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Marshall Vintage Modern 2266
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The best of the old and the new!! Vintage tone and Modern Gain with simplicity!!
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Searched Marshall Vintage Modern 2266 in Reviews
One of Marshall's best in decades 
| Sound |
I've been a guitar player for 30 years, My guitars are a '81 DT400CS Destroyer II with Duncan '59 neck and C5 bridge, a Y2K RG520QSB stock and a Y2K Gibson Les Paul Standard with Bustbucker Pros and a RS guitar works controls kit installed. I have long been a fan of heavier rock tones and have had many different amps over the years. They have ranged from solid state combos to old school tube half stacks to preamp/power amp rack rigs to modelers w/power amps and finally back to old school Marshall half stacks. I would say that I am probably an even bigger fan of amps than guitars. My MANY different set-ups over the years where built always chasing the same thing....something that covers classic rock and '80s metal tones but also has sparkly cleans and woody, bluesy soulful tones. At the time I was using a '93 1959SLP reissue which was a tone monster cranked with a SD-1 smacking the front end but my plexi was a bit of a one trick pony and was unbelievably loud. I was running it through an attenuator to knock a few dbs off and mostly ran it in a wet/dry rig adding my time based effects in the attenuator's line out which I ran to a SS power amp and then to the other side of my 412 split stereo or a second cab. I really liked the idea of being to cop the same tones at a reasonable volume with less stuff and the VM seemed to have even more great tones to offer. You couldn't have pried the smile off my face with a crow bar the first time I plugged in and experienced it's fantastic touch sensitivity and sweet musical feedback. It's with out question the most dynamic amp I've ever owned. The amp is basically a hotrodded JTM45. This is a single channel amp with two different modes. The "Vintage" in the amp's name comes from it's straight forward JTM45, KT66 tubed roots. The "Modern" is the hotrodded part: an additional 12AX7 tube which is added to the signal path when running in "High Dynamic" mode, a post phase inverter master volume, a series effects loop which can by bypassed and digital reverb (which is out of the signal path when it's control is all the way down). The controls on the amp are pretty straight forward Marshall with a few exceptions, a switch to allow you to toggle between "Low Dynamic" mode (clean, lightly crunchy classic rock tones) and High Dynamic mode (heavier classic rock, '80s hair band territory & metal), a "Mid Boost" switch (which is good for adding beef to the signal if you are using a guitar with single pole pick ups) and two gain controls, one labeled "Detail" and the other "Body". These controls are frequency specific gain controls. The Detail control covers the higher frequencies and the Body covers the lower. The idea in mind here is to give you a jumpered 4-holer vibe where you used to connect high and low channels and use the volume controls to adjust the tone of your amp. If you've never owned a classic 4-holer this might be confusing so all you really need to know is to keep your "Detail" control set about 2 - 3 clicks above your "Body" control. Too much detail will make the amp sound bright and fizzy and too much bottom will make it sound muddy (this was how you used to set your volume controls in a 4-holer, you have the High channel typically set a littler higher than the Low channel). Adjusted 2 - 3 clicks apart is perfection. The most misunderstood feature about the amp is the switchable High Dynamic and Low Dynamic modes and the fact that they are also foot switchable just adds fuel on the fire. Many players think they can toggle between the modes like a two channel amp running their rhythm in low and their lead in high. This IS NOT the case. This is a true single channel amp. When the High Dynamic mode is engaged you are adding a 12AX7 to the signal path which will give you a HUGE volume boost.....one that is far to great to be used effectively as a lead boost. It is intended to allow you to switch between the amp's two modes; the clean and glassy tones available from a JTM45 with your volume rolled down to lightly crunchy & bluesy tones with them rolled up, and the heavier rock and metal tones. This amp has Fantastic glassy clean tones especially with single pole pick ups and absolutely screams in high dynamic mode with humbuckers. It seems to favor medium output passive pickups. I do not recommend active pickups with this amp. This amp is by far the most dynamic I have ever owned and is incredibly interactive with your guitar's controls. It is this way by design. The intent is to give the player the ability to adjust his tone, gain and volume changes all with the controls on his guitar rather than stomping on footswitches. This might be an adjustment for some players because it's almost become a lost art since multichannel switchers were introduced but is so much fun once you get the hang of it because the amp becomes as much of an instrument as you guitar. It is by no means an all guitar controls on 10 amp and if that is the way you approach it you will severely limit what it has to offer. Every guitar I own sounds completely different through this amp. My favorite is my RG520QSB because of the multitude of pickup settings available via the 5-way switch. It cleans up beautifully even in High Dynamic mode if I switch to a coil tap setting with the volume rolled down and flat out screams with the bridge pup selected and the volume rolled up. My favorite settings are:
Master Volume - 5+
Presence - 3.5
Bass - 5
Mid - 7.5
Treb - 6.75
Mid Boost - off
Dynamic mode - High
Detail - 8
Body - 5
Clips:
Hard Rock tone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVRNoOes3g
Nice Lead Tone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L94lilHX_i8
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| Reliability |
I have never had a single issue with my amp. I have read about a few people having had problems with the FETs used to swich the effects loop failing. It's a simple low cost repair but annoying if it happens to you. It seems to be static electricity related. If you are constantly plugging and unplugging stuff into you loop I would recommend touching the tip of your cable to a metal surface to discharge any possible static charges built up BEFORE plugging into the loop. It's just a good precaution. Another issue some have has are with the combo version having a rattle sound. This is caused by the filaments in the tubes and is not really the amp itself but the tubes. I went with a head and cab set up and do not have this issue. The combo weighs a ton anyways and I figured the head and cab set up gives me more flexibility.
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| Customer Support |
Never had the need to call but the amps designer, Steve Dawson, is a regular participant on the Vintage Modern forum and answers questions ALL THE TIME. For this reason I would say it couldn't be better. When have you ever had direct access to the designer of your amp?
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| Liked about it |
The top three things i like about this amp are: The variety of tones I can get out of it, the great sound available at reasonable volume levels and I can get them all straight in with NO pedals.
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| Didn't like |
The biggest issue was getting used to rolling up your guitar's volume control for you lead boost. Some player have a real problem with this. The best work around is not a boost pedal because that only adds gain because of it's PPIMV design. The best is a volume cut device. Webber actually makes the perfect fix for this, their Minimass attenuator with the foot switchable bypass option is the PERFECT solution. You just set it for slight attenuation for your rhythm and stomp on the bypass for a lead boost. This gives you EXACTLY the same tone at two different volume settings for the price of an average effect pedal ($115 USD).
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
 By Riffraff Dec 19, 2010
Last updated: August 16, 2011
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Vintage tone with modern features and that awesome Marshall sound
| Sound |
Alright, well firstly I'm a huge PG fan, so it would come as no surprise to most that I would at least try this baby out. But, I must admit, I tried an obscene amount of amps before committing my money to this baby. I'm using an RG 550 20th Anniversary Ibanez and JS 100 through this baby at the moment. The sound is as you would expect from a Marshall - that tone we all know and love. It suits my style perfectly - I'm not a metal man and this amp can do just about everything except for metal. The variety in different tones is phenomenal - you can go from slightly distorted rythym shred your face off rock. The doesn't have a gain button, it has two knobs that control the distortion called body and detail. There are two modes of distortion, the low dynamic mode capturing lower gain sounds of the 60's and a higher gain mode for that 70's metal/rock sound. If you want a metal amp, this isn't your beast, but if you want a rock amp with plenty of features, you just can't get any better than this.
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| Reliability |
Well, it's a valved amp, so I guess most people would say bring a back up. But honestly, the amp is well build - I think it could sustain plenty of knocks and still get back up.
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| Customer Support |
Never dealt with Marshall before, couldn't comment.
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| Liked about it |
Marshall sound - Nothing sounds like a Marshall, period. If you like their sound, another amp cannot replicate it.
* Variety of tones - You have a lot of control of the nuances in your tone, perfect for a tone hound that wants control over every aspect of their sound.
* What can I say, it's a Marshall!
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| Didn't like |
A couple of weeks in I noticed a ringing when playing lower notes that sounded like the tubes were loose. Apparently, this is actually a known issue with the Vintage Modern Combos (not the heads). At about 4 on the high dynamic mode, you can't hear it, but at low volume it's pretty annoying.
* Lack of footswitch for the mid boost. Mind you, I'm nit picking because I always leave it on.
* Very weak reverb in light of the price paid - I probably would have preferred it wasn't there!
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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An EXTREMELY versatile amp--way more than I expected.
| Sound |
Ok--so I had no idea what to expect with this amp as I bought a trade show unit straight from Marshall sight-unseen. Boy, am I glad I did. I have no other amp with KT66 power valves so I had/have no basis for comparison, but I CAN say this. With all the Marshall valve amps I have (JVM410H, DSL401, 1974X, Haze 40), with the exception of MAYBE the 1974X dimed, this VM embodies more of "that Marshall sound" than any other amp. It's advertised as single-channel, but in reality it's dual-channel because you have two "dynamic ranges" which means that you get a second channel with an extra ECC83 preamp tube. The low "dynamic range" gets you everything from nice, warm cleans to Plexi drive. The cleans on this amp are more warm than they are sparkly. Great blues feel. The high "dynamic range" gets you from boosted Plexi to hot-rodded JCM800. GREAT tone. Plugging ANYTHING straight into this amp on the high dynamic range will put a smile on your face. Interestingly, there is no "Gain" knob on this amp. There are two knobs that control how much gain you get, and it seems to control the power tube saturation. There is a "detail" and a "body" control in the "preamp" section. The "detail" controls the high-EQ section and the "body" controls the low-EQ section. You can blend these two controls much like you would blend the volumes on a Jumped Plexi to get the right balance of lows and highs. There is also a mid boost control that works better than any other mid boost I've ever used. No loss of volume and a little gain increase as well. If you need a straight-up 70's-80's rock amp, this is your baby. Comes in 50-watt and 100-watt versions: I have the 50-watt version and can't imagine needing the 100-watt--I bet the 50-watt breaks up better.
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| Reliability |
First footswitch was bad on arrival. Marshall replaced it quickly with no questions and didn't ask for the original back.
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| Customer Support |
Customer service was extremely helpful with my dead footswitch issue and turned around the replacement quickly.
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| Liked about it |
Outstanding Marshall tone!!
Easy to dial in a great tone.
Moderately-priced.
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| Didn't like |
Channel footswitch is momentary instead of latching--can't use with anything except a Bradshaw-style switcher.
No MIDI switching option--c'mon, it's 2009--let's emphasize the "Modern" part of the title.
Effects loop isn't footswitchable.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
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internal use: spec82 spec406
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