How About the 2 Input JMP 50w 2204?

[Tidewater Custom Shop]

I have an opportunity to trade some gear for a '78 Marshall JMP 2204, stock original in good shape functionally... no known mods.

It does the tone I want (for now), so I'm not looking to compare it with other amps in that department. Can someone offer pros / cons / known issues with this platform? Are xformers durable? Is the PCB historically faulty? Is this a desirable amp?

I've seen prices from $600 to $1400 for the very same year/model/stated condition... not sure what to make of its value.

Prefer opinions of those with hands on experience. I've done the search on internet reviews for this amp. I value the opinions and advice from TGP'ers more so than other online reviews.

Cheers!

 

[guitarded_1]

I have an opportunity to trade some gear for a '78 Marshall JMP 2204, stock original in good shape functionally... no known mods.

It does the tone I want (for now), so I'm not looking to compare it with other amps in that department. Can someone offer pros / cons / known issues with this platform? Are xformers durable? Is the PCB historically faulty? Is this a desirable amp?

I've seen prices from $600 to $1400 for the very same year/model/stated condition... not sure what to make of its value.

Prefer opinions of those with hands on experience. I value the opinions and advice from TGP'ers more so than other online reviews.

Cheers!

I have hands on experience, but you don't really need it. Dude...it's a 2204 and one of the most well respected amps in rock history. The amp's rep speaks for itself.

 

[mmorse]

An unmolested '78 2204 is like gold. Grab it!

 

[freaksho]

An unmolested '78 2204 is like gold. Grab it!

+1
totally, man. 1100 posts and you're asking about the desireability of the 2204?! you hang out way too much in The Pub.

this amp is now a classic and will only become more and more valuable, especially the JMP version (more rare and cooler imo) and especially if it's still stock. i've never heard of any issues with this amp except that it causes hearing loss - you can't help cranking it up. it's a rock beast. don't give reliability another thought.

i have an '80 and i hardly use it cuz it's too much loud and not enough cleans for my current needs but i'm hanging onto it. it's awesome and i can't wait for the next project that it will fit into.

some people do find it too bright but don't mod it! if you also find it too bright, remove the bright cap (or change it to a lower value) and save the original. it's a super easy "mod" that can very easily be reversed. or just turn down the treble and presence.

the only thing you may need to do is have the filter caps replaced. this is not a mod but a matter of regular maintenance on an old amp. it will not affect the value.

get it!

 

[big mike]

Classic and roadworthy

 

[Tidewater Custom Shop]

+1
totally, man. 1100 posts and you're asking about the desireability of the 2204?! you hang out way too much in The Pub.


get it!

Good observation! Yep. I only recently got into Marshalls. My focus has been more concentrated on vintage Fender products. My first real Marshall is a '87 JCM800 2205, which is great for what it is. But I heard a JMP the other day at a club and thought "That's IT!". Had to ask the guitar player exactly what it was. His was a '79 JMP 2204 un-mod'd.

I appreciate all the input.

 

[CitizenCain]

An unmolested '78 2204 is like gold. Grab it!

I've had two, a '77 and a '78. Both were extremely close to the "brown sound" right from the gitgo.

 

[ellpolo]

1978 Marshall JMP MKII 50 watt master lead owner right here. This amp IS SO reliable. I play for hours at above gig volumes and the chassis doesnt even get hot. It feels like it will last forever. Just put some winged c el34's and some nos 12ax7's in the pre. It will scream.

The tubes and input jacks arent mounted directly to the PCB like many new amp models, so it is safe to say your chances of wrecking the board or melting it from a tube failure are slim to none IMO.

The med gain tone from this amp is literally industry standard, and has been for decades. Get one (unmoded) and join the club!

 

[Tidewater Custom Shop]

Thanks again for the info an encouragement. I've arranged to go check it out early next week. Maybe it'll be in my music room before New Years!?!

 

[Tidewater Custom Shop]

UPDATE: I sold some stuff and picked up the amp a couple weeks ago. I also acquired its showroom & studio mate - a 4x12 A cab loaded with original G12H 30 55hz 444 Blackbacks w/ Jun '78 date codes.

Just what I was looking for in Marshall tone within my budget! Awesome amp... just awesome!

 

[RGB]

I had a '78 50 watter and pretty much agree with all that's been said, but I sold it because I just couldn't gig it loud enough to get "the" sound. Sounded great at home and at outside shows, (loud), but most gigs in small rooms required lower volume and the amp just didn't sound good that way. Unfortunately, I ended up leaving it home more often than not.

Broke my heart to let it go, though! Nice looking rig you got there...hope you can turn it up!

 

[doctord02]

Looks like you scored. Congrats.

 

[chakosh]

GREAT amp. I've had mine for a while now (I bought it around the same time as my LP Standard - just before I left Ohio). Mine was modded pretty heavily, and I spent a chunk of change getting it retro-fitted back to stock, and I couldn't be happier. It's my sound...

+1 on the Winged C EL-34s. I've got a Mullard reissue in V1. A slight boost with either an LPB-1 or a Dano Fish 'n' Chips, and the thing just roars.

I'm looking forward to hearing clips of how it sounds with the Blackbacks.

Cheers!

Here's an old picture of mine ('79):

 

[cooljuk]

NICE!

How do these compare to the 4 hole w/ metal switches JMPs?

 

[Bobby D]

man, i played an original fawn colored '78 JMP 50 watter last nite, and nearly soiled my drawers it sounded so good.

couldn't talk the guy out of the amp, tho

 

[chakosh]

NICE!

How do these compare to the 4 hole w/ metal switches JMPs?

You mean like this one? 1974 1959 (100W, non master volume)

Different animals. I don't think they made Master Volume versions of the 4-hole behemoths... The Purple People Eater also has 6550s instead of EL-34s. I read somewhere that the US distributor back in the '70s had 6550s put into the JMPs that shipped States' side.

The 100W is (duh) ridonculously loud... An attenuator is a MUST. The tone isn't quite as smooth as the 50W, and quite a bit bassier. The 2204 that I have is a lot brighter of an amp, and hits what I'm trying to do a lot more often than the 1959. The 1959 is a great amp, don't get me wrong... It's just reeeeeeeeally loud, and when you use an attenuator to get it to a "reasonable" volume, it's tough to boost for solos and such. That said, it does have a really great and warm power amp crunch to it when it's set up.

I have some videos of both the 2204 and the 1959 on my youtube channel (look for brutalmonkey - I don't have access to it here @ work so I can't link you straight over).

Both great amps in their own ways.

 

[MGSchindel]

Congratulations and welcome to vintage marshall tone. What took ya so long? Now it's time to do some tube "taste testing", and go source yourself a matching 4x12 straight cab, a nice pile of amusing overdrives, an HBE Germania, a matching 70's Thomas Organ cry baby, a 70's script logo phase 90, some cool bell bottoms...a few 70's Pauls...and....and... : )

The 70's are back in, but the tones never left. The tonal quality of all the older gear sticks out like Charlize Theron at a biker rally, compared to the local Sam Ash fodder of the last fifteen years, and everyone has figured it out by now.

Last week at the NAMM show, we caught a multi-band jam at the Grove. The only marshall tone that was not a tin-can cheesey scratchfest came from the only marshall heads on the stage that were about 35+ years old..and they belonged to Uli Jon Roth. Like it or lump it. Next to a cranked up DSL, JCM900, the new marshall modeling head, etc., Roth's metalface 70's 4-input JMPs made them all sound like Line Six products. There's no way around that, when you actually crank 'em up all at the same time, live, on stage, in front of 3000 folks, and put mic's to 'em. LOL!!! Real tone starts when you start moving some air and pushing those cones...The old amps leave the newer weed-whacker editions for dead, at stage levels...where they were designed to be played...

And of course once you go half-stack, you never go back...

Cheers! And oh yeah, NEVER sell it! Or you'll be posting later about how you regretted doing so ha ha ha!

 

[charveldan]

 

[rocketman223]

I have an 80, 2204. If you are concerned about volume, check the voltage to the tubes. Mine is running nicely at less than 400V with 6V6s in it. Still loud but usable and the tone is almost the same as the EL34s in my opinion. I can run it wide open into the low input with a tone bone and it sounds great with surprising control over distortion from the guitars volume control.

 

[goodtone]

I have the same amp as you , a 2 hole 78 2204 jmp. Love it!! Classic Bad Company !!! Nice. You can't go wrong with that year. They can only appreciate in value. Mine is going nowhere. Enjoy man.