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

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

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of the amplifier). It had a

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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. For the second series, in late 1968, Marshall reverted to ordinary passive tone controls, and was called the "Marshall Major". The amplifier used

KT88 The KT88 is a beam tetrode/kinkless tetrode (hence "KT") vacuum tube for Audio frequency, audio amplifier, amplification. Features The KT88 fits a standard eight-pin Tube socket#Octal base, octal socket and has similar pinout and applications a ...

output valves, two ECC83 preamp valves and one ECC82 valve as a phase inverter. 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 lead guitarist. He was a founding member and the guitarist of Deep Purple, one of the pioneering bands of hard rock. After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed the band Rainbow ...

; 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 James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac (born December 20, 1968) is an American session guitarist and producer. He is also a popular YouTube personality with over 100,000 subscribers. He is a five-time winner of Music Row's Top Ten Album All-Stars award in the guitar categ ...

John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante ( ; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician and the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, having been with the band across three iterations. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic gu ...

Josh Klinghoffer Josh Adam Klinghoffer (born October 3, 1979) is an American musician best known for being the guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, with whom he recorded two studio albums, '' I'm with You'' (2011) and '' The Geta ...

* Joe Perry *

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

Dan Andriano Daniel Michael Andriano (born June 27, 1977) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist and bassist of the punk rock band Alkaline Trio; though not a founding member, he has appeared on every studio album to date. Andri ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

References

Instrument amplifiers Marshall amplifiers Valve amplifiers {{guitar-stub