Marshall gurus give me some guidance

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

I have a solid state Marshall already a VS100 I love the thing. The half stack is more about go big or go home.

The Artist and MOSFET 100 have the JCM800 thing going on and are closely related as far as tone is concerned... that's why I mentioned them. Forgot you had that Valvestate...

 

[Securb]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Forgot you had that Valvestate...

Yep, Ace and I are amp bros. He has one also. The Valvestate was the best $200 I ever spent on gear. Portable, sounds great, awesome reverb and it is loud as heck.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

It depends on how you want to use the amp. The 2100 series are essentially single channel JCM800s with the diodes acting as an exctra gain stage in place of an extra pre-amp tube (like a modded JCM-800 or a SLO). People generally like these for high gain lead. The SL-X is the same thing but it has the extra pre-amp tube in place of the diodes. Most people like these even more. The single channel 900s are really pretty good.

All the hate is directed at the 4100 series channel switching 900s. These are not JCM-800s with more gain but channel switching between clean and dirty with not so great reverb. They have a lot of op-amps in the preamp and don't do a great high gain. They do a decent mid gain though (think 70s Stones) with good tubes.

Look for a Vintage Modern if you want a cool Marshall for the sake of having a Marshall

 

[Aceman]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Yep, Ace and I are amp bros. He has one also. The Valvestate was the best $200 I ever spent on gear. Portable, sounds great, awesome reverb and it is loud as heck.

$200???? Ripped off man. Got mine for one fiddy!

And it ain't skeerd of my other guitar players Blackstar either…

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

If your looking for 80's hard rock and metal look no further than a JCM800 with a TS in front. However, bedroom levels won't happen, will sound like poop. Also, I disagree with the JCM900 being a 800+ OD sound. I see where your getting at in terms of gain, but no. If you want more gain out of an 800 look at the two channel versions.

For bedroom level Marshalls, I think the valvestate is a wicked amp.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

If your looking for 80's hard rock and metal look no further than a JCM800 with a TS in front. However, bedroom levels won't happen, will sound like poop. Also, I disagree with the JCM900 being a 800+ OD sound. I see where your getting at in terms of gain, but no. If you want more gain out of an 800 look at the two channel versions.

For bedroom level Marshalls, I think the valvestate is a wicked amp.

]

The JCM800's that had channel switching have more diodes in the preamp than the 900's do.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

True, but that doesn't make it worse (but its the reason for more gain). The reason the 900's don't sound as good as the 800's isn't due to the diodes alone. I put solid state components infront of my amp when I put my TS on anyways. The two channel 800's do have a slightly different flavour, but they are certainly both 800's.

The only 900 I've been able to handle is the SL-X

FWIW I own an '83 JCM800 2204 and a '87 2210.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Better or worse is subjective. I own 4 800's right now and only 1 is stock as i cannot stand 800's in their stock form. The only reason the 4th one is stock is it was purchased to have Fortin mod it then when he got the deal with Randall he stopped taking mods, so it sits and collects dust.

I sure wont presume to know what Bruce will like better. All i can do is tell him what is or isnt worth trying out for himself.

 

[JB6464]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Some one mentioned a pedal in front of a Twin , what's the point in that unless you like SS gain .
If you want a hot rod Marshall preamp section with a Fender power section , go with a Soldano HR+ amp.
You don't need to spend the big money on the SLO either , the HR+ amps has the same mojo but with MM iron.

 

[Securb]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Some one mentioned a pedal in front of a Twin , what's the point in that unless you like SS gain .
If you want a hot rod Marshall preamp section with a Fender power section , go with a Soldano HR+ amp.
You don't need to spend the big money on the SLO either , the HR+ amps has the same mojo but with MM iron.

When you put the right overdrive in front of a twin you are also pushing the tube preamp. Yes, most of the gain is coming from the pedal but it in no way sounds like solid state gain. I have 3 Fenders, two tube and one solid state. The distortion in the solid state nice sounds but nothing like the pushed tube preamp. Try a Twin with a MXR Distortion + or a DOD 250 I think you will like the result.

 

[Oinkus]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Where does the SS come from out of a tube amp? Sorry but some of the best heavy gain stuff is from Fender tube amps like the Twin. Let me show what a good high gain amp should sound like go find some Fender Prosonic videos on stupid tube.

 

[JB6464]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

When you put the right overdrive in front of a twin you are also pushing the tube preamp. Yes, most of the gain is coming from the pedal but it in no way sounds like solid state gain. I have 3 Fenders, two tube and one solid state. The distortion in the solid state nice sounds but nothing like the pushed tube preamp. Try a Twin with a MXR Distortion + or a DOD 250 I think you will like the result.

I understand what your saying but when your putting a distortion+ pedal in front of a clean driven tube amp like a Fender twin then you are pretty much getting 90% of the gain from that pedal , the tubes are just warming it up some on top of it .
A twin is pretty damn clean and loud as hell even only half way up , it's not going to overdrive like a stock Marshall with a MV in it .
Even though a MV Marshall amp is not a high gain amp , an OD in front of it sounds much different than one in front of a clean driven tube amp like a twin.
That's like comparing apples to oranges in gain .
I like tube screamers in front of MV amps , but not as my main distortion sound in front of a clean tube amp like a twin .
But there is no right or wrong , whatever works for you is the answer.

 

[JB6464]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Sorry but some of the best heavy gain stuff is from Fender tube amps like the Twin. .

Well yea with a SS pedal in front of it to supply "some of the best heavy gain" your talking about , a unmodified Twin will NOT distort anywhere near the level of a MV amp . So what your really hearing is the pedal for gain and the tubes warming it up.
And if it could stock you wouldn't have a crowd left in a club to watch your show , they would all be dead from the sound wave shock .
A twin will rip your face off and blow your eardrums completely out of your head before it gets in any OD territory that's usable without a pedal in a club .
How many regular clubs are you going to play in with just a Fender Twin and no pedal for gain needed for most rock songs , not to many unless you play country music .

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

JCM 900s are a love it/hate it amp, nobody seems to be inbetween. Tubes will make a difference in the sound, but not as drastically as it will in some other amps. They need to be cranked up to sound good, for this reason I bought a 50w, still too loud for home, but practice and gigs it's perfect. Channel A (clean) is pretty good, Channel B (lead) is where the buzziness comes in, it's not so much the diodes as much as there is a hardwired tone stack that changes the voicing of the channel, there is a mod to take it out but I'm not sure if I want to try it.
I say buy it, if you don't like it you can sell it for what you paid for it and move on to something else.

 

[Securb]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

I am still plotting my next move it is either a Marshall or Roland. The Roland I know well I have owned one. I know little about Marshall. Whay is this half stack so cheap. "It sucks" is not an answer that will help me. Don't tell me I need to by a plexi, I am not spending plexi money.

And is that the full size cab or the undersized MIC cab.

http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/msg/4903864434.html

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

No reason to be that cheap other than its got something wrong with it... Its cheap enough I would buy it just to flip it...

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

It's probably cheap because 4x12s and 100W amps are a hard sell these days. I've seen rigs just like those sit for months and months at $800-1000. I've seen Mesa Traditional 4x12's going for as cheap as $250. Most people don't need that much power.

 

[Securb]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

Everything I have read about the head tells me it is a pretty good Marshall. The area it comes from "Groveland" borders a fairly urban area. I am guessing the thing might be a bit warm or the owner might have substance issues.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

What speakers are in the cab? What kind of shape are the tubes in? Both those questions could explain the cost. Could be other minor maintenance problems if the amp is older, like filter caps or other electrolytic caps going south.

DSL 100s are decent amps. You could do a lot worse for a first Marshall.

 

[Securb]

Re: Marshall gurus give me some guidance

What speakers are in the cab? What kind of shape are the tubes in? Both those questions could explain the cost. Could be other minor maintenance problems if the amp is older, like filter caps or other electrolytic caps going south.

DSL 100s are decent amps. You could do a lot worse for a first Marshall.

The speakers are the stock G12T-75W. I am picking it up tomorrow night. I am joining the legions of Marshall U.K. players.

Just want to let you know there is a small hole in the grill of the 4x12 in left bottom corner near the JMC 900 logo. Otherwise there are no issues! Hole is as big as a nickle.