Members Mr Lucky Pants Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 I've decided I wanna get a 2203, but I haven't had much luck locating an original. I've heard the reissues aren't as good...is this true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members charveldan Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 As an owner of two JMP 2203's they're awesome, i just hope you have a place to open them up cause THEY"RE LOUD!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Lucky Pants Posted February 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 As an owner of two JMP 2203's they're awesome, i just hope you have a place to open them up cause THEY"RE LOUD!!!!! What's the difference between the JMP 2203 and JCM 2203? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nazgul6 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 I don't believe this to be true. I don't know as much about schematics and such as some of the guys on this board do but from everything I have read they use the right number of caps, the right transformer and did a very good job of replicating that amp. Now one of the things that the designer will tell you is that they had a room full of them and they worked to duplicate the one that was their favorite because they all sound different. So if someone has an old 800 that they love, this might be different. However, the one benefit is you know what your getting. I had this amp and it was a loud, punchy beast that was easy to work with. You could take your chances finding an old one but I would just grab a used 2203x off EBay. Then you'd have a loop too. A 2203x with a boost up front an eq in the loop is a great metal amp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blckbldng Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 I have a 1982 vertical input 2203 it sounds extremely different depending on your guitar pickups. Amazingly EMGs sound best through it. Especially an 85 in the bridge. I usually prefer passive pickups in high gain amps but not with my JCM800. Also it sounds better when I use my wireless unit instead of a cable. It acts like a slight clean boost and that makes all the difference in the world All that to say that these amps sound very different depending of the situation and I did not even mention cabs and speakers which have a huge influence too. Oh yeah these amps are silly loud. I pulled 2 tubes out of mine and run it at 50w. It is already way too loud for most applications Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Lucky Pants Posted February 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Thanks for the info Nazgul...I'm pretty smitten by the EL34 tone of the original...It would be nice to have the loop of the 2203KK, but I'm not sure if the KT88's would do it for me. I also am not much of a 'metal' guy. Everything I've heard in regards to the original vs. reissue, is that the tone can't match the original...I've read that from about 4 or 5 guys now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JonVengeance Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Just to be clear; there is a reissue 2203x and there is also the 2203KK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Norton666 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Ive got an original for sale in the spam thread. I prefer the originals personally. http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=2545514 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members .homewrecker. Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 The sonic difference between each individual vintage unit would vary enough that you could find some that sound worse than the 2203x (which is what I assume you're talking about) and some that sound the same, and some that sound better. You can absolutely get away with a 2203x, they sound every bit as good as the old units and with a tube swap you're golden. This doesn't account for the outrageous price that Marshall charges for the new unit, so definitely buy used. The JMP 2203 is the same as the JCM800 2203 up to '84, before they switched to the horizontal input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Lucky Pants Posted February 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 The sonic difference between each individual vintage unit would vary enough that you could find some that sound worse than the 2203x (which is what I assume you're talking about) and some that sound the same, and some that sound better. You can absolutely get away with a 2203x, they sound every bit as good as the old units and with a tube swap you're golden. This doesn't account for the outrageous price that Marshall charges for the new unit, so definitely buy used.The JMP 2203 is the same as the JCM800 2203 up to '84, before they switched to the horizontal input. Yeah, I'd definitely be buying used. Good info the JMP 2203, thanks. I guess the advantage of the 2203X would be that I'd be getting an FX loop, too, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members .homewrecker. Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Yeah, I'd definitely be buying used. Good info the JMP 2203, thanks. I guess the advantage of the 2203X would be that I'd be getting an FX loop, too, right? Yeah, and you don't have to worry about re-capping either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jessexxx Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 The sonic difference between each individual vintage unit would vary enough that you could find some that sound worse than the 2203x (which is what I assume you're talking about) and some that sound the same, and some that sound better. You can absolutely get away with a 2203x, they sound every bit as good as the old units and with a tube swap you're golden. This doesn't account for the outrageous price that Marshall charges for the new unit, so definitely buy used.The JMP 2203 is the same as the JCM800 2203 up to '84, before they switched to the horizontal input. yup! 2203x is hard to find,...2203kk there is a glut of them right now,...you could grab one for $1000,...but they have no loop!,..they do however have a pretty good gate and a "mxr-10 band eq" built in,..that you can ramp in/out aka kerry king,...i have this head,...it is very 3-d sounding with them huge coke bottle kt88's and 2 of the biggest transformers i have ever seen.....(the kerry king part of the amp can be switched off to give you a jcm800)...if the 2203kk go like the 2203x,..in about 3 years you can sell them for about $2000.....i have played the 2203x and prefer the 2203kkthe jmp's of the early 80's are the same as jcm's of the same period. back in the day i used to have a 2204,...and i guess i am one of the dudes who think the older units do sound better,...i think the quality of the components where better then...(the same reason the old ts808's where better)..... this is a great time to be a buyer!,..if i had the cake i would buy another 2203kk and leave it right in the box,...it will do alot better than my 401k thats gone completely in the toilet! good luck man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Lucky Pants Posted February 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Thanks, Jesse. The only thing that bothers me about the Kerry King model is the KT88's...as, I'm addicted to that EL34 sound that made the original JCM800's famous. I'm afraid I'd lose that midrange that the 34's provide, ya know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jessexxx Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 i hear ya man,....if theres one near ya that you could try i think you would be pleasantly surprised,...they still sound like a 800...except with bigger balls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 As an owner of two JMP 2203's they're awesome, i just hope you have a place to open them up cause THEY"RE LOUD!!!!! But once cranked, it's like making love with the heavens The other day I was playing out with my 2204 clone and I reached the volume knob for a small adjustment, by mistake I pushed it to just above 9 o'clock... and proceeded to drown everything on stage (and the bass was ou ld!). Those amps WMDs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steve Drojo Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Thanks, Jesse. The only thing that bothers me about the Kerry King model is the KT88's...as, I'm addicted to that EL34 sound that made the original JCM800's famous. I'm afraid I'd lose that midrange that the 34's provide, ya know? Then hold out for EL34s my brutha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shiny_Surface Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 2203kk there is a glut of them right now,...you could grab one for $1000,...but they have no loop!,..they do however have a pretty good gate and a "mxr-10 band eq" built in,..that you can ramp in/out aka kerry king,...i have this head,...it is very 3-d sounding with them huge coke bottle kt88's and 2 of the biggest transformers i have ever seen.....(the kerry king part of the amp can be switched off to give you a jcm800)...if the 2203kk go like the 2203x,..in about 3 years you can sell them for about $2000.....i have played the 2203x and prefer the 2203kkthe jmp's of the early 80's are the same as jcm's of the same period. The KK's have the same transformers as the JVM, I remember Santiago saying that on the JVM forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbarn3065 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 I've decided I wanna get a 2203, but I haven't had much luck locating an original. I've heard the reissues aren't as good...is this true? The reissues are every bit as good as the originals! I've compared several reissues against originals and the reissues sound fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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