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JCM 800 50W v 100W...any difference?

kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
edited September 2008 in Musicians and Gearheads
Hey all,

I'm in the market for a Marshall JCM 800. I see a lot of 50W models around, and only a few 100W. Is there a major difference in sound between the two, or is it more of a volume thing? I won't be playing any gigs with it, so I don't need anything super loud, but I want that JCM 800 sound. If there's absolutely no difference other than volume, I might go for the 50W just because it's easier to find. Anyone have any experience with both of them?
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Comments

  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    kitfoo wrote:
    Hey all,

    I'm in the market for a Marshall JCM 800. I see a lot of 50W models around, and only a few 100W. Is there a major difference in sound between the two, or is it more of a volume thing? I won't be playing any gigs with it, so I don't need anything super loud, but I want that JCM 800 sound. If there's absolutely no difference other than volume, I might go for the 50W just because it's easier to find. Anyone have any experience with both of them?
    The 50 watt, because it's a 50 watt, has less headroom, and ergo, goes into power tube distortion quicker, which is usually a good thing, assuming you're not lookin for a good clean sound!
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
    Nope, don't need anymore clean, as I have a Fender 65 Twin Reverb. I just want that JCM distortion! I didn't realize it distorted faster than a 100W?
  • kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
    Also, I noticed there are different versions...ie 2203, 2204, 2205. What are the differences? They don't really say which one they are on the front. Some have reverb, some don't. Some have a gain knob, others don't. Any sites out there that break everything down so I know which model has what?
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    kitfoo wrote:
    Nope, don't need anymore clean, as I have a Fender 65 Twin Reverb. I just want that JCM distortion! I didn't realize it distorted faster than a 100W?
    Yeah, because of the less wattage, it distorts quicker. I'd say for pure distortion, the 50 is how ya wanna do it.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 Posts: 23,303
    if you can find one and get your hands on one i would get an early 80s 50 watt single channel 800 with vertical inputs. those are considered the holy grail of tone for the 800s. i wanted one but gave up after searching for 2 years on ebay for one that is stock and unmodded. those particular ones can be quite expensive, but they will only go up in value if you can get one. instead i got a 1974 50 watt marshall jmp which seem to be more prevalent than the early vertical input 800s. my other guitarist has a 1986 50 watt single channel 800 with horizontal inputs and i think my tone blows his away. his amp has a master volume on it and mine does not so thats an advantage of the 800s. check this link below. this guy has some great info and will answer a lot of your questions about the 800s.

    http://www.legendarytones.com/marshallshoppers2.html
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • ianvomsaalianvomsaal Posts: 1,224
    But remember that you kind of have to crank those jcm800's to get that tone.
    If you're not really looking to play it loud, you won't really be able to get that
    marshall jcm800 tone without an attenuator or some kind.
    ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
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  • kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
    Thanks for the info guys! That article was pretty interesting! Now I wish I could just find a damn JCM around here to try out.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    You need to play both to find out. Occasionally the 50 and 100 watt versions sound slightly different and some people prefer the tone of the 100's or the 50's (ex Harry Joyce and or some Hiwatt 50 watts are more desirable than 100's to many people) and more than likely you'll be using some kind of attenuator to get the sound you are looking for out of it anyway as Ian alluded to. You will certainly get clipping much sooner on a 50 watt amp and depending on your speaker choice you may get what you want out of it but there are plenty of people I'm sure who prefer the 100 cranked especially if they use high wattage speakers.

    Make sure you price in a nice speaker cabinet as well. If you've got a 100 watt greenback cab it's going to breakup much sooner than a 300 watt G12T75 cab but have a lot looser warmer tone to it than the tight and focused G12T75 cab. Vintage 30's are sort of in between and are very popular. It just depends on what you are looking for.


    They have reissued the JCM 800's for what it's worth. I have not played the reissue yet.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 Posts: 23,303
    Pacomc79 wrote:
    You need to play both to find out. Occasionally the 50 and 100 watt versions sound slightly different and some people prefer the tone of the 100's or the 50's (ex Harry Joyce and or some Hiwatt 50 watts are more desirable than 100's to many people) and more than likely you'll be using some kind of attenuator to get the sound you are looking for out of it anyway as Ian alluded to. You will certainly get clipping much sooner on a 50 watt amp and depending on your speaker choice you may get what you want out of it but there are plenty of people I'm sure who prefer the 100 cranked especially if they use high wattage speakers.

    Make sure you price in a nice speaker cabinet as well. If you've got a 100 watt greenback cab it's going to breakup much sooner than a 300 watt G12T75 cab but have a lot looser warmer tone to it than the tight and focused G12T75 cab. Vintage 30's are sort of in between and are very popular. It just depends on what you are looking for.


    They have reissued the JCM 800's for what it's worth. I have not played the reissue yet.

    +1 on the speaker cab notion. i use vintage 30s on my jmp and my other guitarist uses a greenback cab with his 800. i think that both cabs sound better with his 800 than the cabs with the 75 watters. you have to crank those pretty high to get the marshall growl you are wanting.

    best advice is to just try to play as many as you can before buying, and trust me i know there are not a lot of them readily available at your local shops. i found a few in pawn shops for a pretty good price but i never trust pawn shops for high end vintage gear. there are usually some on http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm and you can finance those if you don't have the cash right away. i would trust them over some shady pawn shop or the crapshoot that is ebay.

    i have played several of the reissues but they only reissued the 100 watters so you will have the same problem with needing an attenuator to get the tone you want.
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 Posts: 23,303
    here are a few on guitar center used site...

    http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm it is a super bass 800 head but can be used for guitar. these heads sound pretty good and have more low end than the fairly trebly 800s imo

    http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/details.cfm?listId=104335535 this is a channel switching 800 head but there is no photo yet. unsure of watts

    http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/details.cfm?listId=119113755 100 watt lead series single channel head. this one looks pretty good

    http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/details.cfm?listId=104881364 this one has been modded with a boost of some sort

    http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/details.cfm?listId=104738802#anchorDescription this is probably a 100 watt reissue. it looks too good to be vintage and that price is about what the reissues are going for

    http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/details.cfm?listId=104669091 100 watt 2 channel from late 1980s

    thats about all of them at guitar center. you can call the store where each of these is located and ask questions about any of these. hope this can at least get you started on finding your new amp.
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
    Hey, thanks guys! Lots of info. They had a reissue 100W at my nearest Guitar Center, but I couldn't check it out because someone took the fuses out of it. (go figure) And that was the ONLY Marshall they had...which seemed kind of odd for a GC. As for cabs, I have a Mesa 2 X 12 which I believe has Vintage 30's in them. I was thinking about getting a Marshall 1960, as the Mesa seems to have way too much bass. If I turn my Mesa Dual recto up anywhere past 4, it sounds like a marching band is going by...you can feel it in your guts!
  • DjangoDjango Posts: 152
    I've a JCM 800 4211 combo. Made in 1989. I don't think it's one of the real sought after JCM models...but who cares. It sounds good
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    No gain knob, actually means no master volume, which means you have to crank it to hell for distortion. An attenuator will help that some, but it will still only be usable in a loud gigging situation. Go for an MV model.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
    I checked out some VM videos on Youtube. It sounds pretty good! I think they actually have a few of these at my local guitar store...might have to check them out.
  • kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
    Well, I think I solved my little tone chasing delema. I was looking for the amp that an artist used to get the tone I was looking for, (JCM 800) but I wasn't looking for the tone itself. I took a song that had the tone I was after to my local guitar store. The owner listened to it for 30 seconds and said, "Check out this amp." I ended up finding my tone in a Peavey XXL! lol I was looking for lots of gain, but with a lot of brightness to it. The XXL did that on the dot, and it was pretty cheap too. (~$550) So, I guess it just shows you, you never know what you're going to end up with in the search for "that" tone!
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    kitfoo wrote:
    Well, I think I solved my little tone chasing delema. I was looking for the amp that an artist used to get the tone I was looking for, (JCM 800) but I wasn't looking for the tone itself. I took a song that had the tone I was after to my local guitar store. The owner listened to it for 30 seconds and said, "Check out this amp." I ended up finding my tone in a Peavey XXL! lol I was looking for lots of gain, but with a lot of brightness to it. The XXL did that on the dot, and it was pretty cheap too. (~$550) So, I guess it just shows you, you never know what you're going to end up with in the search for "that" tone!


    there you go, fantastic. all the words in the world, can't substitute your ears. Congrats on finding the sound you were looking for.

    You do realize however, this never stops :D


    for the record, try a BBE maximiser in the loop and when you go shopping, Mesa Rectifiers should peak your interest.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • kitfookitfoo Posts: 125
    I already have a Mesa Dual Recto, so I know all about that tone! It was funny, the store manager was having me go through all these Marshall amps, and ALL the sounds they created, I could create from my 1 Mesa!
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    kitfoo wrote:
    I already have a Mesa Dual Recto, so I know all about that tone! It was funny, the store manager was having me go through all these Marshall amps, and ALL the sounds they created, I could create from my 1 Mesa!


    cool, so you're well covered then, excellent.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
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