JCM 900 info, any love for em?? Which are the best models??

riffpowers

I've seen a few jcm900's for sale locally, for great prices.

I've ever owned one, or played one for years, although my marshall of choice is a 2104 jmp combo.

Any love for em???Which are the decent models??!

monquixote

I quite like them, but lots of people don't 

Rather like Blackstar HT they have some solid state clipping in the preamps which gives them a characteristic sound. 

Fuzzdog

I bought a 900 ages ago after using (and loving) 800's for years, thinking "It's one hundred better, innit?"

Hated it with a passion!  After a while though, I stopped treating it like a 'classic Marshall' and approached it as a new amp entirely, and with a bit of fiddling some really nice tones came out.  Half tempted to pick one up again, as they seem to be going for ridiculously cheap prices at the moment.

FelineGuitars

The SLX stands out as a good choice as it has an extra tube gain stage rather than diode clipping I belive

ICBM

FelineGuitars said:

The SLX stands out as a good choice as it has an extra tube gain stage rather than diode clipping I belive

Yes. The SL-X is definitely the best model.

samzadgan

SL-X and also the High Gain Master Volume one is quite good too.

hugbot

The guitarist in my old band had an SLX which he changed for a JCM800 because the 800 is supposed to be better but I always preferred the more hi gain of the 900. The 800 needs a bit of help before it really gets modern levels of heavy I think so I totally get why marshall added that extra clipping (I don't care about solid state vs tube clipping so long as it sounds good).

I've played some shit 900s too though.

SidNewton

I had a dual reverb model years ago. It was horrible.

moz91

I've got a the hi gain dual reverb model; had it for years. Martin mjw made a few tweaks to the tone stacks to shift some of the harshness, concerted it to el34s and added a p/i master volume and its a total monster if you want straight up ballsy rock n roll! Classic marshall with modern (ish) gain levels... Clean channel makes for a lovely crunch too

Using a jvm or a deluxe reverb (both to be replaced shortly by an MJW Orion ) for functions nowadays but I'll never sell that amp, still nice to wheel it out for loud rock gigs!

rawk100

I had a couple of Dual Reverbs in the 90's which were alright but bought a JCM2000 DSL When they came out and found it much better. The DSL is not as thin and buzzy, I ended up with an EQ in the loop of the DR to get it sounding anything like I wanted. The Mk3 or SLX are the ones to go for in the 900 range, Marshall should do a reissue....

hugbot

I thought I'd look at some shootouts to see what I thought of this version differences thing. To me it sounds like the slx is way nicer and bolder than the dual reverb, so myth confirmed I guess

FelineGuitars

With the dual reverbs I read that the clipping occurs too soon in the circuit and sounds harsh and thin as a result . 

Whether the circuit could be tweaked to make it much more pleasant sounding is another question for an amp tech

ElectroDan

I have the 2x12  dual reverb model and can confirm that it does indeed sound crap. No real tone at either end of the spectrum, and just a flabby rock tone in the middle.

On the upside, it has been working now for 20 years with the same valves in it, and I run my Duotone into it for some extra low end grunt. It does ok at that.

ICBM

FelineGuitars said:

With the dual reverbs I read that the clipping occurs too soon in the circuit and sounds harsh and thin as a result . 

Whether the circuit could be tweaked to make it much more pleasant sounding is another question for an amp tech

Essentially the Dual Reverbs consist of two pedal-like solid-state circuits with IC op-amp gain stages and solid-state diode clipping at the start of the signal path, a 'Tube Screamer-like' one on the rhythm channel and a 'DS1-like' one on the lead channel, which produce most of the distortion. There are then alternating valve and solid state stages throughout the preamp.

It's a very good definition of a hybrid amp, in fact. I'm not opposed to that as such, but I do think it's partly responsible for the thin and buzzy sound of these amps, because it just isn't done very well.

The High Gain Master Volume is much more valve, although it does use diodes (driven by a valve stage) for the distortion. The SL-X does away with this and uses an extra valve.

Even the SL-X is not quite all-valve, but the remaining IC stages (FX loop send/return which are always in the signal path, and master volume control) don't really contribute to the sound.

ThePrettyDamned

The slx is the only one I've tried, and I liked it. It was a bit (only a bit) buzzy sounding, bit a good low, medium and high gain amp. That's pretty great in my books!

Aidanspaghetti

Thinking of selling my 50watter el34 slx.. What's a fair price for them these days?

timmysoft

I'm a big fan of 900s, I even used one when I played download fest in 2013.

Fez

I have a JCM900 1X12 Combo which is great so long as you don't want a clean sound. Had it about 20 years and it just had it's 4th set of valves and first serious repair. My lads like it for their Death Metal band. There is no reverb on it but the FX loop is way better than the DSL 401 or the Jet City 50 head.

siraxeman

I've had 2 4502's (50w 2×12 dual reverbs) 1st one for alomst 10yrs...liked it but rarely used the dirt channel. Sold it when I got my dsl50 half stack...preferred that all round. Then spotted another 4502 in crack converters for £150 so had to get that. ..just to sell on and double my money which I more than did on ebay...but I ended up keeping it a few months cos it surprised me at how much better than the 1st one it sounded...no idea if it'd been modded as I can't explain how or why it sounded so mixh better but it did......

ICBM

siraxeman said:

I've had 2 4502's (50w 2×12 dual reverbs) 1st one for alomst 10yrs...liked it but rarely used the dirt channel. Sold it when I got my dsl50 half stack...preferred that all round. Then spotted another 4502 in crack converters for £150 so had to get that. ..just to sell on and double my money which I more than did on ebay...but I ended up keeping it a few months cos it surprised me at how much better than the 1st one it sounded...no idea if it'd been modded as I can't explain how or why it sounded so mixh better but it did...…

EL34 vs 5881 models? They did both - first EL34, then 5881, then back to EL34, due to good modern-production EL34s being unavailable for a while in the mid-90s.

riffpowers

Actually I could do with a 1x12 combo ....!