HELP! Is this a genuine Marshall JMP?

[GuitarIv]

Cheers guys,

dude is selling a 1975 JMP Superlead 4 holer. From the pics I can't really tell if this is a genuine Marshall amp, the front seems a bit too mint and the filter caps elevated on the metal box look fishy to me. Anyone knowledgeable enough to help me identify this?

https://mobile.willhaben.at/kaufen-und-verkaufen/d/marshall-jmp-100w-baujahr-1975-197039473/?sid=1493223100493

Attached pics as well

Help me out please, cheers!

[GuitarIv]

Some gutshots attached

[gwEm]

Marshall switched to PCBs in 1973. Perhaps this one isn't a 1975, or it has been heavily modded.

[GuitarIv]

So it's an earlier build? He's asking 450 Euros for it... hell of a deal. Should I go for it?

[gwEm]

It has a lay-down power transformer, which would be late 60s era I believe. But that top cap looks totally wrong. the style of turret board is also like a late 60s Marshall, but the component layout isn't right.

Looks to me like some other amp chassis someone put in a Marshall box.

I would be very suspicious. If you can see it working, it could be a project.

[ericsabbath]

doesn't look like a marshall original marshall chassis, but the construction seems fine
as long it's working I'd buy it even if it wasn't genuine

my 1973 50 watt JMP is barely original, anyway
it was almost fully rebuilt by lee jackson probably decades ago and then modded several times by a tech friend and also by myself
the PTP board makes it easy to mod it and experiment a lot whenever you want

[GuitarIv]

I'm going there to give it a testrun. Basically what I'm looking for is a sturdy old school Marshall amp with oversized transformers and the option of modding later on. If this thing isn't completely stock or original but sounds good and is built as well as their reputation lets you believe, for 450 I'll go for it. I just can't get my head around why he's selling it that cheap, that's why I asked in the first place. Still... point to point, the transformers look huge, choke and 4 filter caps. Am I on the right track or should I call it off? As said I made an appointment with the dude for saturday to give it a testrun...

[ericsabbath]

if it's not popping or making weird intermittent noises, it's probably worth it

[GuitarIv]

Showed the pics to my guitartech, seems like the guy used a chassis to build an amp and put it into a jmp casing. He advised against getting it, so I called the deal off. For 500 bucks this would have been a steal if it was the real deal. Oh well. Will have to be more patient to finally get my hands on a JMP or a 2203 sooner or later.

For now I took the cash and finally ordered a pedaltrain board. Pedalboard build thread coming soon, thanks for the comments Eric and Gwem!

Cheers

[Toe-Knee]

Basically what I'm looking for is a sturdy old school Marshall amp with oversized transformers and the option of modding later on.

Buy a Ceriatone. Not massively expensive and theyre built better than most marshalls ive worked on.

The amp you posted though looks alright. Not quite Marshall but not bad either.

[GuitarIv]

Thanks once again for the help Tony.

Been thinking about a Ceriatone for a while now... how do they compare to the real thing? I saw the Yeti and the Chupa are the "hotrodded" plexi ones, will they do the boosted/modified 2203 thing? And what's your recommendation/the difference between the two?

Cheers

[Toe-Knee]

Thanks once again for the help Tony.

Been thinking about a Ceriatone for a while now... how do they compare to the real thing? I saw the Yeti and the Chupa are the "hotrodded" plexi ones, will they do the boosted/modified 2203 thing? And what's your recommendation/the difference between the two?

Cheers

I'd say tonally you have to have golden ears to be able to tell the difference. They're better quality construction wise too.

With regards to the yeti/chupacabra they're more along the lines of your friedman /Cameron etc Jose inspired Marshalls

The yeti is slightly darker and thicker in the low end than the chupacabra but it's still plenty bright.

The standard mode is essentially a jcm800 with a few tweaks then there's the two additional clipping modes. Labelled 80s and modern. They're exactly as you would imagine. The core sound but tighter with more gain and compression.  80s is where im at home tonally modern is too compressed and more fortin like.

However you could easily swap between the two circuits as its literally a handful of caps and resistors.

If you go back 2 years in my posts I built a yeti and it got me to sell my mkiic+ haha.

Im now coming up to the decision of selling the yeti though due to downscaling.

[gwEm]

I've seen a few Ceriatone builds. They looked very well done.

[GuitarIv]

Thanks fellas, will probably go for Ceriatone then. At 1240 dollars (without shipping) this should be the cheaper and better option than getting a used 2203x and have it modded... I refuse to have an original 80's amp modified, I'd rather have a newer production amp with everything I need that's still made to last. Too many bad experiences with chinese amps failing, and still afraid my JCM 2000 won't last even if it's the English model. Looks like a computer from the inside with all the PCBs. My ENGL Savage 60 sounds great but needs a repair now and that's a 94 made in Germany model... PCB all the way as well. 

[Toe-Knee]

Thanks fellas, will probably go for Ceriatone then. At 1240 dollars (without shipping) this should be the cheaper and better option than getting a used 2203x and have it modded... I refuse to have an original 80's amp modified, I'd rather have a newer production amp with everything I need that's still made to last. Too many bad experiences with chinese amps failing, and still afraid my JCM 2000 won't last even if it's the English model. Looks like a computer from the inside with all the PCBs. My ENGL Savage 60 sounds great but needs a repair now and that's a 94 made in Germany model... PCB all the way as well. 

If you aren't gigging they also do lunchbox models son of yeti and 2202 that are ~20w 6v6 amps. They're Pcb but they cost $600 and are still hand made.

Be sure to email Nik at ceriatone before ordering there are loads of extras such as buffered loops different mv setups  etc with very minimal charges