Marshall Major

A Marshall Major.

The Marshall Major (also nicknamed "the Pig"^[1] ) was a guitar amplifier made by Marshall. It was introduced in 1967 as the "Marshall 200" (in reference to the wattage of the amplifier). It had a plexi front panel and only three knobs: volume, bass, and treble. In 1968 the name "Marshall Major" began to appear on the back panel, and a presence control was added in front. Eventually by 1969 the 200 watt Major was available in lead, bass, and PA versions.

The Marshall Major used KT88 output tubes^[2], an ECC82 (12AU7) driver, and two ECC83 (12AX7) preamp tubes.^[3] Approximately 1200 of these amps were produced from 1967 to 1974. ^[4] Proper functioning of these amps at full volume depended on the KT88 tube. US users commonly tried substituting 6550 tubes, but they couldn't take the high plate voltage (approximately 600 volts), the exception being the GE 6550a tube which sounds good and handles the higher voltages. When sub-standard output tubes were used in these amps, they sometimes shorted out and sometimes literally melted, taking other components with them. Marshall ceased production when the supply of KT88 tubes ran out.^[4]

The Major is considered by many to be one of the finest guitar amplifiers ever made. The amplifier was mainly used by rock musicians who needed lots of volume on stage. A notable user is Richie Blackmore; his Major had the two input channels cascaded into one for additional gain. Uli Jon Roth uses two Majors at right angles to each other on stage. Mick Ronson and others swore by their "Pigs".^[4] Majors in original condition have significant collector's value and easily fetch upwards of 1500 dollars at resale. Transformer sets are known to have sold for 500 dollars (the original Partridge transformers are very rare and there are replacements but they're equally as expensive and difficult to find).

Versions

In addition the 1967 Lead model which is the best known version, the Marshall Major was also made as a PA amplifier, Model 1966 (from 1967 to 1971, with eight inputs in four channels; and as a bass amplifier, Model 1978 (from 1967 to 1974).^[1] The main difference between the lead version and the bass version is the cathode bypass capacitor in the first stage. Lead and bass versions can be easily interconverted with a simple (reversible) electronic modification.

Notable users

• Ritchie Blackmore^[4]
• Joe Perry^[5]
• Mick Ronson^[1]
• Stevie Ray Vaughan^[6]
• John Frusciante
• Uli Jon Roth

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Doyle, Michael (1993). The history of Marshall: the illustrated story of "the sound of rock". Hal Leonard. pp. 43–45. ISBN 9780793525096. http://books.google.com/books?id=E90tMBs9_FEC&pg=PA45. 
2. ^ Fliegler, Ritchie; Jon F. Eiche (1993). Amps!: the other half of rock 'n' roll. Hal Leonard. p. 15. ISBN 9780793524112. http://books.google.com/books?id=NgG8bmBayLwC&pg=PA15. 
3. ^ http://www.drtube.com/marshall.htm#Major
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Pittman, Aspen (2003). The Tube Amp Book. Hal Leonard. pp. 75–76. ISBN 9780879307677. http://books.google.com/books?id=JT1I7Ld76YsC&pg=PA75. 
5. ^ Prown, Pete; Lisa Sharken (2003). Gear Secrets of the Guitar Legends: How to Sound Like Your Favorite Players. Hal Leonard. p. 55. ISBN 9780879307516. http://books.google.com/books?id=vqQjuzPrqIwC&pg=PA55. 
6. ^ Kitts, Jeff (1997). Guitar world presents Stevie Ray Vaughan: ... from the pages of Guitar World magazine. Hal Leonard. p. 113. ISBN 9780793580804. http://books.google.com/books?id=Mf6L5Q3_62IC&pg=PA113.