There's no doubt that fashion affects tastes in amp formats, just as it does every aspect of music - from playing styles to the actual gear we use. Recent years, for example, have seen the growth in popularity of high-powered combos, while (at the same time) heavy metal players have gone in the opposite direction, towards employing increasing numbers of valve stacks - often used as a macho cosmetic adornment of their stage sets!

But still the 'stack' has a strong appeal, and not all of it just for show, either. However powerful a modern 1x12 100 watt combo sounds, the sheer spread of muscle power from eight speakers in two cabs cannot easily be equalled.

Unfortunately, the component and manufacturing costs of a traditional valve amp are such that prices are beginning to be prohibitive for many younger players, and the size of a standard 4x12 (let alone two of them) poses obvious transport problems.

Their reputation being founded on unequalled valve heads and 4x12s, it's only natural that Marshall, of all makers, should have come up with an answer for guitarists who want a stack, but either can't afford or can't physically transport a traditional valve head and two 4x12s. That answer is the brand new Marshall 'Compact Stack', recently launched in their booming export markets (where it's already a top seller) and shortly to be appearing on the U.K. scene.

Two major factors differentiate this stack from the classic Marshall set-up, the first being that the amp uses a MOS-FET power amp stage (not valves - but not traditional bi-polar transistors, either), the second being that the cabs house those excellent Celestion 10" 35-watt rated speakers, as opposed to the traditional Celestion 12" types.

To give you an idea of the transportation ease which this smaller package affords, we collected our sample Compact Stack in a non-hatchback Alfasud. One 4x10 fitted snugly in the average-sized boot, the other, plus the head, went on the back seat, with no difficulties at all. At the other end of our journey, the light weight and smaller size of the stack made for very easy transportation. Even small saloon car owners should be able to carry their Compact Stacks with no problems - the weight is considerably less than that of a normal twin 4x12 arrangement, the size ditto. Marshall products continuously represent traditional British engineering values at their absolute best. In a world where trash seems to be increasingly common, Marshall stand out like renegades with their integrity, and refuse to compromise their legendary build quality for the sake of convenience - and that applies just as much to this 'mini-stack' as it does their full-size models. The slope-fronted and straight 4x10 cabs were both to their usual ultra-high woodworking quality, and the head was built like a Marshall always is. On the road, this reputation for reliability (never mind Marshall's sound quality!) has kept them at the forefront since the 1960s - and they obviously refuse to compromise their own legend.

The new Marshall head is unusual in several respects. Again it's beautifully built, but much lighter than the equivalent valve unit. The back panel sports six ¼" jack sockets; two for effects send and return, one for connection to a mixer (provided with a variable output control, enabling you to send exactly the signal required to your mixer - a very good idea, of course) plus two speaker outlets, allowing cabs from 4 to 6 ohms to be connected. Mains input is via an I.E.C. socket.

The front panel features the usual illuminated Marshall mains switch, plus a twin-channel arrangement of controls. These provide a single jack input, followed by pots for the 'Boost' (overdrive) channel. Gain, Volume and Tone controls are in a line, with a red LED (to show Boost or Normal channel 'on'), there's a stereo jack socket for the two-way footswitch (supplied with the amp), then 'Normal channel' volume, treble, middle and bass pots. Reverb depth (operable on both channels) and master volume.

So what, you must be asking by now, does this new Marshall MOS-FET head sound like? - and the answer is - dramatically good! The development of this new head has come from their 75 watt MOS-FET combo, and affords all that superior overdrive response of MOS-FET power trannies (richer in 2nd. order harmonics than the bi-polar device) and generally reckoned to be far more reliable and abuse-proof, too.

To get the ideal overdrive sound with your particular guitar doesn't require very much work. You simply plug in, switch-in the Boost channel (via the footswitch), choosing to either pull out the gain control (which sends the whole amp singing at a higher power level) or leaving it 'in' for lower levels. The choice of distortion types is extremely wide though - either you can use the volume pot to overload, or the gain control, or (ideally, I found) balance and blend their two different qualities. How you set these controls will depend on what guitar you're using. My own Gibson SG seemed to like the gain up higher than the volume, but other guitars may want different settings. Either way, the overload is first class - one of the very best I've heard from a transistorised amp. What's more, either at low levels or at its full power, the overdrive is very similar.

For clean (or mildly distorted) rhythm sounds you use Channel Two. This is set 'on' via the footswitch and has a wider tone range - three controls instead of just a single 'tone' pot - allowing just about any desired sound from a sharp, attacking, slicing treble with a Strat, to a warmer, deeper, more Gibson-suited sound.

Push the pre-amp volume control up on the 'Normal' channel and it will roughen-up a chord nicely, so that when you foot-activate the 'Boost' channels for solos, a sound extremely close to that of a real valve Marshall comes in.

The tonal range on Channel Two is very wide - all you could sensibly ask for but, although you might find this hard to credit, just the one 'Tone' control on the Boost channel delivers a convincing spectrum of lead sounds, from something approaching the vintage Clapton 'Woman Tone' to a more modern, piercing sustain/distortion. Yes, the Boost Channel has just the one tone pot - but it works very well!

Another plus on this new Marshall is the reverb. This really has to be one of the best reverbs on the market - so good, and so wide-ranging in effect that I found myself using it all the time, from just a mild enhancement on chords to a misty, rich depth on solos.

Are there no flaws in this new amp? Well, maybe just one, and even then I'm not sure how much it will matter on stage. The Boost footswitch does tend to activate this channel with a bit of an audible 'thump'. This may not matter on stage at full volume, but it could be an irritation in the studio. How much it will bother you will depend on your own needs, - but a more silent switching system would be preferable, I'd say.

I found this Marshall beautifully made, capable of a fabulous lead sound, with a great reverb and monstrous volume. 10" speakers, perhaps, don't have the bottom-end response of 12" types, but one of the classic vintage Marshall sounds was from their 8x10" cab and many players might even prefer the sound of these to the familiar 4x12s - in many ways I'm very taken with them myself and would find a choice quite hard to make.

So, does the latest MOS-FET 100 Marshall head finally supplant the valve Marshall? Frankly, no; it complements it. As valve amps get increasingly costly then we have a real need for tranny models which get close to a valve sound, and this Marshall does - exceptionally close. The difference lies in the 'feel' of a real valve amp, as much as the sound - a quality which you'll only ever experience with the 'real thing' and which has a lot to do with the complexities of valves and their response. Marshall's valve amps, will, I suspect, rule unchecked among the more experienced (and wealthier) players, but this new compact stack provides a sound possibly close as you'll get with transistors, with all the visual and acoustic appeal of a 'real' Marshall stack I think it's going to be yet another winner for the Milton Keynes masters - giving a new generation of guitarists the taste of the real McCoy!

100 Watt MOS-FET Head (RRP £222.82 inc. VAT) & 4x10" Cabs (RRP £160.43 inc. VAT each).