Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959

Althogh this plugin meanwhile is quite old, it still is one of the two or three really good and authentically sounding 1959 SLP plugins, which I have heard up to now. I know a lot more, but usually they hardly have much to do with a typical, real Plexi tone, at least not for my eaars, so programming a good Plexi plugin seems to be some sort of "Holy Grail" for programmers, which separates the wheat from the chaff.

The amp section itself still sounds good for my taste and it also enables all possible linking options, which is essential especially for a Plexi, if you want to authentically cover the whole sonic range.

Not so happy I also am with the trashy look, vintage museum piece, ok, but the black knob and the sticker rather disturbs my eyes than it pleases them.

The tall 1960 BHW cabinet with G12H-30 Celestions is in principle a good choice, but I also had liked some alternatives, at least an additional pre-Rola G12M cabinet, maybe also some 75Hz and 55Hz Blackbacks, EVM-12L's or even some V30's or Scumbacks.

But what I dislike most and what is annoying me every time again is the - for me - strange Tony Platt channel strip, especially the microphone section. You have to choose, if you only want to use dynamic, FET or tube microphones but you cannot combine them or adjust position and distance individually, even worse, there is no even a Royer R121 is availabe, which for me, especially if it comes to Marshalls, in most cases is the best choice in combination with a SM57. And also no C414 or SM7B. Ok, these may be Tony Platt's favorites, whyever, but the "industrial standard" is a different one.

Nevertheless you can adjust - even with these strange, predefined limitations - some good, usable cabinet/microphone sounds by yourself or in the worst case you can deactivate the speakers and microphones completely and use some external IR's instead, which I mostly do meanwhile.

Alternatively the additional, but also within Amp Room usable Softube Celestion Speaker Shaper can be a good alternative, as you can widely customize your own cabinets/speakers in it and also have acces to not all, but some typical Celestion speakers, which you individually can modify and customize even more.

As this Plexi plugin itself is not really cheap, I had expected some more flexibility concerning the cabinet/speaker/microphone section, as already mentioned. Some competitors offer different cabinets or also a built-in IR-loader, while Softube's solution is for my taste and for the price a little too limited, if not to say, very modest.

Also another alternative voicing to this museum Plexi would have been a good idea, eg. the one of the newer 1959 SLP HW reissue or maybe the one of a Studio Vintage, to be able to compare the sounds and differences directly, maybe even better the one of an Arredondo modded Plexi.

If Softube anyway has already modelled the basic amp circuit, these different voicings could not have been so much additional work but would have justified the high price much more, I think.

Despite of my complaints for me still (one of) the best sounding Softube amp plugins from the Marshall collection, while some others - like the 2203 - do not really convince me very much.

I would have given five stars for the amp section itself, but due to the GUI and even more the strange, unflexible channel strip one point is deducted.

Another one I should have deducted for the price-performance ratio. For this price I had expected a more flexible, more modern state-of-the-art, more user-friendly channel strip with different cabinet/speaker options and individually adjustable and combinable microphones, not only for levelling but also concerning distance and placement. Plus at least another alternate Plexi voicing. But I do not, as the amp sound itself - despite of my complaints and critics - definitely deserves more than three stars.

The plugin market is overcrowded and meanwhile, also at least some competitive products at the same if not even higher level are available, so at the moment the amp simulation itself still sounds and works good, but some of the other features, like the channel strip are not really anymore state-of-the-art and urgently need some update and modernization in my opinion.

One idea eg. could be, to replace the existing, annoying channel strip with a built-in Celestion Speaker Shaper or at least a limited version of it with eg. only 412 cabinets but all speakers and speaker editing options.

Nevertheless recommended, if you look for convincing Plexi tones, can live with some disadvantages and are willing to accept them at this price. In other words, good programming job, but in certain aspects an unfortunately wrong product management in my opinion.