For Sale: Ultra-Rare 1970 Marshall Super Lead 100– Jose Arredondo Modified (Early 1980s)

Price: Serious Offers Only | Collector-Grade

If you're reading this, you already know. This is no ordinary Marshall.

This is an early Jose Arredondo-modded 1970 Marshall Super Lead, one of the very first legendary Jose builds with the additional tube gain stage, which helped define the blistering guitar tone of the 1980s LA rock scene. Jose’s name became synonymous with molten sustain, articulation, and the kind of modded British tone that turned guitar heroes into icons on the LA Strip.

I’ve had the honor of stewarding this amplifier since late 2017. But the story goes deeper...

In the early 1990s, a close friend of mine owned this very amp—he’d acquired it during his quest for the ultimate tone. He owned a small guitar repair shop in LA back in the day. Unfortunately, life threw him a financial curveball, and he was forced to let it go. But he never lost track of it.

(My friend owned 2 of these early Jose Super Leads simultaneously; the other is pictured on the Jose Facebook page)( I have included 2 photos of the other Jose Super Lead, both heads have the green marker writings on the back panel)

Fast forward to the late 2010s. After years of following its trail, we tracked it down to a collector who’d had it since the late '90s. Getting it back was a leap of faith—I sent a substantial amount of cash via FedEx, along with a prepaid shipping label, with no formal guarantees. Just trust, faith in mankind, and tone obsession. Miraculously, the amp arrived safely and operated amazingly well out of the case. And it was worth every penny and every heartbeat. It was a risk worth taking in my book.

There has been a lot of folklore and tales of this amp being owned by various rock guitarists over its years, and they are probably true. Obviously, it's difficult to confirm. I was told at one point that John Norum of Dokken owned the amp in the late 80s. I do know for certain that Billy Gibbons had it at his studio in Texas for a couple of years, as my friend who owned it lent it to him as they are old friends. My friend told me it was difficult to get the amp back...LOL, he had to drive to Texas to get it....

I spent over a decade hunting for a Jose-modded Marshall. They don’t come up for sale often. They trade in whispers—handshakes between tone connoisseurs, on forums, and in private collections. When you see one, it’s often already gone; you were too late. This happened on a few different occasions to me. I have tried a few times since I bought this Jose Super Lead to get another one. I was after a later Jose JCM 800 that I had intel on, but I missed out; it went to a studio in Japan. This was just before Covid swooped in - early 2020.

Condition:
This amp is in very good vintage condition and fully functional. It retains its soul, its scars, and most importantly, that unmistakable Jose voice—pure Jose magic. At one point, I thought about having the head cabinet recovered in NOS stock black tolex I had sourced from the UK. I am kind of OCD on this type of thing, but I decided to leave the amp - as is - as found.

Near the end of 2018 the amp required a new power transformer, which was installed by a good friend and electrical engineer at Vintage Voltage Amplification. I attempted a couple of times to contact Chris Merren to see if he would repair/refurbish the original transformer, and never got a response. It was then going to ship to Patrick at Mercury Magnetics, but I never got around to sending it, as it was the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020. Anyway, it will be included with the sale.

Why am I Selling?
As much as this amp means to me, it's time for a new steward—someone who will appreciate her story, her rarity, and her raw power. Whether you're a collector, studio owner, or guitarist chasing that tone, this is your grail. Always copied, rarely close!

DM for serious inquiries, additional photos, or to hear her roar. If you wish to demo the amp in person, we can arrange this at my home. This option would be for serious buyers only, who want to add an original Jose Marshall to their collection. Information will have to be submitted and verified. I don't want to end up like Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon!!!

Comes with a heavy-duty flight case. I would prefer the new owner pick up the amp in person, but I will ship it wherever. Usually, rare and expensive amps/equipment, I like to ship 2-day air or next-day service. I will not use ground service. We can discuss costs. If you have your own FedEx or UPS business account, we can use this, not a problem.

International shipping: I would recommend having the amp/flight case wood crated for additional protection and shipping expedited international air freight service. I have someone who builds super secure wood crates for international shipping for anything highly valuable, sensitive & rare. We can discuss costs.

And NO, I don't want to trade this amp for anything!

US Dollars only. " No Special Bank Checks" either GFYSLF (You know who you are). Only Reverb payment, PayPal, Bank Wire, and Bitcoin will be accepted for payment.