Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series Combo Amp - Any experienced users???
Brett Brooks
(Model 4210)? I recently purchased one; it is a 1983. I read on Harmony
Central that one guy said there was a difference between the ones in the
early 80's and late 80's. He said "The 'Boost' channel, however, was capable
only of a very thin, fizzy distortion - absolutely no bottom or even mids,
for that matter - like a cheap fuzz pedal." Can anyone comment on this, is
there a big difference? Does anyone know if I can (or should) mod my amp to
make it like the later model?
Poor Ditching Boy
I'm certainly no expert, but I do own one of these combos and this is the
information I've gathered.
It seems to me that when people speak of the "early" circuit they are
refering to the combo (4210) and when they speak of the "later" ciruit
they are refering to the head (2205), which came a little later. I
believe the 2205 had all the same controls with the addition of a
Presence knob.
I've never tried the 2205 but it supposedly does have a better distortion
sound than the 4210 - the distortion on the combo is indeed pretty thin
and screechy (hell, maybe it'll work for you - I have a friend who asked
me how I got that great high-pitched feedback squeal whenever I stopped
playing!).
I've heard, however, that the distortion channel of the 2205 bleeds into
the clean channel so you can never get a truly clean sound. Though the
clean channel on the 4210 doesn't have a whole lot of flexability (it
only has treble and bass eq), it doesn't have this problem and actually
sounds nice and warm to me, though it doesn't have much headroom with
humbuckers.
One of the guys in this group, deltablues, has a mod for this amp on his
website (http://www.deltabluesman.com/) that you might be interested in.
Look under "My Personal Vintage (and New) Collection" and then "My Amps".
He lists the schematic as "4210/2205", but as I said above these amps
have different circuits.
If I'm wrong anywhere here let me know, folks. Hope this helps, Brett!
In article <xxmV3.93108$Y6.9...@news1.telusplanet.net>,
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Before you buy.
Skipp May
: I'm certainly no expert, but I do own one of these combos and this is the
: information I've gathered.
: It seems to me that when people speak of the "early" circuit they are
: refering to the combo (4210) and when they speak of the "later" ciruit
: they are refering to the head (2205), which came a little later. I
: believe the 2205 had all the same controls with the addition of a
: Presence knob.
The 4210 didn't have a presence knob... yuk... wouldn't matter, I hardly
ever turn my down.
: I've never tried the 2205 but it supposedly does have a better distortion
: sound than the 4210
Not by much...
I wouldn't get excited about the 2205 dirt... it's just about as thin...
I keep a foot pedal handy for the heavy work.
: - the distortion on the combo is indeed pretty thin
: and screechy (hell, maybe it'll work for you - I have a friend who asked
: me how I got that great high-pitched feedback squeal whenever I stopped
: playing!).
He's right, you can learn to use that sound quite nicely. I end up using
and RP-3 pedal in front and the dirt channel when I want to bring in the
alien space ships.
: I've heard, however, that the distortion channel of the 2205 bleeds into
: the clean channel so you can never get a truly clean sound.
It's really not that bad... By date, one version uses transistors to
channel switch, the other by date a dip IC package. The blurr into the
clean channel is very light on my worst (early) one before I mod'd the
switching. The original switching design was pretty weak...
: Though the
: clean channel on the 4210 doesn't have a whole lot of flexability (it
: only has treble and bass eq), it doesn't have this problem and actually
: sounds nice and warm to me, though it doesn't have much headroom with
: humbuckers.
That's why I keep going back to single coils. The only humbucker guitar I
can play for my tone turns out to be a Fender Venus (bolt on neck).
: One of the guys in this group, deltablues, has a mod for this amp on his
: website (http://www.deltabluesman.com/) that you might be interested in.
: Look under "My Personal Vintage (and New) Collection" and then "My Amps".
: He lists the schematic as "4210/2205", but as I said above these amps
: have different circuits.
I'll try to have a look at it and make some comments. I just used some
better transistors and sharpened up the switching circuit to make my early
bird 2205 better.
: If I'm wrong anywhere here let me know, folks. Hope this helps, Brett!
does red wine go with fish..?
Nope, you sound like you've been in the fun-tone zone where I play every
weekend or more.
cheers
skipp
mike.e...@versaterm.com
most amps of it's age. I did however typically use a rack mount
distortion unit in front of it. I don't remember the on board diode
clipping to be weak... It was more of a big and ballsy rock type
sound. It wasn't the most saturated distortion but it worked for great
rock tunes...
Mik
Tonefactor
clipping to be weak... It was more of a big and ballsy rock type
sound. >>
The big ballsy sound comes from the output stage, not the diode clippers.
The diode clippers are resposible for the buzziness on top of the big
ballsy sound. Cranking the amp up loud can help hide some ot the
buzziness.