Interested in the new JCM-900 20 watt head.

[KingsXJJ]

For those of those with first hand experience in comparing this to the 25 watt Mesa Badlander… how would you compare them?

 

[KingsXJJ]

Modeled JCM-900’s sound a lot to me like the early 90’s high gain Peavey tones before the Peavey EVH amps. Likely no surprise. I actually like that tone a lot. It’s what I grew up on. Tones like Dave Navarro with Jane’s Addiction on Nothing’s Shocking. Superb tone for me especially cool dry or with delay.

 

[Iron1]

I had a JCM-900 in the mid-90s and loved it. Would definitely scratch the nostalgia itch to get a 20-watter.

Edit: come to think of it, I got it to replace a Peavey Butcher.

 

[paisleywookiee]

For those of those with first hand experience in comparing this to the 25 watt Mesa Badlander… how would you compare them?

Kinda not possible, since I don’t think anyone’s got the 900 yet? But I’m not a fan of the BL25. Love the 50, love the 100. 25 is lacking. And fwiw, I do like the Mini Rec/ROV25. Just something weird with the Badlander.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Kinda not possible, since I don’t think anyone’s got the 900 yet? But I’m not a fan of the BL25. Love the 50, love the 100. 25 is lacking. And fwiw, I do like the Mini Rec/ROV25. Just something weird with the Badlander.

Thanks for the feedback. I should have mentioned previous owners of the OG 900!

 

[paisleywookiee]

Thanks for the feedback. I should have mentioned previous owners of the OG 900!

Based on that, and clips I’ve heard, I’d probably still go 900 here in this comparison. Seems like it’ll be a cool little head.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

well they're not available anywhere yet so it's hard to have any first hand experience, except for maybe NAMM.
But the mini 900 sounds good on the clips I've heard.
I like the big Badlanders but the mini has EL84s, which is usually not my favorite, especially on high gain amps.
So I think I'd go with the mini 900 here but again hard to say without playing the amps.

 

[Iron1]

I would go Badlander 50 over JCM900 over Badlander 25…

Owned the first two, and know the 25 isn’t just a half-wattage Badlander 50. The 50 watt Badlander can do bedroom quiet if low amplitude is your reasoning for looking at lower wattage, too.

 

[KingsXJJ]

It’s a great time to be a guitarist. So much of this was unobtainium back in my day. Either due to cost or my simple ignorance at the time.

I could barely afford the strings and beer on most gigs. Now I can get a modeler for what I got paid for a hole-in-wall show in the 90’s.
Neat.

 

[Night Stalker]

I'm definitely interested. I had a 4500 for a long time and it was a great amp. I regret selling it.

 

[LCW]

 

[KingsXJJ]

Sounds fantastic!

 

[MatrixClaw]

Buy the 20w 800 and boost it. The 900 is based off the Dual Reverb, which is everyone's favorite Marshall to hate. Weird they didn't do the Mk III or SL-X...

 

[paisleywookiee]

Buy the 20w 800 and boost it. The 900 is based off the Dual Reverb, which is everyone's favorite Marshall to hate. Weird they didn't do the Mk III or SL-X...

I actually liked the Duel Reverb over the SLX. What they really need is a 6100 20w head.

 

[MatrixClaw]

I actually liked the Duel Reverb over the SLX. What they really need is a 6100 20w head.

I always thought the Dual Reverb was a good amp and didn't understand the bad rep it had online, but the Mk III and SL-X are pretty much universally liked. Weird that Marshall would reissue an amp that has always had a pretty bad reputation.

A reissue 6100 with relays that actually work would definitely be cool. I had all 3 versions of that amp and thought it was killer, but was always afraid the switching board would go out and brick the amp.

 

[greatmutah]

Dual Reverb was and is still good enough for Dave Navarro

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I sort of dig that the 900 4100 has a "sound", there are certain things it just does that works for some genres. The downside is, to me it just sounds like a distortion pedal, kind of flat dynamically and fizzy. It makes things present and aggressive and it reminds me of loads of 90's stuff in a good way. For some pop punk and things, that solid state distortion can be cool too, it evens out the attack of notes and pushes things forward differently to how a typical valve based Marshall would.

I'd still rather just buy a 2203 or Jubilee or DSL or something and use a pedal though. Its not that often where I want/need that 900 tone.

 

[norminal]

Never played a JCM900 but always heard mixed reviews from people. What didn’t people like about it?

I like what I’m hearing here:

 

[MirrorProfiles]

What didn’t people like about it?

Kind of fizzy/buzzy, pedal like solid state distortion channel. It works really well for some things, but its main flaw was that it’s nothing like a 2203 or Plexi.

They’re cool in their own right, if you dig the sound then it’s worth a go. It’s a totally different thing to the “classic” Marshall sound.

 

[laxu]

Kind of fizzy/buzzy, pedal like solid state distortion channel. It works really well for some things, but its main flaw was that it’s nothing like a 2203 or Plexi.

They’re cool in their own right, if you dig the sound then it’s worth a go. It’s a totally different thing to the “classic” Marshall sound.

My problem with the JCM900 is exactly that. It's not "better" than the 2203, Plexi, or a huge number of modded Marshall based amps from other brands.

Whereas a 2203 or Plexi can represent sounds from various decades up to this day, the JCM900 to me feels like something stuck permanently in the 1990s for better or worse.