1970's Marshall 8x10" Cabinet
These massive, unwieldy, and yet godly sounding cabinets were made by Marshall during the early to mid 1970’s in an effort to make their amps as loud as possible. This was because of the ever increasing size of crowds seen at major concerts after the advent of music festivals in the 1960’s. These were not very popular though outside of a few touring acts, and using multiple 4x12” sized cabs quickly became the norm as they were easier to transport and offered a degree of modular function that meant more people could buy the same product. There are not many of these left and few who are willing to lug them around - but for those who do they are rewarded with a huge, spatial, and punchy sound that doesn’t get overly bass heavy like many 4x12” closed back units can. 10” speakers offer a much faster attack/pick response and fit very nicely into a live band mix compared to 12” speakers. These cabs like all Marshall’s of the era, came with Celestion branded speakers that are bright and have fairly low power ratings - which meant that while sounding good they are quite easy to blow.
The customer came in wanting this fully restored with new speakers that captured the British sound but with larger power ratings so this could be used with high wattage amplifiers without fear of destroying the cab. All of the original speakers worked but a few had been re-coned and some of the hardware was stripped out and rusted. Other than that the Cab was in beautiful shape for it’s age and you’re not likely to see one in better condition!
I installed 8 brand new Weber Ceramic Grey Wolf 10" 50W Speakers with Moderate Doping - 16 Ohm each. These are British style speakers (Made in USA) that are good for all styles of music (especially Rock and Metal) and are a big step up in sound quality and wattage ratings from the original Celestions. The Cab was setup at 400 Watts total power handling with a nominal Impedance of 8 Ohms - Making it usable with almost any guitar or even many bass amplifiers at very high power ratings. All new high quality Weico 22AWG 600V Teflon wiring was installed (Dual Series-Parallel) with quick-disconnect spade clips for reliability and easier repairs in the future. A new Cliff brand (English made) 1/4" jack was used and all new high quality Nickel Plated Steel #8 sized screws/washers were installed to replace the stripped originals.
This early 70's Marshall 8x10" is like new. If you think you have ever heard a great sounding guitar cabinet then this thing is a treat, it’s ability to fill a room with 3-Dimensional sound and feel is not like anything else. Very special. The Weber’s turned out as good as they always do - I would recommend them for anyone looking to replace Celestions.
