Marshall Amps

will smith empty room GIF

My bassist had a JCM2000.

I had a Carvin MTS3200
 
I picked up a 1987x last year. I don't know how close it is to the famous "Plexi" amp but I really like it. 50 Watts and it's fricken loud. I run it into a Suhr Reactive Load and then a solid state power amp to drive my cabs to control the volume. To me it is crunch heaven with the volume set on 7, definitely not high gain. And it is bright, very bright. It does old Bad Co, Free, Led Zep, etc. very nicely.

And yes I did blow it up, I ran it without a load and within two cords I saw a slight flash and then nothing. Took out the power tubes which in turn took out a resistor in the front end and the hum balance circuit. Due to the PCB design it was not fun to work on but I got it going again. Stupid mistake, haha.
 
Marshalls I’m curious to try:

- Model 2000 (not a DSL, was a 200W amp released in the early 80’s JCM800 era)
IMG_5864.jpeg


- JCM900 SLX and Mark III
- JMP2159
- AFD100 not really into those mods but still want to try for myself
- Astoria Classic (the green one)
- Park 1210 /1239/150/75
- Marshall 6100 (Blue ones look rad)
- Kerry King 2203 and YJM, not because they’d offer much new to me but would be cool to try them in person.
- JMD-1, curious to try it. I like softube’s modelling and this amp seems ahead of its time
 
Last edited:
MirrorProfiles said:
Marshall amps I have owned:

- 2203
- 2204 (various years)
- 2210
- 2554 Jubilee 50W
- 2144
- 2150
- 1992 (stock and modded to Adam Jones spec)
- 1959HW
- DSL100H
- JCM2000 DSL 100
- JCM900 4100
- Vintage Modern 2266
- 8100/8200/8080
- Origin 20
- modded 1987x (basically to JEL spec with some other tweaks)
- Friedman BE100 (a lot of modded plexi/Jose DNA)

Also pretty familiar with amps I've recorded, such as TSL, JVM, JMP-1 etc

Favourite overall is probably the 2203/2204 style, its just nicely dialled in and very caveman in a good way. The Friedman Dirty Shirley circuit is a GREAT variation of that, essentially the same preamp circuit but with a different filtering arrangement and JTM45 poweramp.

DSL100 is seriously hard to beat, I think it coax's a lot of the Marshall tones (and more) at an unbeatable price, and honestly sounds as good as any Marshall I've ever played. The Vintage Modern is also an amazing amp, its sort of an evolution of the JTM45 circuit as if the 1987/1959/2203 etc never happened.

8100 is underrated, its left a mark on music and is unlike anything else. Because they are cheaper amps and don't sound like a 2203, they get scoffed at a bit.

2144 and 2150 were fun, kind of like spin off's from other amps. Jubilee and 2210 are cool but not my favourite, a bit stiff under the fingers, but I like that they have a distinct thing going on.

Favourite mod is probably the JEL, has the raunch and bite of the 800 with a bit more gain and low end. Love the sound of Gower's mods, Jason Tong's mods, and Ground Zero at the moment. I also dig most of the Friedman stuff.

Never blown a Marshall up, but I live 10 minutes away from Marshall's factory. Their servicing department is amazing, among the best I've encountered anywhere, and Dave Wittering is a total legend.

Loudest amp is my modded 1992/1959. On the lowest possible settings its INSTANT PAIN where you have to leave the room and go and lie down in the dark. Makes everything in the room shake.
Click to expand...
TOTALLY forgot one of my favourites - the Club and Country:

IMG_4013.jpeg
 
TimOwens316 said:
I picked up a 1987x last year. I don't know how close it is to the famous "Plexi" amp but I really like it. 50 Watts and it's fricken loud. I run it into a Suhr Reactive Load and then a solid state power amp to drive my cabs to control the volume. To me it is crunch heaven with the volume set on 7, definitely not high gain. And it is bright, very bright. It does old Bad Co, Free, Led Zep, etc. very nicely.

And yes I did blow it up, I ran it without a load and within two cords I saw a slight flash and then nothing. Took out the power tubes which in turn took out a resistor in the front end and the hum balance circuit. Due to the PCB design it was not fun to work on but I got it going again. Stupid mistake, haha.
Click to expand...
I'm really curious about the 1987X. Based on the video with Dan Hawkins it might be the middle-ground between a Plexi and an 800. I use 2203 on the Helix but need to turn up the sag and bias a bit to make it spongier. The Plexi is very close to what I want, but the 2203 is just a better model.

 
I’ve had 3 actual Marshalls. A TSL, SLX and a JCM2000 DSL. The DSL was my favorite. Couldn’t get the TSL to sound quite right but I was using it with a 4x12 full of V30s and I didn’t know about other speakers with Marshalls then. The SLX was really cool but a bit darker than the other two. The DSL just had the best balance of all things Marshall for me. Especially paired with Greenbacks or Creambacks.

Now non-Marshall M type British amps? I’ve got a Metropoulos Metroplex Mk I and that thing is amazing. It’s been my #1 amp for years now. Definitely gets the Plexi tones and vibes in a 2203 style format. My Egnater Seminar amp is also no slouch as it’s more voiced like a darker 800 (it’s basically a modded 2204). And I got to build it myself in their class! But seriously it’s a great amp. A little more modern than the Metro but both cover my Marshally needs these days. Although I won’t rule out getting some kind of stock 2203/2204 circuit amp. Or a Jubilee.
 
Marshalls I own/have owned
JTM45 Reissue - Great amp
JCM2000 DSL100/DSL50 - Excellent Amp
JCM2000 TSL100 - Okayest Amp Ever
JCM900 MKIII - Good but not great
JCM800 2210 - Pretty Meh
Vintage Modern - Pretty good
JMP-1 - Good but not great. Has it's charm.
Lead 12 - my first real amp. Fun.

Marshall style stuff
Ceriatone Molecular - Great amp. Basically my ideal modded Marshall.
Synergy 800 module - excellent. Scratches the 2203/2204 itch. Sounds more like a JCM than the JMP-1.
A/DA MP-1 3 Tube Mod - excellent hot rodded Marshall style pre.
Laney GH100L - Very good.

Marshalls I've tried for more than 5 minutes
JVM410 & JS - excellent amps.
Slash JCM (Jubilee reissue) - really good
JCM900 Dual Reverb - totally fine.
1959 reissue - excellent amp. Loud.
2203x - great amp.
30th anniversary - pretty good.
Headfirst modded 1977 JMP - The best Marshall I've ever played.

I like Marshalls.
 
I bounce between my 1959 and 2204 quite a bit. If I had to choose, I’d leave the planet in my own homemade spaceship. If I couldn’t get the spaceship working, I’d probably just keep the 2204.
 
Any Jubilee love here?
There's a lot of talk about it online and some people even say it's the best Marshall ever made.
Makes me curious.
 
I've never played a real Jubilee, but the FAS and QC models/captures sound like a darker side of Marshall, to me (not far off from my Electra Dyne, in some ways).

This clip has some good examples of the reissue, although again I'm not a Jub expert. Cued to when playing starts (1:30):

 
IMO modellers and plugins seem to have an easy time capturing these. If you like the modelled versions maybe you’d have some mileage on the real deal. i didn’t dislike it but I don’t ever remember getting excited by it.

2210 was more fun to me (and even that had some similarities to the Jubilee that I didn’t care for…)
 
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