What happened to the Marshall MA100h Amp?

[Wolf-3D]

MA!

View attachment 91616

Here’s the inside

 

[Chris-in-LA]

That’s pretty trippy. And they balance it by putting a transformer on each end!

 

[Wolf-3D]

That’s pretty trippy. And they balance it by putting a transformer on each end!

It’s an interesting amp, the guy who worked on it had me in there talking for over an hour, haha. But he did a fine job. Sounds better than the others I’ve listened to. A lot warmer. Say how do you erase comments btw? I didn’t post photos properly on an earlier response

 

[Chris-in-LA]

It’s an interesting amp, the guy who worked on it had me in there talking for over an hour, haha. But he did a fine job. Sounds better than the others I’ve listened to. A lot warmer. Say how do you erase comments btw? I didn’t post photos properly on an earlier response

I don’t think you can delete a comment completely. Maybe if it’s a duplicate. Otherwise you just delete the text and leave a single period.

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

I don’t think you can delete a comment completely. Maybe if it’s a duplicate. Otherwise you just delete the text and leave a single period.

That’s the only way I know how to do it..

 

[Georgiatec]

When Marshall first started making affordable amps in Asia it was very fashionable to piss on their chips....mostly by folk that had never played them.
The Haze amps were made in India and suffered a similar reception. The 40 combo did have issues, Good sounding amps though.
The MA series was trying to fill the gap left by the JCM600 and JTM30/60 amps. Affordable valve amps for players that didn't want to drop serious money on UK built products. This also included the Hybrid JMD-1 (digital pre-amp models of Marshall classics into a traditional Marshall EL34 valve power amp).
I think their lack of success was more to do with their build origin than their capability. I think since then, people have got more used to the idea of amps, like everything else, being built in Asia and the DSL amps have been a great success for Marshall, ironically with a better reliability rep than their UK made JCM2000 predecessors.

 

[fitz]

Ok, now I want to know how @Wolf-3D burned out a Boss DD-3 WITH a perfectly logical explanation.

 

[El Gringo]

I remember seeing the MA100 years back when I was looking for a Marshall. I wanted to try one but my local shops didn't have them. Are they voiced similarly to the Valvestate amps? Those were great for that 90's scooped metal tone.

You just read my mind as I instantly thought the same

 

[El Gringo]

When Marshall first started making affordable amps in Asia it was very fashionable to piss on their chips....mostly by folk that had never played them.
The Haze amps were made in India and suffered a similar reception. The 40 combo did have issues, Good sounding amps though.
The MA series was trying to fill the gap left by the JCM600 and JTM30/60 amps. Affordable valve amps for players that didn't want to drop serious money on UK built products. This also included the Hybrid JMD-1 (digital pre-amp models of Marshall classics into a traditional Marshall EL34 valve power amp).
I think their lack of success was more to do with their build origin than their capability. I think since then, people have got more used to the idea of amps, like everything else, being built in Asia and the DSL amps have been a great success for Marshall, ironically with a better reliability rep than their UK made JCM2000 predecessors.

+1 and on point

 

[Georgiatec]

Ok, now I want to know how @Wolf-3D burned out a Boss DD-3 WITH a perfectly logical explanation.

I don't know how he did it, but I blew one by connecting a 8.4v ni-cad battery via the 9v DC input....smoke, lots of smoke, very bad amounts of smoke.

 

[RLW59]

Compare the tiny transformers in the MA100 to JCM 800 transformers:


The MA100 power transformer is particularly puny.

Big iron has a different sound and feel. More headroom, more definition, more punch, more bass. (While the power transformer doesn't see the audio signal, its current capacity has a big affect on the amp's dynamics.)

 

[acevh00]

I bought a MA50 head in the past, but I sold it after 10 days. It had really a scarce tone, especially at low volumes, and wasn't able to accept pedals decently.
Tone was flat, lacking of bass and mids and without any dynamic.
Maybe with some mods and changing tubes......

 

[renips]

I was jammung with some guys, one of mine a friend with a MA 100. I had my HAZE 40c. The drummer kept asking why is that(Haze 40c )so much louder? It sounded much fuller than MA. That might be why it did not catch on. And yes TUBE/Transistor

 

[Caleb Thacker]

I've bought and resold.. and rebuilt quite a bit of amps over the years.. I bought an MA100H around 4 years ago and resold it 8 weeks later . Here is what I can tell you about the "quality" vs other well known Marshall amps. First off. It should be noted that I am an 8 string player exclusively. I play in double drop E which is a bit alien.. and I have to use amps and cabs that can accommodate this.. the cab I played this amp thru was a Jackson JS 4x12 with the 4 red eminence removed.. and replaced with 2x Cetec Gauss 12s and 2x RFC L12s in an x pattern wired in parallel for a 16 ohm load. I ran only the MA100H and as a firm believer in high end outboard parametric ..I NEVER do without a mid embellishment regardless of what head im using. So ...the modded Cab.. MA100H in some light seafoam hint of blue wrap I got for $220 shipped. And resold for $450. And lastly.. HBB radius tube parametric wrapped up running thru a hush super C. Guitar used was a Sub-Zero Generation Pro 8 Fanned Fret.. ok.. so right away.. the Distortion channel was a bit sizzly.. I chose to tame this with a tube switch out to shuguang vintage brown labels.. AFTER that particular switch . It was BETTER GEARED FOR METAL THAN MY 6L6 JCM 4100 head.. Tho not nearly as tight and not quite as warm. BUT brand slavery aside... Honest opinion of it.. is it was TRULY A PHENOMENAL 100 head FOR THE PRICE POINT.. I'd go as far to say best in class in the used market with the exception of the B52. AT100..ATX100 ST100..the PEAVEY VALVEKING VK100... And the LINE 6 SPIDER VALVE HD100 MKii. Although is would take the B52 AT100 Rectifier or the Bogner-Built Spider Valve over any of them ..in all honesty .. that aside . Don't let anyone tell you it's a piece of sh*t.. FAR F***ING FROM IT. It has VERY usable cleans.. takes pedals well.. with little investment can stall tall with it's bigger siblings.. the Distortion channel is CERTAINLY geared toward the modern Hi Gain player and geared well with a bit of tweaking.. and in the end it IS a Marshall tube amp! And they didn't become the GIANT they are.. from simply tossing together 100 watts of budget Asian bullsh*t. No way no how.. it is a quality product and you would be HARD PRESSED to find ANY AMP
. as good as that one.. pumping out 100 tube watts at the sub $300-$400 pricepoint in any realm.

 

[Caleb Thacker]

And having said that.. might as well add that BEHRINGER DOESNT SUCK EITHER.. AND BUGERA IS NOT UNDEPENDABLE ... BOTH COMPANIES MANUFACTURE EXCEPTIONAL PRODUCTS IN MORE THAN ONE MILIEU OF LIVE SOUND OR RECORDING.. ESPECIALLY BUGERA! Infinium technology is a f***king fallen angel come to Earth via Godsend! No biasing ever? And every tube you choose to throw in INDIVIDUALLY operates at its highest optimized level at all times, then alerts you BEFORE it starts to fail when weakness is basically EN ROUTE?! Yeah..

Both companies... One intrinsic of the other.. are awesome too.

DEATH TO GRATUITOUS WANKERY, GUITAR-SNOBS AND BRAND SLAVERY!

Free thinkers make for better artists

 

[Caleb Thacker]

Amen

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I had an MA50 for a while. Couldn't get a tone out of it that I liked very much. Then again, I had a DSL100H, and the same could be said for it even though OTHER people can get tones out of them that I like.

I just keep going back to the Superlead tone, modded or stock.

 

[SupDog]

I messed with the crunch balance, and the presence/resonance knobs a lot. Never maxed the gain or anything. It was pretty solid. The ma100h def had more than the 50watt. But then again I used new jj tubes to give it a warmer punch. I used it as a practice amp & gigged a few times more than anything. My guitar was on point. Just wondered the back story of what transpired with it

I picked up the MA100C combo recently and am trying to work on the tone. The first step is to replace the speakers - the Eminence AX75s in this case are not great. I have been doing speaker only tests and have found those to be the source of much fizziness. I have a G12M65 Creamback and will be mixing it with a G12H75 when that comes in. I am first switching out the 1B pre-amp tube with the 12AU7 instead of the 12AX 7(equivalent) that is currently in place. Many people indicate that the bias came out of the factory out of whack, so will do that as a next step. I will switch out the power tubes if needed but am trying to do things one at a time so I can get better info about cause and effects. There are other mods I am looking at, but I believe this amp can provide DSL tones easily since it shares much of the same architecture. I will update the post either way with my findings. I think the MA was one of the first Vietnamese builds and had a few bugs such as none of the reverb tank wires being connected! Lol

 

[Dogs of Doom]

I picked up the MA100C combo recently and am trying to work on the tone. The first step is to replace the speakers - the Eminence AX75s in this case are not great. I have been doing speaker only tests and have found those to be the source of much fizziness. I have a G12M65 Creamback and will be mixing it with a G12H75 when that comes in. I am first switching out the 1B pre-amp tube with the 12AU7 instead of the 12AX 7(equivalent) that is currently in place. Many people indicate that the bias came out of the factory out of whack, so will do that as a next step. I will switch out the power tubes if needed but am trying to do things one at a time so I can get better info about cause and effects. There are other mods I am looking at, but I believe this amp can provide DSL tones easily since it shares much of the same architecture. I will update the post either way with my findings. I think the MA was one of the first Vietnamese builds and had a few bugs such as none of the reverb tank wires being connected! Lol

just my opinion, but...

IMO you should start w/ the bias (if off), then do the rest of your tone hunting. Before you go on a tone rabbit hunting chase, it's always best to make sure that the amp is operating correctly, in the 1st place.

It would suck, to spend all sorts of money, when you could have simply biased it & gotten the result you wanted...

 

[Sg-ocaster]

First question, why do you have poll about a "burned out" BOSS DD-3 imbedded in a post about a Marshall MA 100H? A bit confusing. As for the MA 100H, never owned one, so not sure why they don't seem to get much mention.

Haha I read the poll then scrolled down read a few sentences and scrolled back up and reread the poll again twice....
Edit: and appearently didnt read the date of this thread during any of it........Oops