Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

[Rupe]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

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I don't know. If it is anything like a 4203 Artist combo, then it's crap! I bought one in '97 off a friend, that was moving to SF, for $200 w/ a wah thrown in. I could not get a good sound out of it to save my life and finally sold it on the bay last August (for $320!). But according to what people have said here and the glowing HC reviews, it's a great amp. It was too thin sounding for me and when you cranked it, the treble was ear-piercing. Plus, after you would play for about an hour, the sound would just fade away and you had nothing coming out of your amp!


[/ QUOTE ]
You definitely had a bad one...the sound fading away confirms it wasn't right. Also, one of the knocks on this amp is the lack of highs (which is quickly remedied with a quick snip of the C13 capacitor on the PCB) which apparently is the opposite of what you experienced. Issues like these are why I am big on trying out amps/instruments whenever possible before I buy.

[singlehum]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

I've had a couple of these over the years. It was my first Marshall before I upgraded to the JCM 800 2205 fifty-watter. I really liked the dirty channel but the clean channel was pretty lousy sounding. The output tranny was a Drake, which the Marshall guys seem to worship. Somebody in this thread mentioned a mod for clean channel - first time I heard of one for this amp...might be worth a try.
All in all, it was a good amp for home/practice and maybe some recording but I don't think I could gig with it. The last one I had was signed on the back panel by Jim Marshall. A friend had one that had the fading out problem...never figured out what the issue was. Could be a loose tube socket - try retensioning them. Second guess - maybe the output tranny?

[Twisteramps]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

If it has an fx loop, could be the fx loop switch in the jack going out...

Pete

[Rupe]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

[ QUOTE ]
If it has an fx loop, could be the fx loop switch in the jack going out...

[/ QUOTE ]
Good call...that is probably it. I had that problem with mine and had to jump the effects loop to keep it operational (see my post above). Mine didn't fade, it just died until I put a patch cord in the loop.

[hippietim]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

I've been eyeing a head and 4x10 cab on ebay...tempting.

[hippietim]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Marshall-Artist-3203...1QQcmdZViewItem

local pickup only - he's about an hour and a half away. what do you guys think?

[charvelguy]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

Thats a good deal I think. The cabs vary in price..but on whole are worth 200-250-300 range.

The last half stack I was eyeing was red..660.00, was very tempting..I wish I had the cash to snag all the deals I see.

[Rupe]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

I think thats a killer deal...I'd jump on it. The 4x10 cabinet is a great recording tool to have as it adds a much punchier sound when being close miked. Works well when multitracking combined with 12" speakers. Even if you don't like the amp, use the cab with something else and sell the head (I think those amps are great though).

[LexLuthier]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

I think Ronnie Montrose used one of those amps to cut the Speed of Sound album in the '80's.

[horns666]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

looks nice..

[sambencuda]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

Tim, if you win it and you don't like it, I may be interested. I was watchin that one too, but it's too far to drive from CT. Good luck!

Here's a red full stack on the bay. Cool but over priced IMO.

Red 3203 full stack

[charvelguy]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

Man, that case for the red cabs is a sweet deal tho.
Next inbound storm may have him considering a price reduction.

[bsteff666]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

I used to have a 3203 full stack (like the red one in the auction...but mine was black).
That was really a cool amp. The cabs were so compact & easy to lug around to gigs...yet it looked so damn cool to me ....it was a full stack, just scaled down.

Definitely loud enough to gig with. I agree with the lack of highs. Back in 1993-4 I was in a band that played a lot of Alice In Chains/Soundgarden covers & the like....this amp was perfect for that sludgey..grungy sound.

[hippietim]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

ok, I got that half stack off of ebay for $400. I met the guy this morning and picked it up.

So far I've only played my Les Paul Studio through it and I'm liking it. The clean tone is very usable and the gain is pretty cool. I am really digging the cabinet too. Very lightweight but still sounds good and looks good.

The one issue is that the amp did the volume fade out thing a few times and then it stopped.

Is this the effects loop thing everyone has been talking about?

[Twisteramps]

Re: Marshall 3203 Artist 30 head. Thoughts?

Tim - just try putting a cable from the send to the return, see if the problem goes away. If so, then clean the contacts like JerryP mentioned (and I forgot) and if that doesn't work then you may need to replace the switching jack. Or just leave a cable in there. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

It's pretty amazing how many amps develop this problem.

Pete