Tell me about the 5210…

[FleshOnGear]

So I started checking out Lead 12s because of @Maggot Brain. I noticed they’re running a little pricier than I’d like to pay for a little 1x10 combo, so I started searching for larger channel switching SS Marshall combos, just to see how much more I could get for a few more bucks.

And I stumbled onto the 5210. I checked the schematic, and it looks like it uses op amp clipping like the Lead 12 does. There aren’t really any decent sound clips of the 5210 that I could find, though.

So for $120 more I could get a 50w 1x12 with channel switching and reverb. But how do they sound? I found some impressive clips of the Lead 12; is the 5210 in the same ballpark? Thanks for any info!

 

[fitz]

is the 5210 in the same ballpark?

Nope.
To be honest, I've had neither, but I have a Lead 20 and I've had a 3210.
IMHO, the higher watt channel switching SS amps are very different than the lower watt single channel SS amps.
I've also had the Lead 15MS single channel and the G50 two channel.
Completely different tones from the clean to boost channels vs. the single.
Kinda the modern vs. classic thing to my ears.

 

[Marcomel79]

I have a 5210. The clean channel is nice and the reverd is excellent i must say. The lead channel needs to be turned up to sound good under 8 on the dial. After that is Master of Puppets territory

 

[jeffb]

I had a 5210, way back when I was much younger. Essentially a SS version of the 4210 (which I hated). It does need a bit of volume to sound decent, but like the lead 12/3005 head it gets kinda nasty once you hit about 1/2 way up on the volumes. It has that typical grainy distortion of the SS Marshalls of that time period. They sound much better through good cabs at low-mid volumes.

It's fun, for a 40 year old SS amp. I would only seek one out for nostalgia purposes, collector purposes, or I simply came across one that was under typical asking price- it's a good practice amp, and records decently at low to moderate volumes. I don't recall thinking much of the reverb on either my 4210 or the 5210.

 

[Tatzmann]

Couple things.

If you like a quiet amp without any hum at
idle ( unless master and gain cranked up full)
then stay within the realm of the one channel amps. All the switchers/reverbs of those amps
have idle hum/reverb-hiss from acceptable to not acceptable levels.

Secondly, Maggotbrain cranks the 12, blasts
a fuzz into it and plays Hendrix style, unless
cranked it sounds crappy/with sputtery distortion on crunchtones. There really is no
crunch in the Lead12/5010 amps, they sputter until the signal is squished so much that crunchtone is over and typical 80s preamp tone is reached.

If you want balls, stay away from the 12, i had
all the SS from the 80s except the lead20 and the 12 just had not enough growl and grunt
for even attempting to play AC/DC type rock.
The others had atleast a little bit of low mids.

I guess you could crank the 50 into a lower
wattage speaker to get the same speaker
compression like a lead12 into a 10inch,
but its slipperyslope because even though a
25watt greenback is rated for tube-watts the
power from the 50w ss might still be enough
to fry it with some nasty spikes.

And it will be way louder than cranking a 12.

I had more luck getting more realistic crunchtones out of the channelswitchers, they
too have the fizzies, but not as sputtery like the
singlechannel amps.

Idk if this help or not.

The absolute best 80s MarshSS amps are the
3210 because of the superb 4x10cab and relatively convincing sounding powerstage that doesnt fall on its ass at stagevolume like most transistoramps.

And ofcourse the 3203 because of the superb 4x10cab and the el34 powerstage.

My suggestion would be a pathfinder15 if you
want to crank the amp, miles beyond the lead12, more balls, better crunch, better sounding stock speaker.

 

[junk notes]

As most have posted, same on my end. Louder the better. nice straight forward SS combo.

I should have modded the amp as @FracStrat had done. I would have held on to it.

___
The 5010 always looked cooler with the Marshall script faceplate, though ;-)

 

[Maggot Brain]

I've been wanting to pick up more of the SS JCM800 amps from the 80s and figured they must just be more powerful Lead 12s but from combing the internet they don't seem to posses the same "magic" the 12 does. It seems the Lead 12 is generally the most coveted of the 80s SS and I think that speaks for itself. Although the clips of Lead 100 Mosfets on YouTube seem pretty damn impressive.

I've seen Lead 12's go for $178 to $300+ but it is fairly common to find some for around $250 and honestly it's worth every penny if you can play loud but not TOO loud (like 20w+ too loud). I smile every time I play it... It's actually the only amp I've really played since getting it and I have no interest in my other amps haha... I get excited every time I turn it out... It really does capture the Plexi sound BUT does need to be loud to get it

I had a 5210, way back when I was much younger. Essentially a SS version of the 4210 (which I hated). It does need a bit of volume to sound decent, but like the lead 12/3005 head it gets kinda nasty once you hit about 1/2 way up on the volumes. It has that typical grainy distortion of the SS Marshalls of that time period. They sound much better through good cabs at low-mid volumes.

It's fun, for a 40 year old SS amp. I would only seek one out for nostalgia purposes, collector purposes, or I simply came across one that was under typical asking price- it's a good practice amp, and records decently at low to moderate volumes. I don't recall thinking much of the reverb on either my 4210 or the 5210.

I haven't played the other SS Marshalls yet but I can assure the opposite is true for the Lead 12, the lower the volume the worse it sounds. The Lead 12 thrives at a volume of about 8, the louder it gets the better and more "tube like" it sounds.

I use my Lead 12 like a NMV, I leave the MV at around 8 (nice sweet spot) or dimed and use the Gain control to dial in volume/crunch.

Couple things.

If you like a quiet amp without any hum at
idle ( unless master and gain cranked up full)
then stay within the realm of the one channel amps. All the switchers/reverbs of those amps
have idle hum/reverb-hiss from acceptable to not acceptable levels.

Secondly, Maggotbrain cranks the 12, blasts
a fuzz into it and plays Hendrix style, unless
cranked it sounds crappy/with sputtery distortion on crunchtones. There really is no
crunch in the Lead12/5010 amps, they sputter until the signal is squished so much that crunchtone is over and typical 80s preamp tone is reached.

If you want balls, stay away from the 12, i had
all the SS from the 80s except the lead20 and the 12 just had not enough growl and grunt
for even attempting to play AC/DC type rock.
The others had atleast a little bit of low mids.

I guess you could crank the 50 into a lower
wattage speaker to get the same speaker
compression like a lead12 into a 10inch,
but its slipperyslope because even though a
25watt greenback is rated for tube-watts the
power from the 50w ss might still be enough
to fry it with some nasty spikes.

And it will be way louder than cranking a 12.

I had more luck getting more realistic crunchtones out of the channelswitchers, they
too have the fizzies, but not as sputtery like the
singlechannel amps.

Idk if this help or not.

The absolute best 80s MarshSS amps are the
3210 because of the superb 4x10cab and relatively convincing sounding powerstage that doesnt fall on its ass at stagevolume like most transistoramps.

And ofcourse the 3203 because of the superb 4x10cab and the el34 powerstage.

My suggestion would be a pathfinder15 if you
want to crank the amp, miles beyond the lead12, more balls, better crunch, better sounding stock speaker.

I'm going to say the Lead 12 can DEFINITELY do crunch, it can do a pretty damn good edge of breakup too.

Also the speaker(s) make ALL the difference. I have a G10N40 (95db) and a G10 Creamback (96db) and the Creamback back WILL rattle my house on the high input with volume around 8 and gain anywhere past 5.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I have a 5010, a 30 watter that's right between the 50 watt 5210 and the 20 watt Lead 20. It definitely has the sound of the 80s solid state Marshalls. Good sounding amp. You can pretty much expect the whole series to share a certain type of sound, and they do just that.

 

[Maggot Brain]

I'll let this speak for itself.

Take in mind it was recorded with my phone and a cheap USB mic.

 

['2204']

Here`s my 5010 w/ the MV around '3' [9 o`clock or so]. Sorry that my guitar is slightly 'out-of-tune' & a little 'flat'. But the amp sounds great i think! Definitely some 'Garage Junk!'

 

[Joesatch]

the tone here is pretty darnn good. This is a similar model. SS Marshall combo,

 

[mrjones2004x]

I had a 5210 recently and it’s clean with reverb was great. The drive channel was a bit limited if playing low volumes. Gain control doesn’t seem to do much for most of the sweep but last little bit of the turn goes full on metal which sounds great up loud but very buzzy and thin with low volume.
To sum it up I’d say Ac/dc sound to full metal with no in between if playing low volume. With high volume the gain seems to work much better.

You can also run the two channels together and blend how you like if you remove the Footswitch from the back which can sound really nice too.

The stock speaker was ok but not great. Sounded much better through my g12h & g12m

 

[mr_tornado_head]

I think the 5210 is closer to the 5275 and 3210/3310 than the Lead series.
The Lead series (Lead 12/Lead 20/Master Lead 30) have more simple preamps and standard transistor power amps, while the "Split Channel/Reverbs" have a bit more complex preamp and Mosfet output section.

They don't really sound the same. To *me*, they both sound good. The MOSFET amps have a smoother distortion characteristic than the Lead series. I'm finding that after all these years of tube amps, I'm really liking the change to the Lead series, specifically the Master Lead 30 (5010).

 

[Seven]

So I started checking out Lead 12s because of @Maggot Brain. I noticed they’re running a little pricier than I’d like to pay for a little 1x10 combo, so I started searching for larger channel switching SS Marshall combos, just to see how much more I could get for a few more bucks.

And I stumbled onto the 5210. I checked the schematic, and it looks like it uses op amp clipping like the Lead 12 does. There aren’t really any decent sound clips of the 5210 that I could find, though.

So for $120 more I could get a 50w 1x12 with channel switching and reverb. But how do they sound? I found some impressive clips of the Lead 12; is the 5210 in the same ballpark? Thanks for any info!

I have a Marshall 5210 1x12 Combo. It's a decent solid state practice amp and the drive/distortion channel is just okay and will provide enough gain for lead parts. (Not enough for modern shreddy stuff). The cleans are also okay. It does attempt some emulated chime, but it will always be a SS amp. This era of SS Marshall amps were attempting to emulate the JCM800 tones, but it's just not realistic. The Marshall MOSFET 100 is as close to the 800 as I've ever come in a SS amp. I would upload some iPhone tones of the MOSFET, but haven't figured out how to do that.

Ironically, I just gave the MOSFET to my son and the bottom half of a stack and he's over the moon with it. The amp does the 80's very well and you don't have to change tubes/valves.

Anyway, I abused my 5210 and now it needs new caps, so it just sits. New tube/valve heads get fed before SS stuff. Anyway, the originally 5210 speaker is interesting in that it's vented in the center of the magnet and the frame has a greenish brownish color to it. There's not enough wattage to heat the cone or magnet, but I do think the original speaker is where the mild chime is mostly coming from.

These are aging amps so if you buy one, make sure to check it out first or be able to return it. If the output starts choking (my term) after it heats up, the caps need replaced or the power supply side is cooked.

There's nothing in the 5210 that you can't find in a newer SS Marshall. The 5210 is not loud enough for even a mild band rehearsal (IMO) but at least has the 80's vintage look.

Just remember, amps, pedals and even the guitar is a circuit. There's nothing new really.

Speakers are where the noise comes out of.

 

[jmerwin62]

So I started checking out Lead 12s because of @Maggot Brain. I noticed they’re running a little pricier than I’d like to pay for a little 1x10 combo, so I started searching for larger channel switching SS Marshall combos, just to see how much more I could get for a few more bucks.

And I stumbled onto the 5210. I checked the schematic, and it looks like it uses op amp clipping like the Lead 12 does. There aren’t really any decent sound clips of the 5210 that I could find, though.

So for $120 more I could get a 50w 1x12 with channel switching and reverb. But how do they sound? I found some impressive clips of the Lead 12; is the 5210 in the same ballpark? Thanks for any info!

I just rehabed the pots on my 5210. It's got a great clean sould. The distortion channel has an odd feature (I'm told). Cranking the gain from 0-9 gives a very mild distortion. There are some good sounds in there and frankly that's where I may leave it. But when you get to 9.1, the chain saw engages. Good for what it is, but I'd prefer somewher between the two extreemes or maybe just a bit more control of the chain saw.

I'm told (from another post) that the issue is the master volume it too low. If I crank it up, the gain will perform better. Something I can't try at night. Or frankly use if it is true. I may just add an attenuator. Just didn't think I would need to on a solid state amp.

 

[Blacksabbath1987]

I have a 5010, a 30 watter that's right between the 50 watt 5210 and the 20 watt Lead 20. It definitely has the sound of the 80s solid state Marshalls. Good sounding amp. You can pretty much expect the whole series to share a certain type of sound, and they do just that.

I have a 5210 as well and it kicks ass I placed another hard to find 4ohm match Marshall G12T in it woke it up I wouldn’t part with it and a Valvestate 8040 and it kicks butt as well and yes you have to turn them up that’s MARSHALL for yeah I own a JCM800 and a 1959 Plexi Marshall there all the same once you get that volume up it shines

 

[Blacksabbath1987]

I have a 5210 as well and it kicks ass I placed another hard to find 4ohm match Marshall G12T in it woke it up I wouldn’t part with it and a Valvestate 8040 and it kicks butt as well and yes you have to turn them up that’s MARSHALL for yeah I own a JCM800 and a 1959 Plexi Marshall there all the same once you get that volume up it shines

And one more thing it’s reliable……it’s the same circuit as the Marshall Mosfet bigger brother 100 watt version which is clearly close to the JCM800 circuitry place a overdrive, Tube screamer , And Compressor in front of it and your favorite delay mine rattles the windows in my basement Lol It’s all in the know how once you own one and play around with it . If I listened to what others said I would have never picked some of great gear I have over the years and surely would have missed out on the sound I was looking for
Happy searching bro’s my 2- cents

 

[spyman]

So I started checking out Lead 12s because of @Maggot Brain. I noticed they’re running a little pricier than I’d like to pay for a little 1x10 combo, so I started searching for larger channel switching SS Marshall combos, just to see how much more I could get for a few more bucks.

And I stumbled onto the 5210. I checked the schematic, and it looks like it uses op amp clipping like the Lead 12 does. There aren’t really any decent sound clips of the 5210 that I could find, though.

So for $120 more I could get a 50w 1x12 with channel switching and reverb. But how do they sound? I found some impressive clips of the Lead 12; is the 5210 in the same ballpark? Thanks for any info!

 

[spyman]

I have a 5210 which I absolutely love. The original speaker is pretty crappy so I replaced it with a 16 ohm Celestion G12k85 that I had re-coned to 4 ohms and it sounds magnificent. I was playing a gig recently and a number of people complimented me on the sound and asked me what the amp was, they were surprised that it was solid state and how warm it sounded. A speaker upgrade will do wonders for this fantastic amp. You can use an 8 ohm speaker in these things and they'll work just fine, won't be quite as loud as having a 4 ohm speaker but other than that, no concerns. With the gain turned up on the amp I just use my guitar volume knob to clean things up if I want, and get a nice juicy cleaner tone. They look super cool, not too heavy to haul around and housed in a solid birch cabinet as well.

 

[Mike_LA]

For the money I'd rather have an AVT-50

50 watts
12" speaker
2 channel
reverb
FX loop
single 12AX7 preamp

I've had 4, sold the last 3 to friends, never more than $200.
The one that I have now is in perfect condition, I watched it on CL, it went from $250 down to $99.
I couldn't pass it up for that price.
Don't waste your time on those little practice amps.