JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

[Ascension]

I played a JCM Dual Reverb through the 90's on the road and it was ok but noting spectacular. It was in late 90's before I really got a chance to play with a MK III dual master and I was shocked at how good those amps sounded in comparison to the better known Dual Verbs.
A couple months ago I stumbled on a MINT MK III 1990 JCM 900 Dual Master Volume 2501 1/12 50 combo for $400. It has quickly become one of my favorite gigging amps.
How many other fans of this underrated beastie do we have here??
Here is mine

i'm running a pair of short bottle Sovetec 5881's in the power section a NOS Baldwin 12 AX7 and a pair of 1980's USA Shunghang ECC83's with a WGS Vet 30. This thing flat ROCKS!!
Here she is unmiced from a partice recording last week.
http://www.box.net/shared/ugehddem5i
http://www.box.net/shared/13svcqsgui
http://www.box.net/shared/l8k9gn41dt

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

i had a dually 100w half stack that i used from 91 to 95. With lace sensors. Could never work out why i didint sound like hendrix, buddy Guy or Ray Vaughan.
Now i have a mark III dual master combo and i use regulkar noisy alnico pickups. Still dont sound like those guys!
But the big difference is: the amp sounds great and so alive. I prefer it to an 800 for rock crunch sounds. Also superb with pafs.
Actuallu mine is the same as the one in your picture except mine is the 100watter.
Oh yeah...and they will not be underrated for long....big difference between them and the duallys. good score man! Its a 1x12 block of pure marshall rock!

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

Yeah i dig the 900 MKIII's I still have the first one I purchased in 1992 they are definatly one of the better lesser known bargains these days. Though I will admit i also have a SLX version of the same amp which to me sounds better. Crisper more gain.. more balls all around to my ears.

 

[metlking]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

I bought a 50 watt MKIII last year as a backup. Its fun to jam on once in a while. Very underratred and loaded with great Marshall tone. Mine has EL34's. I thought they all did?!?!?

 

[Grandturk]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

These things are absolute crap. You should sell it immediately. For cheap.

 

[ErikH]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

The correct designation of these amps is Hi Gain Master Volume MkIII. The manual spells it, "High", but on the amp it's spelled, "Hi".

I still have my MkIII 2100 head. Love that amp and will never sell it. The dual master volume setup is something I wish more manufacturers would use. It's such a smart idea, especially on a single channel amp.

I just changed V1, V2 and V3 out for JJ 12AX7's. I also tried Sovtek 12AX7LPS' in those slots and like the JJ's much better. It's got a loser sound and just feels more responsive, which I like. I run it through an Avatar Vintage 2x12 loaded with Celestion Classic Lead 80's.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

So is it a one channel amp, or two channels? Footswitch? Sorry, don't know much about them.

 

[ErikH]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

It is a single channel amp with a single footswitch to switch between 2 master volumes, A and B. Set one for rhythm, set the other for lead. Can't ask for a simpler rock and roll setup with a boost for leads. I want to find a 2501 combo to gig with in the smaller places.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

I agree it's one of the better highgain Marshalls. I hate to say it, but it's only a matter of time before Marshall wises up and does a few runs of 900 Dual Masters and black Jubilees.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

It is a single channel amp with a single footswitch to switch between 2 master volumes, A and B. Set one for rhythm, set the other for lead. Can't ask for a simpler rock and roll setup with a boost for leads. I want to find a 2501 combo to gig with in the smaller places.

Will the A channel do any cleans or is it strictly a crunch/lead type thing? Sounds interesting and cheaper than a JCM 800 2205 at this point.

 

[ErikH]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

I agree it's one of the better highgain Marshalls. I hate to say it, but it's only a matter of time before Marshall wises up and does a few runs of 900 Dual Masters and black Jubilees.

I wish they reissued the MkIII already. I'd most likely have another one.

Will the A channel do any cleans or is it strictly a crunch/lead type thing? Sounds interesting and cheaper than a JCM 800 2205 at this point.

There is no A channel, no crunch/lead. It is 2 master volumes, A and B, that are footswitchable. There is one preamp in it, no crunch/lead. Dial it in, set the masters accordingly. The tone you have on A is the same as on B. You can just set B higher for a boost. It's closest relative in the 800 series is the 2203/2204 where the Dual Reverbs are closer to the 2205/2210 in the 800 series.

It can get clean, but you have to dial it in to be clean and even then, it's not pristine clean. It's a rock and roll amp and is meant to be overdriven. My cleans with it consist of using my guitar's volume rolled back or the Paul Gilbert Detox EQ in front it, or both.

Google JCM 900 MkIII and my site will come up at the top. Read that page.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

Thanks for the info Erik!

 

[Guitar-Sam]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

I had an SL-X 50W el34 head.I liked it allot sounded very much like a hotrodded JCM 800.
On the other hand I did a few gigs and allot of rehearsals on a JCM 900 Duel Reverb. IMO it is the worst Marshall tube amp ever made.Evan Mullard and Telefunken 12ax7s couldn't do away with the clunky solid state sound.
A schematic confirmed my suspicions.Its gain comes from SS,then feeds a single tube gain stage,then into the tone stack.
Sadly I have a SS Park rehearsal combo that has a better tube tone than the Duel Reverb loaded with mullards did.To compare a Duel Reverb to a 2210 is heresy as the 2210s are a great sounding Marshall with a more compressed soun d than other classic Marshalls were as the Duel Reverb is a SS sounding tinny bright crunchy sounding thing that kinna sucks.
I had a Silver Jubilee also and wasn't too fond of that one either,better than a DR but I could never dial the diode "clawwckk" outta the sound.

 

[ErikH]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

Thanks for the info Erik!

Anytime.

To compare a Duel Reverb to a 2210 is heresy as the 2210s are a great sounding Marshall with a more compressed soun d than other classic Marshalls were as the Duel Reverb is a SS sounding tinny bright crunchy sounding thing that kinna sucks.

Regardless of whether the 2205/2210's sound great or not, the Dual Reverbs (4500/4100) where a further development of the 2205/2210's. That is a fact. Those 2205/2210's also had diode clipping.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

just for thge ppl who may have this confused..the jcm 900 mkIII sounds nothing like the dual reverb.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

If you don't like diode clipping, throw your distortion/od pedals away. It's not bad....just different. I happen to like the 2205/2210 better than the 2203/2204, but mainly because I like 2 channels for my playing style. There is not a ton of better sounds than a cranked 2204.....that's for sure.

 

[MasterKtulu]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

I've owned a 2501 for 16 years now, and I still love it!

 

[fretburner]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

I have a JCM900 4501 "modded" with EL34s as my gigging amp because it's small and usually makes enough noise for venues we play in.

I figured to post a soundclip of me messing around with my amp because I'm trying to get a good sound of my delay pedal.

Pardon the lousy ass playing. This not meant to showcase my playing at all -- rather just some "good" tone I do get with my JCM900 4501 with EL34s.

Here's the clip: JCM900 4501 Sound Clip

Here's the setting on this small amp:

I used a TS9 in front to get into Metal territory. Used my Ibby RG2550 with Steve's Special (b) and Air Norton . The only effects pedals in this set up is the TS9 and Boss RV3.

And can anyone tell me what's wrong with my RV3? There's that irritating "click" every time I hit the strings! I'm NOT a delay user and I'm still trying to figure this out.


And by the way, I took this soundclip using my cellphone's video camera (.3gp format), converted to .avi, cut the video so I can have a smaller file size (soundclick has a 10mb file size limit for mp3s), and then finally to mp3 format. NOT the best "recording gear" nor method. HAHA!

 

[Guitar-Sam]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

Yea the 2205/2210s have diode clipping but it don't sound it.
The DR have only one tube gain stage the rest is SS,the 2210s have tube gain stages and use diodes(diode bounding??)to increase the gain along the way.A much better design IMO.I'm a big fan on the 2210s,yet hated the DR and borderline hated the Jubilees also.
Maybe the DR was a further development of the 2210,but I think someone shoulda told Jim Marshall"if it ain't broke don't fix it".IMHO

 

[ErikH]

Re: JCM 900 MK III Dual masters how many fans here?

The 45xx and 41xx are completely different amps from what we are talking about here. They're not bad with EL34's in them but still, completely different amps.

Unfortunately, the term JCM 900 automatically gets associated with the Dual Reverbs when there are 2 others in the family, the SL-X (or MkIV) and the MkIII, which we are discussing here.

The diode clipping in the DR's is a diode rectifier, same one that is used in the MkIII. It's actually a better way to clip than the typical diode arrangement as seen in distortion pedals such as the DS-1.