differences between a 2203 and a 2205

[griff10672]

I'm real interested in possibly purchasing a JCM800 ..

now is the 2203 the mother of all 800's or are the other options as good ??? better ??? 2204 ... 2205 ??

or should I look at maybe building a clone ... or will the parts all come together as about the same price as buying one ??

discuss ... please

Wayne

 

[jonny toetags]

2204 is just a 50W 2203

2205 is 2 channels i think.

 

[jonny toetags]

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Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

2203 - 100-watts, single channel
2204 - 50-watts, single channel
2205 - 50-watts, dual channel, more distortion, FX loop
2210 - 100-watts, dual channel, more distortion, FX loop

Yup...I think that's it.

 

[griff10672]

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Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

2203 - 100-watts, single channel
2204 - 50-watts, single channel
2205 - 50-watts, dual channel, more distortion, FX loop
2210 - 100-watts, dual channel, more distortion, FX loop

Geesh ... that clears that up

Thanks ... Thump

I guess I want either 2204 or a 2205 ...

any opinions on the differences( tonally .. if any ) between the 2 channel vs the single ???

 

[jonny toetags]

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Geesh ... that clears that up

Thanks ... Thump

I guess I want either 2204 or a 2205 ...

any opinions on the differences( tonally .. if any ) between the 2 channel vs the single ???

While i have never tried a 2 channel, i have read/heard that the single channels sound better.
But like i said, i have never tried a 2ch myself.
2ch are supposed to have more gain

The single channels are amazing!
I have 2

 

[Marshall Freak]

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Geesh ... that clears that up

Thanks ... Thump

I guess I want either 2204 or a 2205 ...

any opinions on the differences( tonally .. if any ) between the 2 channel vs the single ???

The two channel has more gain, and is a little darker and a little more saturated. It doesn't have quite the low end the single channel amps do but does better at low volumes. If you start looking for a 2205/2210 Try to get an 87 or newer. They changed the preamp in '86 and it sounds a lot better than the early ones, and in '87 they fixed the channel bleed through that the early models had. 87-90 were the best years.

 

[griff10672]

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The two channel has more gain, and is a little darker and a little more saturated. It doesn't have quite the low end the single channel amps do but does better at low volumes. If you start looking for a 2205/2210 Try to get an 87 or newer. They changed the preamp in '86 and it sounds a lot better than the early ones, and in '87 they fixed the channel bleed through that the early models had. 87-90 were the best years.

nice info ....

thanks alot .. I love pushing my DSL50's crunch channel with boosts ... and I'm told it's real close to the 800 circuit .

and I want another Marshall so

 

[jonny toetags]

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nice info ....

thanks alot .. I love pushing my DSL50's crunch channel with boosts ... and I'm told it's real close to the 800 circuit .

and I want another Marshall so

I played a DSL50...nothing like an 800 imo.
800 smokes it!

 

[griff10672]

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I played a DSL50...nothing like an 800 imo.
800 smokes it!

I wouldn't doubt it ..

back in 88 or 89 ... there was a guy down the hall in our rehearsal compound. He had a 87 or a 88 50watt don't remember which model ( he said it was a year old )single or double . All he ran was a modded Tube screamer in front of it . With a Explorer w/ Emg's .

that guy's tone was the shit in the whole compound IMO .

 

[jonny toetags]

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I wouldn't doubt it ..

back in 88 or 89 ... there was a guy down the hall in our rehearsal compound. He had a 87 or a 88 50watt don't remember which model ( he said it was a year old )single or double . All he ran was a modded Tube screamer in front of it . With a Explorer w/ Emg's .

that guy's tone was the shit in the whole compound IMO .

They sound amazing boosted.
I alternate between my 3 boosts and no matter which one i use, it always sounds great.

 

[mysticaxe]

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The two channel has more gain, and is a little darker and a little more saturated. It doesn't have quite the low end the single channel amps do but does better at low volumes. If you start looking for a 2205/2210 Try to get an 87 or newer. They changed the preamp in '86 and it sounds a lot better than the early ones, and in '87 they fixed the channel bleed through that the early models had. 87-90 were the best years.

+1.

I had both a 2205 and a 2204 at the same time. You could cop the 2204 tone with the "normal" channel of the 2205, but it was still a little more compressed and not as fat/big sounding. The red channel was even more compressed. I decided that I was happier with the single channel (modded to add fx loop), my volume knob and an OD pedal (Thump's old FDII).

 

[jaybird]

I owned a 2205 for about 15 years. It's a cool amp, but you need to do a few things to run it IMO. My findings after 15 years of fiddling were confirmed by Mark Cameron.

- Amp has a crap master volume circuit - doesn't sound good until it is up to at least 7 or so. So to control the volume use a FX unit in the loop or something that has input / output volume controls and use that to set your volume.
- Use an EQ in loop. Crank up the mids on the amp, and use the EQ to scoop them out. Also low end needs some EQ boosting typically as the stock amp doesn't have much
- The treble circuit is also poorly designed - run it at 0-2 tops, and use the presence to get the high end back + loop EQ
Use a combo of the channel vol and gain knobs for different gain / distortion sounds. I typically ran the gain around 8-9 all the time, and use the ch. vol as an extra overdrive - 6 was nice and tight and cranked up it got gobs of distortion.
- Hitting the front end with an SD-1 sounds killer - not required for getting the goods though. I tried tons of pedals and that one was my fav, esp. Keeley modded one. Nice for solos or tightening things up. I pretty much ran the gain at or near zero.
- The "clean" channel is crap IMO, never really used it. Very dull sounding. I added a bright cap across the vol pot and it helped alot - 60 cent mod ! Funny that Buddy Guy says he used 2205's alot and only used that channel - I can't see how!

So if you do what I said the amp really smokes w/ TONS o gain, otherwise I don't really like it, ha! If you aren't willing to screw around I'd say get a 2203/2204 - they sound better just plugging in, but the old ones have no loop and less gain so boosting is required.

 

[SeaDog]

Back in my day (late 80's) the channel switchers were considered crap by all the metal players I hung with. I've played a bunch of them and I wouldn't say they were bad, but they were missing something that the single channels had. Single channel with almost any distortion pedal was the "sound" of the day.

 

[mchn13]

:|::QBB:

Back in my day (late 80's) the channel switchers were considered crap by all the metal players I hung with. I've played a bunch of them and I wouldn't say they were bad, but they were missing something that the single channels had. Single channel with almost any distortion pedal was the "sound" of the day.

i had the 50 watt 2205 for a few years, and screwed with it endlessly, trying to get a consistant heavy tone, and finally gave up. it was very anemic, power wise also. i traded it in at a local music store for a used single channel 100 watter, and with the same sd-1, was a ton of bricks, in comparison. i don't remember what model that one was, it was the one with jim marshalls signature on the front. but it absolutely destroyed the 2205.

 

[gaijun]

just a little more info on some amps
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/guitar-amp-evolution.html

did you know this
That's right, Marshall's 1960's amps were very similar to some of Fender's 1950's amps. Jim Marshall copied the 1959 Bassman (circuit # 5F6-A) when he made his first Marshall amps.

 

[Lespaul1981]

I own a 2203 and own'd a 2210.


The 2210 (mine was an '83) had the bogner vibe of sounding like a tarp was covering it.

 

[griff10672]

:|::QBB:

I owned a 2205 for about 15 years. It's a cool amp, but you need to do a few things to run it IMO. My findings after 15 years of fiddling were confirmed by Mark Cameron.

- Amp has a crap master volume circuit - doesn't sound good until it is up to at least 7 or so. So to control the volume use a FX unit in the loop or something that has input / output volume controls and use that to set your volume.
- Use an EQ in loop. Crank up the mids on the amp, and use the EQ to scoop them out. Also low end needs some EQ boosting typically as the stock amp doesn't have much
- The treble circuit is also poorly designed - run it at 0-2 tops, and use the presence to get the high end back + loop EQ
Use a combo of the channel vol and gain knobs for different gain / distortion sounds. I typically ran the gain around 8-9 all the time, and use the ch. vol as an extra overdrive - 6 was nice and tight and cranked up it got gobs of distortion.
- Hitting the front end with an SD-1 sounds killer - not required for getting the goods though. I tried tons of pedals and that one was my fav, esp. Keeley modded one. Nice for solos or tightening things up. I pretty much ran the gain at or near zero.
- The "clean" channel is crap IMO, never really used it. Very dull sounding. I added a bright cap across the vol pot and it helped alot - 60 cent mod ! Funny that Buddy Guy says he used 2205's alot and only used that channel - I can't see how!

So if you do what I said the amp really smokes w/ TONS o gain, otherwise I don't really like it, ha! If you aren't willing to screw around I'd say get a 2203/2204 - they sound better just plugging in, but the old ones have no loop and less gain so boosting is required.

great info man .... thanks

 

[mysticaxe]

:|::QBB:

- The "clean" channel is crap IMO, never really used it. Very dull sounding. I added a bright cap across the vol pot and it helped alot - 60 cent mod ! Funny that Buddy Guy says he used 2205's alot and only used that channel - I can't see how!

As a clean channel, I would agree with you. Thinking of it as a "normal" or "less distorted" channel worked better for me. I tended to dial in a pretty significant amount of breakup/gain into it.

 

[Telephant]

:|::QBB:

I owned a 2205 for about 15 years. It's a cool amp, but you need to do a few things to run it IMO. My findings after 15 years of fiddling were confirmed by Mark Cameron.

- Amp has a crap master volume circuit - doesn't sound good until it is up to at least 7 or so. So to control the volume use a FX unit in the loop or something that has input / output volume controls and use that to set your volume.
- Use an EQ in loop. Crank up the mids on the amp, and use the EQ to scoop them out. Also low end needs some EQ boosting typically as the stock amp doesn't have much
- The treble circuit is also poorly designed - run it at 0-2 tops, and use the presence to get the high end back + loop EQ
Use a combo of the channel vol and gain knobs for different gain / distortion sounds. I typically ran the gain around 8-9 all the time, and use the ch. vol as an extra overdrive - 6 was nice and tight and cranked up it got gobs of distortion.
- Hitting the front end with an SD-1 sounds killer - not required for getting the goods though. I tried tons of pedals and that one was my fav, esp. Keeley modded one. Nice for solos or tightening things up. I pretty much ran the gain at or near zero.
- The "clean" channel is crap IMO, never really used it. Very dull sounding. I added a bright cap across the vol pot and it helped alot - 60 cent mod ! Funny that Buddy Guy says he used 2205's alot and only used that channel - I can't see how!

So if you do what I said the amp really smokes w/ TONS o gain, otherwise I don't really like it, ha! If you aren't willing to screw around I'd say get a 2203/2204 - they sound better just plugging in, but the old ones have no loop and less gain so boosting is required.

Weird. I ran mine a lot differently. The trick to the 2210/2205's IMO is keeping the Boost Channel Volume on 10 no matter what. And the gain around 6 or 7, bass at 4, mids at 5 or 6. And then the master as loud as you can go.

I will agree about the treble though, you cant really get it past 3 or its too bright.

I love my 2210 but it doesnt sound like a 2203.

 

[TOStudent]

If you want to hear one listen to the latest Europe album can't remember the name or late John Norum stuff. Maybe even when he was on Dokken's solo album.

When I picked up my amp from Cameron he is GOOD friends with Norum and he said he was running LP Customs with EMGs'. I was pretty sure a 2205 maybe a 2210.

BUt he was saying Norum was running these for awhile and just recently switched to passive pick ups.