Class 5 | From The Museum | Marshall

Former design engineer Steve Dawson and product specialist Steve Smith sit down to talk us through the story behind the Class 5 five-watt, all-valve combo in the Marshall Museum in Bletchley, England. Built with 10" Celestion speakers, Dawson explains how he wanted to recreate the sound of a plexi in a 5-watt format to meet customer demand, all while still having the option to reduce the amp to 0.2 watts for those who want to rock out at home.

In this series, From The Museum, we look back at original Marshall amps in our archives and discuss how these amps came to be. Hear them for yourself as product specialist Steve Smith plays these iconic amps that have shaped Marshall Amplification into what is it now. For those who want to be heard.

- Chapters -
00:00 - 00:49 Intro
00:50 - 02:41 Story behind the Class 5
02:42 - 03:22 Amp playthrough
03:23 - 05:08 Specifications (wattage, valves and speakers)
05:09 - 05:27 Amp playthrough
05:28 - 06:12 Built in Bletchley, England
06:13 - 06:29 Amp playthrough
06:30 - 07:20 Ways to play with the Class 5
07:21 - 07:40 Amp playthrough
07:41 - 07:49 Outro

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[surfnorthwest]

Steve Dawson designed some of the best amps Marshall ever released. Marshall needs to bring him back to continue his legacy there.

[skoorb]

I recall that Steve Dawson designed the Vintage Modern. That was my main amp for about 5 years at one point. I always got a killer sound out of it.

[ericjenks]

Used one of these for years. Ended up modding it to get a bit of a different sound, but it was great stock too. Definitely deserves a spot in the museum! I think the new sv20 is the modern sibling for it

[HamzaJamzaFamza]

Just bought this amp. I’m blown away! Quickly becoming one of my favorites of all time! 🔈💥

[Jshortca]

Great video. I wish the interview was longer.

[markhoskins]

I have a combo and a head. They're fantastic. I'd be happy to see a no-nonsense handwired version of this!

[plankspanker]

Loved this amp! Need to buy another. I used mine with a treble booster and the sound was glorious!

[eharmicar]

I bought a Class 5 head and two Marshall C10 cabs when they hit the market.One of the loudest heads I’ve ever used.I never turn it up past half as it’s being used in a room with wooden floors and no acoustical baffles on the walls.The Marshall Class 5 is one for the ages.

[mattsefton]

Lovely to see my old mate Steve Dawson - great guy who has taken care of my original Jubilee for years

[anthonymichael]

The Class 5 head and a Dr. Z 2x12 was my gig rig for a while when they first released these. I remember being quite fond of that combo.

[davidrg]

Steve Dawson is a legend in Marshall

He NEEDS to be front and center for development

[onecanadian]

LOVE the class 5, I did the lyle mod and changed the input impedance and it made it even better though. Had it since marshall launched these and it’s still my fav amp and I’ve got some amazing 100w marshalls too. People hate on the stock speaker but i love it, I even tried a 10” greenback and a 10” v30 in this amp but liked the f15 more than both

[VoodooChile]

I had the Class 5 head when they first came out, I also got a 4x12 to go with it... Man it was great! I really regret ever letting it go and miss it often... So much gear I regret trading 😄 but the Class 5 and Vintage Modern are 2 I really want to add back in my life.

[adamwatson]

The gibson 500t bridge pickup sounds killer driving this amp . I don't like the 500t in any other situation but using it to drive a clean class 5 sounds glorious. The 500t makes it distort more and gives it some extra Satuation and compression that sounds thick creamy and very vocal in the mida especially in the lower mids . You get a very vocal low mid growl and grunt.

[finishin.my.coffee]

I had this amp. It was the exact same one in this video, with the limited edition logo and grillcloth. For some reason, I don't remember if I sold it or returned it. I do remember these had a distinct smell when you turned them on. At first I thought maybe mine was defective but other people told me theirs had the same smell and that it was normal.

Even the "house volume" on these was not really neighbor friendly lol

[danielbrinker]

Amazing amp. I recorded a whole album with one of these little darlings. Mic it up, and you've got a big Plexi on the recording!

[kix]

That was not much info on the build but I love mine because it's all I need.

[adamwatson]

I Wish the Origin 5 would have turned out better . I love the 50 Watt origin and the 20 watt version is good although not as good as the 50 but the 5 watt Origin sounds awful .
I wish Marshall would Make another attempt at a Vintage Plexi style 5 watt amp . But perhaps with all the Studio series Amps having a 5 watt mode they will not bother .
I do love my DSL 5CR and the 5 watt mode on my Mini Jubilee.

[sylvainalain]

I had the head version, it was awesome :)

[RodClark]

I had a Class 5 plugged into a Boogie 1x12 and it was SO LOUD. Holy smokes.