Need some help identifying this Marshall amp

[Thurston]

JCM 800?

I found a Marshall head for sale the other day. The chassis had been taken out of it's original combo and reinstalled in a different brand's head box. The seller claims its a JCM 800. How can I tell for sure and also how can I tell which JCM 800 it is? I've read good things about them but otherwise know very little about these amps.

Some info: On the front of the chassis there are Volume, Treble and Bass controls for the "Normal" channel, Gain, Volume, Treb, Middle, and Bass controls for the "Boost" channel and "Master" reverb and volume controls. The serial number is stamped on the back of the chassis and reads X24537.

[Thurston]

[es125luv]

maybe an Artist model???

the head shell looks like a Bogner Shiva head shell.

[james...]

Doesn't look like an 800 to me.

[Thurston]

Originally Posted by james...

Doesn't look like an 800 to me.

Why not? Is there something that sticks out?

Like I said, the shell IS NOT Marshall, so you can't go by that. The amp was taken from the original shell and installed in another shell.

Any other guesses?

[Thurston]

Also, the amp was originally in a combo, not a head.

[rob2001]

Looks like a split channel 800. 2205=50 watt......2210=100 watt. I forget the combo numbers...4212?? maybe?

[RedhouseNorton]

Looks like a 2205/2210 JCM 800. Without seeing the tube layout , its impossible to tell which one. One is 50 watts , one is 100. The only thing that I notice that jumps out at me is that the master section only has 2 knobs. Every channel switcher 800 Ive ever seen has 3 controls on the Master Section , not two. It looks to be a combo chassis put in a head box as well

[Thurston]

Originally Posted by RedhouseNorton

Looks like a 2205/2210 JCM 800. Without seeing the tube layout , its impossible to tell which one. One is 50 watts , one is 100. The only thing that I notice that jumps out at me is that the master section only has 2 knobs. Every channel switcher 800 Ive ever seen has 3 controls on the Master Section , not two. It looks to be a combo chassis put in a head box as well

That's correct it was initially in a combo. Doing a little research, it looks like the combo versions for the 2205 & 2210 heads are 4212 & 4211, respectively. Although I have yet to find a picture of either that matches this one.

The master controls are for master volume and reverb.

[RedhouseNorton]

Originally Posted by Thurston

That's correct it was initially in a combo. Doing a little research, it looks like the combo versions for the 2205 & 2210 heads are 4212 & 4211, respectively. Although I have yet to find a picture of either that matches this one.

The master controls are for master volume and reverb.

Every single 800 switcher Ive ever seen has a 3 knob Master section. Master , reverb and presence I believe. They have an 11 knob layout where as this one only has 10. Marshall has been known to put out a few rare birds though. Ive had a few that were stock and had an odd layout. Can you get any gut shots?

[grizdeluxe]

My 4210 50 watt channel switcher didnt have a presence knob.



It looked just like this one.

[Thurston]

Originally Posted by grizdeluxe

My 4210 50 watt channel switcher didnt have a presence knob.



It looked just like this one.

Wow that looks just like it. Do you know what year it is?

[cooljuk]

$400-700?

The lack or a presence control makes me think it is a very early version of the channel switchers (but who knows, Marshall did/does weird stuff). The early 80's channel switchers can have channel bleed issues and/or pop when the channel is changed. In my experience, Marshall sorted this out in the later models. I've got an '86 2205 without either of those problems. I had an '84 2X12 combo that popped, but didn't bleed.

Post a shot of the circuit board, particularly the area around the channel switching part of the circuit. That'll be a solid way to tell. Serial number would help, but isn't as much of a sure thing as seeing the actual circuit.

[Thurston]

Originally Posted by cooljuk

$400-700?

The lack or a presence control makes me think it is a very early version of the channel switchers (but who knows, Marshall did/does weird stuff). The early 80's channel switchers can have channel bleed issues and/or pop when the channel is changed. In my experience, Marshall sorted this out in the later models. I've got an '86 2205 without either of those problems. I had an '84 2X12 combo that popped, but didn't bleed.

Post a shot of the circuit board, particularly the area around the channel switching part of the circuit. That'll be a solid way to tell. Serial number would help, but isn't as much of a sure thing as seeing the actual circuit.

They want $500 for it. Surprises me that you think it would go for as low as $400. I had thought JCM 800s were worth more ?

Serial Number is X24537, which I believe corresponds to the year 1989.

[cooljuk]

Originally Posted by Thurston

They want $500 for it. Surprises me that you think it would go for as low as $400. I had thought JCM 800s were worth more ?

Serial Number is X24537, which I believe corresponds to the year 1989.

I gave a range of a few hundred in my guess for a few reasons - don't know the circuit version, don't know if it experiences the pops or bleeding between channels, don't know the condition of the PS caps, don't know the condition/brand of the tubes, don't know if all is original internally and functions perfectly.

JCM800 heads, in general, do go for a bit more. This one is lacking it's original knobs, cabinet, and (in this case) speakers. The channel switchers are also not known to be the more desirable of the 800 series. Probably because of their bad rep for channel bleed. I personally think that's just fine because guys like you and me can score them for very fair prices! If it's from 1989, you've probably got a later version of the circuit - a good one. Still, no way to know for sure without pics of the board.

If you don't care about resale value, and you're going to make this a working amp, I say $500 is a nice fair deal pending everything checks out ok and you're happy with the sound.