Talk me in to/out of a Jubilee 100

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Racerxrated said:
Probably the amp I gigged most with, over the last 10 yrs of playing out. They are great amps, and if anyone says they are 'thin' sounding then they are not setting it up correctly.
You HAVE to run the gain above 6, as well as either the Output Master or Lead Master above 6 as well. That is an absolute MUST. If you don't, you're kneecapping the amp from the start. It will only sound thin/less ballsy if you set any of those lower. The Jubilee also has, by far, the BEST EQ response of ANY Marshall, ever. They are darker than a superlead or 800 but can be dialed in bright enough. They are also the only Marshall that likes ANY version of a V30, as well as the usual suspects ie GBs, 65s, 75s.....

I've had 10 originals from 87-89, the best value are the black tolex versions from 88-89 since they will have the final preamp circuit revision that appeared around serial #3000 or so in 87. The earlier pre circuit amps are still great, but have a touch less gain and low end available.

I've had 1 2555x, and while I agree with Tiago in that the originals are better I found that the reissue is damn close in a direct A/B comparison, the 87 2555 I had won that contest at high volume with the vintage Dagnalls but not by much. The reissue is absolutely a killer amp. The Slash from 96 is also great and has even more low end than any other version.

The super cool thing about the reissue 2555x is, you can use any 2 pairs or quads of octal tubes you want in the power section. 2 EL34s with 2 6550s, 4 6L6, 2 KT88s with 2 6L6, KT90s, etc etc. THAT is a very cool thing and can really change your tone up however you want it.
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Wait… what now???
 
JerEvil said:
Wait… what now???
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Yeah, you heard him right!

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JerEvil said:
Wait… what now???
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Yep, any combination of 2 separate pairs or whole quads of ANY octal tube in the power section. For what these reissues go for, 1k-1500 that's a super cool and versatile/flexible feature.
IF that's what you're reacting about.....:oops:
 
Going by the OP’s exact wording in the title, I would say, get yourself a silver jubilee, they rock and then return it before the period ends because they don’t.
 
braintheory said:
Was it a vintage one or re-issue? In either case, it's about relative comparisons for me with smoothness. I found it smooth vs a good 1979 JMP2203. Vs most other amps it wouldn't be smooth, but I just cut to the chase and my opinions about amps are only about them compared to the good stuff as benchmarks. I don't care, for example, how they compare to say a Splawn or Friedman
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Vintage.
 
Jdub said:
I have had a few of the originals and the reissue. Every time I revisit the jubilee, I like it, particularly at first. It is a fun amp to play and is instantly pretty gratifying... but every time, I eventually conclude that my 800's sound better.. I recently had a Reissue... even my JCM 2000 DSL 50 sounded better to me, so I sold it for 1300.00. YMMV
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Did you check the bias on the 2555x? They were shipping them out very cold .

I have had both a jcm 2000 dsl 100 watt and a 2555x next to each other, and both are great amps, but the 2555x gets the edge imho.
 
I’ve owned the Slash model and a 2555x reissue at different times but right away I wasn’t all that fond of the RI. It wasn’t terrible but it was much darker and less aggressive than the Slash and the distortion was just bland overall. I tube rolled the pres with EHX, Tung Sol, Ruby and C9’s and it seemed to just get worse and harsher sounding, especially with the EHX pres. Both amps were played through a Marshal TV, Mesa OS and Framus Cobra cab.
 
Racerxrated said:
Yep, any combination of 2 separate pairs or whole quads of ANY octal tube in the power section. For what these reissues go for, 1k-1500 that's a super cool and versatile/flexible feature.
IF that's what you're reacting about.....:oops:
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You are saying you can mix pairs of tubes ie/ 2 el34 and 2 6L6?? That certainly isn't my understanding....I know you can use quads of the various tube types. Hmmm.

Are you absolutely sure about this?
 
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Its a nice aounding Marshall amp...
But no kerrang...no aggressive high mids...
More lay down smooth tones...
Very nice sounding amp but my jose modded 2204 killed it...
 
TotallyRadGuitars said:
I had a 2555X, didn't love it, recorded some clips and then returned it. Got a lot of shit for it over on the Marshall forum haha, a lot of comments about how I should've used a Les Paul or Strat and that's what I did wrong. It was a common enough sentiment that I really thought I must've been missing something, so I bought another when a deal popped up.

Still don't really like the amp. It's not bright and punchy like a 2203, the diodes are a large part of the distortion - and to be clear, my favorite Marshall of all time is the 2205/2210 and those have diodes too, so I'm not opposed to diodes in general. What I don't like is the way the amp is relatively cleaner than a 2203 type circuit, with a large amount of the drive coming from those 3 diodes and 2 LED's in that asymmetric arrangement. As opposed to the drive being mostly tube stages but with a diode for extra grit (like a 2210 or JCM900 MkIII). I also hate that the EQ is located *after* the effects loop, it's just strange.

That said, it's not a bad amp, I just think it doesn't work for the kind of music I want to play. You might love it and a lot of people do, in the same way that the JCM900DR is very polarizing, so is the Jubilee it seems. One big plus of the Jub is that if you have another Marshall (like a JVM, or 2203, or 1959, or DSL etc) it won't sound like them, so you can have two very different Marshally textures in your tone arsenal.



$1500 seems high to me since they are marked down now to $1899 new. I *never* buy new gear, but that's not much less than a brand new one, complete with factory warranty and free shipping/returns and all that stuff. That is, unless you just HAVE to have the old MEC Dagnall transformers and don't want the new ones for whatever reason, if you're a stickler about that stuff. Or unless you HAVE to have it right now and aren't willing to wait for a backorder to fill.

Then again, a quick look on Reverb and I must just be out of touch because compared to those listings, $1500 is a screaming deal. I paid $1100 for mine (2015 year) shipped ~2 years ago - inflation I guess. We have short memories around here but this is not the first blowout of these, I remember they were selling brand new for $999 for a while (2017?) so people that got them then are probably hyped to cash in.
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The overdrive is not mostly diode.. check the schematic again… the overdrive comes from the 12ax7s and then the diode offers a final shaping to the already overdriven tube. It’s been explained in detail on the old metro forum, years ago.
 
Racerxrated said:
They are also the only Marshall that likes ANY version of a V30, as well as the usual suspects ie GBs, 65s, 75s.....
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I'd argue the 2205/2210 sound pretty dang good with a set of V30's too

JackBootedThug said:
Never heard one. But I say fuck it..get one. Do these things kinda jcm800 or totally different?
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Very different. Worth having both to some I'd say.

flimz said:
Thanks for your insight. On the Ceriatone 2555 I had I dont recall ever using the "rhythm clip" setting, so I'm not sure if the Marshall diodes work in the same way. I would usually just boost the lead channel when necessary.

Yeah, I guess $1500 isnt that far from a brand new one. A little more $, but less risk.
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Rhythm channel is 2 tube gain stages and the clip flips in two diodes to add some distortion a bit more (it's not really "drive," it's actually quieter with the clip engaged). Lead channel is 3 tube stages and 5 diodes (two of which are LED's).

lespaul6 said:
The overdrive is not mostly diode.. check the schematic again… the overdrive comes from the 12ax7s and then the diode offers a final shaping to the already overdriven tube. It’s been explained in detail on the old metro forum, years ago.
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I know the schematic - and I also own one, open on my bench right now. Jumper R29 to the VR2 pot and you'll see what I mean. Yeah it's got 3 tube gain stages on the lead channel, with the diode array situated between stages 2 and 3 - that's obvious. But jumper them out so you can hear the tubes alone and you'll hear the amp has a lot less gain than even a stock 2203 without those diodes.

Also to be clear, I didn't say it was "mostly diode." I said the diodes were a "large part" of the Jubilee sound - and that's true, for better or for worse. Jumper those diodes and record a clip and I bet most people would not be able to identify it in a blind test anymore. Leave the diodes in and at least some people would pick it out as a 2555 correctly. Just saying.

Anyway I hate this kinda thing because people always take it the wrong way. I'm not saying clipping diodes are bad, my favorite Marshall design is a diode clipper design (2205/2210). It's the sum of all parts that I don't personally love the Jubilee, but others might, nothing wrong with that.
 
I prefer mine on with the lead knob pulled out. No sure what that does technically but it makes it tighter and more percussive.

I assumed that meant I was taking the diodes away but no clue. Unfortunately it also makes the amp a little smaller and you can’t push the gain much to compensate.

Overall it’s probably an amp that needs to be cranked which isn’t all that practical for most of us
 
67mike said:
You are saying you can mix pairs of tubes ie/ 2 el34 and 2 6L6?? That certainly isn't my understanding....I know you can use quads of the various tube types. Hmmm.

Are you absolutely sure about this?
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Yes, that's what I did with my 2555x when I had it. There's talk about it on the Marshall forum, long ago when Santiago(Santiall on MF) confirms it. He's the designer of the JVM, VM, KK, Jube RI and Origin I believe. If it was unable to do that, I'd have found out in a hurry when I mixed tubes.

It's easy to see when you can bias each pair separately, why you could use different pairs of tube types. When you look at the chassis test points.
 
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TotallyRadGuitars said:
I'd argue the 2205/2210 sound pretty dang good with a set of V30's too


Very different. Worth having both to some I'd say.


Rhythm channel is 2 tube gain stages and the clip flips in two diodes to add some distortion a bit more (it's not really "drive," it's actually quieter with the clip engaged). Lead channel is 3 tube stages and 5 diodes (two of which are LED's).


I know the schematic - and I also own one, open on my bench right now. Jumper R29 to the VR2 pot and you'll see what I mean. Yeah it's got 3 tube gain stages on the lead channel, with the diode array situated between stages 2 and 3 - that's obvious. But jumper them out so you can hear the tubes alone and you'll hear the amp has a lot less gain than even a stock 2203 without those diodes.

Also to be clear, I didn't say it was "mostly diode." I said the diodes were a "large part" of the Jubilee sound - and that's true, for better or for worse. Jumper those diodes and record a clip and I bet most people would not be able to identify it in a blind test anymore. Leave the diodes in and at least some people would pick it out as a 2555 correctly. Just saying.

Anyway I hate this kinda thing because people always take it the wrong way. I'm not saying clipping diodes are bad, my favorite Marshall design is a diode clipper design (2205/2210). It's the sum of all parts that I don't personally love the Jubilee, but others might, nothing wrong with that.
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The only V30 type that I can handle with any Marshall not named Jubilee is the original Marshall vintage from the 80s. But that's just me. I also have a 1986 2210.
 
Racerxrated said:
Yes, that's what I did with my 2555x when I had it. There's talk about it on the Marshall forum, long ago when Santiago(Santiall on MF) confirms it. He's the designer of the JVM, VM, KK, Jube RI and Origin I believe. If it was unable to do that, I'd have found out in a hurry when I mixed tubes.

It's easy to see when you can bias each pair separately, why you could use different pairs of tube types. When you look at the chassis test points.
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Steve Dawson designed the Vintage Modern amps.



In regards to the 2555x: That is interesting, I might give it a try as I have some kt66s and 6l6s in a drawer.
 
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67mike said:
Nope. It is perhaps Marshalls best amp in terms of ability to play at low volumes.

You have THREE master volumes . They interact with each other, and if you know what you are doing, you can get great sounds at any volume.

Key is learning this amp.....
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How do you set it up for high gain at low volumes ?
 
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