1 Watt Marshall JCM800

brownovich

Hey all, hope everyone is doing good!

Might be of interested if anyone is considering picking up one of the anniversary 1 Watt Marshalls on the used market at some point. I did a quick video where I pissed about with mine for a bit trying to get some different sounds out of it, sounded pretty good put through a cab sim of a Marshall 4x12 w/greenbacks.



They definitely do a thing!

Cheers

Si

soma1975

Great tones. I loved my old JTM1

brownovich

Thanks dude! 

Yeah they're a really cool range, I've been tempted to check out some of the other models but they don't tend to crop up that often. Might start keeping my eyes peeled for them though!

RaymondLin

I wish I picked one up but missed the opportunity when they were discounted and now the used price is silly.

Whitecat

Yeah, these sure were an odd one. Marshall couldn't give them away when they were new & current and now they go for crazy money if you can even find one. Bizarre. But a great buy if you got in on the clearance...

Jetfire

They were about £500 new if I remember correctly? 

Whitecat

Jetfire said:

They were about £500 new if I remember correctly? 

Guitarguitar (& possibly others) blew them all out for £349 each in the end. 

£650-£750 now seems to be the going rate when they pop up.

Jetfire

Whitecat said:

Jetfire said:

They were about £500 new if I remember correctly? 

Guitarguitar (& possibly others) blew them all out for £349 each in the end. 

£650-£750 now seems to be the going rate when they pop up.

350 for a 1 watt is still eye wateringly expensive 

RaymondLin

Jetfire said:

Whitecat said:

Jetfire said:

They were about £500 new if I remember correctly? 

Guitarguitar (& possibly others) blew them all out for £349 each in the end. 

£650-£750 now seems to be the going rate when they pop up.

350 for a 1 watt is still eye wateringly expensive 

Bargain compared to a Benson Vinny.

I don't think that's the way it was intended, wattage and price.  It's more a miniature version of a classic.  I wanted the Andertons Offset one, that goes for even more money now.  Should have, could have picked one up...ah well.

soma1975

I had the Offset JTM1 and I think it was £750 new when I got it. 

darcym

I'm looking for the Marshall 2525 model at the moment, 

ICBM

It sounds so much better in your recording than they ever did in a room when I've played them... I've tried the JTM1, JCM1 and DSL1, and they all just sounded like toys to me - even through a bigger cabinet. It sounds great there - although you're cheating, you can actually play .

The Behringer sounds identical to a vintage TS-808, by the way .

But most importantly, what did the cat think?

brownovich

Whitecat said:

Jetfire said:

They were about £500 new if I remember correctly? 

Guitarguitar (& possibly others) blew them all out for £349 each in the end. 

£650-£750 now seems to be the going rate when they pop up.

Yeah I think I paid £349 for it which is pretty mad given for what they seem to go for now. Hell, thinking about it on paper it’s a bargain for a British built Marshall, even if it is 1 watt. £500 original asking price was probably on the steep side, but they probably could’ve gotten away with cutting it back by £75 or so.

I think they were one of those things that were a good idea on paper, that people just didn’t connect with, but turned out to be a good idea after all! 

brownovich

ICBM said:

It sounds so much better in your recording than they ever did in a room when I've played them... I've tried the JTM1, JCM1 and DSL1, and they all just sounded like toys to me - even through a bigger cabinet. It sounds great there - although you're cheating, you can actually play .

The Behringer sounds identical to a vintage TS-808, by the way .

But most importantly, what did the cat think?

Yeah to be honest they definitely do come across that way when using the combo speaker, they sound a bit gimmicky. There’s some cracking tones hidden away in there, maybe they just should’ve done the head version. I think some of the sounds you got from the combo put some people off.

Yeah the Behringer does exactly what it needs, thought it best to use a bog standard OD to keep it simple.

The cat didn’t like it, he brought up a hair ball on the cab shortly after. But he is an ab-so-lute Bastard!

RaymondLin

soma1975 said:

I had the Offset JTM1 and I think it was £750 new when I got it. 

I recall I was in GuitarGuitar when I bought my GS Mini it was on clearance at £550 (or £500) for the head and cab together.  They had the Offset head and cab right by the door.

ICBM

brownovich said:

Yeah I think I paid £349 for it which is pretty mad given for what they seem to go for now. Hell, thinking about it on paper it’s a bargain for a British built Marshall, even if it is 1 watt.

Not really, when you see inside. They’re pretty cheaply built - DSL/Class 5 construction rather than vintage reissue.

Not bad at £349 new but they were never remotely worth £500+. (Actually closer to £600 if I remember rightly.)

I’ve had to fix a couple of them for faulty pots, which is unfortunately typical with the plastic PCB-mounted ones they use... just be careful not to bump them!

brownovich

ICBM said:

brownovich said:

Yeah I think I paid £349 for it which is pretty mad given for what they seem to go for now. Hell, thinking about it on paper it’s a bargain for a British built Marshall, even if it is 1 watt.

Not really, when you see inside. They’re pretty cheaply built - DSL/Class 5 construction rather than vintage reissue.

Not bad at £349 new but they were never remotely worth £500+. (Actually closer to £600 if I remember rightly.)

I’ve had to fix a couple of them for faulty pots, which is unfortunately typical with the plastic PCB-mounted ones they use... just be careful not to bump them!

Ah interesting, I've never taken a peek inside to be honest! Maybe even more surprising they are going for the money they are used these days.

Can't say I've ever had any problems but then again it's been sat in the corner of the room for years and hasn't been moved about too much. Maybe the next test should be how hard I can bang the thing before something goes wrong!  

ICBM

It will be fine for home use - there’s nothing really wrong with the quality, it was more the price compared to it that shocked me when I first looked inside.

To be honest I think I did misjudge them originally... I thought they were wildly overpriced toys aimed at collectors and sounded terrible, but if you approach them as you have - ie as basically a recording preamp that also happens to have a built-in speaker for monitoring or practicing - then I can see why you like it, it does sound very good.

I wouldn’t pay what they go for now any more than the original price though. So don’t sell it! You got it at the right price .

pintspiller

I bought one of the lastest DSL1 combos a couple of years ago and I think it's great. I use it with a Torpedo Captor for recording and it sounds as big as my 50w Carlsbro.

Even using the stock speaker is much better than HT1 was.

Sassafras

I considered these before settling on a ZVex Nano Head.

Rocker

Regarding the price of valve amplifiers vis-a-vis their wattage output, it strikes me that a significant portion of the cost is in the cabinet, chassis, transformers, valves and valve bases, tone controls and circuitry, volume controls, switches and socketry.  That is for a 1 Watt model.  The same costs plus additional valves, valve bases and a few additional components apply to a 50 Watt model.  Give or take a bit here and there.  Hence a 1 Watt model costs most of what a 50 Watt model costs to buy.  As I understand it anyway.