tube depot

We built two killer Marshall 18-watt amp clones from kits. Which sounds best? Which was more fun to make?

“I’m 18, and I like it.” —Alice Cooper

In 1965 Marshall unleashed the first 100-watt head, the biggest, loudest guitar amp to date. At the same time, the company went small, unveiling three 18-watt combos that looked like scaled-down editions of the JTM-45, Marshall’s earlier flagship model. The 100-watt amps were instant hits, forever changing—if not defining—the sound of classic rock guitar. Meanwhile, many of those mini-Marshalls languished in music shops, collecting dust. Guitarists barely noticed when the 18-watt line expired two years later.

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