Today I got my new amp, its a Marshall JCM2000 DSL401 (combo, but its all tube) and I can't get the tone I want out of it, since I'm used to using a 10watt solidstate and a metalzone.

What do you guys recommend in the way of settings for me? I mostly play 80s stuff like Skid Row and Motley Crue, and Raw Black Metal like early Mayhem, Immortal, Emperor and the like.

Cheers in advance.

Well,You could always turn the knobs on the front?If you cant get a better tone on a JCM than on your metalzone,you dont deserve one.
Seriously though,JCM's arent gonna have as much gain as your metalzone at low volumes,crank it and Dime the gain,and see if you are still unhappy with it.
If so you might want a higher gain amp,or a boost of somekind(Tubescreamer,Ds-1,Big muff,ect.

hmmm. I have a jcm 2000 all tube head. It's got enough gain.

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go with what *insert name here* said, you should be able to crank that fucka as its only 40 watts or somet. If you can't get a high gain sound try using higher gain pickups. I personally would never use an od pedal. I find the jcm dsl to have enough gain, its an amp which i find depends a lot on how you play rather than sheer distortion.

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Try a tubescreamer if you think you lack gain.

And I found EQ controls on Marshall JCM's to be quite unresponsive. You might want to try it out with an EQ pedal of some sorts.

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Do you guys think I should use my metalzone, or invest in a tubescreamer or something? Money is pretty tight now, this used up nearly everything I had spare.

No, don't use your MT-2. Just fuck around with the eq until you get the tone you want. For instance, for an early Mayhem tone, turn down the lows, highs around halfway or less, and dime the mids. Same goes for a "Pure Holocaust" sound, except perhaps the highs should be a bit higher, and mids a little bit lower. Of course, you won't get an exact tone, but this should put you in the same ballpark. If you're still not satisfied enough you could always invest in an EQ pedal as mentioned above, though I don't agree with JCM2000s' eq not being responsive.

the jcm-2000's need to be turned up a little... not really dimed. but enough to get the powertubes working and the speaker(s) moving. so at low volumes you may find the gain to sound weak and thin. once you turn it up, the the sound thickens up alot. you may even find yourself needing to turn the gain down a bit.
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if you want to use your mt-2 as a boost... turn the gain WAY down(9 o' clock-ish). and the eq about about half way... and the level way up. and don't go overboard on the amp's gain either.
you're basically stacking gain stages... running s.s. gain into tube gain(making it higher gain, with more tightness).. one eq into another(also adding to the tightness) and by having the level all the way up on the pedal, you're feeding the preamp of the jcm 2000 a hotter signal, making it clip sooner. but as a warning, this will add to your noise and feedback.

of course, imo the mt-2 isnt the best choice for a booster pedal... but if that's all you have right now. give it a shot.

my buddy has a dsl-50 head, and he boosts it with a boss sd-1. i love that combo.

i have a maxon od808 and i think it's probably one of my favorite boosts. pick one up used on ebay for like $60.

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I find on some amps boosting the mids results in a little more gain (seems to be the truth on my ENGL 530), so try pumping those up a bit.

I've never really sat down with a marshall, so i cant give you much advice. But as a general rule turn up the volume rather than the gain, and get those power tubes hot!!

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I had a jam with it the other day and it was nice, but I think it's fucked

The sound with the overdrive on is about half as loud as the clean channel, and sounds really tinny - unless you push down on the volume knob (the od one), then it sounds really tough and good... bad connection?

sounds like bad tubes..

Take it back to where you got it,and ask them to take a look at it.