Is the Marshall JCM 800 still good? Hate it Or Love it | Black Metal Gear

[@dananthony6258]

I love the tone of this amp. It has a texture that rips teeth out. I’m a blues player myself. I actually don’t usually like metal but I really dig the chords you played .

[@DevGohil]

Yeah it's got this open-ness that's hard to describe. Doesn't sound compressed

[@doomyeti3521]

Is the Marshall JCM 800 still good? Lets find out…

[@Jotunheimarband]

I had a 1986 JCM800 2210 I bought from Karl of The Exploited. Was the loudest thing I ever owned. The main trick was to "dime it" and turn everything to 10 apart from master. Soundmen used to scream at me to turn down in soundchecks and I pointed out I couldn't as it was only on 0.5 of a notch. Eventually got made an offer I couldn't refuse and sold it. Regret.

[@Gearslayer92]

The JCM 800 is considered a lower gain amp compared to modern high gain amps. You would probably like the Jose or Bogner modified 800's that makes it have lots of gain without needing overdrive pedals

[@ushnicyuvnikof2748]

The JCM 2000 green channel can sound very like an 800, you also have to push it A LOT with a pedal though (SD-1).

[@saltpeter7429]

Yes. Push it. SD-1 sounds appropriate.

[@ushnicyuvnikof2748]

@saltpeter7429 2000 dsls are also very cheap at the moment, just get one from afterward the drift was fixed, if your pushing real cabs super loud you want the 100 watt, the 50 watt is respectable to IR but the 100s slund better, forget the 20 watt completely - it sounds under powered, the 50th 1watt version overdrives even harder, although it doesn't push a real 4x12 well the 1watts have more distortion into a DAW and IR, the jcm 2000 1watt us the cheapest and the best of the 50ths, the new DSL in all watts is meh, I much prefer the 2000 dsl.

[@lovecraftmusic8717]

Sd1+ge7 or any other eq in front: boost 400hz and 800hz, cut 1.6 and boost slightly the overall level. Use dark speakers (g12-65), not bright ones like v30's... If it's a reissue jcm800 use an eq in the loop as well to further fix problematic freqs and give it carachter.

[@chosenone2964]

The magic happens with an OD pedal that cant be duplicated

[@DevGohil]

yeah this amp comes alive with a pedal, wish it didnt need to tho

[@danieltanhaei6443]

It's a shame it doesn't have that KIT KAT CHONKY tone, but at least has better articulation than most fender/vox amps I've tried.

[@austinfields1397]

I read that Euronymous used a JCM 800

[@RavenWinterz]

Definitely a crunchy amp, not gainy. Sounds like my old Bugera G20, it did rock tones very well on it's own but I always just played my metal muff through it.

[@mikerauter1859]

Useable and a great experiment. Would love to see you try this process with a left field amp of choice like a Fender M-80

[@DevGohil]

that'd be interesting

[@24MusicCarats]

Have tried the Jcm 800 , 900 , 2000, tsl, dslhr, jvm. Until i tried the dual rectifier it was game over. Perfect for trash/death metal. Made all the Marshalls sound cheap

[@uyscuti5376]

You had me at black metal

[@ilikepotatoes1345]

In my experience, to get these to sound how I want for what I play (Death Metal/ Death-Grind) you need to pump the gain and bass to 10 to get at least some semblance of fullness out of it, and roll the treble and presence off to like 2 lol, and just boost the shit out of it with a drive pedal of your choice (Proco Rat in my case). 800s are super bright and clear, but can sound very emaciated and abrasive if you're not careful with the EQ or your speaker selection.

[@MKetzer]

You never want to turn the gain past 7 (beware of the bright cap!)… but then hit it with something like an SD-1 or 808 (level all the way up, gain and tone to taste) or a GE-7

[@ilikepotatoes1345]

@@MKetzer Nah man, gain has to be all the way up, that boosts the low end response and shaves off the highs, then slam the fuck out of it with a high output boost of choice and voila.

[@off6848]

@@ilikepotatoes1345basically what do with every amp

[@ilikepotatoes1345]

@@off6848 Not at all actually, on most amps that would be overkill. But because of how 800s specifically behave, the bass and gain really imo need to be cranked to get your sound to have some weight, and clean boosts like Tubescreamers or SD-1s won't do either, you really just need to slam the front end with a shitload lot of output, so I'd even suggest using a distortion pedal (like a RAT, DS-1, Metal Zone etc.) instead of an OD or an EQ to boost it.

[@off6848]

@ I do it with basically every amp I get. 6505 is the only amp I had that the distortion was just too much most of the time although I did dime that a few times. I dimed my EVH III el34 and Orange super crush 120 as well. I played them in stoner doom, doomy d beat and deathmetal bands I used to use a pro co ratt through the Orange super crush tuned to A standard for the stoner doom band and the sound was sick

[@pestilenes]

You gotta crank the power amp. You need to be able to play loud, or get a attenuator.

[@crsnhppr8256]

1:50 trve

[@brgl61]

The JCM800 is still the king. It needs some help to get enough gain - but it's an appropriately breathy and loose distortion for black metal. We probably have different tastes - I don't like the way "modern metal" amps optimized for tightness and a lack of top-end noise sound in black metal.

[@woelfingskund]

Always disappointing when you plug in and there is no "total devastation" :(

[@DevGohil]

Engl cult supreme

[@andyvw8364]

I would love one still. I know its mid gain and it needs a proper boost, and there are the mods that exist for it.... I use a Valve State VS 100. like you have My tone is very similar. I use an version of what would be a SD1 OD that doesn't quite take out so much of the useable low end. and /or an og HM2.. I love Marshall for the note articulation and clarity Marshalls offer for black metal. And best paired Emgs or Fishmans active pickups in my experience

[@DevGohil]

Yeah Marshall’s and active pickups work so well together

[@andyvw8364]

@@DevGohil That amp and boost combo does have certain charm with my Jackson V with stock passive pickups too. To me Marshall Is black metal

[@nrowland4]

Yes. Now and forever.

[@andrewlong445]

I feel like the JCM 900 might be a little more your speed. I don't remember how i to Dissection you are but that was the foundation with Jon's tone with a DS-1 and a metal zone.

[@DevGohil]

yeah i definitely enjoyed the JCM900 more, the Sl-x variant was the most recent one i tried

[@terriblecertainity]

to this day, this is the only Marshall amp I ever liked. I prefer Peavey, Randall etc

[@lhzawk]

I had the same experience with this lol, expected some really hi gain tone. Try an Ampeg vh140c

[@Cresteron]

Dev what's your opinion on the Marshal DSL 20?

[@DevGohil]

never used one, i had a DSL100 reissue but sold it and ended up getting the JVM

[@cyprianjakubowski6979]

I own one for home playing and it's the best amp that I've played for the money. Just an OD, EQ-pedal and noise gate and there's pretty much nothing you can't play on it. Very versatile and great sounding amp!

[@Cresteron]

@@cyprianjakubowski6979 sweet thank you guys just picked one up today

[@breethewithme]

Does your version have an fx loop? Heard people used to put the OD pedal there instead of at the input.

[@DevGohil]

it does, am borrowing this amp

[@breethewithme]

Give it a go? If I remember correctly, Haavard did that on one of the Ulver albums.

[@off6848]

That basically makes the pedal the pre amp so I’d do it with a Marshall jackhammer distortion

[@scribeofsolace]

Not enough CHONK

[@naturalianoss]

Bro you need a noise gate for real

[@DevGohil]

dunno where mine is lmao Engl built-in noise gate supremacy

[@robertpierce612]

Had a new JCM800 back in the day, total junk. Joints that never got soldered at the factory, always blowing tubes. Fast forward I but a Slash JCM 800, junk again. Would blow components as soon as you kicked in the lead channel. Traded it for a 5150.

[@JohnDoe-fz7hz]

To be honest, I have no clue what you're talking about. It was always that way: The amps were not made for high distortion, and all old-school Rock musicians used distortion pedals to get what they expected out of the amp.

[@Deathcorp666]

They’ve always sucked unless you add a bunch of shit to it like a five band EQ tube screamer anything else you can find to plug in it. The ENGl you have in the background is obviously more superior than Marshall… I use ENGL and have never found anything better. Other than another ENGL lol! Great video brother. I had the JCM 800 2203 and the 50 watt head. Sold them both for my Engl. Engl so much better. And you don’t have to add any pedals !

[@DevGohil]

yeah that's one reason i like the ENGLs so much, zero messing around, straight plug in and play the JVM is a beast though, nice halfway point between the Savage and a Boosted JCM

[@dalepiwek]

U want a 2203 or 4 to sound like the archetype of metal and not like AC DC? Light the eq with plate voltage, use that free cathode as stage 4, reduce the first 3 decoupling stages x10, slope to 56 or 68k and replace the 34s with 6550s. I know every single point of the circuit so the secrets stop there. Ok one more. Short the first cathode with 100nf. Anybody that goes this far will beg me for the other 20 or 30 ingredients and if u dont ill tattoo your name on my face.... and nuts😂

[@hansibierdo1740]

Tell us more and you get my name for tattooing

[@howardgillingham4763]

Everyone mods them jose mod

[@DevGohil]

Would like to try one day

[@dalepiwek]

PS itll bury anything

[@hansibierdo1740]

Sry mate, but there is no such thing as “the JCM800”. There are a lot of different models under the same name, some with tubes only, some with clipping diodes in the preamp. They sound very different and only a 2203/2204 is the real deal. But there are also a lot of amps on the used market that sound like shit after all these years. From what I heard here, this isn't one of the good amps.

[@DevGohil]

Yeah I’ve heard about the different variants, though this is the first I’ve ever tried 🤷‍♂️ am still a bigger advocate for a JVM really, best Marshall amp