westegg

First time here.... looks like a great place

I came here to get some advice from you guys. Hopefully you all aren't sick of random folks asking for gear recommendations. If so, please accept my apology now!

I have never owned a tube amp. Just solid state Peaveys, Line 6's, and even an MG 10. I never intend on playing anywhere except my house. This will typically be at lower levels during the week, but on the weekend I will push it up as high as possible.

I play traditional heavey metal like Maiden, Priest, Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica, and even some hard rock like AC/DC. I have a guitar with a DiMarzio X2N humbucker. I've spent many hours on the internet researching amps, but in the end, I really love the Marshall sound. The amps I have researched so far (besides Marshall) are the Blackstar HT series and Peavey 6505. There's something about Marshall that I like better than these though.

Any advice you guys could give would be much appreciated. My budget is in the $500 - $1,000 range.

Thanks in advance.

Marshall Amps

__________________
This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on Marshall Amp Forum

SkinnyJ

Are you looking at used or new? There are alot of Marshall combos that can be had, used, in that range. The DSL/TSL, JCM800/900 and Vintage Modern come to mind. This is going by what I've seen in my local music store. I've never seen stuff like the JVM or JMD used, so I have no idea what the resale is on that.

__________________
'84 Marshall JCM800 4104
Marshall Class 5
ADA MP-1 (Version 1)
1987 Les Paul Standard
2009 American Standard Strat
Takamine EG531SC Acoustic

My Band: Fistful of Karma

DWK302

A few months ago I was in the situation are you are now. I wanted to upgrade to a tube amp after using a POS crate and an old Line6 Spider that's at least 10 years old (sounds pretty good actually). I went to every singles GC and SA in Orange County and Los Angeles. I didn't like the Blackstars at all. Fender's Hot Rod and Supersonic both sounded very good, Orange was very good, Vox and Egnater were ok. For some reason Marshalls are hard to find right now. Eventually I found a used plexi at a guitar store in Hollywood - my god it sounded incredible. When I heard it, I knew I had to go with a Marshall. I eventually got a YJM because it's basically a plexi with some added features.

My budget was also the same as yours when I started shopping around... I will tell you this...you will spend more than that. It's just how it works. Blowing your budget on the gear you actually want is one of the unavoidable laws of the universe. I play a lot more now that I don't have to tolerate the crap sounds of my old crate amp.

If you're operating under a hard cap of $1000, you should have no problem finding a used Marshall head or combo on CL.

__________________
Marshall YJM100
Marshall JCM-1H
Marshall 1936 2x12
2012 LP Traditional Pro (vintage burst)
2011 Fender American Standard Deluxe Stratocaster
1991 Epiphone Les Paul (sunburst)

westegg

Thanks for the feedback. I'm totally open to used if that will get me the best amp.

David Corrales

As SkinnyJ suggested, try you could try to get a really clean DSL head for instance. I have one myself and it's a great great amp

I would avoid hybrids as you already have a solid state amp with builtin effects. You're adding more flavors to the pallete!

SkinnyJ

Take your time and try EVERYTHING in or near your budget. I made the mistake of impulse buying a TSL60 head instead of really shopping around. The TSL60 ended up not working out for me, and I got rid of it at a loss as a result. I now have a JCM800 4104 combo and I'm very happy with it.

Anyway... DSLs seem to go for around $500-800. TSLs might be cheaper as they seem to be less desirable than the DSLs. JCM800s can run from $700-1000. 900s seem to go for about the same. The VM was going for about $800-900 as well. Keep in mind, these are my local prices. Yours may vary.

Also... The reason why I suggest a combo is beacuse you are a home player. Combos are nice self contained units that take up less space than a half or full stack. Also, combos do have speaker outs, so if you do want to run a cab down the road, it is an option.

__________________
'84 Marshall JCM800 4104
Marshall Class 5
ADA MP-1 (Version 1)
1987 Les Paul Standard
2009 American Standard Strat
Takamine EG531SC Acoustic

My Band: Fistful of Karma

THISxISxMYxBOOMSTICK

check out my classified thread I just put out my DSL50 HEAD for sale. if interested send me a message.

Micky

Greetings!

__________________
I can understand stupidity, but there is no excuse for ignorance...
Marshall MHZ15, DSL40c, M4, 4X12 full stack, Gibson LP, VOX, Eminence, Celestion, Ovation, Fender & more...

westegg

Good info... thanks folks.

I'm probably leaning more towards a combo (JCM 800, 900, or 2000), and not rushing to make any impulsive buys either. The local GC/SA near me gets these types of amps in on a pretty regular basis and I may just keep my eyes open and try them out as they arrive. I'm not crazy about purchasing something like this on ebay that I can't try myself first.

Also, one last question... Will the type of pickup I'm using (DiMarzio X2n) help out with creating a more metal tone on most any JCM? I've heard that a lot of folks need to boost the sound on those particular models to get higher gains...

thanks

westegg

I hear you on the budget constraints. I'd drop $2500 on gear tomorrow if it were totally up to me, but my wife would shoot me.

I keep hearing about how great Blackstar is.... but I just don't get it. I mean... sure, they sound good and all, but why buy Blackstar when you can get the brand they're trying to be (either Marshall or Mesa Boogie depending on which way you turn the PATENTED knob )

rjtm

How loud can you crank the amp? If you can crank the amp, a JCM 800 would be an awesome choice for you, and either a modded one or a stock one with some nice pedals can get you a kickass metal tone

__________________
Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555
Marshall Silver Jubilee 2551AV Cab

Marshall YJM100
Marshall 1960b Cab

westegg

I could crank it on weekends but A LOT of my playing takes place on weeknights with kids sleeping in the room nextdoor.

David Corrales

What about a used Mesa combo? You'll get all the metal tones you need and there's also crunch and clean. You can some nice ones exactly in your price range.

rjtm

Thats tough because the 800 wont really sound good at low volumes but will sound awesome for what you want cranked. You could check out a DSL. It wont sound nearly as good as the 800, but better at lower volumes. If you want a stack, a YJM would be good with an OD pedal, as it can go nice soft or loud. Also a JVM would be cool.

__________________
Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555
Marshall Silver Jubilee 2551AV Cab

Marshall YJM100
Marshall 1960b Cab

dcsocal

I would say most importantly be patient and shop around craigslist and ebay.
You will be amazed at the deals that can be had, and don't be afraid to lowball (reasonably) times are tough and people need to get rid of gear.

Your budget is large enough to get you a nice setup.

If you are going to go the head/cab route then a used 1960a will set you back about on average about 300-400 which will narrow down your choice of heads down to TSL's and 900s (as far as my CL market goes). However, try and look out for the packaged deals as this is how you really score

You can also go the combo route. That is the route I first went but I always felt like I was missing that thump. I found a 1960a for $250 and it opened up a ton of doors for me because I was now able to capitalize on cheap deals on heads. In my experience its easier to find heads dirt cheap rather than combos.

Sorry for the rant. But I have terminal GAS and love sharing how to score a deal!

If you have any questions just ask!

__________________
Richie Kotzen CIJ Telecaster

Marshall 1960A X Pattern 75's/G12H30

Blackstar HT-5
Orange Tiny Terror
Marshall Vintage Modern 2466

and whatever else I end up with next week....lol