Amps

[vexed73]

Man this thing has an awesome clean channel!!! Reverb is nice nothing fancy but sounds good. The drive channel is weak and I think one of the preamp tubes is bad. Any one else have one?

[vexed73]

Well pulled the pre amp tubes out and they are GE 12AX7A USA. Think that has something to do with the sound? Running it through a Avatar Vintage with hellatone 30s.

[Rich4Once]

I'm originally from Salina Kansas, where those amps were built. A guy that now runs a music store there (Crossroads Music & Sound) was previously employed with JMF and told me how great those amps were. I never got to play one other than his, which was modded (it was badass), but he said they were pretty good to start with. Dean Markley bought them out back in the mid '80s, and the JMF name was gone forever.

[vexed73]

WHAT did he do to mod it? How was the lead channel on it?

[anibas]

I'm originally from Salina Kansas, where those amps were built. A guy that now runs a music store there (Crossroads Music & Sound) was previously employed with JMF and told me how great those amps were. I never got to play one other than his, which was modded (it was badass), but he said they were pretty good to start with. Dean Markley bought them out back in the mid '80s, and the JMF name was gone forever.

I've got a 60T head,and a 30T 1X12 combo.I like the dirt sounds on the combo better overall,but I've had it serviced and replaced the stock Eminence speaker with an old Celestion G12-80.The head's cleans are great,esp. with a humbucker equipped guitar,but the lead tones are almost solid state sounding,to my ears.Dean Markley bought them out in 1983,and actually marketed existing JMF amps with Markley nameplates on them for six months or so,after which they changed the look and some of the features on these amps.They didn't stay in the tube amp business very long,maybe until late '85 or so.Congrats on getting the cool amp,and watch out with that footswitch-they've got some sort of weird multi-pin connector that looks like a headache if it ever failed.

[vexed73]

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[Rich4Once]

WHAT did he do to mod it? How was the lead channel on it?

I don't have any idea what he did to it, but he was an amp tech guy, so there's no telling! I thought it sounded really good...it was the combo, BTW. You could always have a pro look at it and tell you if there's something he can do to make it sing for you.

[anibas]

One thing I should have mentioned earlier-run the master a good bit louder than the gain control(the settings are a matter of personal taste),and try running some kind of TS/OD-1 type overdrive into it to push it over the edge.I've put in more time with the 30T combo than the head,and the OD channel on it is definitely better suited to humbuckers than single coils,IMO.The last time I checked out Voodoo Amp's website,they offered mod services for these amps,but I think it involves a transformer change-hopefully another forum member will weigh in with more info about other mods that can be done.

[vexed73]

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[KeepJoshClose]

Hey everyone, I just bought my first tube amp, a JMF Spectra. I believe it's the 30-T model, according to the research I was able to find on it. (some also say that the T looks like a 7, and I'm sure you've all run into that debate before) It's a 112 dual channel, 3 12ax7, 2 6v6, but the nameplate is busted off, so I can only guess to what it is by process of elimination. I want to use it as my amp for gigs, but I fear that it's just not powerful enough right now. I want to know if putting 6l6s in it would be ok or if it will fry the tranny? I do know about biasing and would go through it all properly, but I just can't find enough info online as to whether or not it can handle it, nor have I opened it up to look inside yet. As far as tone, it's great! I agree with everyone that the cleans are nice. I think it has a nice midrange 'boxy' sound, and that does just fine for me. I use the reverb tank as the only amp effect. I'm all pedals though when it comes to effects. I haven't tried out the fx loop on it yet. With a good compressor and a tape echo / modulation delay you can get some really good, glassy, smooth and creamy tones. I find that the humbuckers are a tad better for this than a single coil, but it's all in the sound that you're going for. So if anyone has any info on this, I'd love to know!

[meanoldfart]

Hello. Been following this post. I have 2 blonde 60 T heads (never thought i'd find a second one) that are in a 2 head live in case w/ 4 space rack, a 2x12 cab on one side and a 4x12 on the other run in a stereo setup. whoa! great clean channel. i just run out of my Furman SP8 pedalboard in stereo, one into each head, i run both effects loops through a stereo sonic maximiser. Spread the cabs out as far as i can or turn them away from each other for maximum spatial effect.  Its what i been looking for. Even tho its kind of a PITA moving it around, i cant beat the sound. Those heads got a funky footswitch connector, but i just have em clean anyway. the lead channel can get a little weird, so i use the dirt box on the clean. The pots on these things are junk. Best to replace them with new ones. All in all, great sound, inexpensive (relatively). When you cant afford the high end stuff, ya gotta do what ya can do with what ya got