Somewhere between the clean shimmer of a Fender blackface and the gain-saturated brutalism of modern high-gain amps lives a narrow, glorious corridor of tone that changed music permanently. It is the sound of power-amp tubes being pushed past their comfort zone by a circuit that has no master volume, no channel switching, no digital anything — just raw input sensitivity, a three-band EQ, a Presence control, and the sheer voltage of two EL34 output tubes fighting their way into a speaker cabinet at fifty watts. That corridor has a name. It is called the Plexi. And the Marshall 1987X is the company’s own reissue of the amp that opened it.
The “1987” is not a year. It is a Marshall model number — the designation assigned in 1965 to the 50-watt Lead version of the JTM45 MkII family. Its 100-watt sibling, the Model 1959 Super Lead, is covered in a dedicated feature at Rank 377. The two amps share a preamp topology that has been copied, cloned, modded, and worshipped for sixty years. But the 50-watt version has its own personality — compressed, harmonic, singing at lower absolute volumes — and its own verified chapter in rock history. Angus Young reached for one when he needed something the 100-watt couldn’t deliver. That is the clearest endorsement any piece of gear can receive.
This is the story of where the 1987X comes from, what it actually does, who has verifiably played it, and whether the current UK-built reissue at $2,299.99 is a serious working amplifier or a collector’s shrine.
From the JTM45 to the Plexi: Marshall’s Fifty-Watt Evolution
Jim Marshall started building amplifiers in the back of his drum shop in Hanwell, London in 1962. His first design — what became the JTM45 — was heavily informed by the Fender Bassman 5F6-A circuit, with British substitutions where American components were unavailable. GZ34 rectifier instead of silicon, KT66 power tubes instead of 6L6s, and input and driver stages reflecting what was on the bench in Hanwell rather than in Fullerton, California. The result was louder, harder, and more aggressive than the Bassman at equivalent volume, with a midrange character that cut through a band rather than sitting under it.
By 1965, the demand from British guitarists had turned the JTM45 family into a range rather than a model. Marshall assigned separate model numbers to each application: 1985 for the PA head, 1986 for the Bass head, and 1987 for the Lead head. A fourth variant, the 1989, covered the Organ market. These were all 50-watt designs running on the original KT66 power tubes that defined the JTM45 sound.
The plexiglass front panel — the visual signature that gave the entire family its nickname — arrived in roughly the same period, used across Marshall’s range from approximately 1965 to 1969. The panels were practical, not aesthetic: plexiglass was cheap, mouldable, and available from commercial suppliers. Nobody called it a “Plexi” at the time. The name came later, from collectors and technicians in the 1980s who needed a way to distinguish the clear-panelled 1960s heads from the brushed-metal “JMP” versions that followed in 1969–70.
In early 1966, Marshall engineers made a change that altered the fundamental character of the 50-watt line: they switched from KT66 power tubes to EL34s and moved to solid-state rectification. The KT66 is a beam tetrode with a warmer, cleaner personality and a slightly different clipping characteristic when pushed hard. The EL34 is a pentode — harder, more present in the upper midrange, and capable of a different kind of harmonic breakup when its output section is saturated. The solid-state rectifier removed the “sag” of the tube rectifier — the momentary compression on loud transients — making the new amps feel stiffer and more immediate. The switch defined what most people mean when they say “Plexi tone.” Almost every classic Plexi recording — the ones that define the canon — was made with EL34 power tubes and solid-state rectification, not the earlier KT66 variant.
When Marshall moved to the JMP era in 1969, the front panels changed from plexiglass to brushed aluminium, but the circuitry evolved gradually rather than suddenly. The true Plexi era — the two-input, four-socket, no-master-volume design with the plexiglass panel — runs from roughly 1965 to 1969. Original examples in working condition command significant money on the vintage market, with clean 1968 examples routinely selling above $10,000.
Marshall’s first official reissue of the 1987 circuit appeared in the 1990s as part of the Vintage Reissue series. The 1987X (the “X” signifying the reissue status) has been produced and refined since then, with the current UK-made version representing the most faithful rendition of the original circuit Marshall has officially offered.
Specifications
A few specs warrant direct commentary. The two channels are labelled “High Treble” (Loudness I) and “Normal” (Loudness II) — the High Treble channel has a capacitor in the signal path that boosts upper frequencies, making it brighter and more cutting, while the Normal channel is darker and fuller. Neither channel has its own EQ stack: the amp has a shared three-band EQ and Presence control that affects both channels. The volume controls for each channel are independent.
The four-input arrangement is not intended for four guitars simultaneously. Inputs 1 and 2 on each channel are simply different sensitivity levels — Input 1 is higher sensitivity (louder with a quieter signal) and Input 2 is lower sensitivity (better headroom with hot pickups). The design was intended to accommodate different instruments and pickup levels in a single-guitar context.
The FX loop is the most significant departure from the original 1987 circuit. Original Plexis had no effects loop: you plugged into the front panel and that was the signal chain. The 1987X adds a series-switchable loop, which opens the amp to time-based effects (reverb, delay, chorus) patched after the preamp stage. Whether this is an improvement depends entirely on your workflow. If you are using the amp as a pedal platform and relying on front-panel drive alone, the loop is irrelevant but harmless. If you want Plexi tone with outboard reverb that doesn’t interact with the preamp gain, the loop is genuinely useful. Purists will note the original had no loop and leave it switched out entirely.
The Circuit That Changed Everything: How a Plexi Actually Works
The Marshall 1987 circuit is deceptively simple. Three ECC83 (12AX7) preamp stages amplify the signal, the shared EQ shapes the frequency content, and two EL34 power tubes in fixed-bias Class AB push-pull configuration drive the output transformer into the speaker. There is no negative feedback loop path that would stabilise gain and reduce harmonic distortion — the circuit runs “open loop” in the output stage, which contributes directly to the characteristic harmonic richness at high volumes.
What makes the Plexi sound like it does is not one feature but the interaction of several. The shared EQ placement — between the preamp stages and the phase splitter — means that the EQ controls affect both the frequency content of the signal and how the power amp section is hit. The Presence control, which operates in the negative feedback path of the output transformer secondary, is not really a treble control: it adjusts how much of the output signal is fed back to reduce distortion, and therefore directly controls the character of the power-amp breakup rather than just the treble shelving.
The EL34 output tubes, when pushed into saturation, produce a predominantly odd-order harmonic distortion character — fifths and octaves above the fundamental — which is different from the even-order distortion of a 6L6 or 6V6. This gives the Plexi its distinctive “complex” quality: it does not simply add gain, it adds harmonically rich compression and overtones that make the guitar sound bigger and more dimensional. This is why Plexi amps are described as “musical” when saturated, and why the 100-watt and 50-watt versions feel different: the 50-watt’s EL34 pair reaches this saturation zone at a lower absolute voltage swing, meaning you reach the sweet spot at lower volume than the 100-watt requires.
In practical terms: a 1987 pushed to 7 or above on both channels behaves like a 1959 pushed to 9. You get the same fundamental character but at reduced stage volume — which is why Angus Young reached for one for solos and why modern players using a 1987X with an attenuator can access those tones without a full Marshall stack at stage volume.
The “jumpering” technique deserves specific explanation because it is essential to understanding how the 1987X is actually played by most serious users. The two channels — High Treble and Normal — have different frequency responses and slightly different gain staging. Players discovered that by connecting a short patch cable between Input 1 of one channel and Input 1 of the other (and plugging their guitar into Input 2 of either channel), they could blend both channels simultaneously into the shared EQ. The result is more harmonic complexity, earlier breakup, and a character that is distinctly different from either channel alone. Archived footage and photos of Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and many of their contemporaries show this jumpered configuration. The technique costs nothing and transforms the amplifier.
Famous Players: Separating the 50-Watt from the 100-Watt
The spreadsheet brief for this article names Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, and Angus Young as the headline artists. All four are legitimate Marshall Plexi players. But the honest answer to whether all four specifically played the 50-watt Model 1987 — rather than the 100-watt Model 1959 — requires more precision than a genre association usually provides. That precision matters here, because the 1987X is a 50-watt reissue, and a 50-watt Plexi with two EL34s is a meaningfully different circuit from a 100-watt with four.
Angus Young — Verified on the 50W 1987 Specifically
Angus Young is the most directly confirmed user of the Model 1987 on record. The source is Malcolm Young himself, quoted in Guitar World’s “AC/DC: Dirty Deeds Re-Done” feature. Asked about the Back in Black (1980) recording sessions, Malcolm stated: “In addition to the Super Leads, I think Angus went to a smaller 50-watt Marshall for his solos. Just for some extra warmth. I was still using my Marshall bass head, and I believe Cliff had a little SVT amp.”
The language “smaller 50-watt Marshall” identifies the Model 1987 (or its JMP-era equivalent) by functional description. Angus’s primary live rigs have consistently used 100-watt Super Lead 1959 heads — he is known to have as many as sixty Marshall heads available on major tours, with a full-time amp technician maintaining the stack. But for solo work in the studio, where the relationship between headroom and compression at a given volume matters enormously, the 50-watt version gave him something different: a warmer, earlier saturation point that suited the sustained, vocal quality of his lead playing.
Angus Young’s chain on Back in Black was otherwise famously direct: Gibson SG into Marshall head, no effects. The solo tone on tracks like “Hells Bells,” “Shoot to Thrill,” and “Back in Black” itself represents some of the most studied guitar tones in rock history, and a 50-watt Plexi was part of how they were made.
Jimi Hendrix — The 100-Watt Man
No honest account of the Marshall Plexi can omit Jimi Hendrix. He is inseparable from the amp’s mythology. But the most accurate description of his relationship with Marshall is that he was primarily a 100-watt Super Lead (Model 1959) player, not a 50-watt 1987 user.
His famous Woodstock rig — white Stratocaster, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Vox Cry Baby, Univibe, MXR Octavia, two Marshall heads and 4×12 cabinets — was built around a pair of 100-watt JTM100 Super Lead heads. Marshall later custom-built him the “Super 100 JH” model, also a 100-watt design. His recording for “All Along the Watchtower,” “Little Wing,” “Purple Haze,” and the Woodstock set were all captured through 100-watt Marshalls. Technician documentation confirms that he modified his amps — changing tone-stack components to a 33k resistor and 500pF capacitor combination — but the modifications were applied to 100-watt heads, not 50-watt ones.
Hendrix did not play the Model 1987 in any way that is verifiably documented to primary source standard. He played the Plexi circuit — the same preamp, the same EL34 character, the same era — but through the 100-watt version. He belongs in this article as the man whose playing made the world understand what a Marshall Plexi was capable of. His documented amp is covered in detail at Rank 377.
Jimmy Page — Super Lead and Super Bass, Primarily 100 Watts
Jimmy Page built Led Zeppelin’s guitar sound on Marshall Plexis — specifically late-1960s 100-watt Super Lead heads (Model 1959), run cranked and miked from a distance for natural room ambience. The “whiplash” rhythms of “Communication Breakdown” and the layered acoustic and electric arrangements of “Whole Lotta Love” and “Stairway to Heaven” are inseparable from the clarity and power of the 100-watt Plexi circuit.
Subsequent research has added nuance: multiple sources suggest that Page’s primary Marshall on some recordings was actually a Super Bass head (Model 1992, also a 100-watt Plexi-era design, but with a different bias and EQ tailored for bass guitars that he used for guitar). At Madison Square Garden in 1973, two Marshalls were documented on stage, with a third amp — an Orange OR200 — handling the theremin channel. His jumpered input configuration, documented in archive footage, used the channel-blend technique described above.
No verified primary source places Page specifically on a 50-watt Model 1987. He, like Hendrix, belongs in this article as a definitive Plexi player — but on the 100-watt side of the family. The 1987X’s preamp is his preamp; the power section is not.
Eddie Van Halen — The Brown Sound and the 100-Watt Variable-Voltage Plexi
Eddie Van Halen‘s “brown sound” is one of the most analysed guitar tones in history, and it is fundamentally a Plexi story. His primary amp for the early Van Halen albums — the recordings of “Eruption,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” “Panama,” and “Hot for Teacher” — was a 1967-era Marshall Super Lead 100-watt head, serial number approximately 12301, run through a Variac set to somewhere around 89 volts AC instead of the nominal 110V.
The Variac trick reduced the plate voltage on the EL34 power tubes, which lowered the clean headroom and allowed them to enter saturation at much lower input levels. The bias shifted, the tubes ran hotter relative to their reduced supply voltage, and the result was a complex, compressed, harmonically dense breakup that sat in a different register from a straight dimed Plexi. Zeke Clark, his amp tech for the 5150 tour, confirmed the Variac and the Jose Arredondo modifications (which involved circuit changes to the preamp) as permanent features of his road rig.
The important point for this article: EVH’s famous amp was a 100-watt Plexi. When people associate the model number “1987” with Van Halen, they are typically referring to the year 1987 and the album 5150, not the Marshall model designation. His actual circuit was the 1959 Super Lead family. The distinction matters because the 50-watt and 100-watt versions, while sharing a preamp, feel and respond differently — and the Variac technique applies to either, but was applied by EVH to the 100-watt version.
Other Verified 50-Watt Plexi Players
The broader pool of historically documented 50-watt Plexi users includes several names central to British rock. Paul Kossoff of Free was a confirmed user of 50-watt Marshall Plexi heads, and his slow-hand vibrato technique — legendary on recordings like “All Right Now” and “Fire and Water” — exploited the responsive compression of the 50-watt circuit in a way that a 100-watt’s greater headroom would have partially suppressed. His SG Standard into a 50-watt Plexi into a 4×12 cabinet was as pure a signal chain as the era produced.
Pete Townshend‘s relationship with Marshall is foundational to the entire Plexi story: he was among the first players to buy 100-watt JTM100 heads directly from Marshall in 1965, and his demand — shared by Eric Clapton and others — drove the development of the 100-watt circuit in the first place. Clapton’s “Beano” tone (John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers album, 1966, covered in the context of the 1962 Bluesbreaker combo at Rank 386) is technically a 35-watt Bluesbreaker, not a 50-watt head; but the Marshall head sound that followed it immediately belongs to the same era and the same circuit philosophy.
Jeff Beck used Marshall Plexi-era heads throughout the late 1960s — the Yardbirds period and early Jeff Beck Group recordings — before moving to other platforms. His playing on Truth (1968) and Beck-Ola (1969) sits in the Plexi canon even if Beck himself has moved through many different amplifier configurations since.
What the 1987X Actually Sounds Like
The single most important thing to understand about the 1987X is that it is a pre-gain-stage amplifier. There is no gain knob. There is no saturation control. The entire gain structure of the amp is determined by the interaction of the guitar’s output level, the sensitivity of the input used, the volume controls on each channel, and whether the channels are jumpered. “Drive” as a concept exists here only as a function of how hard the preamp and power-amp valves are being pushed.
At low volumes — say, both channel volumes at 3 or below — the 1987X is a remarkably clean amplifier. Clear, bright on the High Treble input, full on the Normal, with that particular Marshall chime that comes from the EQ’s interaction with the EL34 output stage. It takes pedals extraordinarily well in this state: a Tube Screamer or Blues Driver in front of a clean Plexi is one of the classic platform combinations in rock, adding the front-end clipping that the circuit’s own clean headroom would otherwise prevent.
As volumes rise above 5, the power-amp EL34s begin to enter saturation on louder notes. The character shifts: notes compress at their peaks, harmonics multiply, and the sustain extends. This is the zone that classic Plexi recordings live in — not digital gain, not preamp clipping, but output-transformer saturation and EL34 power-tube breakup. By 7, with the jumpered input, it is fully in “touch sensitive lead” territory: roll back the guitar’s volume knob and it cleans up immediately; dig in and it screams.
At full volume, a 50-watt Plexi through an efficient 4×12 cabinet is genuinely loud. “Loud enough to make a large venue uncomfortable without PA support” loud. This has significant practical implications: getting the best tones without a power attenuator requires accepting serious stage or studio volumes. The 1987X has no built-in attenuation. If you need Plexi tones at rehearsal or bedroom levels, you will need an outboard attenuator (the Weber Mass or Rivera RockCrusher are the commonly recommended pairing) placed between the head and cabinet. The FX loop the 1987X adds over the original does not solve the volume problem — only attenuation does.
Tone Recipes
Recipe 1: “Back in Black” Solo — Angus Young 50-Watt Warmth
Guitar: Gibson SG Standard (or SG-style humbucker), bridge pickup, volume at 10, tone at 8. Single channel — Normal input (Input 2), not jumpered. Loudness II: 6–7 | Treble: 7 | Mid: 8 | Bass: 4 | Presence: 6. Run the head into a 4×12 loaded with Celestion G12M Greenbacks. No effects in front. The warmth comes from the Normal channel’s frequency response and the 50-watt power stage. For sustain on long solo notes, pick attack is the variable — the amp follows the guitar’s dynamics closely at this setting.
Recipe 2: Jumpered Classic Rock Crunch
Connect a short ¼” cable between High Treble Input 1 and Normal Input 1. Plug guitar into Normal Input 2. Loudness I (High Treble): 6 | Loudness II (Normal): 8 | Treble: 5 | Mid: 6 | Bass: 6 | Presence: 5. This is the channel-blend configuration seen in archived Plexi footage from the late 1960s through the 1970s. The two channels interact, creating harmonic complexity beyond what either provides alone. Use with a Les Paul or SG for maximum width; humbuckers push the 50-watt EL34 pair into breakup territory that single-coils don’t quite reach.
Recipe 3: High-Treble Brightness for Single Coils
Guitar: Stratocaster or Telecaster, neck or middle pickup. High Treble Input 1 only. Loudness I: 5 | Treble: 6 | Mid: 7 | Bass: 3 | Presence: 4. The High Treble channel’s capacitor naturally accentuates single-coil brightness. Keep the bass lower than instinct suggests — there is plenty of warmth in the 50-watt’s output stage without EQ help. The result sits somewhere between a clean Fender Deluxe and a driven British rock tone, occupying a mid-heavy zone that cuts through dense mixes.
Recipe 4: Pedal Platform — Clean Base for Overdrive
Normal channel only, Input 2. Loudness II: 3–4 | Treble: 7 | Mid: 5 | Bass: 5 | Presence: 6. Keep the amp on the edge of clean — any louder and the power tubes start contributing their own saturation, which may conflict with the voicing of the pedal. Run a germanium fuzz (for Hendrix/Page territory) or a silicon-clipping overdrive (Tube Screamer, Boss SD-1) into this clean base. The Plexi’s EQ and presence response shape the pedal’s distortion character in a way that a modern voiced amp with built-in gain stages does not. The result is “pedal through the PA of a 1960s Marshall,” which is what those records actually sound like.
Recipe 5: “Brown Sound” Direction with Attenuator
Jumpered channels. Loudness I: 10 | Loudness II: 10 | Treble: 6 | Mid: 4 | Bass: 5 | Presence: 7. Outboard power attenuator set to reduce output by 10–15dB, matched to 8Ω speaker output. This pushes the EL34 pair into hard saturation at controlled speaker volume. For EVH-adjacent territory, add a Boss SD-1 or Ibanez TS9 in front with Gain at minimum and Level at unity — the mild mid boost and soft-clipping characteristic of these pedals interacts with power-tube saturation in a way that approaches the compressed, harmonically dense “brown sound” character. Exact replication requires his 100-watt circuit and Variac, but this gets into the same frequency neighbourhood.
The 50W vs 100W Question: Which Plexi Do You Actually Need?
The Marshall 1959 Super Lead (Rank 377) and the 1987X are not the same amplifier with different wattage stickers. The circuits are closely related but the output sections differ in fundamental ways that affect feel, response, and the volume at which useful tones arrive.
A 100-watt Plexi at stage volume has more clean headroom. The four-EL34 output section can push higher SPL before the power amp saturates, which gives the 100-watt its slightly more “open” and “airy” character at medium volumes — the characteristic Townshend and Hendrix rhythm tone sits in this zone. The trade-off is that fully saturated power-tube tones require higher absolute volumes that are genuinely difficult to achieve in most contemporary performance contexts.
The 50-watt’s two-EL34 output section reaches equivalent saturation at lower absolute volumes. This makes the power-amp breakup more accessible — with a reasonably efficient 4×12, you can find the sweet spot at volumes that are loud but not physically hazardous. The character is slightly more compressed and warm at equivalent saturation levels, which is why Angus Young specifically cited “extra warmth” as the reason he chose it for solos. For sustain and singing lead tone, the 50-watt is frequently the better match. For rhythm work at high volumes where clean headroom and projection matter, the 100-watt is the classic choice.
If you own a 4×12 cabinet and a power attenuator, the 50-watt is the more versatile daily-driver choice. If you play large venues at stage volume without attenuation and need maximum clean headroom, the 100-watt fills that role. Most working guitarists who actually use a Plexi as their primary amp — rather than keeping one in a climate-controlled room — own and prefer the 50-watt.
Comparisons with Other Marshall Amplifiers
The Marshall JTM45 (Rank 385) is the 1987X’s ancestor. The JTM45’s KT66 power tubes give it a warmer, more rounded breakup character; there is less upper-midrange edge compared to the EL34-equipped 1987X. At equivalent volumes the JTM45 feels slightly smoother and more “vintage” in a hazy sense — think of the difference between Clapton’s “Beano” tone (heavily JTM-influenced through the Bluesbreaker combo) and Page’s Led Zeppelin I tone (fully Plexi-era EL34). Both circuits are identifiably Marshall. The EL34 version hits harder and has more presence-region energy.
The JCM800 2203 (Rank 378) adds a master volume and a gain stage, giving it dramatically more gain on tap at low volumes. The JCM800 can deliver its signature distortion sound at levels the Plexi cannot match without an attenuator. The trade-off is that the master-volume circuit changes the feel: where the 1987X’s breakup comes from power-tube saturation and the interaction between preamp and output stage, the JCM800’s gain comes largely from additional preamp gain staging. Neither is “better” — they are different tools for different approaches to rock guitar.
The Marshall DSL40CR (Rank 401) offers a modern EQ, two footswitchable channels with independent gain and master volume, and 40 watts with a tube-driven effects loop — all features the 1987X deliberately lacks. The DSL40CR costs roughly half the price and delivers usable rock tones at substantially lower volumes. What it cannot do is replicate the specific feel of EL34 power-tube saturation with a pre-gain-stage Plexi circuit. The 1987X is not the more convenient amp; it is the more specific one.
The 1962 Bluesbreaker combo (Rank 386) uses a similar preamp topology but in a 2×12 combo format at 35 watts, with a slightly different output stage and a tighter, more focused low end from the enclosed cabinet. Its combination of Greenback speakers and the Bluesbreaker circuit gives it a sound that is recognisably related to the 1987X but distinctly its own — more mid-forward, less extended in the bass, with the standing-wave character of a closed-back cabinet replacing the 4×12’s open-back spread.
What Cabinet to Use
The 1987X is a head only. What you pair it with shapes as much of the final sound as the amp itself. The historically correct pairing for the Plexi era is a Marshall 4×12 loaded with Celestion G12M Greenbacks (rated at 25 watts per speaker, 100 watts total for the cab) — open-backed or closed-back depending on era. Late-1960s Marshall cabs tended toward angled or open-back configurations for the top-half of stacked cabs; modern Marshall 4×12 cabinets are typically closed-back.
Greenbacks roll off above roughly 5kHz and have a particular upper-midrange peak around 2–3kHz that contributes directly to the “vocal” quality of driven Plexi tones. Alternative speakers — Celestion Vintage 30 (more pronounced upper mid peak at 2.5kHz, dipped low mids), Celestion Heritage G12H (slightly extended bass, smoother top) — give meaningfully different characters. The 1987X is revealing enough of the cab’s acoustic signature that speaker choice is not a secondary decision.
For home and studio use, a 1×12 or 2×12 cabinet with a single Greenback or Vintage 30 and an attenuator is a practical alternative to a full stack. The 50-watt head’s output transformer will not “see” the same load impedance as a 4×12, so match the head’s output impedance selector to the cabinet’s nominal impedance exactly — mismatch causes power-tube stress and accelerated wear.
Buying Guide: New, Vintage, or Clone?
The current Marshall 1987X lists at $2,299.99 from marshall.com and major retailers (July 2026). This is a UK-built, all-valve head that uses the correct ECC83 and EL34 tube complement, with the channel and input configuration of the original and the addition of the switchable FX loop. For a new amp with full manufacturer warranty and contemporary quality control, this represents the straightforward choice.
Used 1987X heads — including the earlier MkII version with slightly different cosmetics — appear regularly on Reverb and eBay in the $900–$1,500 range depending on condition. The MkII designation covers a mid-production run that added a master volume stage, which some players prefer (lower usable volumes) and others avoid (feels different from the pre-master-volume original). The current production is non-master-volume, matching the original circuit. Verify which version you are looking at before buying used.
Original vintage 1965–1969 Marshall 1987s are a different proposition entirely. Prices range from approximately $4,000 for a player-grade example with replaced components to $12,000+ for a fully original, unmodified unit in excellent cosmetic condition. Key concerns on vintage examples: output transformer (often replaced, which significantly affects tone), power tubes and preamp tubes (often modern substitutions), and filter capacitors (should be replaced on any vintage unit before use). Buy from a specialist vintage dealer or have any vintage Marshall checked by a qualified technician before powering it.
The “Plexi clone” market is extensive: companies including Friedman, Ceriatone, Metropoulos, Brunetti, and many smaller builders offer hand-wired reproductions of the 1987 circuit at prices ranging from $800 to $3,000+. Ceriatone in particular has built a reputation for faithful reproductions at accessible prices. These are legitimate alternatives if your priority is the circuit rather than the Marshall badge, and some are built to tighter tolerances than the 1987X reissue. They will not have an FX loop unless specifically added.
Ownership Notes
The 1987X runs all-valve with fixed bias on the EL34 output tubes. Unlike cathode-biased amps that self-adjust, the fixed-bias design means that when you replace the EL34s, you need the amp re-biased by a qualified technician. Running mismatched or out-of-spec EL34s on fixed bias causes power imbalance across the output transformer, which stresses the transformer and affects tone. Marshall recommends matched pairs; budget for a bias check every time you replace output tubes.
ECC83 preamp tubes are low-power devices that do not require matching and rarely fail catastrophically. They do accumulate noise over time — microphony (the tube amplifying mechanical vibration as signal) is the most common failure mode in a loud stage environment. If you hear a ringing or chiming that follows the amp rather than the guitar signal, suspect a microphonic preamp tube. V1 (the first gain stage, nearest the input) is the most sensitive position and should be replaced first if noise appears.
The 1987X’s FX loop is series-switchable — when engaged, it breaks the signal chain and inserts the loop. Ensure that anything in the loop (outboard reverb, delay) is powered on and passing signal before engaging the loop in performance. A powered-off effect unit in a series loop mutes the amp output completely.
Store and transport the amp upright. The output transformer and power transformer are heavy components; vibration during transport is the leading cause of premature solder-joint fatigue on vintage-specification hand-wired amps. The 1987X is not hand-wired (it uses a PCB, unlike the 1987HW hand-wired premium reissue), but point-to-point vibration concerns still apply to the transformers’ mounting hardware.
Buying Used: What to Check
Play the amp at moderate volume before buying. Listen for hum at idle — some 50-60Hz mains hum is normal; loud hum or audible buzzing suggests filter capacitor issues or a ground problem. Play through both channels independently. Touch each preamp tube gently with a pencil eraser while playing; a loud thud or ringing from any tube suggests microphony. Check the speaker output jacks and impedance selector for physical security — these are high-current connections and loose jacks cause intermittent output or arcing damage. Verify the FX loop works in both bypass and engaged states.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the Marshall 1987X and the 1959HW?
The 1987X is the 50-watt reissue with a PCB circuit board and a switchable FX loop. The 1959HW is the hand-wired reissue of the 100-watt Super Lead, at approximately $4,000+. They are different wattage classes with different power sections. The 1987X’s preamp is closely related to the 1959HW’s, but the output section — two versus four EL34s, different transformer specifications — produces meaningfully different characteristics at equivalent volume settings.
Do I need a 4×12 cabinet to use the 1987X properly?
No, but a 4×12 is the historically correct pairing and provides the low-end extension and dispersion pattern that the amp was voiced around. A 2×12 or 1×12 with appropriate speaker impedance works well for smaller applications. The minimum practical cabinet is a single 12″ speaker rated at 50 watts or above at the correct impedance. Never run the amp without a connected and correctly impedance-matched load — output transformer damage is the result.
Is the 1987X loud enough to compete with a full drum kit without PA support?
Yes, comfortably. A 50-watt EL34 head into an efficient 4×12 cabinet produces approximately 106–108dB SPL at one metre — more than enough for most live contexts. In smaller venues, the problem is usually too loud rather than too quiet, which is why an attenuator is recommended for controlled environments.
Does the 1987X work with humbuckers and single coils equally?
Yes, but differently. Humbuckers push the preamp harder and reach power-tube saturation at lower volume settings, giving earlier and denser breakup. Single coils retain more clean headroom at equivalent settings and benefit more from the High Treble channel’s brightness boost. Neither is “wrong” — the 1987X’s input sensitivity is high enough to work with passive pickups of all types.
Can I play the 1987X at home volume?
Not without an attenuator if you want the amp’s characteristic tone. At volume settings low enough for an apartment, the EL34 power tubes are barely working and the amp sounds thin and uninspiring — all preamp, no output-stage character. A good attenuator (Rivera RockCrusher, Universal Audio OX, Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander) allows you to run the head at higher settings while reducing speaker output to manageable levels.
What is the correct way to “jumper” the channels?
Connect a short ¼” instrument cable between Input 1 of the Normal channel and Input 1 of the High Treble channel. Plug your guitar into Input 2 of either channel (Input 2 is lower sensitivity). Use the individual channel volume controls to blend the brightness of the High Treble channel against the fullness of the Normal channel. Start with both volumes equal and adjust to taste — most players end up with the Normal channel slightly louder.
Is there a version of the 1987X without the FX loop?
Not in current production. The 1987HW (hand-wired) is a 100-watt circuit, not a 50-watt, and also includes an FX loop in its current form. If loop-free operation is essential, the original vintage units are the only option, or a third-party clone builder who will omit the loop on request. In practice, the 1987X’s loop is switchable and has no audible effect when bypassed, so it is not an obstacle to using the amp as a non-loop purist design.
Should I buy the 1987X or an original vintage 1987?
For most players, the 1987X is the correct choice. It is a known quantity, new-condition reliability, with a manufacturer warranty and readily available support. Original vintage units can sound extraordinary but require informed buying, pre-purchase inspection, likely restoration work on filter capacitors, and acceptance of condition-dependent inconsistency. If you are prepared to spend the time and money to source and restore a vintage example, it may reward you with something the reissue cannot exactly match — vintage transformers, original coupling capacitors, the particular character of aged components. If you want a working, reliable Plexi that sounds like a Plexi, buy the 1987X.