jcm900 - not bad at all

[gwEm]

seems to be dislike of the jcm900 on certain sites on the net. theres not been much negative discussion of them on here though.

anyway, i tried a 100w dual reverb combo for the first time the other day, and i must say even if it didn't have the raw balls of my jmp50, i quite liked it - seemed to be decently designed... tone is pretty good, hardly the horror story i'd been lead to believe.

check the price on ebay for these amps, and it seems to be very fair! i'd like to try the slx version.

[Henk]

Your not helping me!

Im GASSING over a JCM800 combo (1 G12H100).

Horrible stuff, really! :roll:  :lol:

[_tom_]

I tried the dual reverb 900 through my cab and it sounded awesome. Not so good through the "proper" marshall cab, it had no balls and sounded thin and fizzy. Guess its all in the speakers, G12H seem to go really well with it :)

[Henk]

The G12H100 is supposed to have a tighter bottom end and a less nosy mid cut when compared to the G12H75............*sighs*

[HTH AMPS]

I tried a 100w dual reverb combo for the first time the other day, and I must say even if it didn't have the raw balls of my jmp50, I quite liked it

I never liked them when they first came out but then there was that period when EL34s dried up and the existing ones available were dreadfull quality.  I tried one of the 'new' ones at the time with 5881s and it sounded much better - I always had the intention of buying one but got a crackin' deal on a Silver Jubilee 50w head (I miss that amp, it sounded WAY better than any other Jube I've had since)

Check the price on ebay for these amps, and it seems to be very fair! I'd like to try the slx version.

The price is fair because they have a dreadful reputation - I like the single channel JCM900s better, they're not that far off a JCM800 with an SD-1 intot the front end.

The SLX amps are the star of the JCM900 show here - all valve signal path.  Marshall finally got their finger out with this one and added another ECC83 rather than trying to clip the signal further with diodes and opamps (dual reverb).

The only thing with the SLX's (and all the 900s) is the trannies - they look tiny, especially the OT.  I'm sure an OT upgrade would make this amp even better.  There's a guy on this board who modded one extensively, maybe he's pitch in with his experiences, though I do seem to remember he was modding his for LESS gain (heresy, lmao).

 :twisted:

[the_bleeding]

i find they only soudn good LOUD.

they are unbearable at quiet volumes, all fizzy and ew.

yeah, when i went to go buy my marshall cab (1960a) the guy said he wanted to make sure it works and asked if he could test it, so i'm like yea sure. So he opens the box infront of me, sits it down, grabs a jcm 900 off of another stack in the store, plugs it in and all, pushes the power and goes and grabs a guitar.
By the time he gets back with a guitar and a cable, he plugs in, and turns the gain to 8, and the master to about 2 and poudns a few riffs. Then he turns it up to 6 (scary loud) and starts rocking out... you couldnt hear anything in the store.... it was great.
Safe to say it sounded good, and i took the cab home :D:D:D

[Will]

Yeah, I think cranked is the only way to get the good sound.

The SLX would be like putting something like a Valve OD in front of it, whereas the Mk 3 and the Dual Reverbs 10-20 knob is like a transistor OD. People often complain about that, and then stick a generic OD in front of the amp anyway  :?

Wouldn't mind trying the SLX, but I am happy with the dual master vol

[Henk]

The JCM 900 -in general- sounds best trough the Celestion greenback 25's for screaming loudness and trough the V30's when boosting chunky low mids(retains a better bottom end).

I also agree with you guys, you should play this amp loud, allthough trough the greenbacks it still shreds 'ok' at lower volumes.

Now the funny bit is IMO, the JCM800combo's are in the same pricerange then the JCM900's and those are way more versatile. I think most people dont know the difference and persume both s#ck i guess. Anyway the JCM800 is IMHO the ultimate dirty clean to heavy metal amp, put an OD or D in front and voila your all set.

When comparing the 800 ro the 900 its a much more balanced and warmer sounding amp, less noisy also, better mids but a little compressed on the highs sometimes. I especially like the 2 channel 50 watter JCM's, the 100 watt versions arent as subtle as the 50's. Yes, strange as this might sound it is a very well put together amp, allthough it breaks up very fast, if you use lower output pickups you can still get a good clean sound 'with a rim'. At lower volumes however i dont think theres anything you cant do with such an amp and a stompbox. Ow yes the later JCM800's also do have reverb so......

Ok ill stop now youll probably understand what im saying, i can go on like this for hours :oops:  :lol:

[badgermark]

I used one tonight with my Country Boy loaded tele, and I'm undecided. I had to run the master volume at 10 and the gain just past 5 to be heard over the drummer and other guitarist using a jmc2000. Still impressive crunch though, prefer a good clean tone though. Sounded huge with my Ultra Ds-1 and both pickups in series.

Why the hell was this 100W head and 4x12 so quiet? I've never had to run an amp past 6 in a rehearsal before.

[Henk]

It sounds to me like in comparison you played with alot less mids then youre used to, how loud you sound comes from the mids IMO.

It could also be that you used one of the 4x12 cabs from the valvestate series, they are notoriously lame. When these cabs are used with a 100w amp they allmost always get ripped to shreads, they are not made for a JCM900 at their peak.

Marshalls have IMO never been the loudest amps. Changeing your amp to a lower ohmage setting might also help, but im not sure which version you used and if thats possible at all.

Then again, 1 session is quite short for setting up a new rig properly.

[Mr Ed]

The 900 is one of the best amps Marshall ever made, in my opinion.  8)

I own a 4100 100W Dual Reverb and my only gripe is relating to the fact that it needs biasing. Other than that, I can't fault a damn thing. It has very good cleans (for a Marshall, I don't want sparkly Fenderesque cleans) and the OD is hellish. GOod reverb. Effects loop and just generally immense.

THe SLX are good... great even... but I hate the fact that they share a pre-amp so you can't have a "true" 2 channel amp, it's either both clean or both dirty and for someone who doesn't use external OD/distortion/fuzz pedals like me that's a pain in the crotch.

As already mentioned, running one through V30's gives a great low-mid boost and that all fits nicely with my general setup of a mahogany bodied guitar (nice and rounded bassy sound) with very trebley pickups (SB JB) so I have a very balanced sound. On the amp - crank the $%&# out of the mids, bit of treble, bit more presence and a touch of bass. BOOOOOOM!!!

Love it. I'd have a 900 over an 800 every single day of the week.

And I really $%&#ing hate it when people shite on it because it's not "all-tube"... so what? If it sounds good... and it does... then it works. I'm pretty sure that the much saught-after Jubilee series also features diode clipping instead of that extra tube and that's responsible for one of the greatest rock tones ever - Mr. Slash.

[LazyNinja]

Love it. I'd have a 900 over an 800 every single day of the week.

Don't want to sound like an arse but how many 800s have you tried? I do agree with your comments about diodes etc and that 900s are good but wondered if you've ever compared it to an 800 and still preferred the 900.

[Mr Ed]

Yeah, I rented out a practise space with a drummer a few years back - the ####!! never showed and I'd rented out the room and a 900 stack. After playing with that for over an hour, I asked the guys if I could play with a 2203 for a bit and they said yeah so I had a good hour with that and I had a good doings with a 50W combo too.

I'm not saying 800's are bad, they're obviously not, but me personally, I'd sooner have a 900.  :)