I once played through a Marshall JCM 800 Combo, not sure what year the model was, and I was stunned by the lack of gain on the amp.  But… but everyone used this thing for awesome high gain sounds!  What was going on?  The problem was that most people use a boost pedal of some type in front of  a JCM 800 to get their sound.  That was a surprise to me.

So when I heard that Marshall had done something similar with their new Origin series, I sort of knew what to expect.  This weekend I finally had a chance to sit down with the 50 and 20 watt combo versions of this amp.  And?

And I don’t know what the folks at Marshall were smoking.  Does anyone really want a Marshall amp that can barely distort?  Is that what people think of when they think Marshall?  No.  This amp is a “poor man’s JCM 800,” but just like with the JCM 800 combo I once played, you’re going to need to use a pedal for more than just a teeny amount of breakup.  For some folks, that might be attractive.  For me it isn’t.

The Good

I love the way this amp looks.  And when I plugged a nice American Strat into it and played clean, it did sound really good.  I found the tone controls to be… wait, this is the “good” section, so… the tone controls seemed to kind of work.  The amp had a big clean sound, as you’d expect from a $700 combo amp with a 12 inch speaker.  If you only play clean, you might shoot this out against the more expensive Fender Deluxe Reverb.  And it has an effects loop, which I love on an amp.  It has a preamp volume/boost, which is nice in theory.

The Bad

Actually, don’t shoot it out against the Deluxe Reverb, which has a nice REVERB in it, unlike this amp.  That’s where the effects loop comes in.  So plan on $100 to $200 for a reverb pedal that you’ll plug into the effects loop.  Also plan on a nice boost or dirt pedal, because you’ll need it.  Let’s talk about the gain sound.  Preamp on 10, boost enabled, and… it sort of breaks up a bit.  It sounds, dare I say it, like a Fender breaking up.  Like a Blues Junior or something.  That’s not the Marshall sound I know and love.

The Ugly

This amp was designed for people who only play clean and don’t want any reverb.  Or for people who want to roll the clock back to a time when Marshall amps didn’t have enough gain, so people used pedals in front of them.  I get the retro vibe thing.  It’s just that there are a lot of much better amps out there for $700.  Blackstar, Orange, Peavey, Fender, and, well, Marshall all make better $700 amps than this one.

It’s not that I think this amp sounds bad.  Actually it sounds rather good clean.  And like I’ve mentioned a million times already, if you use a pedal in front of it, it’ll sound good dirty.  I wouldn’t gig with it.  But again, I’m a guy who likes to get his dirt from his amp.  If you use dirt pedals, you might give this amp a play and see what you think.

If you DO get this amp, get the 50, not the 20.  The 20 sounds small.