Learn Guitar

Marshall's Class 5 is a five-watt, class A, all-valve combo that is has simplicity, tone and portability at its core. It's powered by three ECC83s in the preamp stage and a lone EL84 for power, making it great for practice, rehearsals and small or mic'd gigs.

It reminds me of the Cornford Harlequin Mk1 and is obviously the Marshall equivelent of what is turning out to be a popular niche of low wattage practice valve amps.

Visually the Class 5 pays homage to Marshall's revered mid-sixties 'Bluesbreaker' and 18-watt combos, with its black vinyl, 'Plexi'-style top-mounted control panel and short front insert.

Don't be fooled bu the fact this amp is only 5 watts as it has enough grunt for rehearsals and it can also deal with unmic'd small gigs.

The overall tonality has the feel of a 'Plexi'/Bluesbreaker, with hints of that punch-in-the-chest mid-range, but softened and rounded slightly because of the lower power and, doubtless, the EL84 power valve. Try it with a Strat with the volume up full and you'll have a classic Jimi Hendrix / 1960s Beck sound.

Switch to humbuckers on a Gibson-style guitar and things start overdriving much earlier. Guitar volume up full, it'll sing for solos and provide good harmonic feedback. This is Bluesbreakers-era Clapton all over – fat and compressy – through to a good AC/DC-style crunch.

Due to the nature of how this guitar works you'll struggle to get clean tones when the volume is cranked so whilst its great for rock and roll and may find its not versatile enough for some types of music. Its also way too loud for a bedroom amp so you'd best stay away if thats what your after. However those looking for a bigger sounds will love the extension speaker output – hooked up to a 4 x 12, the Class 5 sounds huge!

The amp retails at £330 and is available at most Marshal retailers.

Marshall Demo



Joe Bonamassa launches Marshall Class5 combo

Labels: amp reviews, marshall