JCM800 reissue?

Neo#

Im thinking of getting a jcm800 sometime in the next year. Would I be better off getting one second hand from ebay do yous reckon? or get a reissue? I want great tone and the jcm800 seems to where its at for marshalls. Would the reissues sound as good. Theyre bloody pricey.

Yakult

I always say you cant beat an Original, so Im gonna say Ebay. What model Jcm would you be getting? The one channel? or two channel? Also, if you find a few on ebay report here and post them, sometimes they can sell you crapped out ones.

Also you might have to go to Ebay.com, because .co.uk/.ie never have any

And to answer your question, they aren as good, but your safer with the reissues if you know what I mean. (Reliabilty wise that is.)

Neo#

yeah reliability wise it would be safer alright but I want good tone! I might go for an original. The 2204 model looks good if I remember.

Yakult

Then go for the original, also, is that the single channel one? The Dist. is better on thesingle channel bu almost no cleans like.. (well bad cleans)

david

Its called a guitar volume control

Yakult

I know, but it still sucks tho.

Neo#

you can just turn down the volume to 7 or 8. Who cares about a clean channel!:D

It wasn't me!

I have a JCM800 4210 combo, and it's great. It's troublesome, but a fantastic sounding amp. The reissues most certainly are not more reliable, by any stretch of the imagination, and manage to sound inferior too. Chris has a 2204 going at the moment for about 1100 if I recall, nab that.

Blackhorse Slim

I have a JCM800 50w 1x12 combo, but it's been giving me trouble - it works fine at low volume, but tends to cut out when it gets hot. Unbeatable sound when it works, creamy distortion and incredibly responsive. I've had it since 1990, but I'm thinking of getting rid for the convenience of a solid state.

punchdrunk

go vintage! also the best marshall cleans i've ever heard have come from a 2203...my one!
i've got an '80 jmp 100watt master mk II,pretty much just an early jcm800

i've noticed people seem to try and use hi gain preamp valves in these,bad idea unless your pretty much playing metal only, it's all about the power amp distortion!!
use lower gain pre amp valves
i run it with the volume high and the gain low into the low input,glorious cleans and use pedals to push the preamp to drive it, also a handy tip clip the cap off the input jack if you find the amp sounds bright,it helps cut the treble a little,also try and use mellower/darker speakers mine sounds horrible with V30's but amazing with greenbacks

Eoin Madsen

Neo# wrote:

Would the reissues sound as good.

No. "As good" is really a matter of opinion, but they most certainly don't sound the same. The OT is very different as are the compositions of the capacitors, even the filter caps.

I'd be inclined to suggest vintage if you want the JCM800 sound, but it'd be a lie to say that there's no reliability issues... Old amps are inclined to develop problems so you really need to be ready to sink extra time and money into them.

But if you want to buy new, get a clone like a Metroamp. George does kits and parts as well, but you can get heads and cabs that are ready made up. They cost less, and sound much more like the originals than the marshall reissues by any account I've ever heard.

Eoin Madsen

Actually, he doesn't seem to be doing the prebuilt 2203/2204 at the minute. You could mod a 1959 up to JCM800 spec quite easily. But if you're not into that, there are a few other great clones around. Try googling Ceriatone and Ted Weber.