Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

barbarianbrute

New member
i finally got to spend some quality time with the JVM and Vintage Modern heads. to dispell one myth right off the bat, the VM has enough gain for rock. i don't know why people say it doesn't have enough gain because it has plenty. you won't do metal, but there's enough distortion for rock leads and everything else. the cleans were excellent... toneful and round. i was very impressed with the warm sound coming from this amp. very very nice tone.

that being said, the VM is great if you want to sit around piddling with pentatonic blues in g major all friggin day long. here's where the JVM comes in. if you want to do that and more, the JVM is IT! if you want to rock like never before, the JVM man.

OMG!!! this amp is so friggin delicious. the cleans are super good for a marshall. i'd have to say that they've certainly improved the clean channel with this one. the crunch channels do overlap, but there's so much tweaking you can do that it doesn't matter. you can get a variety of tones.

the manual is kind enough to tell how what to push to get basic tones for plexi, tjm45, jcm 800/900, etc... the footswitch is pretty cool, but i hope it's not as junky as the tsl footswitches were.

the jvm does right everywhere the tsl went wrong. what great sounding crunch and distortion you can get. it's so friggin meaty and warm. i've never heard such a great sounding amp. the plexi tones were schweeeet! the jcm800 tones will blow you away. i'm talking the best of randy rhodes, motorhead, etc... flip up to the neck pup and get some cool as malmsteen sounds.

now, with that being said, you're not going to buy this amp and have it sound like 5 different amps. it will sound like the same amp but with different tones very similar to the plexi/jtm45/jcm, etc... i'm not a jcm 800 pro by any means, but i tried one to compare and i must say that the jvm was almost exact except a little nicer sounding actually.

oh how i want this amp so bad. anyone thinking of buying a marshall needs to consider this amp. phenomenal. i've really never heard such a great sounding marshall before - and i've always been intrigued with marshall tone. i love marshall and the jvm does everything to keep me a believer. i hope this helps anyone who might be interested.
 
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Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

The whole time you were asking about the VM, I kept thinking the JVM was the amp you were really looking for. I'm also more impressed with that amp than almost anything they've come up with for decades. It's a modern built Marshall, but they finally delivered something that's versatile for all styles of rock/metal.

That's the amp everyone wanted them to make, back when they kept releasing another disappointment after the next.

I've been telling Jolly he should buy one, so he can hear how good his collection of Gibsons can really sound.
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

The whole time you were asking about the VM, I kept thinking the JVM was the amp you were really looking for. I'm also more impressed with that amp than almost anything they've come up with for decades. It's a modern built Marshall, but they finally delivered something that's versatile for all styles of rock/metal.

That's the amp everyone wanted them to make, back when they kept releasing another disappointment after the next.

I've been telling Jolly he should buy one, so he can hear how good his collection of Gibsons can really sound.

you're right. initially i was looking for something a little more vintage because i didn't want to get completely wrapped up in modern tones. i like to drop down to a vintage tone every now and then and boy that VM delivers.

but after spending more time with the jvm and vm, i realized that it was all that and more. the jvm is kind of like two amps. they top row of controls are very plexi/jtm sounding tones. on the bottom row, it's quite jcm 800/900ish and then beyond. holy cow does it go beyond.

i normally put my gain around 12 o'clock these days, but i found myself around 9 o'clock with this amp. i'm going to have to ease into the gain on this one. but oh how smooth and articulate it is even at full distortion.

i'm also impressed by the eq and presence controls. they really help shape the tone.

if there's one thing that disappointed me it was the reverb. granted it actually sounds a little more like part of the tone now than it did before, but it's a little lackluster. i'm going to have to get my hands on a nice reverb pedal.

thanks for the encouragement though. if i hadn't have looked twice at this thing, i might never have gotten it new for $1400!
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

Thanks bro. That didn't help my amp GAS!!!

Did you say you scored the JVM for $1400???
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

i've been eyeing Marshall heads for a long time to add to my 5150 set up.... right now i've been a/b'ing between a C50 head and a 5150 head with a custom made head switcher..... i've been wanting to substitute the C50 with 2-3 channel Marshall with a good clean channel.... now knowing full well not all Marshalls have great cleans the search has been a long one....

i'll have to have a look at the JVM..... i was thinking about the DSL at one point.....

if i could get a 3 channel Marshall that would be even better.... Clean, Marshall crunch, Marshall Solo, then over to a 5150 for it's thicker crunch and solo...
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

You know you could just get a celtic cab, a Power block and a GT8 and be more versatle.
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

Oh and have enough money to buy a really cool PRS to play it with.
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

You know you could just get a celtic cab, a Power block and a GT8 and be more versatle.


but it would never sound like a marshall....


of course, some people could care less-- but most prefer the real deal (especially tubes)
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

+1 to the JVM.

i was never a Marshall fan before the JVM, had a hard time deciding between this one & the VM. i went for the former simply because i'm a high gain/ drive player. the JVM isn't missing out on great crunch/ clean tones either but it's not what the Beano tubes in the VM can do- something different but impressive.
 
Re: Marshall JVM & VM - Holy Friggin Cow Man!!!

JVM is a really cool amp. I absolutely loved it in the basement, however on the gig, the O/D channels were just a tad too gainy for the standard rock stuff and if I lowered the gain knob to anywhere below like 10:00, it sounded a bit thin, then up over 12:00 and it was on the edge of squeal. Then the crunch channel didn't quite have enough and the bottom was a bit flabby. But overall it's a kick ass amp really, especially if you play higher gain stuff. You guys can find good deals on them as the first wave of folks are now selling. I've seen them down to almost $1,000 on occasion. There is a JVM and a VM on the Gear Page classifieds now. I can't see the prices because work blocks me from signing in........guess they expect me to work or something!! Anyway, I don't think you can go wrong with either of these amps.
 
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