hagcel

Just picked up a 1982 2204 JCM 800 with vertical inputs.

My other main amp is a Single Rectifier through a Mesa 2x12. I picked up the 800 to add more tone options.

I am looking at a

JCM 900 1960B 4x12 with 100W Celestian Speakers - $400
JCM 800 1960A 4x12 with G12-80's -$425
425A with Greenbacks - $700
1960AX with G12-80 - $400
1960B G12T-75'S - $400

I'm leaning towards the G12 - 80's but don't have much experience. I don't want to duplicate the V30's in the Mesa Cab, but looking for something similar so the Greenbacks seem like a good option too but I also don't have enough experience with the 800 to know how it would work with those speakers.

And if I am understanding things correctly if I went with the JCM 800 cab which only has a 16 ohm input I can do a safe mismatch with the Rectifer with the 8 ohm out?

Thanks for any suggestions

jcmjmp

Of the bunch, I'd go for the cab loaded with Lead 80's.

American Viking

It would not be good for the amplifier. Those amps don't have a 16ohm out? I thought they did but I haven't come across a Single Rec in a long time. I see the Dual Rec's often.

All those cabs look pretty good, I would buy the 1960B bottom cab with the 75's since bottom cabs are a little harder to come across sometimes, and since you already have a 2x12 you could stack it on top of it if you wanted. Lot of dudes in here don't like those speakers but I'm pretty partial to them.

The construction in all the 1960 series cabs is the same so all you would be paying for that's different is the speakers. I don't think you have to worry about having the same sound as the Mesa cab even if both had the same speakers. The way they are built is different and will affect the tone a lot. That's why if you ever watch a lot of videos of guys with Dual Rec's they usually have Marshall cabs. The Marshall's are built and sound a lot tighter IMO.

__________________
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jcmjmp

That should be a safe mismatch. There's a lot of info from weber and THD on this.

American Viking

lol, but the problem is weber and THD didn't have to pay to fix my 800. i used to do the same thing.

__________________
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hagcel

My single rectrofier has one 8 ohm and two 4 ohm outs.

In the manual it says 8 to 16 is a safe mismatch but I guess I'm a bit more leery now...

The 2x12 does have a parallel out on it so in that situation I would go out from the Single Rectro @ 4 which would send 8 to the 2x12 and 8 to the Marshall cab? Or should I go 8 to the Marshall and 4 to the 2x12 and skip the parallel out?

I guess it really doesn't matter unless I got with JCM800 cab...all the other should have 8 ohm inputs right?

What is the major difference between the 80's and 75's? I don't think I'm going to drop the cash on the Greenbacks...

I am leaning towards the 800 cab to check out the 800 match. I'm assuming the 800 cab should hold it's value @ 425$ for a while.

Although is speaker wear an issue with a cab from 82 (well the speakers are dated 1982)?

Thanks!

Ken

No, in fact it's the opposite. Speakers get better with age as the cones "loosen up" and sound warmer, at least to my ear. The only issue is condition: damage etc. from years of use.

I have GH80's dated Jan 1980 in my 1982 cabinet, and my DSL 50 sounds fantastic through them. I bought the cabinet as I THOUGHT it was GH30's; I have the "120 watt" sticker, but the codes don't lie! Anyway, a cabinet from the early 1980's should match well with a JCM 800 as that's what they were using to get the tone we revere today.

Ken

hagcel

I went with the JCM 800 cab.















Based on the images you guys have any comments? From what I've been told the amp is 1982 along with the cab. Anything look strange?

hagcel

Tonight I was comparing it to my JCM 900 SL X. With a tube screamer the gain still doesn't match the SL X but I prefer the sound so much more. Mostly I play through the 800 without the tube screamer. It sounds so dark, which is likely due to the G12 80's (i'm guessing?) but I love the sound. The cleans are a bit more muddy compared to the SL X but so much...warmer? Muddy is really the word that comes to mind when I describe the 800. But muddy in a very good way. The SL X is very - plain - clean.

I'm a huge fan of the 900 series but maybe that is from growing up in the 90's. I don't know. Playing the 800 and 900 in stereo sounds great (typically I use a Boss DD3 set to 50ms with the delay time at 12 o'clock for a slight stereo field - is there a better way to achieve a stereo sound?)

I really love the 800 and my Single Rectifier into my JCM 900 Stereo cab together with the Recto set to modern. Very nice layered tone. Combining the 800 with the Mesa has a serious ground loop issue that I have to deal with until I get a switcher with ground switches...

For cleans I typically use my JC120 and Mesa in stereo but I love the 800 and 900 for a little grit and dirt for a harsher tone...

American Viking

Everything looks good. That cab looks wired for 4ohms though. I would rewire it to 16ohms. You wouldn't ever be able to use another cab safely if that was at 4ohms. It's really easy to rewire though. On newer cabs you don't even need any tools to do it.
Check out these diagrams here
Jumbo Sunshade - Speaker Wiring Diagrams
If you do continue to run that head, set it to four ohms, but ask Adwex on here or someone else with speaker wiring experience to take a look at it and back me up, I'm 98% sure I'm right but I don't want to be wrong if it will cost you an amplifier.

The capacitors on the amp look kind of short, but that doesn't mean anything is wrong with them. It looks like there's a date written on them, what does it say on it? If they have been replaced that's probably a good thing, means you won't have to do it later. These amps are getting old and stuff like that just wears out over time. You should take the amp out of the box and take some pictures under the chassis. We can see what else has been brought up to date if anything.
Looks good brother.

__________________
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jcmjmp

They're probably F&T caps. Good quality stuff. Most newer caps are much shorter than the original LCR caps.

hagcel

So I asked someone else what they though about the wiring and he said:

"It looks like it's wired in series+parallel. In other words, two speakers wired in series and then those two wired in parallel. It should be 16ohms. Each one of those speakers is 16ohms. so two speakers wired in series is 16+16=32ohms. Those connected in parallel is 32 / 2 = 16ohms total."

I have a multimeter so I'm going to check it.

American Viking

It's definitely not series+parallel because then all four would have to be interconnected.
This is why it's 4ohms
I'm 100% positive it's just straight up parallel.


Jumbo Sunshade - Speaker Wiring Diagrams
Wiring a 4 X 12 Speaker cabinet

__________________
-I'd rather be a good liver than have one...

Dave666

A friend of mine has a Triple Rectifier and a DSL100, he runs his Mesa through an 1960A cab and his Marshall through an Rectifier Standard cab... It's his 'best' sound!!