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tell me about the marshall 2210?

freakk guitarist

By freakk guitarist
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The Idiot Newbie

The Idiot

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Here's a cool article that I found about some pre-conceptions we tend to have about the 900s and various JCM 800s. There's a part about the cheaper 800s, most notably the 2210 and their bleedover problems.

 

"I don't believe "all" JCM 900s are bad, nor are all JCM 800's "better". Look for a feature in the future as a sort of "buyer's guide" for Marshalls that outlines the differences between these Marshall as well as the early models and the reissues. I've found that throughout Marshall's history, there are "good ones" and there were "bad ones" and this contributes to the reason why many people have a "love 'em or hate 'em mentality" with Marshalls. It can be frustrating when you hear a great sound and you try and get that sound out of the same amp and it somehow eludes you! Believe me, I went through that and was pretty frustrated over trying to understand why my amp (and yes, it was a JCM 800!) just didn't sound like my friend's "cheaper" '78 JMP 100 watt. In anycase, more on this later in another feature.

 

Back to the JCM 800/900 issue, simply put, after about 1985 moving into 1986, Marshall implemented many changes within the JCM 800 line that weakened them considerably - the ENTIRE line, not just some of them. When the 900s were introduced, yes, these cost-cutting measures were implemented, but so were a few improvements in the preamp gain structure for more flexible gain and tonal control. Then the 900's began to implement 6L6 tubes (a.k.a. 5881s) and this provided a harsher tone. Eventually, the EL34's returned, but there was already a marked "900's suck" attitude implemented by then. Transistors were also placed within the circuit though much of this was for secondary circuits that didn't necessarily affect the distortion. However, guitarists are a conservative bunch so the mentality tends to go, "transistors are bad..." Funny to say that many of these guys may also implement boost pedals, etc. that are transistor-based to go along with their "it's pure tubes" amps! I use the philosophy of "if it sounds good to me for my needs, then it's good."

 

The bottom line is if you enjoy the tone you're getting, don't worry about it. Many pro players adopted the JCM 900 series. As to the 800's, I'll go through their issues more closely in the forthcoming article, but for now let me tell you that there was a night and day difference in tone and ouput between identical JCM 800 models I've owned, one from 1982 and the other from '90. The 1990 model was very thin, underpowered and brittle sounding, the '82 (which I still own) is fat, full, and powerful and makes a terrific rock and hard rock amp.

 

The JCM 800 series was far from perfect and indeed some models in the JCM 800 series had problems. The 800's that had channel-switching (e.g. model 2210) tended to have "bleedover" problems where the clean channel would bleed into the distortion and vice versa. The 900's corrected that problem. So again, don't read too much into what people may say in bulletin boards, etc. as many people just "repeat what they've heard".

 

The one trend though that has remained is that over time, Marshall HAS had to cut costs in order to keep its products affordable and this means sacrifices in build-quality have occurred. Historically, the earliest Marshalls were hand wired, point to point. Later, transformer sizes were reduced and printed circuit boards adopted. Then as we moved midway through the JCM 800 series, power supplies and filtering were greatly reduced and potentiometers were mounted on the printed circuit boards. Now with the JCM 2000 series, all preamp and power tubes are mounted on the circuit boards as well rather than wired off of the chassis and the potentiometers are cheap plastic-surface mounted varieties.

 

Anyhow, again, more on this entire subject in our "Marshall Shopping Guide" hopefully coming soon (time permitting!)"

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grumphh Newbie

grumphh

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I don't think that anyone should compare a 800 to a 900, diodes or not.

 

That said the later channelswitcher 800's are apparently the best of the bunch (basically a redesigned circuit from the first ones) and sound terrific if you play classic and hard rock - but on their own they are not for modern metal.

My '87 4211 (i.e. the 2x12 combo of the 2210) had 5 of the big filter caps, so at that point they had not reduced filtering in those yet.

 

And FWIW, i never had fizz or harshness coming from mine at good volume. (And as far as i have read, "fizz and harshness" are mostly attributed to the older channelswitchers)

 

However if there is one thing my channelswitcher never was, it was a bedroom amp. Sounded terrible at low volume. Keep that in mind when listening to one.

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Voodoo Amps Newbie

Voodoo Amps

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how much are they worth?

 

I would recommend scouting out eBay but on average we see them for around $550.00 to $650.00.

 

i saw my friends band play a while back and i realized he had a 2210 and it sounded soo good. are they easily moddable to get some of the fizz/harshness out?

 

If you are considering converting to a 2204/2203 JCM800 then I would not say it is easily modded but that is just my opinion. There are also two different versions out there so make sure you check the year. The earlier version had a lot less gain where as the later versions had a lot more gain on tap.

 

 

 

Hope it helps

Trace

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SteveVHT Newbie

SteveVHT

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I have a 2210 and it does kick ass....

The clean is....well, a Marshall clean channel....It's the only thing I'd change.

Average price is about $600-$800 from what I've seen.

Great amps all around...and I've gotten some nice metal tones with mine...:D

Steve

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anti-flag193 Newbie

anti-flag193

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Originally posted by freakk guitarist

reason being i just picked up a 84 2210 for 675, thought it sounded like a good deal, im gonna have my friend look at it and see what he can do to warm it up a little. any opinions ? trace? jerry? where are some target areas i should focus on in the circuit?

 

 

nice score!

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grumphh Newbie

grumphh

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Originally posted by freakk guitarist



thanks man, im actually glad to hear that...makes me feel good about my purchase haha

Hehe, you know - if you need internet acceptance to feel good about an amp, you might just as well sell it on and get something that makes you go "Yeah! This is it, baby!".

 

Because this sounds like you are not really happy with the amp at all...

 

After all, there's no shame in selling an amp - as long as it is not at a loss :D

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tuna141 Newbie

tuna141

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I had a 2210 for several years and recently sold it. It was a very good amp, but I just didn't play it enough to justify keeping it. These are selling for around $850 - $1k now a days (price has appreciated during the last couple of years).

 

I loved the "clean" channel, but not for clean sounds. If you crank the volume for this channel, it sounds awesome - very full 2203/2204 type distortion. I wasn't too crazy about the Lead channel. It sounded OK but could get buzzy if you maxed the gain. IMO it was kind of thin sounding for leads, but I may be spoiled by my Mesa Marks. The clean channel was much fuller, richer and thicker sounding - it was great for thick rhythm crunch. The clean channel sounds incredible with a pedal.

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