Marshall JCM800 2203 | VIDEO

[zzwish]

Put a little video together for this 1988 JCM800 2203. It's a beast of an amp. A little unwieldy at times, but damn. Hope you dig it! ️

 

[glpg80]

You must be friends with Matt McQueen? I recently saw this circulating and love the tone you’re getting. Sounds great!!

 

[zzwish]

You must be friends with Matt McQueen? I recently saw this circulating and love the tone you’re getting. Sounds great!!

Not sure who that is, but thanks!

 

[Snave]

Sounds killer! Great choice of riffs, too.

What's the approximate balance of SM57 to Neumann in this?

 

[saxxamafone]

Wow man that sounds killer!!

Especially that deftones bit.

Is this what a stock 800 sounds like? love the crisp top end that cuts through

 

[zzwish]

Wow man that sounds killer!!

Especially that deftones bit.

Is this what a stock 800 sounds like? love the crisp top end that cuts through

Thanks! This is a stock 1988 JCM800 2203. I'm boosting it through the majority of the video with a BB Preamp. It's funny, some people will say "sounds too fizzy" where other folks say "crisp top end." 800s definitely have a really bright top end in my experience and it helps cut through live depending on what kind of music you're playing, but on a record, you'd probably EQ a lot of the top end out. I'm just trying to accurately represent amps best I can in the videos. Thanks for checking it out!

 

[SpiderWars]

Agree on the cut. For me it's always too much in the room. I've recently found that much of that aggressive cut comes from the ceramic disc Treble cap. I changed it to silver mica in one I got recently and it completely changed the high end.

EDIT: every time you post a video with that black LP it makes me want one so bad. Beautiful guitar!

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Boost also makes a diff.. I had a BB through mine and it added a bit of that fizz. It's a good boost but I prefer others. The NFR also makes a diff. 100k adds a bit of gain but also more crispness so I like to put mine down to a more traditional value to smooth it a bit. You sacrifice some gain but get it back with a boost. Don't touch those bright caps, at volume it all sounds smoother and killer.

 

[Racerxrated]

Just like any higher gain amp(boosted or not) at a lower volume there will be fizz. Just the way it is. However, once you start pushing that master the fizz turns into a nice top end that cuts like no other.
I just picked up a great condition '83 2203 with GE 6550s, they were biased at around 15-17ma lol. One of the can caps was leaking some powder out of the bottom. 60 buck in caps and a re bias later, this thing is on par with the last Wizard MCI 100w I had. Or very very close. Usually Marshalls start to saturate in a bad way above 5 or so on the Master...this one just keeps getting better and better.
Double boosted it's a thing of beauty. There really is no substitute for a great sounding JMP/JCM.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Yes and remember if you have a " bad" one, tube bias, one or two component value swaps and you have a good or better jcm/JMP. Always keep that in mind. Double boosted you are absolutely right ... So so so good. Add an EQ and it can be whatever you want it to be in the mix. I don't need 6 preamp tubes!

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

Just like any higher gain amp(boosted or not) at a lower volume there will be fizz. Just the way it is. However, once you start pushing that master the fizz turns into a nice top end that cuts like no other.
I just picked up a great condition '83 2203 with GE 6550s, they were biased at around 15-17ma lol. One of the can caps was leaking some powder out of the bottom. 60 buck in caps and a re bias later, this thing is on par with the last Wizard MCI 100w I had. Or very very close. Usually Marshalls start to saturate in a bad way above 5 or so on the Master...this one just keeps getting better and better.
Double boosted it's a thing of beauty. There really is no substitute for a great sounding JMP/JCM.

What do you like to "double boost" with? This is a new concept to me! Interested for sure.

 

[ErikT]

This sounds incredible dude! Great job.

EDIT: every time you post a video with that black LP it makes me want one so bad. Beautiful guitar!

I hear you on that, I had to return a beautiful black LPC but it was so I could buy a used Wizard MTL sooooo, had to go. I def want another LPC, either black beauty, wine red or tobacco burst.

 

[Racerxrated]

Just like any higher gain amp(boosted or not) at a lower volume there will be fizz. Just the way it is. However, once you start pushing that master the fizz turns into a nice top end that cuts like no other.
I just picked up a great condition '83 2203 with GE 6550s, they were biased at around 15-17ma lol. One of the can caps was leaking some powder out of the bottom. 60 buck in caps and a re bias later, this thing is on par with the last Wizard MCI 100w I had. Or very very close. Usually Marshalls start to saturate in a bad way above 5 or so on the Master...this one just keeps getting better and better.
Double boosted it's a thing of beauty. There really is no substitute for a great sounding JMP/JCM.

What do you like to "double boost" with? This is a new concept to me! Interested for sure.

Right now it's an 80s SD1, Level/Drive at 9am, tone at noon plus an OD1X, everything at noon with the Bass a little higher. Surprisingly quiet, but thick and saturated, though not as saturated as my Monomyth 2204.

 

[psychodave]

Agree on the cut. For me it's always too much in the room. I've recently found that much of that aggressive cut comes from the ceramic disc Treble cap. I changed it to silver mica in one I got recently and it completely changed the high end.

EDIT: every time you post a video with that black LP it makes me want one so bad. Beautiful guitar!

Put a ceramic 250pf across the negative feedback resistor (you could go up to a 500pf but I find it’s too dark). Then make a post thanking me

 

[saxxamafone]

I always listen to clips like this thinking how they will fit in a mix, therefore I'm loving this 'fizzy / shrill etc.' high end that many Marshall's are famous for.

Call me crazy but I usually don't really care what a guitar tone sounds like by itself if I know it's going in a mix at the end of the day.

 

[zzwish]

I always listen to clips like this thinking how they will fit in a mix, therefore I'm loving this 'fizzy / shrill etc.' high end that many Marshall's are famous for.

Call me crazy but I usually don't really care what a guitar tone sounds like by itself if I know it's going in a mix at the end of the day.

I kind of look at it that way as well. It's kind of funny making videos like this because I want the guitar to sound big and accurate when you're listening to just the guitar on its own. Just trying to make it sound like how I'm hearing it in the room if you were sitting in front of the amp, which I think I'm pretty close to that. But that raw guitar sound is not at all what I would use in a mix. I'd do a big amount of high passing / low passing, dialing out some woofy low mids, some of the fizziness, etc. Plus, once you start double tracking guitars it can make things sound much more forgiving in my experience. But if I did all that in a video, I think it would divide the audience. Some folks would say, "you're doing all this post bullshit, let me hear the amp!" While the other side would says, "this sounds harsh, etc. That's not what it sounds like on a record." JCM800's sound pretty damn harsh in my experience, so who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. But I'm enjoying it haha. Thanks for checking out the video.

 

[GreatRedDragon]

I watched this video last night when I was looking at JCM 800 stuff. It sounds great.

Thumbs up for throwing in an Alice Cooper tune.

 

[harddriver]

Agree on the cut. For me it's always too much in the room. I've recently found that much of that aggressive cut comes from the ceramic disc Treble cap. I changed it to silver mica in one I got recently and it completely changed the high end.

EDIT: every time you post a video with that black LP it makes me want one so bad. Beautiful guitar!

Put a ceramic 250pf across the negative feedback resistor (you could go up to a 500pf but I find it’s too dark). Then make a post thanking me

Dave, did you add that 250pf cap to your 2203, I thought it was 100% stock?

If the high end is ratty in your JCM800 you can also try the 8 ohm tap for your NFB. All stock JCM800 are 100K NFB on the 4 ohm tap.

Also the tan ceramic disc caps can also start to leak DC over the years, the stock bright cap and 470K/bypass cap in my 72 really contributed to it's harshness. I have tried quite a few new production ceramic disc caps as bright caps and they can really negatively affect your tone just changing different manufacturers.

I just saw your note that you were boosting with a BB preamp through most of the clip. I thought it was pretty gainy for a stock JCM800 with no boost.