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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Class 5 Marshall Amp
My guitar store called me two days ago and I could finally go and try it yesterday afternoon. I was really impressed by this little amp!
The guy who made me a quick demo told me the sound wouldn't be great when turning it all the way up, but I think he was impressed too when he realized it was still very clear (not clean, of course).
I just have to wait until I get enough money to buy one (and some skills as well) 
I really have to try one of these out.
I'm not sure whether to get the Blackheart BH-5 or the Class 5. £100 difference though, so the BH-5 is appealing a lot, that and the ability to switch from 5 to 3 watts.
I just checked out the tour bus interview with Joe on his "Live From Albert Hall" DVD and must admit that the Class 5 sounds incredible. Doesn't hurt that Joe is the guy playing through it though... 
i'm really tempted to get one of these, my local shop is doing them for £299. i love the tone joe is getting from it in that ronnie scott's video.
would it be loud enough to gig with miked up? i play in a 6 piece band and am the sole guitar player. i like that thick midrange sound of a marshall coupled with a nice boost/drive pedal. i use my volume and tone controls on my guitar a lot too.
Man this web site is getting expensive. 
Yeah, this forum definitely revs up the GAS!
OK, so I've played the C5 daily for som weeks now, and I'm once again extremely satisfied.
"Once again" because it started to rattle really loud (amplified as microphonic noise) when turned up to past 10'o clock. It was only partly due to one microphonic preamp tube.
After some tweaking it is now dead silent.
What I did was:
1) Bending the retainer wire that holds the EL84 tube. It was touching the sides of the tube and causing most of the rattling.
2) Using melting glue and cablestrips on all rattling wires, caps etc.
3) Drilling an extra hole on the top og the cabs back, screwing all the way though the backplate and into the chassis.
Sorry, but I wasn't too impressed by the cat5. I played it just a weeks ago..
...maybe it I was too much impressed of the JVM halfstack I played before
In my opinion it has a thinner and colder sound than the "big" marshall amps, and it's too unflexible.
But if you want to, just buy it 
Had a chance to play the class 5 yesterday. I brought along my OCD v4 and boss dd-3 for drive at clean volumes. lately I have been playing a fender super champ xd which does the cranked blackface thing well but struggled with the bonamassa type tones I was after. I hooked up the class 5 with everything set at 5 except the volume which was at 2. The oCD had all knobs at noon and HP mode selected. I plugged in a les paul and was getting great tones from it. I cranked the drive a little on the OCD and back the volume off a tough. This gave a great crunchy rythm tone on the bridge pickup and sounded even better once the tone control on the guitar was rolled back to about 7. I then tried it with a strat. Same OCD settings but flicked to LP mode. Strat neck pickup selected and instant hendrix. This is a crackin little amp and I can't wait to get one! The superchamp is staying but my blackstar HT-5H is a gonner! Anyone want to buy a HT-5 head for a good price?
Man I havent posted here in quite a long time!
Wanted to comment on the Class5. Just bought one the other day and WOW! This amp is a little monster. I dont have to buy that Marshall 1987x Plexi now. This thing is dripping Plexi.
I watched the RAH dvd where Joe is playing his Class5 on the bus. Does anyone know what he is using regarding effects? Delay? Reverb? Killer tone he was pumping out of that thing. I know I have read where he uses 2 amps when touring. One wet and one dry. The demos he was playing on the bus sounded almost like his regular rig. How does he get that tone?
If you havent tried this killer amp, you must! Best $400 bucks Ive spent in quite a long time.
I've been playing the class 5 for a week now and love it. I set it up as per the settings that joe uses and tweaked from there. Backed the bass off and kept the treble and mid as per joes settings. At home volumes (never above 3) the amp stays pretty clean. I set up my blackstar HT dual and loved it. Got a great cranked up marshall rythm sound. Using the guitars volume it cleans up very well. I'm looking for some sort of boost to run in front of the HT dual. The second channel does to dark and muddy for lead with the settings i like for channel 1 to get a good rythm. The obvious choice would be the TS808 reissue but I am still looking around. The Class 5 is a great amp at a great price.
..i`ve got one and i play it with the volume on zero!... i think they sent me a class 50 and the zero has fell off!?!?! 
..i`ve got one and i play it with the volume on zero!... i think they sent me a class 50 and the zero has fell off!?!?!
Damn British humor......sometimes I just don't bloody get it.
Pete The Cabby wrote:..i`ve got one and i play it with the volume on zero!... i think they sent me a class 50 and the zero has fell off!?!?!
Damn British humor......sometimes I just don't bloody get it.
....lol!... its jovial British way of saying its a loud 5 watts!
Of course they ain't too expensive but I tried one and didn't liked it. My suggestion is to get a JVM combo or a halfstack they sound really good. In my opinion even Joe didn't sounded as great as he normally does with more or less every amp. I think they just don't have enought power/pressure to make it really sounding great.
But if you want one then buy one^^
Played the Class 5 a couple of days ago and really thought it had a cool sound. Like a mini portable plexi for practice! I was really digging it until....it blew up. Have you guys had any similar experiences? I'd really consider picking one of these up but man they don't seem very rugged. Also are they PTP? If so they'd be easy to mod/repair! Please respond those in the know, I'm very curious!
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Class 5 Marshall Amp
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