Marshall 2098 JMP Lead

I do repair work from time to time for a vintage music shop, which is where I came across this amp. The owner had it in a back storage room in nonworking condition and ask me to take a look at it. The output transistors were blown along with the over current protection circuit transistors. After repairing and returning it to the shop it sat for some time with no takers so I made the owner an offer and took it back home.

This amp gets a lot of bad press on the Internet probably due to being really misunderstood. First of all it really nails a clean Marshall tone, which should be expected. But the secret to getting a good overdrive sound out of it is that there is an additional 20db of gain which can only be turned on with the foot switch. The amp uses a plain vanilla two button contact closure foot switch with a TRS stereo 1/4" phone plug. Peavey used the same foot switch on several of their amps over the years. So don't listen to all the neighsayers out there who have either not tried a 2098 or have not run it with the proper foot switch to get the high gain that this amp is capable of. My unit has 100 watts of RMS power at clipping which would be 140 watts the way many amp makers rate their products. Since it has a transformer coupled output the power is the same regardless of load. The transformer also reduces the damping factor which makes for more of a tube sound than a typical SS amp. If you get a chance to try/buy a 2098 don't pass it up. Get a foot switch and enjoy.