The Marshall Major (Model 1967 ) was a bass guitar amplifier made by

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

. It was introduced in 1967 as the "Marshall 200" (in reference to the

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of the amplifier). It had a plexi panel and two inputs in one channel, but in contrast with the 100 watt heads made by Marshall, the first series had split tone controls similar to the Sound City amps. For the second series, in late 1968, Marshall reverted to ordinary passive tone controls, and was called "Marshall Major". Some authors claim the first version had active tone controls but this is incorrect, the schematics for all versions are available online. The amplifier used

KT88 The KT88 is a beam tetrode/kinkless tetrode (hence "KT") vacuum tube for audio amplification. Features The KT88 fits a standard eight-pin octal socket and has similar pinout and applications as the 6L6 and EL34. Specifically designed for audio ...

output valves, two ECC83 preamp valves and one ECC82 valve. Approximately 1,200 of these amps were produced from 1967 to 1974; Marshall ceased production when the supply of KT88s ran out. The amplifier was used by rock musicians who needed very high volume. A notable user is

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

; his Major had the two input channels cascaded into one, essentially creating the first Marshall with a master volume.

Other versions

The Major was also made as a PA amplifier, Model 1966 (from 1967 to 1971, with eight inputs in four channels; known in 1967 as the PA 200), and as a bass amplifier, Model 1978 (from 1967 to 1974). A line of on-ear headphones by Marshall have also been issued with the same name.

Notable users

* Jimi Hendrix

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* Joe Perry *

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* Jack L. Stroem *

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* Daniel Rydholm *

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References

Instrument amplifiers Marshall amplifiers Valve amplifiers {{guitar-stub