What the heck does a JCM800 sound like?

[JWDubois]

I don't have the experience that many of you guys have with the "real thing".

Of all the amp model clips that I hear from the various modelers, one of the ones that varies the most is the JCM800. Sometimes it sounds low gain and loose, sometimes it sounds very high gain and tight.

On the Axe I find the JCM800 to be bright, medium gain, and loose, and not at all like the HD clips I'm hearing, which seem to have gain levels I would associate with the Axe Brown or Big Hair models.

What is the "definitive" sound of this amp? Can anyone point me to a clip or a song where the player is using an unmodified JCM800 without a distortion or overdrive pedal?

JWW

[Selsaral]

I'm confused too. When I watch youtube demos of the actual amp, every one seems modded somehow with wierd numbers I don't understand.

Most appear high gain however, not medium gain, but maybe that's just the mods?

[TheJudge]

My brief description of an unmodded JCM800 is that it generally sounds like a mid to late 70s JMP with more gain in some cases. Bright, tight, and sizzly. As with just about any Marshall, the same model may sound different from amp to amp. I don't have any clips of an unmodified JCM800. The JCM800 in the 11R sounds very very close to what I remember a real, unmodified JCM800 sounding like.

[TheJudge]

I found this clip on youtube. It sounds fairly close. I think if you were in the room with this thing, it might sound brighter and more "sharp." Anyway, check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn436...eature=related

[fr8_trane]

Don't take this as gospel but I believe you can hear the unadulterated JCM 800 on most 80's scorpions tunes like rock you like a hurricane; early 80's judas priest like living after midnight, early 80's Iron Maiden like run to the hills and early Motely crue ala looks that kill.

For modded 800 listen to Warren Dimartini's tones on the Ratt albums as well as whitesnake stuff like still of the night.

Ahhh... the 80's

[MRCHILL4]

this is how i percieve it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dk-skkeIKI

[Bussman]

What do they mean by JCM 800? 2203? 2204? 1959? 1987? Variants and combos? EL34? 6550?

No wonder the clips vary. Let's not talk about mods yet.

[Gigbag]

Originally Posted by MRCHILL4

this is how i percieve it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dk-skkeIKI

The player says it has a mod. Whatever that mod does.

[cram]

Originally Posted by Bussman

What do they mean by JCM 800? 2203? 2204? 1959? 1987? Variants and combos? EL34? 6550?

No wonder the clips vary. Let's not talk about mods yet.

This - it has one of the most varied lines of an amp. Being specific would help. I can speak for the 2203 and 2204 being stock and sounding more like a JMP. This is my favorite sound from this amp and I believe the trend of opinion would agree. It's also one of the most modified amps out there. From Kerry King to changing tubes from 34-6550.

Some good info can be found here in some threads I cite: JCM800 TGP Research

There are a lot of variants out there that can be fun to play with. For a barometer of tone, there are soundclips all over the place for this amp as well.

[Dickie Fredericks]

Id take a 900 over any 800 any day. Thats just me. I never hear an 800 I really dig unless its Slayer I guess.

I know they are the amps many rock/metal guys love but the 900 sounds better to me.

[brettk7]

Originally Posted by Dickie Fredericks

Id take a 900 over any 800 any day. Thats just me. I never hear an 800 I really dig unless its Slayer I guess.

I know they are the amps many rock/metal guys love but the 900 sounds better to me.

Why do you think that?

I had a JCM900 and it was garbage. Even after having it modded, getting the tubes swapped from 5881s to EL34s (and good JJ's EL34s at that) it still was a bright, harsh sounding amp at least to me. What speakers did you run with it?

[phazersonstun]

Originally Posted by Gigbag

The player says it has a mod. Whatever that mod does.

What ever the mod is, that LP through that amp sounds gorgeous.
Really nice, soulful, lyrical playing in that clip w/ just great tone & feel to me & the string break is hilarious. Glad he left that in there.

[Bobby Slaton]

Originally Posted by Gigbag

The player says it has a mod. Whatever that mod does.

I think he was referring to the model #.

[fr8_trane]

Originally Posted by cram

This - it has one of the most varied lines of an amp. Being specific would help. I can speak for the 2203 and 2204 being stock and sounding more like a JMP. This is my favorite sound from this amp and I believe the trend of opinion would agree. It's also one of the most modified amps out there. From Kerry King to changing tubes from 34-6550.

Some good info can be found here in some threads I cite: JCM800 TGP Research

There are a lot of variants out there that can be fun to play with. For a barometer of tone, there are soundclips all over the place for this amp as well.

JCM 800 model breakdown
http://www.grailtone.com/guitar-tone...ll-jcm800.html

JCM 800 common mods
http://tone-lizard.com/Ultimate_JCM800.htm

In general; the the 2203/04 models (no reverb or channel switching) are considered the most desirable.

Basically the JCM800 preamp is the same as a 70's era super lead (1959100watt/ 1987 50watt) with the exception that the 2 channels are internally jumpered and it has a MV

Here's a bit from the marshall wiki page
Mid-1970s and 1980s

In the mid-1970s, Marshall introduced the "master volume" ("MV") series, which was initially called the "JMP." This was in response to the demand for yet more distortion, and many techs had been modifying the amps for years by connecting the two input stages in series rather than parallel as in the original Marshalls. A master volume was introduced to make the volume levels more manageable. This gave the new breed of Marshalls a different voice, more cutting and edgy, which later found favour with players such as Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde and Slash. Soon after the Rose-Morris deal had ended in late 1980, Marshall began calling this series the "JCM800" series (named after both Marshall himself and the license plate of his car, which he'd had since 1972).[10] Marshall made several amplifiers under the "JCM800" name, but most noticeably were the 50 watt 2204 and the 100 watt 2203. Because the valve industry had begun to fade and Marshall became worried that the standard power valve, the venerable EL34 would soon become unavailable, a number of JCM 800s were factory equipped with the 6550 beam pentode power valve, a valve with a different tonal character. Some people (notably Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde) loved the resulting sound, but it was generally considered to be a downgrade in sound quality. The 6550 is a high power tube that is more common in valve-driven bass amplifiers because it allows a higher output power over the EL34 for a given distortion level and because it has a very crisp low and high end sound. Because many players desired more power amp distortion (which is considered more "pleasant" than pre-amp distortion, which these Marshalls still had plenty of), the prices for EL34s, especially vintage ones, skyrocketed for use in Marshalls. Marshall would not return to full time use of the EL34 in all of its valve amps until the rise of vacuum tube factories in the mid and late 90s when former Soviet countries made most valve types plentiful again. A landmark year for Jim Marshall was 1987. It marked 25 years in the amplifier business and 50 years in music. This was celebrated with the release of the Silver Jubilee series of amps.

[GuitarTone]

Originally Posted by Dickie Fredericks

Id take a 900 over any 800 any day.

As long as the treble knob is on zero.