PTS

I've not owned a Marshall in years, but have recently been looking to get back into them. I know some will flame me for this, but I used my old Marshall as a clean foundation and relied on pedals for effects and occasional od/distortion. The David Gilmour approach (minus the Hiwatt) if you will. I play mostly clean, and love the thick, rich sound you can get from a Marshall.

I hear modern Marshall's such as DSL and JVM heads have great cleans, and vintage Marshall's like the JTM and Super Bass heads are held in high esteem (and price) for cleans and headroom.

So my question is (for those of you who own or have owned both old and new) which take pedals the best / have the best cleans? My max budget is a few grand for a secondhand head and cab, but would rather save on a less expensive amp (modern) if the difference in sound is slight.

My old amp was a JCM800, which was great and a strong contender, I just wanted to get some opinions on models I don't know much about.

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

Jesstaa

100watt JCM900 4100's with 6L6's have nice cleans, just depends on how you EQ them/what tubes you use.

__________________

steelhorse

The VM has great cleans and takes pedals very well which is it's forte. The others like the DSL and JVM not sure why you'd need a distortion pedal but they have ok cleans.

__________________
www.ricojronline.com
760-956-6619
Garmopat Pedal Mods

"I wouldn't mind hearing your head smash through a glass door. That would be cool..." luekmeyer

PTS

Yeah, I've thought about a JCM900, but so many people are down on them - some saying the worst tube Marshall ever made? Maybe it's the overdrive channel people bitch about, but the cleans are real nice huh?

DSL and JVM comment - well, I usually employ combinations of pedals like a Proco Rat and EHX Big Muff together, which is a very different distortion to an overdriven Marshall, but I'm not ruling out using the other channels - I may yet change my approach.

Either way, I'll be sure to check them out, along with the VM range - thanks for the tips!

Jesstaa

JCM 900's are one of my favourite Marshalls.
People just bitch on them because they haven't had experience, they can sound like crap until you get it right, Right EQ, right tubes ect. Most people who own them will tell you they're great. I believe there was just a couple of people on the internet not satisfied with them, who started a trend. Basically the overdrive channel is something like a JCM 800 with gain on full with an OD pedal chucked infront of it (From my experience at least).

So the rumour that they're the worst Marshall tube amp ever made is total BS, they come ready for old school metal from the factory, no other stuff needed to get that raw sound.

__________________

RobS

+1 as I say in my sig...no pedals

__________________
JCM900 4100 DR + 1960 A + B + Powerbrake
Ibanez PS10CL Paul Stanley Custom
Gibson LP Traditional
Epiphone LP Custom

No pedals.........

PTS

I don't know why you posted in this thread then.

Ken

We have a JCM 900 that we use as a bass amp, and it's a really great bass amp! I played through it before I bought my DSL and it's okay; I agree one has to fiddle a lot with the EQ. The tubes are not EL 34's and it sounds a little sterile to my ears unless you crank it like a plexi, and 100 watts is far too loud to do that in our space. This is why I've made comments about not liking the 900 series too much. Ours at least is great loud and not so great at rehearsal volume.

If the OP uses it like we do, as a "clean platform" I think he'll like it. It has plenty of power and seems reliable, and seems to take pedals really well. As a versitile guitar amp though, my DSL blows it away, which is why I bought the DSL in the first place. My other choice was a JCM 800, but they are twice the price ( I bought my DSL 50 for $500 on C/L!!) and have about half the versitility. Great amps though!

Ken

Riffraff

+1 on the Vintage Modern suggestion. It has what you are looking for. My VM has much nicer cleans than my 1959SLP-RI did. Since you are using pedals for your OD sounds I would suggest the 2466 for the clean headroom. If you're in the US you can probably get a deal on one too. Guitar Center has been blowing out their floor models at unbelievable prices but you have to ask the dept manager. I got a 425A cab for $398 two months ago. That's an unheard of price for a brand new Marshall birch ply cab with greenbacks in it. The G12C25s are limited addition greenbacks that were only used in the Vintage Modern and Super100JH Hendrix series amps. Great price for a great cab that will probably be collectable some day......Hmmm...sounds like a deal to me.