Posted: 29th June 2023
When you think of a Marshall combo, the 2060 Mercury and Capri combo amps aren’t probably what you picture. In this article we look at the history of these two rare and obscure Marshall amps.
Read time: 2 mins
Both the Mercury and Capri combos came from odd spare parts that had been left over from other projects. The production team, at the time, had noticed these parts and didn’t want them to go to waste.
When producing these combos, we were looking at creating an amp that focused on the ‘home’ player market, a lot of other amp manufacturers were also turning towards this market and creating home practice amps. Many played at home for their own pleasure rather than performing on stage. Due to this, both the Mercury and the Capri were produced as very low-wattage amps and therefore had features to suit the needs and wants of many home players.
Of course, these amps weren’t only limited to home use but were better suited to somewhere you wouldn't need the volume or power of a typical head and cab setup. This meant that the 2060 Mercury and Capri amps would never belong on the stage for any major artists, and, unfortunately, means that they’re very rarely talked about. You may find them in the recordings of some songs, but mainly these amps were only used at home or for practice.
Despite their lack of spotlight, both amps are still quite well respected and hold a lot of value to collectors - mainly due to their different and unusual styling.
Possibly the strangest-looking Marshall combo amp. The all-valve Capri was designed for mail order and was sold between 1966 – 1967 with only 100 units being made during this period. The combo featured EL84 and ECC83 preamp valves and gave a total power output of 5W. There were a few different variations of speaker configurations for the Capri including a 1 x 8”, a 1 x 10”, and a 2 x 10”. A small 6” Marshall logo, red vinyl finish, and white speaker cloth all came as standard features on this one-of-a-kind amp.
Much like the Capri, the 2060 Mercury was a very off-the-wall piece, thanks to its unique covering and looks. However, this amp unlike the Capri was available in both a red and orange finish. It’s a hybrid design with a transistor preamp and an EL84 output valve, which gives off roughly 5W through a 12” speaker. Again, like the Capri, the Mercury amps were never intended to be made and sold in the shops, instead these were made for mail-order catalogues and were available from early 1972 to late 1973.
Listen to Steve Smith play through the Mercury and Capri below in our From The Museum series on YouTube. In the series, we look back at the original Marshall amps in our archives and discuss how these amps came to be.
