Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959

A classic from Marshall’s museum.

There is perhaps no other amplifier more vital to the history of rock & roll than the Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959. Softube took Marshall’s own museum-piece Plexi (a pristine model from 1967) under extremely careful security and supervision and modelled each and every component to produce the most textured, detailed software version imaginable. At any setting, it responds exactly like the hardware, and it’s sensitive to your playing style like you wouldn’t believe.

• Extreme Sound Quality and Authenticity: Component-modeled for the most accurate possible recreation of Marshall's own reference unit.
• AC/DC's own Engineer: Cabinet responses recorded at Kore Studio, London, with mic selections and positions by AC/DC engineer Tony Platt (Highway to Hell, Back in Black).
• The Guitar Hero's Choice: Angus Young, Jimmy Page, Graham Coxon, Johnny Ramone, John Frusciante, Slash, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix – they all used a Plexi Super Lead.

The History of Rock & Roll

The Plexi’s design was essentially commissioned by Pete Townshend of The Who, looking for more power, volume, and grunt as true high-voltage rock began to explode in the mid ’60s. Eric Clapton traded in his ‘Bluesbreaker’ combo for a Super Lead when he founded Cream in 1966. Jimi Hendrix, for goodness sake, played a Super Lead at Woodstock.

The first Marshall full stack was created for the Plexi. Initially, the super-powerful, 100-watt amp was paired with a huge 8x12 speaker cabinet, but soon the preference shifted to two 4x12s, one straight and one angled. It’s hard to overstate how much of a cornerstone this amp is. Rock simply wouldn’t look or sound the same without it.

Your Own Personal Legendary Engineer

Softube retained the services of Tony Platt, engineer for AC/DC on some of the most face-meltingly rocktastic albums of all time, to capture impulse responses from a perfect era-appropriate 1960BHW cabinet with a variety of expertly placed vintage microphones. Nothing comes close to the mix-ready magic of these sounds. They've built a world-class engineer, who knows the amp like an old friend, right into the plug-in.

The Channel Strip

In addition to the amp itself, the plug-in provides a complete setup and workflow for getting mix-ready sounds. Three different microphone combos – FET, Valve, and Dynamic – were recorded by Platt at Kore Studios in London, and the results can be blended and tweaked in the side panel of the plug-in.

Each microphone has its own volume and pan settings, just as you'd expect from working in a top-class studio, so you can mix your own ideal sound right there in the plug-in. This is more than just an amp sim. It's a complete workflow for an amazing mix-ready guitar tone.

Detailed and Versatile Tone

Two channels, a lead and a rhythm, each with both high and low gain inputs, can be combined (or 'jumped') for a wide-range of sounds. Go from a warm, gritty twang right up to a searing wailing rock god solo scream, and never let The Man stand in your way.

Angus Young played one in AC/DC. Jimmy Page played one in Led Zeppelin. Graham Coxon, Johnny Ramone, John Frusciante, Slash. The versatility of the 1959 (‘1959’, by the way, being a model number rather than a production year), and the ease with which it produces fantastic harmonically rich sounds, defined a genre and a movement.

Don’t compromise with lesser rigs. Don’t put up with pretenders. Get the one and only Plexi Super Lead 1959, and ground your tone in pure rock.

Features

• A faithful emulation of Marshall’s own reference Plexi Super Lead 1959 amplifier from their museum, built in 1967, combined with an era-correct 1960BHW speaker cabinet recorded by famous engineer/producer Tony Platt
• Microphone selections and placements by Tony Platt, captured in famous Kore Studios, London
• Over 50 finely tuned presets designed by AC/DC engineer Tony Platt
• Three different microphone combination setups available — FET, Valve, and Dynamic
• Three separate mics per setting, two close and one room
• 'Channel Strip' includes pans, volume faders, and solo for each mic, plus a two band 'Main Out' EQ

System Requirements

• Mac OS X 10.13 up to OS 12 (older OS versions will not work) (64-bit only).
• Windows 10 (older Windows versions may work but are not tested) (Windows 11 Pending) (64-bit only).
• Mac: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon - Full Apple silicon support (M1 or higher).
• Windows: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon / AMD Quad-Core or newer.
• Screen resolution 1280x800 or larger.
• Supported sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192 kHz, in both mono and stereo.
• 8 GB RAM or more is recommended, as well as at least 8 GB hard disk space for installation (individual plug-ins take less space, while sample libraries may require additional disk space).
• A Softube account is required to register and install the software.
• An iLok account is required for authorisation of the software.
• Internet access for downloading installer and managing licenses.
• iLok generation 2 and up, if you intend to use a physical iLok dongle for authorizing your plug-ins (note that an iLok dongle is not a requirement).
• In theory, any 64-bit VST, VST3, AU, or AAX (11.0.2 or higher) compatible host application should work.
• The most recent maintenance release of the DAW application is recommended.

However, due to plug-in host differences between DAWs - and Softube's own rigorous testing standards - Softube only officially test their plug-ins and instruments in the most recent versions of Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, Live, Studio One, Digital Performer, Reaper and Sonar. Softube plugins are not tested in the non-listed systems, but they most likely work as long as the system requirements are met.

Important note: make sure that you always use the latest iLok License Manager. It is not included in the Softube installer but can be downloaded from www.ilok.com​