JCM 900 4102 2x12 combo

[mrfunnyman]

Hey guy's, hope your all doing well.
Lately I've been busy with work, and remodeling in our house, so it's been awhile since I've been on here.

I recently found locally on craigslist a mid 90's Marshall JCM 900 4102 2x12 combo and it's in pretty good condition. The seller is asking a firm $500 for it and I was just wondering, how good of a Marshall amp the 4102 is and if it's worth shelling out $500 for? From what I saw video wise on Youtube the amp sounded pretty good. I know alot of Marshall's from this era are shunned upon and I just wanna find out what I can before I decide if I'm going to invest in this amp or not.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: JCM 900 4102 2x12 combo

It really just depends on whether you like that kind of sound or not. Five bills for vintage or near vintage Marshall combo is pretty good. Take a look at ebay's completed auctions and you'll see what people are paying for them. I think that price is really good--if it's your kind of tone. I'd take your favorite guitar and put it through some paces.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: JCM 900 4102 2x12 combo

Thats the dual reverb model. Two useable channels and plenty of gain. It still has a good heavy play cabinet and 2 good speakers (i think g12t75s). FX send/return is good, so if you decide you dont like the preamp set up later you can run something else like a JMP1 preamp straight into the chunky marshall power amp.
Personally, i prefer the sound of the master volume (non reverb) models from the jcm900 series, but i did use a dual reverb for many years as my gigging amp back in 1992-96. I know its current fashion that a lot of people diss the 900 series duallys, but you gotta remember that Marshall built these amps back in the 90s because its what the market wanted at the time. If you want a good hard rock tone and the flexibility of a separate reverb level for each channel then its a really good and reliable amp - and its a real made in England Marshall!

 

[Bludave]

Re: JCM 900 4102 2x12 combo

I have a 50 watter 2 12 combo & honestly it is a well made amp. I particularly like the gain channel... its a real deal Marshall. What I don't like about it is the loop. Whenever I have attempted to run stomp boxes through the loop it just killed the tone. The effects loop was made to handle rack effects(remember this was made in the late 80's early 90's). I have now a multi effects stomp box that I run through the loop & it works, but standard stomp boxes just ruin the tone..... Other then that it works great!

 

[mrfunnyman]

Re: JCM 900 4102 2x12 combo

I made the drive down to Greenwood to try out this amp and I ended up buying it. The tone coming from this amp is pretty amazing. It's been re-tubed with Tung-Sol 6L6's and Groove tube 12AX7 preamp tubes, here are some pix.

 

[ver]

Re: JCM 900 4102 2x12 combo

I have this amp. I'm sure it's not the best but it is pretty easy to get some great sounds out of it. I have not played other Marshalls so I don't know how to compare it to an 800 or DSL or something. So I guess I don't know what I'm missing, which is good enough. I know this is the one everybody hates but at $500 (in my case $550) I can't envision much better in that price range. Plus, as Gibson175 said above, it is made in UK rather than outsourced.
Not sure if that makes a difference but it is also a testament that it is probably pushing 20 years old and runs great.


I kind of don't like the reverb but keep it set pretty low. I am fully convinced the 900 is not the limiting factor for me, and I feel confident the same could be said about basically everybody. Of course all this is not too relevant considering you've already bought it. Great snag!