Hi everyone,

I was looking at some Marshall amps. It seems to me like the top three at the moment are the JVM410H, the 2203KK (Kerry King signature amp) and the JCM800 (2203) Re-issue.

It seems the JVM410H has all the tones one would need inbuilt. The 2203KK is said to be great for Metal but not for clean tones. It's also kind of made for the boosted mids Slayer tone; kind of limited for other tones. And the JCM800 seems like it would require a Metal Zone or something to get a Metal sound. I'm trying to avoid using pedals. I'd like to get an "all-tube" sound if possible.

I'll be going to try these amps at the local store (assuming they have all three of them). I wanted to know what you guys think; whether you have any suggestions, tips, whatever. Thanks!

I'd say the JVM due to the features on it. Diversity in tone can be good and bad... but once you get them set up, they're sweet. Programmable 6 button footswitch is one of the big things I favour in it. Not big on the kerry king (due to the lack of cleans) but's pretty good for a metal sound.

I work in a guitar shop and have played them all... didn't like the 800 straight, and I don't like metal zone pedals as a rule, so that's thrown out in my books. The KK is good, but has it's issues. JVM all the way in my opinion.

Good luck in your quest for tone.

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I nearly bought the JVM due to its added features. It was perfect for everything from cleans to high gain but I ended up getting a Randall RM100 because its even more versatile. The only thing I really dig about the KK amp is its much like a JCM 800 but with KT88 tubes. I use a set in my Randall and they got huge sound and great low end.

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disinformation: So you've tried them all, huh? Cool. There's one thing I wanted to ask you about. You said, "Diversity in tone can be good and bad... but once you get them set up, they're sweet." What are the bad aspects?

its difficult to settle. it will take a bit to find what you like and you'll never stop tweakin it ha

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I'm not the biggest fan of the JVM, Although its a good amp, I find its a bit of a jack of all trades but master of none , if you know what I mean.

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Carbonised: By good and bad, i mean at first it may seem that there are a ton of knobs and dials... that and the fact that the channel buttons each have 3 modes, generally, I'm reffering to it being a bit of a rocket scientist's setup. However, with 10 minutes of playing with it, you can find a selection of tones that are definately decent. Once you have the general idea of the amp, the blur turns clear, and you can tell what you need to do. Try it out, but don't give up after 5 mins thinking it's shit, perservere.

It pretty much is a jack of all trades, master of none, but it definately provides a good metal tone which - correct me if I'm wong - is what people posting here would be after. By no means could you say its a fender or a JC-120 for it's cleans, but hey, for the 4 second clean interlude in a metal song, it's not a huge issue. I have found that the search for perfect tone is damn near endless... my advice is find something close and stick with it instead of pulling your hair out after having spent $X on one product to only find something better and knowing you will only get (at best) 2/3's of $X on a trade/sell to buy the new one which will probably be $X+$700 or more.

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i say go boutique man ha. splawn, vht, modded marshall, engl etc..

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disinformation: Those were some really good points you made. Regarding the wide variety of tones... that's what I heard. It can get complex.
Regarding the clean channel... I never thought about it. You mentioned a Fender or a JC-120. Perhaps we could even mention a Vox. I don't know. I heard they're great for clean sounds.
Anyway... yeah, perfection is an endless pursuit. One needs to settle for a decent setup yet not keep changing all the time for something that's only slightly different and stuff. After all, amps are just a means to an end. What counts is having fun in playing and stuff.

May I take the opportunity to ask you guys what you think of rack setups? Especially as opposed to regular amps? Thanks!

I say get them to let you play them all at pretty decent(loud) volumes. If you can't play a high-powered amp loud, then you're not hearing its true or potential tone. The guys from GC keep pushing me to buy amps from them and they say go home and try it out and if you don't like it, bring it back in 30 days. If you can't really turn it up at the store see if they'll let you do that.

If you ask me, get an original JCM-800 or 900. The 800 sounds great with good tubes and a SD-1. The 900 just needs the slightest boost. The tones you'll get from those two will definitely top the amps mentioned on this thread on value and cost. Why pay $2000 for the reissue of an amp that you can buy for $500-1000?

Samad: That's true. Tube amps sound best when cranked. If at the store, they won't let me play it cranked, perhaps they'll have an attenuator. Professional stores always have a sound-proof room where one can test an amplifier properly. Some stores aren't that professional, unfortunately.

Thanks for the recommendation for the JMC-800 or 900 but wouldn't I have to use a distortion pedal like a Metal Zone or something with those? If possible, I'd like to get an amp with enough distortion coming from the tubes.

Yeah, i don't feel teh JMC's get enough gain on their own, and if you're spending that much money on an amp where you're going to have to mask it's natural tone with a distortion pedal, you might as well just get one that suits your needs on it's own. There's plenty of amps that get the sound youre looking for without a pedal, so I would really make sure you're getting what you want before dropping all that cash on something.

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Definitely get what you like but from personal experience it doesn't matter if you have to use a pedal as long as it is a good booster such as an overdrive or eq. I use a Jcm 800 50 watt (original) with a stock Boss SD-1 and nothing can stop it. If you like the marshall sound then the old ones are the way to go but you'll either have to boost them or mod them to have extra gain stages added. If you want an amp you can play straight up, look at ENGL,VHT, and maybe some of the Soldano amps because for the money you're dishing out those new marshalls just won't cut it except for maybe the KK. Some food for thought, new marshall have a real bad rep for cheap construction, low-quality parts, and most importantly, bad tone.

Parts matter in amps but so does the name. Most are made from simalar designs. They all build on each other. The price is reflected in the name and/or craftmanship. If you spend $600usd making a great amp with quality parts then it will resell at $6000.

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if your going down the marshall route, maybe check out the JCM DSL range, I've got one and it fucking rocks. Put some good tubes in ala tung sol reissues, JJ's etc and your set.

It don't need a booster pedal either, although a digitech bad monkey does sound good as a solo boost on the crunch channel.

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