Marshall 1987XL Vintage Series 50W Tube Head  

This amp is Just about everything I could ask for. I?ve had it for over two years now. With the right tubes and speakers, I can get a very clean almost like a Fender. Almost. I bought a "power breaker" so I can crank it up to 10 and get that epic Marshall distortion. Outside of a tuner, I don't have peddles. I can get an amazing tone from the amp, speakers, and guitar. The power breaker is the only down side of it to me. I?ve seen other Marshalls that have something like this built in, and I hope to soon modify mine like those. I love the option of the four inputs and being able to mix them. However, I would love to just mix them all together or at least two and two. I could go on forever about this amp and still have a lifetime to say more about it.

I have owned this amp less that a year and find it will make you want to play.  While this amp is rated 50 watts, it is a very loud 50 watts.  I have it mated with 2 x 12 cabinet filled with Private Jack speakers (4 0hms).  The harmonics are to die for.  You put this unit with a Boss PH-3 or EHX Small Stone phaser and one has found a lot of 1970s rock tones.  I bought my used, but no real issues with it.  Please do read the manual.  There are things that one can learn about the amp from looking over it. I like the effects loop. One can put a Boss NS-2 in and cut some of the high gain noise.  Note: In the original 1987xl, no loop existed. I wish it had a reverb. That is my only real complaint.  I did have the unit vented to prevent the heat from the power tubes warping the covering.  That is another thing to consider when purchasing the amp.  It does stay a little warm. Overall, if one is going for the rock sounds of 1970s (Led Zep, Van Halen, etc...), you are going to find it here.  Buy it and enjoy.

I don't own this model, I do own a 1959slp RI which I've had for a few years.  I compared this exact head to a 72 50 watter for quite a while yesterday.  Vintage isn't BETTER its just different!  Not by much, but the vintage had more distortion (a tube change will effect that).  It was easier to get some usable feedback from the vintage but I like the bold clean power of the RI as well.  Slightly different beasts but not far apart.  And the RI's are very reliable.  These are very tweakable amps.  Once you get one everything else just doesnt seem good enough anymore!

I have a vintage Mk II with PTP and this RI doesn't even touch the sound of the classic rock. I was shocked when I turned it on, very sterile and not dynamic. There was something magic about the old era. Save your money!

What a great amp! With pedals you can dial in anything except a fender clean tone. Be aware of this before you buy....this amp is LOUD! I mean really loud! Did I mention the volume? Once you tame the volume, you get incredible tone. Put an OD pedal in front and you get classic rock to metal. The distortion in this amp has tons of harmonics and overtones. If you crank it up, you can hear reminents of Van Halen. Although, I will say it gets a little "flubby" when cranked. Higher end components would take care of this. I would never part with this amp. Had it for a year and haven't looked back since. It took a little while to dial in my tone but be patient. If you haven't messed with a non-MV amp, it will take some time. I can't compare the RI to an original but I can honestly say this sounds GREAT! You wont' be dissapointed!