Belated NAD - Why aren't these more popular?

[ErikH]

A buddy of mine had one of those. Sounded great thru an Avatar 2x12 loaded with a Vintage 30 and a H30. I wasn't so much intimidated by it, it was just more than I need from an amp. At the time we were in a band together and he had that, I was running a Marshall JCM900 MkIII High Gain Master Volume. Simple one row of controls with two master volumes switchable on the panel or foot switch. The perfect Marshall for me. Sold it and went with a smaller setup. These days I have zero need for a 100 watt head or even a half stack for that matter. Yeah, they sound great but overkill for where I play lately and even then, we keep the stage volume low and mic thru the PA. My back likes the lighter load.

It would be wise to take that to a tech. If it burned the fuse and the fuse holder is burning the PCB, there's a reason why somewhere down the line. A resistor and/or cap could have floated out of spec and needs to be replaced. If more current is flowing than what should be and no fuse is there to blow to stop it, you've eliminated the dam (so to speak) and that extra current can flow to components down the line risking damage to them. Then you have a real big problem in your hands.

 

[Archer250]

Is that...safe?

It's What Marshall recommended

At least as per Marshall and Santiago Alvarez, apparently the holders are the real issue, and that seems to be the case here as I've measure the fuse + holder themselves dropping the voltage from what it should be

 

[Mincer]

It's What Marshall recommended

At least as per Marshall and Santiago Alvarez, apparently the holders are the real issue, and that seems to be the case here as I've measure the fuse + holder themselves dropping the voltage from what it should be

Wow...yikes.

 

[Archer250]

Ikr? Models made after 2008 don't have those fuses at all, just traced from the PT connectors to the tubes

 

[ErikH]

That’s an interesting fix. Kinda makes sense since a fuse is a resistor of sorts. I had thought the voltage would be too high without it.

 

[Securb]

Where did you find tht document? My friend is having a similar issue with his JCM 600 combo and I am wondering if it is the same fix?

 

[Archer250]

Where did you find tht document? My friend is having a similar issue with his JCM 600 combo and I am wondering if it is the same fix?

Was recommended to me on RigTalk and on the JVM Owners FB group, but I found the thing here

https://music-electronics-forum.com/filedata/fetch?id=814529

 

[Sirion]

I've owned a couple of these: first a JVM205C (50 watt combo version), then the Joe Satriani signature head.

I'm not saying it doesn't work for those who want a big@$$ any sound from clean to obscene Marshall that is totally foot switchable, I just don't think that is most people, especially anyone who is ever gonna carry it somewhere.

During the pandemic I was basically living in a cabin in the mountains to protect family members vulnerable to the virus, and then I carried the combo through 25 minutes of deep snow. :-D I can see why people would want to avoid that sort of thing on a day to day basis.

They were both great amps, and I think I'll be getting the combo version again at some point. Basically having a decent facsimile of every Marshall tone in one head is a true luxury. It kind of annoy me, though, that the Satriani version fixed a couple of issues that have not been carried over to the main version. The loop I found was not great in the original, as it does not do 100% dry. At least mine did not do so, and I would avoid digital modulation effects in the loop for that reason. The Satriani replaced the wet/dry gear with a buffer, which I think it far more useful, and, more importantly, it worked perfectly. I also found that the crunch and distortion channels had been recalibrated, so that the former had more gain and the latter less, essentially making for a smoother transition between them.

That said, the standard JVM is also a great amp - so great that I am still wanting to replace the combo.

 

[Archer250]

The Satriani version had a gate, and I soon found out that that was absolutely required for recording with this amp lol

 

[Sirion]

I've not had much use for it outside of the red overdrive channel, where it is indeed a must. Then again, a tailored gate makes more sense than a tailored reverb, especially since I can get that elsewhere in my rig.

 

[Aceman]

The loop I found was not great in the original, as it does not do 100% dry.

Well, that's not cool at all!

I love the parallel loop in my VS100...all the way dry to all the way wet and anywhere in between.

 

[Sirion]

Well, that's not cool at all!

I love the parallel loop in my VS100...all the way dry to all the way wet and anywhere in between.

It is a striking flaw in an otherwise very well-thought-out amp. It can be fixed with a mod, but you shouldn't have to. How often do you need a wet/dry knob these days anyway?