The Marshall Super Bass is a Marshall amplifier. Close alternatives include the Friedman IR-D and the Strymon Iridium. It pairs well with the Xotic BB Preamp and the Catalinbread SFT.

Marshall Super Bass

Marshall · amplifier

The Marshall Super Bass (model 1992) is a 100-watt all-tube plexi-era head that, despite its name, became a celebrated guitar amp. Closely related to the Super Lead with only minor circuit differences, it offers a smoother, fuller, less aggressive voice with warm tone and prominent low-mids rather than ice-pick highs. It is prized as an exceptionally clear and full pedal platform, taking overdrives and fuzzes beautifully, and you can run high presence and treble with less squeal and feedback, which suits metal and drop-tuned guitars. Adam Jones of Tool blends a 1976 Super Bass into his live tone for warmth and body.

What stands out

  • “It allows cranking presence and treble , helping it work for drop-tuned and metal tones”

    — from the community notes

  • “It takes boosts and fuzzes superbly, stays clear when cranked, and tolerates high presence and treble settings which suits metal and drop tunings”

    — from the reviews

  • “Players use it for classic rock, heavy rock and metal, and especially as a pristine, powerful pedal platform that takes overdrive and fuzz gracefully”

    — from the community notes

  • “Adam Jones uses one to add body and warmth to his blended live tone”

    — from the reviews

  • “Closely related to the Super Lead with only minor circuit differences, it offers a smoother, fuller,”

    — from the listing

Trade-offs

  • “A warm, full vintage plexi head that trades the Super Lead's biting top end for smoother highs and rich low-mids, making it both a characterful overdriven amp and an outstanding pedal platform”

    — from the reviews

  • treble
  • presence
  • fuzz
  • pedal platform
  • warmth
  • lead
  • bass
  • overdrive

Good for

  • Live

Genres the Marshall Super Bass is commonly used in

  • Classic Rock
  • Rock
  • Metal
  • Blues
    citedInferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
  • Alternative
    citedInferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
  • Blues Rock
    citedInferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.

Pedals that stack with the Marshall Super Bass

Xotic BB Preamp

Xotic

44% match
$100via Reverb

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → smooth)

Xotic BB Preamp's smooth balances out the bright tone

Goes in front of the amp

Catalinbread SFT

Catalinbread

39% match

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (warm → bright)

The Super Bass' pedal-platform headroom gives the SFT's thick, compressed British drive a clean amp voice to push into.

Goes in front of the amp

ProCo RAT 2

Proco

38% match
$86via Reverb

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → warm)

Marshall Super Bass leans into a clean amp's front end, precisely the platform ProCo RAT 2 wants

Goes in front of the amp

Electro-Harmonix XO Deluxe Memory Man

Electro-Harmonix

36% match
$175.51via Reverb

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (dark → bright)

Run Marshall Super Bass after it and the dark edge settles into something more bright — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)

Sits in the amp's effects loop

Wampler Latitude Deluxe Tremolo

Wampler

34% match
$169.95via Reverb

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (warm → bright)

Run Marshall Super Bass after it and the warm edge settles into something more bright

Goes in front of the amp

MXR Flanger

MXR

32% match

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (warm → bright)

The Super Bass is voiced as a pedal platform, and the Flanger's subtle analog sweep rides on top of that warmth instead of getting buried.

Goes in front of the amp

Boss OC-5

Boss

32% match
$146.75via Reverb

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (warm → bright)

Marshall Super Bass's bright balances out the warm tone

Goes in front of the amp

Caroline Guitar Company Kilobyte

Caroline Guitar Company

32% match
$199via Reverb

fills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (warm → bright)

Into the Super Bass's own pedal-platform headroom, the Kilobyte's warm digital delay stays clear instead of smearing. — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)

Sits in the amp's effects loop

See all 155 pedals that pair with the Marshall Super Bass →

Alternatives

Friedman IR-D

Friedman

72% similarity
$377.13via Reverb

Friedman IR-D recreates this amp's tone in pedal form

Strymon Iridium

Strymon

72% similarity

Strymon Iridium recreates this amp's tone in pedal form

Soldano SLO

Soldano

72% similarity
$119.99via Reverb

Soldano SLO recreates this amp's tone in pedal form

Friedman IR-J Jake E. Lee Preamp

Friedman

72% similarity
$499via Reverb

Friedman IR-J Jake E. Lee Preamp recreates this amp's tone in pedal form

Ampeg 50th Anniversary SVT Head

Ampeg

58% similarity
$3499.99via Reverb

Shared character: two channels, high end, volume

Park P50B Super Bass

Park

57% similarity

Shared character: volume, bass, classic rock

Hiwatt Park P50B Super Bass Handwired 50W Bass Head

Hiwatt

55% similarity

“The Super Bass name evokes the original 1960s-1970s Park and Marshall Super Bass circuits that were popular for bass amplification.”

Sunn 100s

amplifier

53% similarity

Shared character: two channels, hard rock, rich

Ampeg SVT-3PRO Bass Amplifier Head

Ampeg

51% similarity
$1290.32via Reverb

Shared character: sweet, presence, warm

EBS Classic 450

Ebs

49% similarity

Shared character: treble, warm, clarity

SWR California Blonde

Swr

49% similarity
$249via Reverb

Shared character: two channels, bass, high end

Laney Nathan East Signature 1000-Watt Bass Head

Laney

46% similarity
$726.39via Reverb

Shared character: warm, clarity, bass

See all alternatives to the Marshall Super Bass (cheaper + boutique) →

Questions people ask

What are good alternatives to the Marshall Super Bass?+

The closest matches in character are the Friedman IR-D, the Strymon Iridium, the Soldano SLO.

What pairs well with the Marshall Super Bass?+

Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Xotic BB Preamp, Catalinbread SFT, ProCo RAT 2 — Xotic BB Preamp's smooth balances out the bright tone.

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