So the other guitarist in my band has a JCM-900

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anomaly

anomaly

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I expected supreme suckage from that thing because of all the shit i heard about them, but.... that thing sounds killer IMO. Up around the half way point on the master volume it really starts cooking. Am i just tone deaf?? :confused: Had a strat running through it.
 
I ran a 900 for awhile. Not bad. When you cook em they get nice and Crunchy/punchy. Especially the black jack models.
 
JCM900s are absolutely capable of awesome tones, especially the 50 watt SLX. If I were a straight up metal player, i'd probably use an SLX.
 
japetus":3j9b2yqt said:
JCM900s are absolutely capable of awesome tones, especially the 50 watt SLX. If I were a straight up metal player, i'd probably use an SLX.
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+1 I agrre about the SLX. And, They are getting hard to find these days.
 
I have one Todd Langner did for me, it kills. I wasent that impressed with it stock, it was OK, but was one of my least liked Marshalls until he modded it. They boost well stock, and do sound pretty good with strats stock
 
I wasn't a huge fan when I ran straight through, but I got some awesome tones boosting it with a distortion pedal. I always got compliments on my tone.
 
I gigged with an JCM900 Dual Reverb 50 watt for 2 years, and I was able to get a great clean and a heavy, thick, tight distortion with no boosting. I sometimes miss that amp. With the right tubes, they can really rip.
 
Jordon":30nlk1h8 said:
I gigged with an JCM900 Dual Reverb 50 watt for 2 years, and I was able to get a great clean and a heavy, thick, tight distortion with no boosting. I sometimes miss that amp. With the right tubes, they can really rip.
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Yeah, it's a dual reverb 50 watt 1x12 combo this guy has. I hooked it up to my 4X12. Had the master volume up around 6 or so and it sounded great. It sucked at lower volumes, but cranked up it was way better than i expected.

The guy that owns the amp actually prefers the 900 to his DSL...and I can kinda see why too, it's gotta a little more character to it than the DSL. The DSL sounds better at low volumes though.
 
I opened for Mr. Big a few years ago when they had Richie Kotzen. He played that night through a 900 and RIPPED. Sounded amazing.
 
Dave Navaro was a long, long time 900 user. Always had great live tones when I saw Janes. Not sure what hes using these days
 
I boosted a 900 with a ToneBone pedal, and I was in Testament territory :) This was a 50 watt DR head.
 
droptrd":25fqd065 said:
Dave Navaro was a long, long time 900 user. Always had great live tones when I saw Janes. Not sure what hes using these days
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He was using Uber's for awhile(around when Strays came out), not sure about now.

I agree that the 900's do very well in metal type tones. I had a 2000 couldn't stand it, always tweaking to get something it didn't have. I could make a 900 work for me.
 
i had one .....loved it...i think the beef people had with the 900 was that somehow it wasn't "pure" tube.... as i understand it..marshall just basicaly put a dirt pedal in the head...maybe some one can correct me on this,...but i think there a great bang for your buck!
 
jessexxx":nan0oqv7 said:
i had one .....loved it...i think the beef people had with the 900 was that somehow it wasn't "pure" tube.... as i understand it..marshall just basicaly put a dirt pedal in the head...maybe some one can correct me on this,...but i think there a great bang for your buck!
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Yeah, clipping diodes or something??
 
anomaly":37k6te65 said:
jessexxx":37k6te65 said:
i had one .....loved it...i think the beef people had with the 900 was that somehow it wasn't "pure" tube.... as i understand it..marshall just basicaly put a dirt pedal in the head...maybe some one can correct me on this,...but i think there a great bang for your buck!
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Yeah, clipping diodes or something??
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Yup, although its funny because the Silver Jubilee has diodes as well, and is generally a very highly regarded amp. :confused:
 
Corksniffing if I ever saw it. They're great amps, especially for the money. Haven't heard one sound like shit...at least not one in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing.
 
A lot of their bad reputation came from the tubes they came with at the time. The first few years they came with the old pre-jj Telsa El34's and those are incredible tubes, In '93-94 they changed them to shit Chinese 5881's and even shittier preamp tubes and they would often sound like ass, especially as those tubes started getting worn out. I like JCM900's, but I only like them with the EL34's. I don't like 5881's in Marshalls. :doh:

They also have a few flaws in their pots, I thought it was that they had weak pots, but either Trace from Voodoo, or JerryP or maybe both corrected my thinking on that in a thread a few years ago, that they have too much B+ voltage flowing through the pots or something like that, and static electricity builds up in them. Something along those lines anyway.
 
I had a Jcm900 4100 Dual Reverb.. and i hated it. The diode clipping is horrible and the thing sounded better at low volume. Mine was super fuzzy and thin..
 
I used a guys Dual Reverb 900 for one of my SXSW shows into a vintage Marshall greenback cab and I was surprised by how awesome it sounded. Even took to my fuzz pedals well.

Not quite as "wide" sounding as a JMP but I was impressed.
 
Isn't the JCM900 one of the most recorded amps and also a backline staple?
 
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