MUSIKMESSE 2015: Marshall's frankly sexy new Astoria range claims to cater for discerning guitarists who want it all - meticulously crafted build quality AND a feature-rich, controllable set-up.
By mounting turrets directly onto the PCB Marshall says it's able to combine hand-wiring for tonal quality and complex switching circuitry to enable footswitchale channels, gain boost, and series FX loops.
Which all sounds great to us and, let's be honest, they do look the part.
We'll be aiming to bring you some hands-on impressions from the show floor, so keep an eye on our Musikmesse news hub.
For more info on the Marshall Astoria range, which will be available in the summer head over to the Marshall Amps website.
Marshall Astoria series press release
The Astoria Series is about pure, unfettered, authentic vintage tone, from loud, unbroken clean to sublime saturation, built for the connoisseur who craves hand-wired, point to point, all-valve tone, excellent build quality and attention to detail, but who also wants features like footswitchable Channels, gain Boost and series FX Loop, with push/pull tonal switching and modern power reduction.
To achieve this innovative marriage of authentic tonal character and switching features the Astoria Series uses turrets mounted on the PCB - allowing the hand-wiring and more complex switching circuitry to elegantly coexist on a single board.
The Astoria Series is expertly crafted and is designed, engineered and constructed to the highest possible standards at the Marshall factory in Bletchley, England. Astoria's all-valve heart comprises of an ECC83 (12AX7) preamp, GZ34 rectification, and a KT66 output stage, which is cathode biased and has no negative feedback - a characteristic of many classic, vintage amplifiers.
The Astoria Series consists of three models, each available as a 30 Watt combo or head and a matching 1 x 12" speaker cabinet. The combos and the speaker cabinet are loaded with a custom-voiced 75 Watt Celestion Creamback speaker.
The Astoria Series look is unique, with a quirky 'boutique' flavour. The Astoria combos have their control panel on top of the cabinet, like vintage Marshall combos. The Astoria heads are a 'small box' design with a vintage-style 'letterbox' front panel.
The Astoria Series front panels have a stylish contemporary aesthetic: brushed aluminium, with quality switches and indicators. Both combos, heads andspeaker cabinets have a leather strap carry handle and colour-coded, vintage-style 'Plexiglas' Marshall logo badge inspired by the rare 'oxblood' logo badge used for a very short time in the mid '60s.
The three models are covered in coloured tolex: Blue for Dual, Red for Custom and Green for Classic. The Astoria 1 x 12" cab is available in each colour to match.
The Astoria Classic is a single channel amplifier that will appeal to purists who want loud, clean valve tone, and to boutique pedal enthusiasts who will find it the perfect pure-valve foundation for their sound.
The Astoria Custom is a single channel amplifier for tone seekers who want itvintage but with the convenience of contemporary features and switching: footswitchable valve driven FX Loop, tone shaping pull switches and footswitchable gain boost.
The Astoria Dual, with two footswitchable channels, goes from vintage pure-valve cleans, to dirty-sweet overdrive, to higher gain harmonic distortion. Combine this with footswitchable FX Loop and extended tonal shaping for added performance flexibility.
The Astoria Series will be available this summer.
Specifications
Astoria Classic
- MODEL: AST1C
- TYPE: Combo
- CHANNELS: 1
- WATTAGE: 30 Watt
- INPUTS: Hi & Lo
- FRONT CONTROLS: Master (pull Power Reduction), Sensitivity, Treble, Middle, Bass, Edge.
- REAR PANEL CONTROLS: N/A
- SPEAKER: Custom-voiced Celestion Creamback.
- VALVES: 3 x ECC83 (12AX7), GZ34, 2 x KT66
- FX LOOP: No
- FOOTSWITCH: No
- MODEL: AST1H
- TYPE: Head
- CHANNELS: 1
- WATTAGE: 30 Watt
- INPUTS: Hi & Lo
- FRONT CONTROLS: Master (pull Power Reduction), Sensitivity, Treble, Middle, Bass, Edge
- REAR PANEL CONTROLS: N/A
- SPEAKER: N/A
- VALVES: 3 x ECC83 (12AX7), GZ34, 2 x KT66
- FX LOOP: No
- FOOTSWITCH: No
Astoria Custom
- MODEL: AST2C
- TYPE: Combo
- CHANNELS: 1
- WATTAGE: 30 Watt
- INPUTS: Hi & Lo
- FRONT CONTROLS: Gain (pull Body), Boost toggle switch, Treble, Middle, Bass, Edge, Master (pull Power Reduction)
- REAR PANEL CONTROLS: Loop Level, Loop toggle switch
- SPEAKER: 12" Custom-voiced Celestion Creamback.
- VALVES: 4 x ECC83 (12AX7), GZ34, 2 x KT66
- FX LOOP: Yes
- FOOTSWITCH: Yes (supplied)
- MODEL: AST2H
- TYPE: Head
- CHANNELS: 1
- WATTAGE: 30 Watt
- INPUTS: Hi & Lo
- FRONT CONTROLS: Gain (pull Body), Boost toggle switch, Treble, Middle, Bass, Edge, Master (pull Power Reduction)
- REAR PANEL CONTROLS: Loop Level, Loop toggle switch
- SPEAKER: N/A
- VALVES: 4 x ECC83 (12AX7), GZ34, 2 x KT66
- FX LOOP: Yes
- FOOTSWITCH: Yes (supplied)
Astoria Dual
- MODEL: AST3C
- TYPE: Combo
- CHANNELS: 2
- WATTAGE: 30 Watt
- INPUTS: Hi & Lo
- FRONT CONTROLS: Clean Volume (pull Channel), OD Gain (pull Body), OD Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Edge, Master (pull Power Reduction)
- REAR PANEL CONTROLS: Loop Level, Loop toggle switch
- SPEAKER: 12" Custom-voiced Celestion Creamback.
- VALVES: 4 x ECC83 (12AX7), GZ34, 2 x KT66
- FX LOOP: Yes
- FOOTSWITCH: Yes (supplied)
- MODEL: AST3H
- TYPE: Head
- CHANNELS: 2
- WATTAGE: 30 Watt
- INPUTS: Hi & Lo
- FRONT CONTROLS: Clean Volume (pull Channel), OD Gain (pull Body), OD Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Edge, Master (pull Power Reduction)
- REAR PANEL CONTROLS: Loop Level, Loop toggle switch
- SPEAKER: N/A
- VALVES: 4 x ECC83 (12AX7), GZ34, 2 x KT66
- FX LOOP: Yes
- FOOTSWITCH: Yes (supplied)
