They need to make a profit. Now if you are Mesa, then you will get a product like the TransAtlantic.

Gtr_Pkr said:

Because it is a cheaper, smaller amp

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What ARE you talking about. It's Made in the UK in their Milton Keynes factory like any other high end Marshall. It's essentially a single-ended Class A 5W version of a Plexi with a hint of JCM800 balls thrown in for good measure. Also it has a specially designed 15W speaker (tweaked Greenback). This ain't some cheapo crappy little entry level combo. It's dumb as hell (feature wise), and small in wattage, that's why it's less than 400€. The TransAtlantic is 1000€ at least with more channels etc. but for twice the price.

Don't be ignorant. :?

The new and improved version does appear to be a little better designed, but the one that I had was not a really well built or designed amp.

As I said above, the DSL401 was not any better and that sold for as much as my Express 5;50 when I bought it! :?

This is my experience based on working on the Class 5 and many other amps over the past 20 years.

Jackie said:

Gtr_Pkr said:

Because it is a cheaper, smaller amp

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What ARE you talking about. It's Made in the UK in their Milton Keynes factory like any other high end Marshall. It's essentially a single-ended Class A 5W version of a Plexi with a hint of JCM800 balls thrown in for good measure. Also it has a specially designed 15W speaker (tweaked Greenback). This ain't some cheapo crappy little entry level combo. It's dumb as hell (feature wise), and small in wattage, that's why it's less than 400€. The TransAtlantic is 1000€ at least with more channels etc. but for twice the price.

Don't be ignorant. :?

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You need to slow down son. I'm entitled to my opinion without being called ignorant. Anyway....thanks for making my point again. "Dumb as hell" = cheaper and "small in wattage" = smaller. If you want to compare, the Class 5 is cheaper and smaller than a Vintage Modern combo.

I think I tripped on the wrong part of your post. I should have included the part where you said "the manufacturer won't put as much into parts".
I re-read your post though and if you look at it as a general statement you're probably right. My apologies

TBH I went to a guy's house to buy the DSL401 and I went home with a BOSS GT-6 so I wasn't really impressed with it either (neither is a lot of people) so Don I think you had a bit of bad luck when choosing Marshalls. :lol:
Glad you ended with an Express though, great amps.

Jackie said:

...Don I think you had a bit of bad luck when choosing Marshalls. :lol:

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Luckily, the DSL401 wasn't mine. I repaired it for a local working musician. I bought the Class 5 used so I didn't lose much when I sold it.

I picked up a Class 5 head, I must say that this amp takes pedals (OD/ Distortion) better than any other amp I've owned. By itself, it sounds OK. Throw some nice quality reverb, compression and OD in front and its simply amazing. For the money, its hard to beat. Its perfect for practicing IMO.
After I bought it, I immediately sold my Vox AC4TVH that I had been using for low volume practicing.

The cool thing about the Class 5 head is that you cant make it sound bad, no matter how you tweak the EQ. Cant say that about many amps.

Jackie said:

Build quality was typical of recent made in the UK Marshalls

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Don't gimme that sh!t. My JVM is a tank and so are a bunch of other today-made Marshalls so I don't really know why generalize.

The combos were a little soft tough I admit - but I've played and seen the newer ones and they're built tougher.

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Jackie said:

Gtr_Pkr said:

Because it is a cheaper, smaller amp

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What ARE you talking about. It's Made in the UK in their Milton Keynes factory like any other high end Marshall. It's essentially a single-ended Class A 5W version of a Plexi with a hint of JCM800 balls thrown in for good measure. Also it has a specially designed 15W speaker (tweaked Greenback). This ain't some cheapo crappy little entry level combo. It's dumb as hell (feature wise), and small in wattage, that's why it's less than 400€. The TransAtlantic is 1000€ at least with more channels etc. but for twice the price.

Don't be ignorant. :?

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As a Marshall JVM410H owner, I can attest to its sh!t-tastic construction. Almost all of the knobs on the front panel wiggle. As much as I like the way it sounds, it feels like a toy when you tweek the knobs. I realize that the JVM is one of their high-end amps and is made in Milton Keynes, but that doesn't instantly make it a tank. My Mark V is built WAY more solidly. Hell, Marshall even somehow missed a typo on the back of the JVM. By the speaker outputs, it clearly says, "OUPUT 100 WATTS RMS". They missed the T. How does a company that huge allow something like that to happen? I know that doesn't linearly translate into a lesser quality amp, but I think it says something about just how closely the guys at Marshall inspect their stuff before it leaves the factory.

rocknroll9225 said:

Jackie said:

Build quality was typical of recent made in the UK Marshalls

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Don't gimme that sh!t. My JVM is a tank and so are a bunch of other today-made Marshalls so I don't really know why generalize.

The combos were a little soft tough I admit - but I've played and seen the newer ones and they're built tougher.

Click to expand...

Jackie said:

Gtr_Pkr said:

Because it is a cheaper, smaller amp

Click to expand...

What ARE you talking about. It's Made in the UK in their Milton Keynes factory like any other high end Marshall. It's essentially a single-ended Class A 5W version of a Plexi with a hint of JCM800 balls thrown in for good measure. Also it has a specially designed 15W speaker (tweaked Greenback). This ain't some cheapo crappy little entry level combo. It's dumb as hell (feature wise), and small in wattage, that's why it's less than 400€. The TransAtlantic is 1000€ at least with more channels etc. but for twice the price.

Don't be ignorant. :?

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As a Marshall JVM410H owner, I can attest to its sh!t-tastic construction.

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Yeah well the new ones have bolted pots. But to me, it does seem a bit so-so too. It hasn't let me down yet and I don't think it will since I still think it's pretty tough, but some elements of it's construction don't really inspire confidence if you know what I mean.

I love Marshall amps but I hate what they do as a company. Why didn't they offer bolted pots in the first place? Why 3 years after release etc.

update - I got one for Christmas

Sounds amazing through my Mesa 4x12!

Nice to have an amp that you can set the volume on 10 and not suffer fatal internal organ and/or hearing damage huh :mrgreen:

I presume you got the head? Or did you get the combo?

the head. I really wanted the sound and a space saver

tell me about the clas 5 please. Tell me all about it. facts and opinions. I seem to have the fever. I need a spare room practice amp. Classic Rock/Think Tom Petty/Badfinger/Thin Lizzy/Bryan Adams!I think i love the simplicity of this amp,but i`ve never seen or heard one! is the single volume/gain an issue for you? i know everyone will have a sweet spot but who knows at what loudness until you try it out?Are there any issues?Thanks,Jeffp

OK, some facts:
- this is a Class A single end amp so it's responsive in spades.
- the older combo versions suffered from rattling, sometimes it was the back panel, sometimes the tube (for example, we had to replace an EL84 and it hasn't rattled since). The new ones don't, I have tried one dimed in the store and it didn't rattle at all.
- there are two versions - the head and the combo. The head has a low wattage switch that works great. The combo DOESN'T. I'm telling you this because
- even though it's just 5W, it's still freekin loud. It's like my 100W Marshall JVM on between 9-10 o'clock or so with channel vols on half.
- drive vs volume. If you hit the strings hard it starts to crunch a bit with a more or less hot 'bucker guitar at around 9-10 o'clock already. It gets louder to around half on the dial, after that it's just dirt. There's not a lot of clean headroom if you have hot pickups. You can however, work with the volume knob on your guitar to great extent and it cleans up great, especially with single coils.
- EQ controls are responsive in their very extremes, which essentially means not really much, BUT you can get a lot of tones from the guitar because of the amps responsive nature, using the tone/volume controls.

My opinion on the sound of this amp is that it's kind of a Plexi mixed with a little JCM800 thrown in. It's quite midrange heavy and it doesn't spare bass either using the combo speaker, and when it's dimed the top end gives way to the glorious mids (which is why I suggested a treble booster). I've played a Plexi on a couple of occasions, even dimed, and to me this little amp does that sound very well. It's a mercilessly responsive and great rock amp that does that "tubes begging for mercy" drive if you dime it and covers some rock crunch territory with the right guitar and it also takes pedals very well (treble booster works nicely). It can even do oldschool metal with a little help (a TS for example). Only thing that bothers me is that it could have an FX loop but hey the Plexis didn't have one

jeffp said:

tell me about the clas 5 please. Tell me all about it. facts and opinions. I seem to have the fever. I need a spare room practice amp. Classic Rock/Think Tom Petty/Badfinger/Thin Lizzy/Bryan Adams!I think i love the simplicity of this amp,but i`ve never seen or heard one! is the single volume/gain an issue for you? i know everyone will have a sweet spot but who knows at what loudness until you try it out?Are there any issues?Thanks,Jeffp

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I had an early one and loved it except for the rattles which I think they've got sorted out now and that it was loud when it got into the zone where it sounded good. In fact, it was too loud to use in my basement jam room! I wouldn't plan to use it upstairs unless you own the house and no one else is home.

My favorite sound with this amp was with a Les Paul plugged into a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster clone and the amp turned up about halfway. It had a great '06s British blues sound.

I did not find it to be a good practice amp with a big range of sounds (just the one really good sound) and it wasn't quite loud enough to use with my band so I ended up selling it.

I miss it, though.

I just realized that I said all this before!