this is a question to anyone who can help...
I've seen a bundle of Marshall Bluesbreaker and Drivemaster pedals. I think they are Mk1, and it says "Made in England" on the back of the pedal...but unlike all the other listings on eBay and reverb the serial number is ink stamped onto the battery cover rather than the top sticker. Also the serial number suggests its made in 1998, and according to some internet wisdom Marshall moved production to Korea in 1994?
I'm just looking for someone to set me straight...are these the original MK1's?
Comments
Why does it matter? They’re the same circuits. If they’re priced high on the basis of being UK-made, they’re too expensive anyway.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Anyway, I think the UK ones have some handwritten thingy inside and the circuit board is a particular colour distinct from that of the MIK ones. One is blueish-green, one is greenish-blue, I forget which is which.
Having said that, my brother has one, it does have a hand signature and the board is a different colour again.
yeah I've noticed the way people are identifying these based on circuits inside.
thanks for the info guys...
They all sound the same within certain component tolerances.
I'm a cynic, but those labels do look home made. Something about the shape, the font, and the way "Made in England" is tagged on to the end of the information about batteries and dc adapters, almost as an afterthought.
On the other hand, the barcode numbers match up with the labels on the boxes - which would be harder to fake convincingly.
Also, Marshall are known for using model numbers that have nothing to do with the year of manufacture (1974, 1958, 1962 etc.), so the 1998 could be a red herring.
By the time they were using that serial number format (1997 onwards) it’s the year.
The ‘19’ model numbers were actually a creation of Rose-Morris who were Marshall’s distributor in the 60s and 70s, and Marshall have very rarely used them since - only on a few cabinet models, that I can think of. 1998 in the Rose-Morris numbers is actually a Rickenbacker guitar!
If these are genuine then the only explanation is that Marshall didn't move production to Korea until at least 1998.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
“Well here's a mystery! A black box Marshall Blues Breaker pedal, boxed and with a hand written assurance from Jim Marshall himself that he would always use quality components and only make changes that would improve the quality and tone. I met Jim Marshall in the U.K. Makes sense to me. The big question I had, is, 'Had I bought an early first version pedal or the latter, supposedly less desirable higher gain model, possibly even made in Korea and not the U.K God forbid'. Well it was advertised as a Mark ii, so must be very Korean and tinny sounding right? But the vendor says, he's had a few and this one is the best sounding he has owned. Having a few counts, you see. Then to complicate matters, the item is bought - relatively inexpensively. Is it actually an early one or not? It has Made in England written on the box but also 1997. The confusion (and excitement) of it all. Well I open the case and pull everything out to start reading resistor values only to discover a JRC 072BD and the circuit labelling well out; as in resistors where caps are labelled. Nothing in this layout that I can match to the original Blues Breaker circuit or even a claimed second edition and I'm good at reading values and schematic. Well, let's plug it in. Certainly has that late parity feature (maybe it is an early one). I take a glance at Marshall's recommended setting suggestions and WHOA - it is fat and warm, but also does clean, bright, grit, you really can dime in what you actually want once you understand their suggestions. So is it a Mark i or Mark ii? Who knows, possibly neither, but we'll say Mark ii. Is is fat and warm and vintage sounding? Absolutely, if you bother to dial it in. Does it sound like an old original Blues Breaker? Surprisingly, YES! Do you prefer it to your K.O.T.? Yes So what's not to love? The Mark ii, if this is it - is delicious and highly recommended. Is it a keeper? Only time will tell, but let's put it this way, I have no regrets and it will get to mate with an original '65 Piggy Back Blackface Bandmaster with an early Zendrive as competition tomorrow and if it passes that test it will be teamed up with an old '69 Plexi with KT66's going through some vintage alnicos next time. I think we might keep this one ;-) NEWSFLASH: After pawing through acres of online rants concerning the breeding and minutiae nuances as regards Mark i and mark ii of the original Black Box Bluesbreaker pedal and further studying various schematics, here is the final word for you tone seekers of the 'Holy Grail' version. May I start by saying that the little colour banded resistor looking things in the C3, C4 designated slots ARE ACTUALLY CAPACITORS and stripe coded to read .01uF - leave them alone! The R1 value that people love is 27K and the R2 value is 33K and C3 should be 100pF (warmer, more bass). The creamier, warmer sounding , dare I say 'preferred chip' is the JRC072BD not the Texas instruments TL072 varietal . I'm please to add, my bargain pedal, sold as a mark ii has all of the above and sounded very good through the old '65 Bandmaster piggyback. Did order all the parts to mod, but nothing to do here. Good luck with your tonequest fellow warriors!”
i ended up passing on the pedals...didn’t feel it was worth selling my KOT and adding cash for those 2 pedals
I suffer to think what's being asked for that one
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Those Marshall pedals should be sub-£100 no matter where they're made. They have poor switches and jacks, and apart from that contain at most about a tenner's worth of parts. The circuit is well-known and if you want the sound, buy a copy which will have both those things fixed (and be true bypass) and come in a sensible-sized casing...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein