Whats the best marshall combo?

[MBreinin]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

Well, you could always get a 900 and get two usable channels and reverb. I had the first 900 combo that came out and I miss that amp terribly. I know they get a bad rap among Marshall nuts, but those amps kick ass. You don't need much to get into smoking metal either...well, actually all you need is some volume, the amp has plenty of gain already. A Tube Screamer will out you into liquid distortion at bedroom levels.

Another good choice would be a little Artist combo. I had the head & 4x10 cab version and that amp smoked as well. Very much like a baby JCM800 with plenty of gain on tap as well. Those are highly regarded amps....

Mike

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

As far as the jcm 800 combos a tech i used told me to stay away from the side by side imput and the single imput 800 combos..... said he has seen quite a few of them and they never seem to sound right..

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

Well, you could always get a 900 and get two usable channels and reverb. I had the first 900 combo that came out and I miss that amp terribly. I know they get a bad rap among Marshall nuts, but those amps kick ass. You don't need much to get into smoking metal either...well, actually all you need is some volume, the amp has plenty of gain already. A Tube Screamer will out you into liquid distortion at bedroom levels.

Another good choice would be a little Artist combo. I had the head & 4x10 cab version and that amp smoked as well. Very much like a baby JCM800 with plenty of gain on tap as well. Those are highly regarded amps....

Mike

i liked those early 900's....

 

[ErikH]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

Well, you could always get a 900 and get two usable channels and reverb. I had the first 900 combo that came out and I miss that amp terribly. I know they get a bad rap among Marshall nuts, but those amps kick ass. You don't need much to get into smoking metal either...well, actually all you need is some volume, the amp has plenty of gain already. A Tube Screamer will out you into liquid distortion at bedroom levels.

Mike

I am right there with ya on the early 900's (the MkIII models to be exact). Those amps kick some serious tail. I still have my MkIII 2100 and would love to get a 2501 or 2502. They're hard to find and when they come up on eBay, they're not exactly cheap anymore. They're still cheaper than the 800 combo's though (some of them anyway).

The MkIII has a diode rectifier in it after the second gain stage. It's sort of like a built-in tube screamer or super overdrive.

I get a good chuckle when I hear folks dog them and go on about the diodes then say they use an all tube signal path with an old JMP and use either a RAT, Distortion or Tube Screamer of some sort. You should've seen the look on one guy's face when I told him that his OD pedal had diodes after saying something like that to me. :laugh2:

BTW, I have a page dedicated to the MkIII series on my site.

 

[Erlend_G]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

The 5210 is darn nice... there's a soundclip of mine in the "tips&clips" forum

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

As far as the jcm 800 combos a tech i used told me to stay away from the side by side imput and the single imput 800 combos..... said he has seen quite a few of them and they never seem to sound right..

I don't agree with this and I'm still wanting someone to explain the specifics,as the board mounted pots alone doesn't change a thing? I did a side by side 100 watt 4103 and it was freakin amazing! It sounded "right"...:smack:

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

I don't agree with this and I'm still wanting someone to explain the specifics,as the board mounted pots alone doesn't change a thing? I did a side by side 100 watt 4103 and it was freakin amazing! It sounded "right"...:smack:

That's what I keep saying John. There are vertical inputs that I'm sure are fantastic, but there are also some that are simply dogs...I'm sure. The same is true for side by side inputs.

I think anyone who will simply look at a picture of an amp and say "that amp stinks, or sucks" just because of the inputs is at best foolish, and is guilty of giving poor advice. It's like saying every blue Honda Civic sucks...why? And if anyone CAN in fact simply look at an amp and tell whether it's tone monster or not, I want to hire them to be my personal investment broker, among many other things.

With the number of amps that Marshall produced, it's an unfair GENERALIZATOIN that all vertical inputs 800's rock, and all side by side or single input 800's suck monkey butt. It's just flat out not true.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

That's what I keep saying John. There are vertical inputs that I'm sure are fantastic, but there are also some that are simply dogs...I'm sure. The same is true for side by side inputs.

I think anyone who will simply look at a picture of an amp and say "that amp stinks, or sucks" just because of the inputs is at best foolish, and is guilty of giving poor advice. It's like saying every blue Honda Civic sucks...why? And if anyone CAN in fact simply look at an amp and tell whether it's tone monster or not, I want to hire them to be my personal investment broker, among many other things.

With the number of amps that Marshall produced, it's an unfair GENERALIZATOIN that all vertical inputs 800's rock, and all side by side or single input 800's suck monkey butt. It's just flat out not true.

Or that all 900's suck. Same generalization except going off what it says in the faceplate.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

That's what I keep saying John. There are vertical inputs that I'm sure are fantastic, but there are also some that are simply dogs...I'm sure. The same is true for side by side inputs.

I think anyone who will simply look at a picture of an amp and say "that amp stinks, or sucks" just because of the inputs is at best foolish, and is guilty of giving poor advice. It's like saying every blue Honda Civic sucks...why? And if anyone CAN in fact simply look at an amp and tell whether it's tone monster or not, I want to hire them to be my personal investment broker, among many other things.

With the number of amps that Marshall produced, it's an unfair GENERALIZATOIN that all vertical inputs 800's rock, and all side by side or single input 800's suck monkey butt. It's just flat out not true.

I buy stuff that alot of the vintage guys wouldn't even give a NY minute of a thought about it....I buy stuff because it sounds good and it works within the context of my tonal needs and style...

I've played through and have worked on and tweaked "several" of the JCM 800 series amps over a period of years....Alot of guys bash the side by side 800s because of the board mounted pots,but tonally I'm not buying into the side by sides being inferior to the verticals tonally...I had a vertical 1983 4104 combo 800 that I sold for a much better sounding 1987(73) 50 watt head,as I felt the 800 was a one trick pony that only had the goods cranked up....

As you say Jeff....There are really great sounding guitars and amps for a given period and just as many that don't quite have that special something...I still find that things like tubes,the right component types or values,and things like transformers(Things we can quickly change)probably make the most differences...This excludes any mods or things that enhance the amp...

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

Or that all 900's suck. Same generalization except going off what it says in the faceplate.

You're right about that...because Theodie has a JCM900 head that I thought sounded better than his Slash/Jubilee head. Each amp has it's own merits, and people are foolish not to at least TRY something, just because it says 900, or because it's an 800 side by side input.

OTOH, I guess that's good in a way...because it leaves some killer amps out there for us open minded people to get at a good price! :banana:

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

I buy stuff that alot of the vintage guys wouldn't even give a NY minute of a thought about it....I buy stuff because it sounds good and it works within the context of my tonal needs and style...

I've played through and have worked on and tweaked "several" of the JCM 800 series amps over a period of years....Alot of guys bash the side by side 800s because of the board mounted pots,but tonally I'm not buying into the side by sides being inferior to the verticals tonally...I had a vertical 1983 4104 combo 800 that I sold for a much better sounding 1987(73) 50 watt head,as I felt the 800 was a one trick pony that only had the goods cranked up....

As you say Jeff....There are really great sounding guitars and amps for a given period and just as many that don't quite have that special something...I still find that things like tubes,the right component types or values,and things like transformers(Things we can quickly change)probably make the most differences...This excludes any mods or things that enhance the amp...

Agreed. I'd really like to hear from Jeff Seal...although I know what he is going to say. He is a HUGE fan of the dual channel Marshall's. Anyone who hasn't heard my 800 that he modded is missing out.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

Agreed. I'd really like to hear from Jeff Seal...although I know what he is going to say. He is a HUGE fan of the dual channel Marshall's. Anyone who hasn't heard my 800 that he modded is missing out.

Jeff.....Would tell us that there's good and bad in each of the specifics in the series,but he'd probably prefer the vertical input 800s....That's my guess?

I prefer the vertical inputs,but mainly because that's the 1 I Owned and I Like the hardwired pots...I'm not talking about tonality though.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

You're right about that...because Theodie has a JCM900 head that I thought sounded better than his Slash/Jubilee head. Each amp has it's own merits, and people are foolish not to at least TRY something, just because it says 900, or because it's an 800 side by side input.

OTOH, I guess that's good in a way...because it leaves some killer amps out there for us open minded people to get at a good price! :banana:

Dave's not the only one. I own one of those 2100's as well. If it ever got taken from me I'd cry. It's my tone. I can get nice mellow tones and flat out pound your head against the wall with it. It takes pedals well and each of my guitars sound incredible through it. I love the reaction I get from it from others...."That's a 900?" :laugh2: A hidden gem in the long Marshall line.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

Dave's not the only one. I own one of those 2100's as well. If it ever got taken from me I'd cry. It's my tone. I can get nice mellow tones and flat out pound your head against the wall with it. It takes pedals well and each of my guitars sound incredible through it. I love the reaction I get from it from others...."That's a 900?" :laugh2: A hidden gem in the long Marshall line.

Yep....Some of the 900 series amps are cool and others are just horrible sounding to me! :laugh2:

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

Jeff.....Would tell us that there's good and bad in each of the specifics in the series,but he'd probably prefer the vertical input 800s....That's my guess?

I prefer the vertical inputs,but mainly because that's the 1 I Owned and I Like the hardwired pots...I'm not talking about tonality though.

Nope...because all of the dual channel amps (as far as I'm aware, are single input amps). I've never asked him if he prefers vertical over horizontal, because he loves dual channel so much. Besides, when he converts a JCM 800, he rips the circuit board out and converts everything to point to point.

 

[myxolidian]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

The JTM 30 and JTM 60 are good sounding too. Although I've read that the reliability sucks, I've been lucky with my JTM 30 as I've had no problems.

Weren't most (all?) 800's in the US ran on 6550 power tubes? The other guitarist in my band at the time had 6550. It had monster headroom. Didn't sound all that great until he had it modded for more gain. I've never heard an EL34 equipped 800 but I would imagine it sounds totally different.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Whats the best marshall combo?

The JTM 30 and JTM 60 are good sounding too. Although I've read that the reliability sucks, I've been lucky with my JTM 30 as I've had no problems.

Weren't most (all?) 800's in the US ran on 6550 power tubes? The other guitarist in my band at the time had 6550. It had monster headroom. Didn't sound all that great until he had it modded for more gain. I've never heard an EL34 equipped 800 but I would imagine it sounds totally different.

Yep.....Lots of US bound 800s had the 6550 tubes...The EL 34s are the Marshall sound...