Lets talk Marshall's JMP versus SLP ect

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cragginshred

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For Back in black to Hi n dry def Leppard tones and into early 80's stuff. Looking hard at a JMP 2204 with added Metrolpolis loop. Am I on the right track?
Pros and cons? Probably never gonna be able to sell it due to added loop but I need one.
 
A JMP 2204 is an excellent choice for those tones, and two of my favourite albums. For that kinda of sound though I'd steer away from bright or aggressive speakers like H30's or V30's.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the loop - some potential buyers might be put off down the track, but who cares. You'll easily find a buyer if the price is right as demand is only increasing.

Lots of pros and cons about buying an older tube amp - was there something specific? It's a big topic, so no point telling you what you already know.
 
For back in black the SLP would be a more natural choice imo. For ‘80’s either can work very well, but I’d personally lean toward the JMP’s for my taste. My take on their pro’s and con’s

JMP2203/4:
Pros: more throaty growl on powerchords and juiciness to it’s sound, a bit denser quality to the notes that I like, more gain on tap on its own, doesn’t need to get as loud to sound good

SLP:
Pros:
More articulate, nuanced, way more open, way punchier/bigger/more horsepower/muscle, more brash, more upper mid presence/cut

Cons: needs to be very loud and doesn’t have a lot of gain on its own (at least not the 100w) and it gets a weird, ugly voicing clash with any of my boost pedals that I don’t like and it also makes the amp sound smaller after it gets turned up enough on its own, but until you reach that volume threshold, boosts will make the amp sound a lot bigger and punchier
 
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A master volume JMP is hard to beat for early 80’s tones. Just had a discussion on the phone with Splawner today about how the 2204 JMP is the sound of that new wave of British heavy metal. Priest, Maiden, Saxon, Def Lep, Motörhead, etc.
 
Interesting (or, is it?) that both High 'n' Dry and BIB are both Mutt Lange produced. Both albums sounds like plexis to me, definitely not 3-stage 2203/2204.

Also, the SLP didn't come out until 1993. Those albums were most likely cut with 1959s, 1987s, JTM45s.
 
Dave Friedman said 2203
ZEN Amps said:
A JMP 2204 is an excellent choice for those tones, and two of my favourite albums. For that kinda of sound though I'd steer away from bright or aggressive speakers like H30's or V30's.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the loop - some potential buyers might be put off down the track, but who cares. You'll easily find a buyer if the price is right as demand is only increasing.

Lots of pros and cons about buying an older tube amp - was there something specific? It's a big topic, so no point telling you what you already know.
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Why 2203 versus 2204 ? I was leaning toward the 50w but Dave Friedman replied to my e-mail that the 03 is more squishy and the 2204 is tighter

He said the 2203 generally has a low voltage power transformer and apparently the 2204 does not. Anyhow likely more similarities than differences
 
braintheory said:
For back in black the SLP would be a more natural choice imo. For ‘80’s either can work very well, but I’d personally lean toward the JMP’s for my taste. My take on their pro’s and con’s

JMP2203/4:
Pros: more throaty growl on powerchords and juiciness to it’s sound, a bit denser quality to the notes that I like, more gain on tap on its own, doesn’t need to get as loud to sound good

SLP:
Pros:
More articulate, nuanced, way more open, way punchier/bigger/more horsepower/muscle, more brash, more upper mid presence/cut

Cons: needs to be very loud and doesn’t have a lot of gain on its own (at least not the 100w) and it gets a weird, ugly voicing clash with any of my boost pedals that I don’t like and it also makes the amp sound smaller after it gets turned up enough on its own, but until you reach that volume threshold, boosts will make the amp sound a lot bigger and punchier
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This.

But, I'd add that if you get a Superlead, grab a good distortion pedal like a BE OD OR in my case, have Griff build you a clone. The coolest thing other than the tone, is the VOL on the Distortion pedal acts as a Master Vol so you can crank the amp up high, hit the pedal and attenuate the vol down to where you like it. This way you can also get unity vol between the amp with the pedal off, for a dirty clean AND hit the pedal for your gain with no volume change.

When I got my 72, it made a nice 1983 2203 sound small...and the 2203 had new ARS caps, and healthy GE 6550s.
 
braintheory said:
I have a real RM. Running it into my 1972 SuperLead 100 gave me a sound that reminded or Richie Blackmore and the guys in the scorpions, but I can see the Priest vibe too. Very nasal sound, but in a way that can be cool
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Exactly. Some of that nasal-type tone stands out more or less in different JP albums.


Racerxrated said:
SuperLead....out WAAY before 93.
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Right, the Superlead (and Lead, Superbass, etc) came out in the '60s. The "SLP" suffix is for the 1959SLP, a reissue, that debuted in 1993. The misuse of the "SLP" apparently still exists,
 
Man the High N' Dry tones are the bitches whip but due to the time frame I'm sure they're non master 4 holers. I have JMP 2203 and a JCM 800 master volumes 2204 and I think they sound similar but not exactly the same .
 
Panhead5 said:
Man the High N' Dry tones are the bitches whip but due to the time frame I'm sure they're non master 4 holers. I have JMP 2203 and a JCM 800 master volumes 2204 and I think they sound similar but not exactly the same .
Click to expand...

I think Lange and Shipley did a masterful job in capturing those guitar tones.
 
cragginshrd said:
Dave Friedman said 2203

Why 2203 versus 2204 ? I was leaning toward the 50w but Dave Friedman replied to my e-mail that the 03 is more squishy and the 2204 is tighter

He said the 2203 generally has a low voltage power transformer and apparently the 2204 does not. Anyhow likely more similarities than differences
Click to expand...
Oh, only because you mentioned a 2204.

A 4-holer with a pedal or something will also get you there, but for the tones you mentioned and the convenience of already having a master my pick would be a 2203/4.
 
cragginshrd said:
Dave Friedman said 2203

Why 2203 versus 2204 ? I was leaning toward the 50w but Dave Friedman replied to my e-mail that the 03 is more squishy and the 2204 is tighter

He said the 2203 generally has a low voltage power transformer and apparently the 2204 does not. Anyhow likely more similarities than differences
Click to expand...

But, which 2203? There are B+ variances. Don't trust DF.
 
ZEN Amps said:
This is 2203 mode on our prototype amp (still in development). No it's not a Marshall, but I assure you it sounds very, very close to the JMP 2203 in the above video:

Click to expand...


Those upper mids sound like they're in the ballpark. Got a clip without the hard-panned delay?
 
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