Help needed with old and rare Marshall Amp

barryd

Sat in my spare room is one of these. I was gobsmacked when I saw the price. https://reverb.com/item/65097035-marshall-jmp-4140-club-and-country-2-channel-100-watt-2x12-guitar-combo-1979 although its not in as good nick as that one really.  I bought it in 1986 with a load of other gear for fifty quid.  I used to use it regularly up until the late 2000s just for jamming.  Its not been used for over  a decade as I discovered a few years back that it would no longer power up.  The light just flickers briefly but then nothing.  I seem to remember none of the effects worked either but it did have a nice tone and was great with pedals. A similar one here on ebay sold as "Not working for parts" went for over £600 in January. https://tinyurl.com/r678e8ks

I am never going to play it again not least because it doesn't work but I only really record now and Im disabled so I cant lug it around anyway.  I think it needs a new home. Someone who will restore it and use it.

I am just not sure how best to proceed.  Sell it as is on Ebay, send it to a guitar repair shop or maybe someone on here might be interested to either buy it or repair it and maybe we go halves on the sale price.

This is the actual beast.  Any thoughts?

GavRichList

this thread may as well have been titled "FAO @ICBM"

impmann

Killer amps, these - I loved mine and I'm not normally a fan of Marshalls. Weighed the same as the car I was driving back then, though..

Wasn't SRV a fan too, IIRC....

barryd

impmann said:

Killer amps, these - I loved mine and I'm not normally a fan of Marshalls. Weighed the same as the car I was driving back then, though..

Wasn't SRV a fan too, IIRC....

Yep. Its heavy alright. I think 27kg it says in that ad.  It does have wheels though but that wont make any difference getting it down the stairs which is not happening on my own for sure. 

barryd

I should have maybe said where I am. I am right at the top of North Yorkshire between Barnard Castle and Richmond.

timmypix

Bear in mind the listed price on the example you've linked to might not be entirely realistic - look at the model page on Reverb and you can see previously sold examples are generally significantly below that asking price.

https://reverb.com/uk/p/marshall-4140-club-and-country-2x12-guitar-combo-amp

barryd

timmypix said:

Bear in mind the listed price on the example you've linked to might not be entirely realistic - look at the model page on Reverb and you can see previously sold examples are generally significantly below that asking price.

https://reverb.com/uk/p/marshall-4140-club-and-country-2x12-guitar-combo-amp

Cant find that page, are you able to link to it please?

I did think it sounded ambitious but my local dealer quoted me a similar price. Maybe he just googled it and came up with that ad! 

If its not worth anywhere near that much I wonder if its worth just sticking it on ebay as is for parts not working with a reserve price.

timmypix

barryd said:

timmypix said:

Bear in mind the listed price on the example you've linked to might not be entirely realistic - look at the model page on Reverb and you can see previously sold examples are generally significantly below that asking price.

https://reverb.com/uk/p/marshall-4140-club-and-country-2x12-guitar-combo-amp

Cant find that page, are you able to link to it please?

I did think it sounded ambitious but my local dealer quoted me a similar price. Maybe he just googled it and came up with that ad! 

If its not worth anywhere near that much I wonder if its worth just sticking it on ebay as is for parts not working with a reserve price.

It's the page I've linked to under my text, you just need to scroll down a fair bit to get to the price guide section.

Sassafras

It's the only Marshall I've ever liked.

ICBM

GavRichList said:

this thread may as well have been titled "FAO @ICBM"

lol



I had two of the much more common 4140 2x12” version in the late 80s/early 90s - I replaced the rather dull McKenzie speakers with Celestion G12-65s. Amazing amp, very un-Marshall-like. Technically the circuit is really a Twin Reverb copy with EL34s and no tremolo, plus a post-phase-inverter master volume - the first on any production amp I know of.

The 2x12” model also has an association with Stevie Ray Vaughn - he used one around the same time. I think £2,250 is a bit high, but not by that much for a clean example. The 4145 4x10” guitar model is rarer but probably not worth any more - yours is the much rarer 4150 bass version, but given that valve bass combos aren’t that desirable now it’s probably worth a bit less. Here’s one that sold recently…

https://reverb.com/uk/p/marshall-jmp-4150-club-and-country-compressor-bass-amp-100-watt-4x10-bass-combo-1978-1981?ended_listing=1659845

If the power light flickers briefly and it doesn’t power up but doesn’t blow any fuses, it may well just the the switch that’s faulty - they’re prone to that. Get it looked over by someone who know what they’re doing, it’s unlikely to not be worth getting it fixed if you want to sell it.

NB - the wheels are a hazard. If you accidentally leave it with them all pointing backwards the amp will topple over. There is a reason I know this .

impmann

Oops, early in the am when I replied - mine was a 2x12 guitar amp... hadn't spotted it was a bass amp...

Either way, good luck with it.

barryd

Thanks for all the help.  Im kind of confused now though as to which model this is. Looks like its the 4150 then. Serial number is 04206L which I think depicts the year as 1979 from memory. 

The speakers in the back though appear to be 2 x Marshall Celestian. I think they are 12s but not sure.



Its odd as I plugged it in just now and the light flickers just a tiny bit but I could also hear a very faint buzz. Plugged a guitar in though and nothing.

Just not sure how to proceed.

ICBM

That’s very interesting - I’ve never even heard of a 2x12” bass version before, but that’s what it is. Looking more closely at your first pic, it’s unfortunate that someone has scrubbed off the ‘Bass’ script… that does probably devalue it a fair bit (even though it may seem trivial).

The speakers are Fanes, I think - definitely not Celestion, from the frames and terminal strips. McKenzie used similar frames but without the ‘ribs’ and as far as I know always painted red or black. One of the terminals is broken - it’s easily repairable, but be careful you don’t pull it and break the cone braid.

If the buzzing comes from the switch itself it’s probably the fault - any decent tech can replace it, but make sure you use the exact correct type (available from Marshall) as they have a separate connection for the neon so it can be run at 240V or 120V (selector on the back of the amp).

If you really can’t face moving it, you can probably sell it as-is - there are always optimists willing to buy unworking old amps if they think the fault is trivial. You’ll have to take a lot less, but if you just want it gone it’s maybe the easiest option. I would still start at about £500 though.

barryd

ICBM said:

That’s very interesting - I’ve never even heard of a 2x12” bass version before, but that’s what it is. Looking more closely at your first pic, it’s unfortunate that someone has scrubbed off the ‘Bass’ script… that does probably devalue it a fair bit (even though it may seem trivial).

The speakers are Fanes, I think - definitely not Celestion, from the frames and terminal strips. McKenzie used similar frames but without the ‘ribs’ and as far as I know always painted red or black. One of the terminals is broken - it’s easily repairable, but be careful you don’t pull it and break the cone braid.

If the buzzing comes from the switch itself it’s probably the fault - any decent tech can replace it, but make sure you use the exact correct type (available from Marshall) as they have a separate connection for the neon so it can be run at 240V or 120V (selector on the back of the amp).

If you really can’t face moving it, you can probably sell it as-is - there are always optimists willing to buy unworking old amps if they think the fault is trivial. You’ll have to take a lot less, but if you just want it gone it’s maybe the easiest option. I would still start at about £500 though.

Thanks, Useful stuff.  If you look at a close up of the "Compressor" script if they have rubbed it off you cant tell.  Also if you look at the writing on the speaker it does say "made in England by Rola Celestian.  So its a bloody mystery then as it does look like its 2 x 12" Bass Compressor 4150. Maybe its so rare its like that watch in Only Fools and horses and its worth six Million quid. 

I would probably take £500 for it though. It would be great to see it restored though and working but how?  Will have to do a bit of searching for a specialist. I was kind of hoping some vintage Amp guru on here would jump at the chance.

Moe_Zambeek

Looking at other versions of this bass variant, those stickers look exactly the same as the ones on the Celestion 10s. I reckon someone has converted it to 2x12 and taken the stickers off the tens and stuck the old labels on the new speakers...

ICBM

barryd said:

Also if you look at the writing on the speaker it does say "made in England by Rola Celestian.  So its a bloody mystery then as it does look like its 2 x 12" Bass Compressor 4150. Maybe its so rare its like that watch in Only Fools and horses and its worth six Million quid. 

That's very interesting - they are clearly Fanes not Celestions. I can only wonder if Marshall put those stickers on because they didn't have the right stickers? Maybe your amp is a super rare prototype! (I don't know - but it's not listed in any documentation I can see.)

Celestion frames and terminals from that era look like this:




And Fane ones like this...



They have used a lot more frame and terminal types than Celestion, but the ribs on the frame legs and those particular terminals are definitely Fane.

Winny_Pooh

Does it have aluminium dustcaps on the speaker cones? I had a vertical 2x12 Marshall cab that came stock with such Mckenzie speakers. Get it repaired, a sale of a working amp will yield more.

barryd

I wonder if its worth collating the info in this thread and contacting Marshall.  Its all a bit confusing.