Old People: How did you feel about the JCM800 at the time of its release?

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SonVolt

SonVolt

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I know they're renowned amps now but how did people feel about them when they first hit the scene? I was listening to an interview with Steven Fryette where he talks about how much we hated them at the time for being too thin and bright. So much so that he would always mod backline rentals from parts at RadioShack to make them "usable". Curious if that was the general consensus before eventually finding their mark later in hair metal.

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SonVolt said:
I know they're renowned amps now but how did people feel about them when they first hit the scene? I was listening to an interview with Steven Fryette where he talks about how much we hated them at the time for being too thin and bright. So much so that he would always mod backline rentals from parts at RadioShack to make them "usable". Curious if that was the general consensus before eventually finding their mark later in hair metal.
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That's mostly the way I remember it too. Part of that was people running them at low volumes and they do sound thin/bright and kind of shitty that way. Master Volumes were a new thing and not everyone knew what we know today about them.

They excel at a different thing than the Super Leads that preceeded them. I'm a Super Lead guy buy if I want to get a little chunky/riffy I love a boosted 2203.
 
I was too young but I remember talking with an older friend who was gigging heavily with his JMPs back then; most didn't like the look, and thought they were waay too bright compared to their 70s amps....but, a few guys started showing up with them, and the gain was off the hook compared to the JMPs they had...which is strange to hear since the 78 2203 is virtually identical to an 82. But, brighter amps give the 'more gain' impression, so there you are. But they started flying off the shelves when they appeared to have more gain.
 
i was young then, none of us could afford a Marshall, never mind a new Marshall. A few of the older guys in the clubs had Marshalls but I don't really remember which models.

At the time, as I was just getting into being in bands, I had an old pre-CBS Fender Bandmaster, Univox, Sound City, Sunn before getting my first Marshall ( a used plexi in the early '80s) soon (mid-80s?), racks were coming into use, sold my Marshall and got the full ADA guitar and bass rigs...it was around the time I moved to rhythm guitar / vocals and bass IIRC, years may be a bit off.
 
I didn’t like the 800’s when they first came out.
I was used to the JMP’s, the first MV Marshalls from ‘75. I would run a Strat into a cranked Boss DS-1 into the JMP with the Preamp dimed. Then I’d use the Master Volume for whatever volume was needed.
When I bought my first 800, since it had some more gain, or whatever, that DS-1 didn’t work at the settings I was accustomed to. Had an 800 series 1959 too.
 
I was playing bass in a ski circuit band in the early 80s and my guitarist used two 800s absolutely cranked(bass rolled off a bit) thru power soaks to dial back the stage volume. I'm talking "All men play on ten" shit. Gibson explorers. His sound was glorious as far as I was concerned. But WTF did I know back then...I was an 17 year old bass player in 1982.
 
Saw many bands using them. Sounded fricken glorious.

My friend bought a 2204 half stack and he lived in a large apartment building.......not great idea.
 
stephen sawall said:
They sounded like shit till they are turned up.

I feel the same today as the first time I played on one in 1981 or 1982.
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Just Curious...what volume levels (gain and master) do you feel you need to have them sound good?
 
Confirmed Old head. Bought mine new around 1985 (2204). Traded in a Randall for it. It sounded great turned up but i thought it was buzzy and thin at low volume. Eventually traded that for Mesa Mk. 4.
 
My first real amp in the mid 80’s was the 1x12 combo version……4010 if I remember right??? I loved it but didn’t really have much to compare it to. Had a g12-65 and I added some dirt with a DOD250.

2204 is still my favorite off the shelf amp.
 
Well, this old guy had a 1981 JCM 800 50w that was played for 3 years plus 5 sets per night, 5 nights per week. Never let me down. I stupidly sold it for my offshore pharmaceutical habit in 1984...sheesh.
 
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