NMD: Lead 12 .... best bedroom plexi!

[fitz]

If I run my Lead20 on a 16-ohm load, it's about a Lead14...

 

[Maggot Brain]

Here's the main event!

Recorded with a half decent(kinda) USB microphone. I played thru some different stuff to kinda show the character of the amp and speaker.




I LOVE THIS LITTLE MARSHALL

 

[Troy T. Blues]

This is on the Celestion website regarding the G10 Greenback.

"This guitar speaker was developed to recapture the legendary sound of Celestion’s 1970s 10s – a 10 speaker with a surprisingly meaty tone. Low in output but with the weighty low-end balance of a 12-inch speaker, the G10 Greenback features a complex mid-range and smooth vintage top-end. In small combos this speaker adds real class and when combined in a 4×10 gives rise to a raunchy full-bodied tone rich in low-end thump"

The 7442 is generally referred to as the 10" Greenback from the 70's but either way it doesn't appear to be based off of "the" Greenback G12M.

I appreciate the heads up on the different G10L-35 as I was not aware of the differences.


Duuuude.... I KNOW!

I want one so bad now.

The G10 Creamback has "Made in UK" on the speaker itself and on the box. My G12M65s both have the same "Made in UK" on the speaker and the box as well.

That link is from 2008 and surely outdated, I guarantee the current Creambacks both 10 and 12s are made in the UK.


I find this interesting! In all the comparisons I found the Creamback had the added presence, the GB sounding darker and thicker/fatter. If I find one local for a good price I'll give the Greenback a spin as I'm still curious how it sounds in person.

Here is a good example of the G10 Creamback, while it's thru a Fender and clean it definitely demonstrates the voicing accurately imo

Yeah, tough decision. So, this 10" Greenback is not really like the 12" which I'm more familar with, and there are not very many direct comparisons, so it's kind of hard of hard to tell.

I also have a Lead 100 Mosfet 3210 Head and could very well be my favorite tones, and I have some very nice Marshalls.

 

[Salty Rose]

So my neighbor got a new roommate (I live in a triplex) and they moved into the room on the otherside of mine. I can hear when they are digging in the closet these walls are so poorly insulated... if at all.... Then I also found out they are related to my landlord... I figured I should invest in a little solid state practice amp, something more realistic than my tube amps. I demoed the various modern offerings at GC and my LGS etc, a candidate I found was an old Vox Pathfinder 15R but just couldn't commit before it sold... Sounded great tho! Then I thought about the Positive Grid Spark, it has a lot of cool features and the tones are pretty fun but... Idk, it just didn't feel right... Uninspiring for me.

i've always heard/read people raving about them but kinda figured a lot of it was Johan hype. The Johan videos sounded too good to be true and to my ears he makes everything sound like a Plexi... Couldn't possibly be that he plugs everything into vintage Greenbacks haha... Anyways I tracked one down and plugged in... Holy mother of Guitar! This thing oozes vintage Plexi tone and character... Where has this little gem been all my life? This has to be hands down the best sounding solid state amps I have ever heard maybe one of the best amps considering what it is. Playing this little guy instantly took me back to the times I got to experience true vintage Superleads... There is something there that I can't quite out my finger on but it's there, those sounds are seared into my head from the religious like experience of playing cranked vintage plexi.


Yeah it's not 100% but I'd say it's the closest I've heard beside a straight clone. Yeah it's only 12 watts but the tone is there, the character and nuances are there. This thing cleans up SO WELL with the volume knob, has beautiful punchy, glassy cleans that shimmer... Then get it cranked! Hello Marshall heaven... And it doesn't blow the house down! It still gets pretty loud but definitely realistic in a house or bedroom. The tone and body is incredibly warm and natural, the amp responds to picking attack and different techniques... How is this amp not reissued???

The only solid state give aways to my ears are the very top high frequencies and the very low frequency but even then it's very subtle in my opinion.


Today has been a holy Marshall experience, the only other amp that I've owned that has impressed me this much was a vintage 2204 that I regret immensely selling. This Lead 12 is going to be buried with me, I played ALL day, forgetting to even eat, I couldn't pull myself away. Now I'm sure a lot of my excitement is that I've been searching so long for the perfect bedroom plexi experience and I have found it.

I would take a Lead 12 over a SV20 everytime.


Ok sorry for my purging of Marshall excitement and way too long of a post!

I bought a lead 12 brand new back in the day. It was a cool amp. I gave it to a family member.

I have a pathfinder 15r now for the small stuff. I like that amp. It’s good too.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Yeah, tough decision. So, this 10" Greenback is not really like the 12" which I'm more familar with, and there are not very many direct comparisons, so it's kind of hard of hard to tell.

I also have a Lead 100 Mosfet 3210 Head and could very well be my favorite tones, and I have some very nice Marshalls.

Yeah it was a tough call for me because I was initially going to get the Greenback. I obsessively watched 10" speaker demos and comparisons, the more I watched the less I dug the 10" Greenback as I was looking for G12M Greenback character in a 10".

You might want to check out the WGS Green Beret 10" but unfortunately there aren't very many good demos of it. Vaughn of WGS has a 10" comparison video on his channel that helps with the WGS lineup, I almost went with the Green Beret. The WGS Veteran 10 was high on my list as I found the 10" Green Beret to be too thick, too mid focused and... idk... I just wasn't really getting Greenback vibes from the G10 Green Beret.

The frequency response curve of the VT jr is kinda similar to a G12M and was another option on my list. I'll definitely snag one up eventually seeing as they appear pretty cheap used.

I could go on and on, I have a thread over in the Spkr and cab section. I have to say I am extremely happy I decided on the Creamback, it's pretty much exactly what I was looking for.

All our ears are different and subjective, I'm sure any Celestion will sounds good.

 

[Skydog6653]

12 W is plenty if you truly can, “hear them digging in their closet”!

 

[kisschicken]

I was coming to the thread to poo on you for thinking a solid state Marshall sounds like a Plexi, but then I heard your clip and I'm a believer. Nice amp.

 

[indeedido]

Tonehenge

 

[howard453]

So my neighbor got a new roommate (I live in a triplex) and they moved into the room on the otherside of mine. I can hear when they are digging in the closet these walls are so poorly insulated... if at all.... Then I also found out they are related to my landlord... I figured I should invest in a little solid state practice amp, something more realistic than my tube amps. I demoed the various modern offerings at GC and my LGS etc, a candidate I found was an old Vox Pathfinder 15R but just couldn't commit before it sold... Sounded great tho! Then I thought about the Positive Grid Spark, it has a lot of cool features and the tones are pretty fun but... Idk, it just didn't feel right... Uninspiring for me.

i've always heard/read people raving about them but kinda figured a lot of it was Johan hype. The Johan videos sounded too good to be true and to my ears he makes everything sound like a Plexi... Couldn't possibly be that he plugs everything into vintage Greenbacks haha... Anyways I tracked one down and plugged in... Holy mother of Guitar! This thing oozes vintage Plexi tone and character... Where has this little gem been all my life? This has to be hands down the best sounding solid state amps I have ever heard maybe one of the best amps considering what it is. Playing this little guy instantly took me back to the times I got to experience true vintage Superleads... There is something there that I can't quite out my finger on but it's there, those sounds are seared into my head from the religious like experience of playing cranked vintage plexi.


Yeah it's not 100% but I'd say it's the closest I've heard beside a straight clone. Yeah it's only 12 watts but the tone is there, the character and nuances are there. This thing cleans up SO WELL with the volume knob, has beautiful punchy, glassy cleans that shimmer... Then get it cranked! Hello Marshall heaven... And it doesn't blow the house down! It still gets pretty loud but definitely realistic in a house or bedroom. The tone and body is incredibly warm and natural, the amp responds to picking attack and different techniques... How is this amp not reissued???

The only solid state give aways to my ears are the very top high frequencies and the very low frequency but even then it's very subtle in my opinion.


Today has been a holy Marshall experience, the only other amp that I've owned that has impressed me this much was a vintage 2204 that I regret immensely selling. This Lead 12 is going to be buried with me, I played ALL day, forgetting to even eat, I couldn't pull myself away. Now I'm sure a lot of my excitement is that I've been searching so long for the perfect bedroom plexi experience and I have found it.

I would take a Lead 12 over a SV20 everytime.


Ok sorry for my purging of Marshall excitement and way too long of a post!

MB your post made me smile...I know exactly what you mean. I've had my Lead 12 for about a year now and it is STILL surprising me with the way it kicks ass. But please, don't forget to eat or you'll be too weak to play

 

[Maggot Brain]

I also have a Lead 100 Mosfet 3210 Head and could very well be my favorite tones, and I have some very nice Marshalls.

I am itching to snag one! I don't see them locally too often but I see quite a few online... I may have to pull the trigger, some of the clips online blow me away (considering what it's SS). Either way I'll own soon

I bought a lead 12 brand new back in the day. It was a cool amp. I gave it to a family member.

I have a pathfinder 15r now for the small stuff. I like that amp. It’s good too.

That's cool man, I was initially going to pick up a Pathfinder 15r but it sold out from under me and then I found the Lead 12... Couldn't be happier but I still would love to own a 15r

I was coming to the thread to poo on you for thinking a solid state Marshall sounds like a Plexi, but then I heard your clip and I'm a believer. Nice amp.

Haha thanks man! to the MF, enjoy this wonderful corner of the internet.

I thought the Lead 12s were all hype personally but was looking for a practice amp and found it locally... Figured why not? Blown away ever since.

 

[Maggot Brain]

MB your post made me smile...I know exactly what you mean. I've had my Lead 12 for about a year now and it is STILL surprising me with the way it kicks ass. But please, don't forget to eat or you'll be too weak to play

Haha they are pretty damn amazing! I have had more fun with this little amp than all the recent amps I've gone thru: Vintage Modern 2266, Fender Bassbreaker 45, Origin20c, DSL1Cr, Fender Blues Deluxe, Fender Supersonic 60 oh and the Studio Vintage 20H... I feel excited, inspired and eager to play constantly with the Lead 12.

to the MF!

 

[Antti Heikkinen]

I've had several solid state Marshalls, the lead 12, a buddy still has his...also the 20...and a mosfet and a 75 reverb ...they all sound strongly like solid state amps to me, but they do sound surprisingly good at very low volume. Not even on the same planet as 15 or any of the real Marshalls IMO if you CAN apply some volume but in the bedroom, not bad at all. Plus some people like that type of colder, more angular type sound and it's a cool sound on it's own for sure.

All that matters though is that YOU as a player dig it and it sounds good at a suitable volume. I only have a couple of Marshalls at the moment, a 50WJVM combo with a WGS speaker upgrade and a few mods, which is really nice, and an Origin 20H with an old 4x10" cab that is an incredible setup with OD added before it...but neither is a good bedroom amp at all. The Origin is way too loud when it sounds good at all, the JVM is playable at home levels but certainly not bedroom levels. You do NEED solid state amps for good sound at low levels, even 1w tube is far too loud when it starts to sound any good.

Personally, nothing beats headphones and modelers for quiet playing these days IMO.

 

[Derrick111]

Very cool amp! The clips sounds good too, but I never thought the Lead 12 sounded like a plexi at all. I think it sounds more like a JCM800. I used mine to great effect when I moved into an apartment. Really useful.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Very cool amp! The clips sounds good too, but I never thought the Lead 12 sounded like a plexi at all. I think it sounds more like a JCM800.

^This. At least that's what I thought of the big brothers to the Lead 12 (20, 50, 75 Reverb, Mos-Fet 100) combos that I had.

I've gigged the 50 and 75 Reverb together in a little mini-stack, un-mic'd, small room, and thought it sounded great.

 

[Marvinator]

Were there multiple different models or versions of the Lead 12?

If so, are certain particular models or variants generally considered better, superior, or more desirable than others?

Or were all Lead 12 amps basically the same circuit, throughout their entire run?

There are a few different iterations of these the least favorable ones are the newer mg15’s as they are Indonesian and not that great sounding to me.

 

[Marvinator]

I lived in an apartment and had a half stack that was unusable at the volumes I could play at so I traded that in for a micro stack and a epiphone bullseye guitar. Been collecting them ever since. I’ve got the low wattage bug now. The only mini Marshall I believe I’m missing is the purple one.

 

[Tatzmann]

Don't get them fuckers wet!


Don't!

 

[Tatzmann]

I had fun trying some small transistor amps the last few days, namely Reverb 12, Vox Pathfinder 15R and Fender 15G.

Those amps i approach all the same to not meet
the fizzies, means mastervolume full up and preamp brought up until its enough for rawkin'.

The Vox sounds more Marshall than the Marshall and the Fender sounds more Fender
than the others.

The open combos record very well if you just
stick a mic in the back of the combo cab.

Turn it up full and record the pure small speaker
breakup.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Lead 12 and a Les Paul.

Please excuse the sloppy playing, I just hit record and improvised haha

 

[rockinrobert]

I did a whole album with one back in 85. Wish it was still around.