Is this a good deal on a Marshall JCM800 half stack?

[Burstbucker]

I have a chance of buying a used JCM 800 2204 50W head and matching JCM 800 Lead-1960 4x12 cab for $1165.00 USD, is that a pretty decent deal?

This must be one of the earlier ones because it has two metal toggle switches for Power and Standby on the front panel instead of the big plastic rocker types. It has two EL34 power tubes.

Is this a good deal on a Marshall JCM800 half stack?

[drbob1]

Sounds like a great deal to me. Just for interest, are the input jacks horizontal or vertically in line? Do you have a s/n? What speakers in the cab?

[rastaman]

Originally Posted by drbob1

Sounds like a great deal to me. Just for interest, are the input jacks horizontal or vertically in line? Do you have a s/n? What speakers in the cab?

:AOK +1

[Burstbucker]

BTW, the input jacks on this JCM800 are mounted vertically, I know that this is the more desireable version.

I didn't get a chance to try out this amp because they are sending it to an amp tech for new caps etc, so it should sound in tip top shape after these repairs.

This JCM800 head and 4x12 cab are at a music shop and the price that I gave you already has the taxes figured in. The guys at this store figure that it was built in 1983.

I have a Marshall JCM2000 DSL50 head that I might sell or consider trading towards this JCM800 set up. The DSL50 sounds great IMHO and is very versatile but I'm sure that it can't hold a candle to the build quality and tone of these old JCM800 amps, would you agree with that statement?

Can you get some decent enough semi-clean tones out of the JCM800 line? And how's the crunch tone of these amps? Does the DSL50, in "Crunch" mode on the Classic Gain channel come reasonably close to this JCM800 head or is the JCM800 in a whole other league?

BTW, I'm not what speakers are in this cab but I'll have to find out.

[JohnnyL]

I would do that deal...The metal toggles may indicate this amp was originally sold in Canada.

Johnny

[JamesHealey]

just imagine the DSL50 is a small angry child with a chainsaw.. and the JCM800 is Arnold schwarzenegger with a chaingun and a bad temper..

[Burstbucker]

Yeah, this amp is in a shop here in Canada.

Any ideas as to why the JCM800s bound for Canada had the metal toggles?

[mesanatic]

Something to do with more stringent electrical codes.
You'll also find it has speaker impedances available in 4 and 8 ohm only. The cab is probably wired for 8 ohms if the're a set. I think 4 fuses inside the head too.

The cabs watt rating will tell you the speakers inside if they are original.
300w = 75w speaker
260w = 65 w speakers: very nice
280 w = vin 30's

[mesanatic]

That is a great deal by the way.

[rastaman]

Originally Posted by JamesHealey

just imagine the DSL50 is a small angry child with a chainsaw.. and the JCM800 is Arnold schwarzenegger with a chaingun and a bad temper..

:BEER

[Burstbucker]

How would Celestion Greenbacks sound with the JCM 800?

This JCM 800 1960 cab has four Celestion G12-75 speakers in it right now but I've got a couple of 8 ohm Celestion Greenbacks kicking around and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to pull two of those G12-75s and replaced them with my two Greenbacks?

Maybe I'll just get two more Greenbacks and change them all. Would those be better for Classic Rock such as AC/DC etc...Or maybe those stock G12-75s will be good enough?

[guitarded_1]

Originally Posted by Burstbucker

BTW, the input jacks on this JCM800 are mounted vertically, I know that this is the more desireable version.

Either way, the inputs (horizontal vs. vertical) have zero impact on the 2204's tone. Differences in tone (if any) are only applicable to the 2203 when discussing vertical vs. horizontal inputs.

[Burstbucker]

Just a little update!

I went ahead and traded in my DSL50 head and 4x12 cab for this JCM 800 2204 and 1960A cab. Wow! This thing absolutely eats the DSL50 alive IMHO. I'm going to hang onto this rig.

I'll post some pics in a few days if I get the chance.

[Griz]

Unless it's been heavily modified or it's not fully operational, that a helluva deal.

Score!

[Burstbucker]

This thing's never been tampered with at all. Dead stock with no mods whatsoever and in very good cosmetic shape too.

Actually, all I ended up doing was to trade in my DSL50 head and late 80s Peavey 4x12 cab(with two Celestion Greenbacks and two Fender Utah speakers in it) and then coughed up another $262.50 USD to cover the balance and taxes, etc...

So, basically it just cost me $262.50 USD cash and my DSL50 rig to get this JCM 800 2204 and 1960 cab. I think that this was one of my better trading experiences by far, I'm a happy camper!
8^)

This is the sound that I've been looking for for my 30 years dabbling with guitars. It took me a long time to get this rig but it was worth the wait.

BTW, they based my trade-in value for the cab with them selling the cab for $299.00 USD but they're going to try to sell the cab for $342.00 USD first, if it does sell for this higher amount, they're going to credit me another $32.00 USD. I just love these guys sometimes.
8^)