Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

3

357mag

New member
Do any of you guys have JCM-900's? Just curious. I picked up a used one at a pretty good price. Should be arriving next week. I've been using an AVT50 which I like except for that doggone pronounced nasal honk in there which is almost impossible to remove.

I know many don't like the JCM-900. Either they don't like the sound or they argue against the amp based on silly amp religious principles. Like because Marshall added diode clipping to help achieve higher gain it is no longer a true tube amp. Personally stuff like that makes me shake my head. Unbelievable.

I won't be using it at band practice or onstage. I use my DSL50 for that. This will be for private practicing by myself.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

357mag said:
This will be for private practicing by myself.
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that's where you're going to run into some issues. The early EL34-equipped models sound much better than the 5881 or 6L6 models but all of them sound pretty thin until you really crank the amp.

for lower volume practice, they do benefit from a few simple mods (only a few dollars in parts) - if you do a search, I posted them in another JCM900 thread 2 or 3 weeks ago. you can increase the mids and bass and fatten up the tone a little.

the EL34-equipped units and of course the all tube SLX models are actually excellent amps for hard rock in my opinion. A 2204 with added gain stages is my ideal Marshall but I wouldn't mind a 900.

by the way, I don't own one, but a good friend of mine has had one for years. I've definitely logged in some hours playing and modding it.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

Owned one, not my fave Marshall. I changed the 5881s to EL34s, went w/a dark speaker, put a 12ay7 in the V1 postion of the preamp, then, it was only ok. However...that opinion is based on my style. I'm more of a classic rock, blues rock, and old school (70s) punk player. Friends that have played other styles (more 80s metal), have sounded great w/the amp.

Oh, yes, also tweaked the sound w/various gtr/pup combos...a 67 Gibson Melody Maker w/a DMZ Fast Track 2 sounded the best for the older school hard rock sound I was looking for at the time.

Despite my experience, I think it still can work for many. Good luck!
 
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Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

Mine will be coming with EL34's. I spoke with an amp tech cuz I've been looking for a guy to replace the one that I used cuz he moved away and he said that it's probably not worth it to switch from 5881's to EL34's cuz he felt the differences are rather small.

But as I said mine will be coming with EL34's that is if the owner gave me the correct info. I'm probably gonna retube it and have it biased and if it needs to be cleaned I'll have that done also.

I've got an Ibanez Tube Screamer plus a Boss Overdrive in addition to my main pedal which is the one and only Marshall Guv'nor.

I also got a Celestion T-75 and a Weber Silver Bell on hand.

I have been looking for your thread on the JCM-900 mods but cannot find it. Can you post a link?
 
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Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

357mag said:
Mine will be coming with EL34's. I spoke with an amp tech cuz I've been looking for a guy to replace the one that I used cuz he moved away and he said that it's probably not worth it to switch from 5881's to EL34's cuz he felt the differences are rather small.

But as I said mine will be coming with EL34's that is if the owner gave me the correct info. I'm probably gonna retube it and have it biased and if it needs to be cleaned I'll have that done also.

I've got an Ibanez Tube Screamer plus a Boss Overdrive in addition to my main pedal which is the one and only Marshall Guv'nor.

I also got a Celestion T-75 and a Weber Silver Bell on hand.

I have been looking for your thread on the JCM-900 mods but cannot find it. Can you post a link?
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ugh . . . up late working on my resume - figured I'd take a break and look for it.

http://web.aoct.org/marshall/jcm900-gain-mod.txt

use the lower gain option (lower value resistor for R10).

simple stuff if you know how to solder or you can have a tech do it for ~1 hr labor.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

357mag said:
I'm probably gonna retube it
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Why? What if he has great tubes in there?

No different than buying a new guitar and saying you are going to change out the pickups before even hearing it.

Just doesn't make sense to me to already plan for failure when buying something new. Give it a chance first at least.

That said, I curious as to how you like it compared to the DSL.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

I used to rock a jcm900 2-12" combo. I used a tube king in front of it with nice results. with this setup, I did my favorite recording ever. true story.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

357mag said:
Do any of you guys have JCM-900's? Just curious. I picked up a used one at a pretty good price. Should be arriving next week. I've been using an AVT50 which I like except for that doggone pronounced nasal honk in there which is almost impossible to remove.

I know many don't like the JCM-900. Either they don't like the sound or they argue against the amp based on silly amp religious principles. Like because Marshall added diode clipping to help achieve higher gain it is no longer a true tube amp. Personally stuff like that makes me shake my head. Unbelievable.

I won't be using it at band practice or onstage. I use my DSL50 for that. This will be for private practicing by myself.
Click to expand...

Its a lot of amp for private practice. Is your 50W or 100W?

I have and still use a 900 50W 2 12" combo. I like it quite a bit. Now that I am a little older I look for gear that is easy to move. the 50W 900 is really light & it gives me a good overall sound. I also keep the combo on an amp stand at gigs so the amp is about 18" to 24" off the floor with a slight upward angle. It projects to the crowd better this way.

The 900 was designed in the late 80's early 90's. During this time rack systems were very popular. The effects loop for the 900 was geared towards this type of setup. Because of this it does not take pedals all that well. I use a very old DODTR3 that I run into the loop. I don't use lots of effects, chorus, Delay, OD and wah is about all. With this amp I had to run the chorus & delay through the loop or it just killed the tone of the amp. The DOD was the only box at the time I could find that would not kill the sound of the amp and because of that I still use it today. I also have a Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal and a Wah going straight in.

The amp has a lot more gain then say an 800 does. Sometimes the gain or overdrive channel can get a tad buzzy, but I have always been able to dial it out with a little patience. With Humbuckers the amp sings really well, with a Strat or Tele its crisp and articulate, yet Never harsh sounding. The clean channel on the amp is a little difficult to adjust in my experience. If you want a pristine clean tone This channel lacks volume. If you bring the gain up in channel A the volume comes up, but the amp won't be as clean, so you really haven to use the volume control on the guitar to help keep it clean. It works and it works well. In my opinion these are underrated Marshalls. Relatively cheap by comparison to others and the offer a very good sound. I am pretty much a classic rock/blues player. I get a really good sound for what I do with this amp, yet I know people who do metal with them as well, so I think they are pretty versatile.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

LOVE my JCM 900. Took me 15 years to get one but I picked one up with a 2X12 for about $800 on ebay. I gigged with it once and it sounded fantastic. We rent studio space and use their equipment so my 900 stays home. Even at 3 it sounds strong and responsive.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

The amp was purchased in 1997 and the tubes are original. Jesus man...

Plan for failure? What is that about?

I love my DSL50 but I use it for the stage only.

I don't think I have ever bought a new guitar and not changed out the pickups. Stock pickups always suck.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

357mag said:
The amp was purchased in 1997 and the tubes are original. Jesus man...

Plan for failure? What is that about?

I love my DSL50 but I use it for the stage only.

I don't think I have ever bought a new guitar and not changed out the pickups. Stock pickups always suck.
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I think he was just saying don't plan on the tubes failing or being worn-out without trying the amp first.

if the tubes are original, you're right in replacing them though. if the amp wasn't used for a long period of time, the caps may have started to get a little leaky. they're not expensive to replace though.

SED Winged C EL34s work great in that amp. in the preamp, I like the TungSol reissue 12AX7. GT12AX7C may work well too. either makes a good phase inverter for V3 (assuming it's been selected for full-spec current and gain: 1.2 mA /100 gain)
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

We have an old SLX head as sort of a general backup amp at our practice space / studio. Sometimes other bands will use it when they come to record if they don't have anything better of their own.

It's a good-enough sounding amp for certain styles, and it sits in a mix pretty well. Could probably use a retube one day soon, though.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

357mag said:
Stock pickups always suck.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about house pickups in an Epiphone or Squier, or are you also including factory-equipped Seymour Duncans, DiMarzios, EMGs, USA Fender & Gibson, as well as every other brand that has made it into production guitars?
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

I've had my JCM900 2501 MkIII 50W 1x12 Combo for 15 years now and still has the original tubes & speaker. In that time I've change music styles very often (Metal to Blues and everything in between) and yet my Marshall has been able to keep up with my ever changing musical tastes very well. For some reason it sounds better and warmer now it did in the first few years I had it (I really don't care why). I've thought of replacing it a few times (Getting something bigger or trendier), but I changed my mind every time I plugged in to realize how much of a Box-O-Tone it really is. The MkIII were only made for two years before being replaced by the MkIV SLX (And a shame in my opinion, as the SLX had more gain but at the cost of its essential tones). And it might be small, but it's easy to carry to jamming sessions and I've always been able to over power any drummer I wanted with it (Plus I like the fact that it's not impressive looking until I plug in...)
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

I didn't like the amp myself. Very bright and tinny. Kinda grainy distortion. Absolutely no low end at all. Enclosure was way too small.

The last gig I did I used my AVT50 that sounded much better in fact. Warm and full. Remarkably close to an all-tube Marshall.
 
Re: Any of you have a Marshall JCM-900?

MasterKtulu said:
I've had my JCM900 2501 MkIII 50W 1x12 Combo for 15 years now and still has the original tubes & speaker. In that time I've change music styles very often (Metal to Blues and everything in between) and yet my Marshall has been able to keep up with my ever changing musical tastes very well. For some reason it sounds better and warmer now it did in the first few years I had it (I really don't care why). I've thought of replacing it a few times (Getting something bigger or trendier), but I changed my mind every time I plugged in to realize how much of a Box-O-Tone it really is. The MkIII were only made for two years before being replaced by the MkIV SLX (And a shame in my opinion, as the SLX had more gain but at the cost of its essential tones). And it might be small, but it's easy to carry to jamming sessions and I've always been able to over power any drummer I wanted with it (Plus I like the fact that it's not impressive looking until I plug in...)
Click to expand...

And we here another happy MkIII owner. I love my 2100. Best amp I've ever used, even if I did have to get it fixed recently. I'm so glad that it's up and running again.
 
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