Members guitarbilly74 Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 .. it's not a bad amp at all. I spent the whole afternoon A/B' ing it against my DSL50 and truth be told, at low volumes the DSL sounds much fuller, and it has much more gain than the 900. But once you crank them up (master at around 2 o'clock) the 900 sounds great, it is much clearer and more defined than the DSL and once the power tubes kick in there is more than enough gain for leads etc...And the half power setting on the 900 really helps to get the power tubes cooking at a lower level. So why so much hate towards the 900s?? I think people who are dissing that amp only played it at low volumes....because the amp sounds really good once you crank it up. To top it off, I got a really sweet deal on it and last night I also got a Mesa F30 on a trade. Double NAD!!! Geez, I don't even feel like going to work for the next couple of days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Inevitable Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I honestly don't get it. I've always really liked the JCM 900. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Robson780 Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I'm picking up a 900 in the next couple days. 4500. Thinking I may wanna send it off to Jerry when I get it. I also remember reading on here that between a DSL50 and a DSL100 the volume difference is practically nothing on the overdrive channel. Is this also the case with the 4100/4500? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted March 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I'm picking up a 900 in the next couple days. 4500.Thinking I may wanna send it off to Jerry when I get it.I also remember reading on here that between a DSL50 and a DSL100 the volume difference is practically nothing on the overdrive channel. Is this also the case with the 4100/4500? I think that's the case on most 50/100 versions of the same amp, there is a 3dB volume difference with both amps dimed but at that point it is so ridiculously loud it's unusable. The main difference between 50w/100w versions of the same amp is the increased headroom, which for the drive channel will normally result in a tighter bass response on the 100w amp. But YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted March 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I'm picking up a 900 in the next couple days. 4500.Thinking I may wanna send it off to Jerry when I get it. I don't feel the need to mod a thing on my new amp. Try it stock first and most importantly, try it LOUD. It's a Marshall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Boris the Blade Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I never played a 900, but a while back when I went to a friends metal show, there was a band that had a 5150 and a JCM 900 SL X. Those 2 amps sounded mean together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian May Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 Jcm900s are good amps. I had the 4502 50w Dual reverb combo for years and its a fine amp. I went onto the DSL50 from there and must admit I did think that was a better amp...but still I'd have another 900 in a heartbeat. Their bad rep on here is IMO undeserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hung Over Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I've got a 4100 that I've had for almost 10 years, got it while I was in high school. While it's not the best sounding amp, it's been reliable for me and I can get a sound I can live with running through a 1960 B cab w/Vintage 30's. But lately, I've been seriously gassin' for a JSX head. Every shop I've visited in the last month seems to have one, and no matter what, I keep going back to it. Think I'll buy the JSX and keep the 900 and as an emergency back up head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLfreak Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I had an SL-X that was pretty awesome. I just helped a friend dial in his 4500 model with a fresh set of JJ's and bias while I did my Triple XXX and we hooked up to a Mesa 2x12 and it sounded pretty mean, especially with a bit of gain coming from one of his boost pedals to push it right over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrspeed Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 oh oh ..do I detect a full blown JCM900 lovefest coming on ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grumphh Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 oh oh ..do I detect a full blown JCM900 lovefest coming on ?...Complimentary semen swallowing and all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xtchc1978 Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 The factory el34 50 watter is a decent sounding amp. They don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Baron55 Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 The 900 series use a SS front end , op amps, clipping diodes, then feed it though a tube stage, for "warmth", before going into the power amp. That is why most hate is directed toward them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JonathanD Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I had that exact amp and I loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 This is the beginning. People said it would never come.Now, expect to see outrageous prices on eBay, loads of JCM 900 GAS and love posts, and talk about how when JCM2000s came out no one liked them cause they didn't sound as good as 900s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jnmartin Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 This is the beginning. People said it would never come. Now, expect to see outrageous prices on eBay, loads of JCM 900 GAS and love posts, and talk about how when JCM2000s came out no one liked them cause they didn't sound as good as 900s. It was bound to happen someday.I remember when you couldn't give someone enough money to take an 800 off your hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Exocaster Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I remember when you couldn't give someone enough money to take an 800 off your hands Shoulda bought up all those 800s when they were going for +/- $400 on Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 It was bound to happen someday. I remember when you couldn't give someone enough money to take an 800 off your hands I remember a single channel 100 watt 800 in a local guitar shop around 1996 that no one wanted because it didn't have a "clean channel". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ron Burgandy Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I have been saying this for years Happy double new amp day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 theres a few of us out here who still wouldn't take an 800... all kidding aside-- congrats-- if anyone took the majorities advice on buying an amp-- nobody'd ever buy anything.. there's usable tones in MOST amps on the market.. and if you can't work around what you've got.. yer never gonna be happy in the first place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted March 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I've been playing this amp non-stop for the last 2 days. Today I tried boosting it with a DS-1 and it sounded amazing. So yeah, a JCM900 and a DS1, probably the 2 most hated pieces of gear here and it sounded great.. who would've thunk? I love 800s and I am really gassing for a 2204 to use for recordings but for live work it just wouldn't cut it for me, not versatile enough. I need an amp with at least an fx loop because I love delay So now I'm between this and the DSL50, at the moment I'm liking the 900 better but then again I bought it yesterday so I know I am going through the honeymoon period. I will be able to make a more informed decision in a few weeks.The other amp I got this week is the Mesa F30 head and man I REALLY love that amp!! It's the best sounding Mesa I've had ever since the Mark III. amazing tone right out the box with minimal tweaking. Very easy to use which is unheard of for Mesas. I'm think of getting a A+B box and set up a Mesa/Marshall multi-amp set up. Probably run the Marshall with the delay and a treblier tone and the Mesa dry with a lot of low end.. that's going to be ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaceU4her Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 my favorit tone ever is jcm900 cranked really loud. [YOUTUBE]heQi0AZBH-0[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LedZep1985 Posted March 21, 2008 Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 I just got my JCM 900 4500 modded. It sounds great now with EL34s and having the eq modded to sound more like a Plexi. The output tranny is going soon, and I was told to get the output trannys that are used in JCM 800s. I also play it through a 4x12 loaded with Greenbacks, which gives the classic Marshall tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted March 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2008 Mine came with EL34's but there was a gold sticker in the back saying "this amp came equipped with 5881 tubes, replace wit the same tube type" so I'm guessing mine is a 5881-to-EL34 conversion. I wonder if any other mods were done to it because the amp sounds really good. Now I need to find another JCM900 to compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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