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Marshall Origin 50 Jose Headfirst Modded Head 50w - $900 (Glendale Heights)
706 Nolan Ave
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This amp head is nothing like the factory Origin 50w. This is def a high gain head. I also own a Mesa Dual Rectifier Rev. G head and I never have Gain I and II past 3 o'clock when I played this head with my 7-string.
You can actually hear this head recorded through a reactive load box into an IR on my YouTube channel at:
https://youtu.be/HC6YWhweZjc?si=3NFlEsUJ9quPBkpA
The amp features a switchable Jose-mod diode from stock to "Jose" diode value as set by Headfirst Mods
The "tilt" tone pot adjusts the Gain I low freqencies while the stock "Gain" aka Gain II adjusts the high frequencies. So if you want more bottom/low end bump up the Gain I pot.
The Gain II "hi freq" has a push-pull bright cap when engaged
The on-board tube powered FX Loop is inactive as the 3rd preamp tube is being used in the preamp circuit giving you quite a bit of gain for a Marshall head. Please do note the FX loop will not function due to the extra preamp gain stage. You can mod the head further by using Headfirst's solid-state FX loop mod. This one does not have that mod.
Lastly and this one is unique. The tube head features a "Depth" or neg. feedback loop circuit that adds "girth" by adjusting the 2x EL34s power amp section. You won't find this mod on most Headfirst modded Origins.
The preamp tubes are JJ 12AX7s and the EL34s are NOS Winged-C matched tubes. These are pretty rare and I believe are dated around mid to late 90s. The power amp tubes alone are worth over $100.
So to review there are over 5 major mods applied. The entire preamp circuit has been changed. Amp sounds great in low tunings as well and the Gain I and II personally reminds me a bit of Meshuggah's Fortin tube head due to low/high gain tonestacks. Also similar to the Randall Satan allowing the same but obviously not as much gain.
This is truely a unique modded Marshall you won't find on ebay or reverb.
Amp was well taken care of. Smoke-free home. Always had amp AC fed through a Furman power conditioner for clean power.