I just picked up a Marshall Master Reverb 30. Its a 1980s era solid state fire-breather voiced something like a JCM800. All stock and original. No issues. I got it home and dialed it in. Wow! I know why Marshall stopped making these amps. Compares favorably to my new SC20C. The SC20C is much louder. Its a more powerful amp and noticeably heavier. The reverb on the Master Reverb is decent. No effects loop or speaker in on the back. Not being able to easily plug into a cab sucks. I have my usual set up....Maxon 808 OD in front as a clean boost. Great vintage 80s tones. Not fizzy at all. Everything you heard about these amp’s tone is true. This amp can get some great tones going. For a studio amp or a bedroom amp its perfect. The master volume is great. The stock UK made speaker, G12S-50, is good enough. In a few days i will do a proper comparison to the SC20C. Also, for those interested, I paid $220. The guy i bought the amp from is a big time Marshall 80s and 70s era SS fan. He’s got a few of the classics from those eras. He’s experimented with speakers, specifically greenbacks, with great results. Nevertheless, to me the stock speaker adds to the charm of the amp and is good enough. BTW, when researching this amp I came across a Marshall Lead Combo 2199 from the 70s. @AlvisX has one. Johan Segeborn did a nice review. I just ordered that from a guitar center. I will review that too. Here is the Marshall Master Reverb 30 on the right of the SC20C!
Congratulations buddy These amps are for sure full blown fire breathing little beasts, amazing the tones they produce, play it in good health my brother. Cheers Mitch
Congrats on the NAD @Deep Purple fan ! Glad to see you have it in your possession. So, now you can finally relate to my insane obsession with old Marshall SS amps. Lol Let's hear you fire it up!
Play it loud and play it proud! If I had anyone that wanted to play me like a musical instrument that's what I'd tell them!!!!
I have one, too. It cranks! Adding speaker jacks to it is easy enough, and I recommend doing that mod to them. I put a G12M65 Creamback reissue in mine. WELL worth the upgrade.
If you get a chance to pick up an MG15MSII Microstack head, by all means, give it a shot. It's just way more fun than it has any right to be. I run mine into one of my 1960 cabinets. Either the one with all Greenbacks or the one with two Greenbacks and two Creambacks. OH....can you please post a clear photo of the BACK of your 30 watt combo? I'm asking because mine has a hand-made back panel and I know it's not right. Seeing what it's supposed to be like will tell me what to make to make it right.
