If anybody understands what it takes to make an amp for the gigging musician, it's Marshall. Sure, the Marshall stack is a mainstay on the big arena tours, but we're talking about the everyday rocker; Joe Six-string grinding his way through the local club scene. He puts his heart and soul into every show, often for little more than a couple of drink tickets and a few new names on the fan list. He needs an amp that works just as hard. Marshall's new Haze series was built with Joe in mind.

Marshall Haze 40: Marshall calls 'em Valves

For most guitarists, there's just no substitute for tube tone. Haze amps deliver plenty of it. This Haze 40 combo has a pair of EL34's in the power section, backing your riffs with 40 watts of pure tube goodness. It's all pushed through a 12-inch Celestion Marquee speaker, custom voiced for Haze-series amps. Is there any sweeter combination in rock than Marshall and Celestion?

Top-Loaded Controls and Tons of Tone on the Marshall Haze 40

The Haze 40 is a two-channel amp with plenty of tonal variation. On the clean channel, you get lots of sparkle at low volume, and it breaks up just like you want it to when you push the gain. At about 1/3rd of the way up, you're getting some nice throaty growl. Take it up to 2/3rds, and you can chug-a-chug your way through the nastiest rhythm lines all night long. Dime it out, and hold on to your butt! The tone is nice and meaty without going too far over the top. (That's what the other channel is for!)

For a little… read more extra spank on your clean tone, engage the bright switch. Be careful if you're using single coils; you don't want to get too thin. You can always kick on the channel boost and fatten up the tone a bit. The boost is also great for adding a little extra "oomph" to your overdrive to cut through the mix.

When it's time to play dirty, stomp on the distortion channel and let the legendary Marshall roar hit you like a brick. Use the gain control to dial in the right amount of grit and the master volume to set the proper level. This lets you get all the grind and squeal you want without having to shatter eardrums (unless you want to). This channel has a dedicated boost too, which is just what you need for your solos. You're rocking along with the band and everything is perfectly blended, then you engage the boost and your lead line floats up above the rhythm like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes. The three-band EQ and presence control gives even more tone shaping options.

Onboard Effects (Or Not) With the Marshall Haze 40

If this were just another (super awesome) tube amp, we could stop right here, but Marshall gives you so much more. They've paired the sweet tube tone with some killer effects to bring a full palette of colors and textures to the party. The emulated spring reverb has a dedicated level control, adding anything from subtle dynamics to cave-like depth. It sounds fantastic on both channels. No other controls are needed; crank it all the way to the left to turn it off, or back to the right depending on how much 'verb you need.

The Effect button is used to pick from one of three options, each with it's own corresponding color. Press it once and the light turns green, bringing the echo of your dreams to life. The Effect Depth knob lets you set the amount of echo blended into your signal path, and the Adjust knob controls the delay speed. Get super spacey bounce, or dial up some subtle slapback. Press the Effect button again, and you're seeing orange and hearing a nice, washy tremolo. Again, dial in the intensity and frequency with the control knobs to go from surf to chop. Finally, press the Effect button again and you're in the red, with a killer chorus. Sweep from light ambiance to an extreme, almost out of tune character until you've found the proper thickness. Even better, the effect settings are stored for each channel. Dial up a chorus for the clean channel, and when you switch over for your lead that nice tailing delay is right there with you!

For those of you who want nothing to come between you and your tubes, Marshall included true bypass switching to cut the effects altogether. There's also an onboard effects loop ready to handle your favorite pedalboard setup. The Haze 40 comes with a two-button footswitch for changing channels and bringing the effects in or out, or you can add the four-way footpedal (see the related accessories) to change channels, toggle the boost, and handle the effects. Less back and forth to fiddle with your amp means more face time with your fans! read less