Marshall JCM 900 - Opinions...

armindo__dias · #1 03-21-2001, 01:26 PM

Does anyone played/owns/owned one of these? What is your opinion about this amp? I remember in the past Marshall ads that the JCM 900 was being advertised like the gain knobs were on "20". Does it deliver good distortion sounds for metal? Is it a good amp?

I'm particulary refering to the 2x12 4502 combo, the High Gain Dual Reverb. A guy is selling one for a very low price, but i would like to hear your opinion (since i cannot hear it for myself, the guy lives to far away from my city...).

Thanks.

rgr · #2 03-21-2001, 02:16 PM

The EL-34 versions are nice, the 5881 versions kinda lost that Marshall sound. *The 5881 ones are easily converted to EL-34s though. *I had a 50W Dual Master version, it didn't have a clean channel, just one channel with footswitchable master volumes, loud and really loud. *It sounded great, IMHO, if you like the Marshall sound. *

Roger

**jemsite** · #3 03-21-2001, 03:46 PM

i agree with Roger. If the combo amp has the feature set you need (separate volume controls + master, tone controls, etc) the sound shoud be "Marshall". Personally i like the EL34s and if these were missing, when you need new tubes get it re-biased and use EL34s... glen

strat110 · #4 03-21-2001, 04:30 PM

I have quite a large number of Marshall amps over the years, and IMO the 900 series was the worst they ever did. *

The gain is not as much as 5150, Triaxis or even a DSL50, the JCM900-SLX series saw another gain stage added, but this was not available in the combo form.

Another thing, Marshall open back combo's have a very different feel and sound to a head into a 4x12". The bass will not be half as tight, with a more trebly sound. *

To be perfectly honest I would avoid it, but thats just my honest opinion.

armindo__dias · #5 03-22-2001, 05:11 AM

The combo is an open back one, having, if i remember, 2X12" Celestion spekears, so i guess i will not get tremendous low end from it.

It also has the 5881 tubes. How do they sound diferent from the EL34? Less gain? And how much they affect the tone to be "non-Marshall" tone?

shawn · #6 03-23-2001, 01:44 PM

i had a jcm 900 head and 1960A cab. *i hated the marshall distortion, but loved it when i put a gt-5 through the effects loop. *nice power, bad tone without help.

rgr · #7 03-23-2001, 02:03 PM

Which 900 head did you have? *They made quite a few versions. *I really didn't like the ones with 5881s in them, they just didn't have the Marshall sound. *

jeff l · #8 03-23-2001, 07:02 PM

It seems all 900's are not created equal. The generally lesser regarded Dual Reverb (channel switching) series gets bashed regularly.

* * I have the master volume SL-X (which incorporates an extra 12-AX7) with Svetlana EL-34's and the sound is fantastic. Also, I second the opinions here about changing over to EL-34's.

* * *I view the SL-X as a classic rock to hard rock tone machine. A lot of people called this Marshall's "metal amp" but really it's just got gobs of pure Marshall tone IMHO.
* * * * * * *I'd say be careful if you can't at least get a chance to plug into something similar locally to see if you dig it or not. Hey, some guys love their Dual Reverbs and other guys hate 'em. Good luck in whatever you decide.

*

shawn · #9 03-24-2001, 02:07 AM

the one i had that sucked was a jcm 900 mkIII single channel no reverb master volume with el34's

rgr · #10 03-24-2001, 10:08 AM

Hmm, it had switchable master volumes I bet. *That's the same head I had, mine sounded fine. *I think there are two camps here, the "Marshall" camp and the "Mesa" camp. *That pretty much covers the 2 sounds of R&R, all the others fall somewhere in between, most are variations of hot-rodded Marshalls, yes, including the Legacy, Bogner, Soldano. *Riveras are almost right in the middle, they are tough to figure out. *

Maybe you just got a bad one, that happens, or maybe the sound just wasn't for you. *

ChrisReedSmith · #11 03-24-2001, 12:42 PM

I've heard a great combo is Marshall heads with Rivera cabs. I know Mike from Staind uses that combo and hes got AWESOME sound.

edit- sorry i was getting off topic, in regards to the JCM 900's, I know Morello from rage uses a single 50 watt 900 and his sound is the most distorted sounds I've ever heard but does sound very tight and well defined. (of course that probably comes from his hands)

(Edited by MADWELL at 12:43 pm on Mar. 24, 2001)

tagg 7 · #12 03-24-2001, 05:22 PM

"I know Morello from rage uses a single 50 watt 900 and his sound is the most distorted sounds I've ever heard" -MADWELL

Do you really think Tom's sound is that distorted. To me it just sounds like a fuzzy overdrive. Sure its really heavy, but thats just his vibe. Most the time he's using so many whammy effects *that it is hard to tell. Anyhow I play many Rage songs and i actually back off my distortion to make them sound better.
Just me though.
Plus Tom uses a peavy cab if that helps you with the tone your wanting.

just me two pennys
buzz

Josh Blagg · #13 03-24-2001, 09:28 PM

I had a 50 watt 900 combo. *The amp can get a lot of distortion on the super high gain channel, which would be ok for heavy leads. *The "clean" channel, which is really just a less distorted channel, was very interesting. *I could get a super fat, warm sound out of this channel by rolling back the tone and a little bit of volume from the guitar and turning the amp all the way up. *It is a very loud amp though for the high gain channel, and it sounds best when cranked. *Not the best amp out there, but for the used prices they are going for, I think you would like it.

ChrisReedSmith · #14 03-25-2001, 10:12 PM

haha i meant to say that it WASNT the most distorted sound. hahah my bad

forgot to add a "not" there