Marshall JCM900 #4502

[jgcable]

Just picked one up yesterday and I am completely stoked. I just love the JCM900 tone. The clean is outstanding, the gain is very user friendly and these amps take standard run of the mill pedals really well. It has a very user friendly loop too. I have owned a few of them throughout the years.
The 4502 is a 2 x 12 combo, Celestion equipt, 50 watts with seperate reverb, effects loop, 2 channels and a few other cool features. You really have to turn them up to sound great but they really do when loud. The most noteable feature of the JCM900 is its ability to cut through a mix. If you love a Marshall midrange tone that leans towards the bright side with enough natural gain to do just about any old school metal (think Judas Priest or Scorpions), you will dig it. Throw an EQ in the loop and you can dial in a ton of tones.
As you can tell, I am a huge fan of the JCM900 amps. I never played one I didn't like. I even like the SLX. There is just something about them.
Oh yea... Drake transformers too!

[wilkinsi]

Contrats!

[VitaminG]

nice. Occasionally I still miss my old 900. But I console myself with my RM100

do the combos sound very different to the heads? And how heavy is that sucker?

[jgcable]

nice. Occasionally I still miss my old 900. But I console myself with my RM100

do the combos sound very different to the heads? And how heavy is that sucker?

It sounds exactly the same as the head. Regarding weight. Jeez... its heavy. Its not 5150 combo heavy but it weighs alot.
I have a RM100 too and a V3 and a 5150II and a Quad X and a few modeling amps so this is a great addition to the fleet. This one is staying in my home studio.

[Grahf]

Cool man. I play a 900 too. 100W Head version. deadliest distortion in the world.

[jgcable]

Its a real good amp. I am in the process of a full clean up. I is in extremely good condition but it has the infamous JCM900 scratchy pots.
I am deciding if I am going to keep it in my home studio or use it live for my side project band.
I will say that even though these amps sometimes get bashed by the JCM800 fans, they are very popular. I have already gotten several offers to buy it from me and its not even for sale. There aren't too many other JCM's that can get the 900 tone. To my ears.. the 900 has the most midrange of any Marshall amp and it absolutely has the best 80's-early 90's metal clean tone. Except for the PC mounted pots, its a very nicely made amp.
The factory really should have sprung for flying lead pots on it. In addition to the pots being PC mounted, they are not very high quality.

[data187]

glad you like the amp!

[DonP]

Cool John. How do these compare to the DSL100? The front amp layout looks very similar. My DSL pots have been going good since 1998 knock on wood. They look like sealed (Bourne?) pots that are kind of micro in design. I agree with you on the flying lead design.

My own opinion of the JCM900 isn't quite so high, but I chalk it up to having played used ones in GC or Sam Ash. I imagine if anyone were going to trade there amp in, the first thing they would do is replace good tubes for shitty tubes. Same with speaker cabs; I imagine most used cabs have had the good speakers pulled and crap speakers in them.

Most used JCM2000's I've played used in stores sound just as shitty, so it's not just limited to the JCM900s. They don't sound anything like my DSL100 at home. I'd like to play a JCM900 in good shape just once.

[jgcable]

Cool John. How do these compare to the DSL100? The front amp layout looks very similar. My DSL pots have been going good since 1998 knock on wood. They look like sealed (Bourne?) pots that are kind of micro in design. I agree with you on the flying lead design.

My own opinion of the JCM900 isn't quite so high, but I chalk it up to having played used ones in GC or Sam Ash. I imagine if anyone were going to trade there amp in, the first thing they would do is replace good tubes for shitty tubes. Same with speaker cabs; I imagine most used cabs have had the good speakers pulled and crap speakers in them.

Most used JCM2000's I've played used in stores sound just as shitty, so it's not just limited to the JCM900s. They don't sound anything like my DSL100 at home. I'd like to play a JCM900 in good shape just once.

I have owned the DSL50 and 100 and the TSL50 and 100 along with a few Plexi's, several JCM800's and a bunch of 900's.
Here is my take comparing the JCM900 to the DSL100 using the same Marshall 4 x 12 cabinet loaded with either vintage 30's or T75's (I prefer the T75's)
Features.. VERY SIMILAR. The JCM900 has reverb and its very good. Both have similar loops and controls.
Build quality... again similar. The JCM900 has the better Drake transformers and a heavier gauge chassis.
Clean tone... very similar again. The JCM900 seems to have more life to it and it records better. The DSL does have a very nice clean though.
Gain channel... here is where it gets interesting. The DSL has 25% more gain. That 25% to my ears isn't very useable until you turn the amp way up because at low to moderate volumes its a little fizzy and loose.
The JCM900 gain is useable from 0 to 10.
At low volumes the DSL sounds much better so I would say its more versatile .
The JCM900 absolutely rips when you turn it up. Its awesome. You can hear and feel the valves open up and it actually tightens up. It also has a ton of midrange so it cuts through any mix and can hang with just about any other amp.
The DSL has more bottom end and it can thump a cabinet better. Its a better amp for palm muting and it certainly has more tonal variations in the gain channel. It would work for just about any genre of music.
The JCM900 is good for anything from clean to blues to classic rock to 80's metal and IMHO it accels in getting tones from STP or Soundgarden or Pearl Jam but it won't do modern scooped stuff so if you are in a Disturbed tribute band look elsewhere.

[lhrocker]

Nice review John. You always had a soft spot for JCM 900's.

[sambencuda]

John, have you played through the SLX at RVP? I love that head. If it had a clean channel, I'd try and score it. On another note, have you tried the Marshal Vintage Modern there? Curious to hear your opinion on that one.

[jgcable]

John, have you played through the SLX at RVP? I love that head. If it had a clean channel, I'd try and score it. On another note, have you tried the Marshal Vintage Modern there? Curious to hear your opinion on that one.

I haven't tried the Vintage Modern but the SLX rips. I love that amp.

[Twitch]

Ill add a little about the TSL100 Vs. JCM900 HGDR. Build quality is tons better on the 900. In addition to the stuff JG said, the tube sockets on the 900 are chassis mounted, where as the tube sockets on the TSL are PCB mounted(like most amps today unfortunately). I never could get a satisfactory to my ears recording of the TSL, the 900 owned that department. The 900 did cut better and the gain, even though my 900 was modded to have more, was still usable to 10. The 900 was a lot quieter at idle than the TSL as well. Regarding the SL-X, had one of those too, and the ONLY reason I parted with it was because of the lack of a clean channel. It only ever got use at home when I didnt need to switch to clean in real time. I regret getting rid of it, but, gotta do what you gotta do. I dont miss the TSL at all. Not knocking it, Im sure plenty of people love em, but it didnt cut it for me in the end.

EDIT: Totally misread JGs post as saying TSL, when in fact it says DSL. My bad, so consider this its own review then.

[DonP]

The JCM900 has the better Drake transformers

My DSL100 has Drakes. I bought it in 1998 and I know Marshall went to Dagnall sometimes after. I wonder how big this difference makes.

The DSL has 25% more gain. That 25% to my ears isn't very useable until you turn the amp way up because at low to moderate volumes its a little fizzy and loose.
The JCM900 gain is useable from 0 to 10.
At low volumes the DSL sounds much better so I would say its more versatile .
The JCM900 absolutely rips when you turn it up. Its awesome. You can hear and feel the valves open up and it actually tightens up. It also has a ton of midrange so it cuts through any mix and can hang with just about any other amp.
The DSL has more bottom end and it can thump a cabinet better. Its a better amp for palm muting and it certainly has more tonal variations in the gain channel. It would work for just about any genre of music.
The JCM900 is good for anything from clean to blues to classic rock to 80's metal and IMHO it accels in getting tones from STP or Soundgarden or Pearl Jam but it won't do modern scooped stuff so if you are in a Disturbed tribute band look elsewhere.

Cool. Sounds like the DSL100 is the correct amp for me.

One other quick question - do 900's still have a choke? I still use an AOR 50 head because it gets certain tones the DSL100 just isn't the best at, like AC/DC, Tesla, Old Def Leppard, etc. Anything where I need a medium gain Marshall tone with a little more tone in the lower mids for growl. I'm thinking off again / on again about adding a switchable choke to the DSL.

[DonP]

Ill add a little about the TSL100 Vs. JCM900 HGDR. Build quality is tons better on the 900. In addition to the stuff JG said, the tube sockets on the 900 are chassis mounted, where as the tube sockets on the TSL are PCB mounted(like most amps today unfortunately). I never could get a satisfactory to my ears recording of the TSL, the 900 owned that department. The 900 did cut better and the gain, even though my 900 was modded to have more, was still usable to 10. The 900 was a lot quieter at idle than the TSL as well. Regarding the SL-X, had one of those too, and the ONLY reason I parted with it was because of the lack of a clean channel. It only ever got use at home when I didnt need to switch to clean in real time. I regret getting rid of it, but, gotta do what you gotta do. I dont miss the TSL at all. Not knocking it, Im sure plenty of people love em, but it didnt cut it for me in the end.

I've never owned a TSL but I've read lots of reviews where the DSL owned TSLs. I was bummed when the TSL came out because it looked a lot cooler than the DSL with a lot more flexibility. But then after reading what everyone says about the TSL vs. DSL, I decided I was happy with my choice.

Puzzling as to how diffent these amps can be. I've played TSL's but like I said in my first post, unless I bought one, put in good tubes and compared it side by side against my DSL, all I have to go by is user reviews.