Marshall JCM 900

[Neal]

I have a chance of picking up one of these, at a great price. I'm not really familiar with them, but I have really taking a liking to Marshall since owning the JVM 410 H. Do any of you use, or know about this amp?

 

[mrmudcat]

I love these and the rest of jcm family( 900,800,600 in the mid 80,s was the amp to have) Jubilee models are worth having fo-sho no matter what:dude

Saying that, if you have the 410 I dont think you will need it!!!

If you can get it in the $500-700(recent prices on ebay have dopped) range then grab it!!!

 

[Robert]

The JVM's got all your bases covered, Neal. Buy a cool guitar instead. How about a Reverend?

 

[oldguy]

Like Muddy says.........you probably don't need it, BUT, if it's priced right and you want it, buy it.
There's a reason for Marshall's popularity. They sound good. And if it isn't the sound you want you can sell it later.
(it will also give you a backup amph for gigs if your 410 ever goes down/needs service).

 

[Neal]

I have the JVM in a stationary type setting, and was looking to get another head to gig. I have heard that they are a great bluesy type amp.

Robert. I'm still goiing to get the top of the line guitar, for 2010:dude

 

[Robert]

You mean you are getting a Suhr? That will be a good choice! :applause :AOK

Robert. I'm still goiing to get the top of the line guitar, for 2010:dude

 

[Neal]

Robert. It may very well be a shur. But it looks like I'm going to have to hit the road to look at them. No dealers here in South Carolina. I do love it here, but when I lived in New York (New Yawk) as Dr. Voodoo would say, all I had to do was to go to 48th St in Manhattan, and I guarentee that every guitar made on the planet, was on that street somewhere. There might be a dealer in Atlanta.

 

[mrmudcat]

http://www.boutiqueguitarexchange.com/

 

[Plank_Spanker]

Just my own experience here, but I owned a JCM900 combo for a brief period:

The amp was brittle and tight sounding to me.......bordering on harsh when the amp was turned up.

Nothing it offered sounded like "traditional Marshall" to my ears.

I bought it to flip it..............and made a few bucks.

Just my two pesos.............................

 

[oldguy]

They have plenty of high end, no doubt about it. Let your ears be your guide.
I'd play before buying.
They sound good cranked to me, though. And I mean CRANKED!:dude

 

[oldguy]

 

[oldguy]

 

[Robert]

These amp don't have the best reputation exactly... I would pass on this if I were you.

 

[deeaa]

If you heard any of the Crankenhaus songs I've posted (myspace/crankenhaus), all the solo guitars were recorded with a 900 series 100W head/marshall cab.

They aren't hailed as best Marshall amps out there, and IMo they are more of the more 'metal' and driven sounding amps, but they do have the classic Marshall roar and are better than their rep for sound in my book.

Having owned them 2204, 2210 and played/heard a 900 a lot, I'd be hard pressed if I had to choose between them. A 2204 is best for rock sound but a one-trick pony and LOUD. A 800 is more versatile, but still effin' loud when it sounds good. A 900 gives the marshall roar at much lower volumes...at a cost of sounding more modern and saturated, though. Slightly more complex / prone to faults I hear too.

But yeah, I'd consider it well enough. What I dig of that era Marshalls is a 6100 series amp...those were actually close to JVM in versatility.

 

[oldguy]

These amp don't have the best reputation exactly... I would pass on this if I were you.

Robert, is it due to reliability, build quality, the shrillness Plank spoke of, or something else? I've heard them locally used in bands, but hadn't heard complaints from the owners. Maybe they just didn't wanna mention it?:thwap

 

[Robert]

I've heard comments about reliability problems, and thin sound. Don't know how much truth there is to all this, but I wouldn't take a chance unless it's selling for dirt cheap.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Robert, is it due to reliability, build quality, the shrillness Plank spoke of, or something else? I've heard them locally used in bands, but hadn't heard complaints from the owners. Maybe they just didn't wanna mention it?:thwap

I've never owned one, but I can remember a few techs on the various amp bbs sites discussing this amp.

It seems as though Marshall used smaller transformers in the JCM900 series especially compared to the beefy ones used in the JCM800 series. In fact a common mod is to replace the JCM900's output transformer with one spec'd for a JCM800.

Another complaint I've heard is that the JCM900 was designed to sound good at low volumes so it has tons of preamp gain. Supposedly, Marshall designed the amps so that they would sound good in the music store, but they don't sound as good when actually cranked up on a gig. It may be something as simple as dialing back the gain when played loud so that the output section does a lot of the work. Again, the smaller output transformer could come into play.

Regardless, it is a Marshall product, so the resale value will be high. If you like it and it sounds good, then it is good. But I would crank it up to gig levels for a test of how it sounds.

 

[ZMAN]

There are two of the heads for sale locally. The guy who is selling one of them even stated that the reason he was selling it was to buy an 800.

 

[epi0205]

http://www.boutiqueguitarexchange.com/

Geeeeeeeeaaaaah! The first thing up was a Dr. Z Maz!!!
Whew, That is one righteous piece of equipment!!!
Cool place mudcat!:AOK

 

[Plank_Spanker]

I've heard comments about reliability problems, and thin sound. Don't know how much truth there is to all this, but I wouldn't take a chance unless it's selling for dirt cheap.

I can't speak for the reliability issue, but I can for the sound.

IMHO, the only thing Marshall about it was the logo. The amp was very tight - non of the loose and fluid "typical" Marshall sound at all. The drive was very grainy and grating on my ears.........................almost a solid state feel and sound.

If I played as a gain monster looking for a wall of scooped mids sound, the 900 might work. As a blues amp? No way in hell.

 

[oldguy]

Makes sense.....the ones I've heard were high gain rock bands.

 

[mrmudcat]

Yea I agree,the 800/600 models were more for me on pure tonal bliss:applause

 

[Geraint Jones]

I`ve still got the 100w 4102 , its a pretty versatile amp good clean channel with great reverb , mine also had tech problems when i bought it although that was in Saudi Arabia so I took that as normal at the time . Its heavy though and loud .