Marla Amps S40-5881 Combo + LIBBY Reverb Unit Natural Polyurethane Satin

Two handwired, American-made pieces of gear. One complete, plug-in-and-play rig.

This bundle pairs the S40-5881 — Marla's 40-watt 5881-powered tweed combo — with the Libby, a dual-tank spring reverb unit with a built-in tube overdrive stage. Buy them together and save versus purchasing separately.

The S40-5881 Combo

40 watts of 5881-powered tweed grit in one American-made combo. This amp roars when pushed, sings when held back, and reacts to your hands — not to software or screens.

The S40-5881 takes the 5E3/5F6-A circuit DNA that made 1950s tweed amps legendary and amplifies it — literally. A pair of JJ 5881 tubes (the military-spec 6L6 variant) delivers everything you love about classic tweed growl, then tightens the low end, sharpens the articulation, and adds headroom that single-ended designs can't touch. Creamy midrange. Rich harmonic breakup. Touch-sensitive from first note to full dig.

Channel One — Bassman/JTM45 Voiced Fat, focused, with a strong mid-push that sits perfectly in a full band mix. Biased slightly hotter in the preamp section for more separation and drive character. Built for rhythm work, bluesy leads, and anything where you want the amp doing the heavy lifting.

Channel Two — Princeton/5E3 Voiced Brighter and more open, with the classic sparkle and touch sensitivity of a small-room vintage amp. Cleaner headroom before breakup. Ideal for edge-of-breakup cleans, jangly rhythm, and anything where you need clarity and note definition.

Jump Both Channels Fully independent voicing and signal path. Jump them with an ABY or a cable and the S40 transforms: harmonically rich overdrive, searing midrange, a creamy top end that responds to pick attack and guitar volume. This is where the amp really opens up.

Tube Flexibility Ships with JJ 5881s, internally wired for swaps. Run 6L6s for ~46W and a fuller low end. Run EL34/E34Ls for ~38W and a tighter, more aggressive midrange when driven. Professional rebias required for each tube type. Swap the GZ34 rectifier for a 5U4GB for a more compressed, modern character with less top-end hair on the overdrive.

Handwired point-to-point on turret board in Asheville, NC. Finger-jointed pine cabinet. Orange Drop 715 caps, Sozo NexGen coupling caps, Mojotone KingCap filtering caps, Hammond 290 Series power transformer, Hammond 1750 Series output transformer, Switchcraft jacks, Alpha pots. Cabs and chassis made in North Carolina.

The Libby Dual Reverb + gNARLY Overdrive

This is not a reverb pedal. The Libby is a standalone, handwired dual-tank spring reverb unit with a built-in tube overdrive stage — designed to integrate into any rig and add expressive, spacious, dynamic ambience that no single-tank unit can replicate.

Tank One — Bright & Short A 3-spring tank delivering a punchy splash with immediate slap-back character. Always on. This is the classic, familiar spring reverb tone — the baseline most guitarists already know and love.

Tank Two — Dark & Long Atmospheric, immersive, and tied to a rear-panel footswitch jack. Engage the footswitch and Tank Two transforms into a lead boost with ambient decay — a direct nod to the legendary Golden Cello effect. Swap the tank outputs to reverse the configuration. The Libby is designed to be tailored.

Reverb Source Selector Four modes that change what feeds the reverb driver — creating four distinct reverb personalities from one unit: dry mechanical resonance only (experimental/ambient textures), high-frequency content only (shimmer-adjacent studio layering), standard gain stage signal (familiar, musical baseline), and post-overdrive signal (reverb literally saturated with tube harmonic content). This is the feature that makes the Libby genuinely unique.

gNARLY Overdrive Stage Harmonically rich tube overdrive built into the signal path. Roll back the Gain for a smooth, buttery texture. Turn it up for a fuzzy, aggressive voice with defined transient attack. The overdrive interacts directly with the reverb source selector — unlocking entirely new ambient textures when combined.

Handwired point-to-point, made in the USA.

Specs

S40-5881 Combo:

Power Output: ~40W (5881) | ~46W (6L6) | ~38W (EL34/E34L)

Power Tubes: (2) JJ 5881 — 6L6 / EL34 compatible (tech rebias required)

Preamp / PI: (2) JJ 12AX7

Rectifier: JJ GZ34 (swap 5U4GB for more compression)

Channels: 2 — independent, jumpable via ABY or cable

Inputs: High & Low Sensitivity per channel

Controls: Boost + Volume per channel, Tone per channel

Speaker: 1x12" Mojotone Anthem

Finish: Natural Polyurethane Satin

Dimensions: Approx. 22" W x 20" H x 10.5" D

Weight: ~34-36 lbs

Built: Handwired point-to-point on turret board, Asheville, NC

Libby Reverb Unit:

Type: Dual spring reverb + tube overdrive

Tank One: Bright / Short — 3-spring, always on

Tank Two: Dark / Long — footswitch controlled, lead boost mode

Source Selector: 4 modes (dry mechanical, HF shimmer, standard gain, post-overdrive)

Overdrive: gNARLY tube stage — Gain control, butter to aggressive

Footswitch Jack: Rear panel

Built: Handwired point-to-point, made in USA