Tube chart · Guitar amp

Tubes for Marshall Super Lead Plexi (1959)

Era: 1965–1969 (plexi panel)Power: 100 W

The 1959 Super Lead is the Mount Rushmore guitar amp — Page, Hendrix, Townshend, Iommi. 4× EL34 in fixed bias, solid-state rectifier, no master volume. The plexi tone lives in pushing the power tubes hard into saturation; quartets of NOS Mullard XF2 EL34s remain the most-rolled choice when chasing the original sound.

Complete tube line-up

Every socket in the Super Lead Plexi (1959), with stock tubes, direct-swap alternatives, and rolling notes. Tube names link to dedicated specification pages.

  • Preamp V1/V2 × 2
    12AX712AX7 / ECC83
    Alt:ECC83, 7025
  • Phase inverter
    12AX712AX7 / ECC83
    Alt:12AT7, ECC81
  • Power tubes × 4
    EL34EL34 / 6CA7
    Alt:6CA7, KT77, 6550 (with re-bias)
  • Rectifier (solid-state)
    Solid-state (no tube)
Important: bias before you swap

Power tube swaps almost always require rebiasing — running a new quartet of EL34 cold or hot will shorten tube life dramatically and can damage the output transformer. See the biasing guide and the troubleshooting guide before rolling tubes.

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