DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE JCM 900 Studio Head

[@eoinc_Ire]

0:25. ‘24 ?? Surely you mean NAMM ‘25 … Forgot yer coffee this morning 😂

[@Joey.Darkwoods-Studio]

Once again, a great in depth and trusted review! Thank you!

[@andresilvasophisma]

I think you nailed it, this is has been my experience with Marshalls. When you play them by themselves they're pretty underwhelming but once you put them in a mix it just works. Try them with EMG-81, it will surprise you.

[@nedim_guitar]

We always need to try our gear in full mix or full band context. It's okay if the sound seems thin, the bass guitar will take care of the low frequencies. We don't need to obsess about it regardless. ✌️

[@spazzcorpse]

That amp sounds just about perfect to me. Great cleans, peefect crunch, tight and clean response. Sounds especially good with a boost pedal.

[@bartvschuylenburg]

As a Fender guy I want a Twin Reverb Studio head. Marshall’s studio amp concept is awesome.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

“It’s weak, it’s thin” is the best reason to lug around a 100W head. I get you though, but high wattage heads have a ‘thump’ that I struggle to find with smaller heads - volume being relatively the same. Love your channel HP ~ greetings from Smokey California where we have brush fires year around, even in the winter.

[@SkyAvila777]

Its better with no thump, in mixing you always put a hi pass filter to take it away...and in a band its very good.

[@DanielJohansson-je5yd]

Exactly.. That’s why some People complain about The 900’s because it’s people playing by themselves at Home cranking the bass scooping the mids.. Ohhhh dear…;-)

[@oldguyjammin9732]

@@DanielJohansson-je5yd - yes, and in my experience with DSL and JVMs they really sound best with the masters up above 2 or 3 O’Clock which is really loud. But for me, that’s when the magic happens. My home Marshalls are 5W and1W - love them.

[@woop42]

I'm a 900 user since '91, just some words for the FX-Lopp-Level and the (compensated) Linout: The FX-Loop-Level controls the level of the signal that hits the effects in the loop. The idea back in the ninties was to keep it low for pedals which expect a "guitar level signal" like pedals and to turn it up for rack gear, which expect "line level signal". It is not meant to change the overall volume or to add some "blend in" or whatever. The compensated output is obviously the same as the original: it always sounds weak and bad and was not usable at all 🙂 Btw, the first generation of the JCM 900 has indeed EL84 (minius loaded with those). This was changed later.

[@petrisavero4382]

Marshall has been sold to HongShan Capital Group today. R.I.P Marshall

[@kennethdarlington]

Wow, thats kinda... Sad?

[@johnsmith-ug5tp]

I noticed the Asia text on the back panel and I was thinking, Made in Britain? ha

[@tiagoramalhais5493]

Yup, RIP

[@jasonl1942]

Would you like a tissue?

[@VanjaSpirin]

Luckily I have some very good NAM captures of some good Plexi and 800. So, no problem.

[@rickard9294]

That amp song really has a "Direct Hit" sound to it. Wait... Actually, I think it might be a rip off since they have a song that instead of "it goes to eleven" goes "Welcome To Heaven". Rip me a new one if I am wrong.😁

[@tgunmusicchannel1973]

You can pick big used jcm900s pretty cheap in the UK, i wouldn't pay extra for a mini one.

[@ilmisxx2]

Well honestly same applies almost everywhere, no one wants jcm900 for a while now, they are sold for peanuts, both combos and heads

[@adamwatson6916]

The Big ones are too loud for many of us .

[@ilmisxx2]

@@adamwatson6916 you do not crank a jcm900, it's a master volume amp

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

My only “complaint” would be that small studio amps such as this should copy what Engl has done with the built in load and speaker off knob, like on the Fireball 25. Makes it so nice not having to buy a separate load box. If I recall correctly, the Marshall DSL 20 head can use the line out while in standby mode but it has some cabinet emulation EQ or something always applied. Bleh. Just copy Engl. Speaker off knob. Pass the signal through the power amp load, and then direct out with no extra nothing.

[@kennethdarlington]

But engl have resistive load instead of proper reactive. If you want resistive one - it can be acquired pretty cheap as a separate unit.

[@johnsmith-ug5tp]

Then the whiners will cry they are being ripped off because of a price increase. ha

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

@@kennethdarlington I didn’t know that. Does it make a big difference?

[@kennethdarlington]

@ yes

[@arissp4950]

They made a good job with this amp

[@adamwatson6916]

Amps are like tools . Some tools are right for a specific job while others are not . The 900 has it's strenghts and has it's place .

[@adamwatson6916]

900s are known to have a very directional beaming kind of sound. The larger ones will tear your head off if you stand direclty in front .

[@TSFAHTPS]

I’m guessing the High & Low settings on the effects loop are about impedance…for when you use rack gear vs pedals?!?

[@ReValveiT_01]

What speakers are in the cab?

[@MaxPowersTastyTones]

Why is this small head over 400€ more than the small JCM800? :-( 1189€ is hefty.

[@EytschPi42]

Makes no sense

[@Steven-re3tx]

Jeff Beck and Michael Schenker both used a 50 watt. I own a jcm 900 50 watt combo. But I usually run my DR 504.

[@vasotoe]

We go to 11!!! 🤘

[@andresilvasophisma]

And comes with a tiny stonehenge. if you know, you know.

[@adamwatson6916]

The early 900s had 588q the latter ones had El34 . Both are great but i like the 34s a little more but i like a brighter sound

[@Smart-Alex]

Amp sound good but the middle market (1K+/- amp buyer) kind of feels ignored by all this. Most players have full-time jobs and play at home for fun. Also, I guess Marshall isn't getting tone modeling either - thnak goodness I have a Tonex. Thanks Henning!

[@vhfaanccVH]

Yup , Marshall should have brought back the JMP and JCM 800 1 WATT SERIES . The DSL 1 watt sucks in comparison.

[@JustinHold]

That @SullyGuitars Trella is so sick.

[@Hellfranz89]

Seemed too good to be true, on Thomann is actually listed at 1200€…still worth it?

[@dennisfuzzhead4439]

Way to much IMHO. That's what I paid for the 100w jcm900 two years ago brand new!

[@paan36ty]

could it be that high and low in the effects loop refers to impedance?

[@bobzherunkle3092]

Originals have the recording compensated out too, and no, it is not an analog speaker sim. I’ve had my 50w version for close to 30 years now and still can’t figure out what it does.

[@danielemella1758]

Mi piacerebbe troppo scoprire perché costa quasi come un 100 watt?? Ne vale la pena???? Saluti dall'Italia 🧙

[@zvirb]

Five-eight-eight-one can be sung instead of EL34.

[@shredenvain7]

That thing sounds so liquid on the lead channel with the boost

[@alfonsobonzo3782]

What does liquid sound like?

[@shredenvain7]

@alfonsobonzo3782 compression and saturation

[@alfonsobonzo3782]

@@shredenvain7 Ah right. Cheers for that. 👍🏼

[@ShreddingFinn]

I bought a real one for $500 eons ago, is this one really 5x better considering the price.

[@johnsmith-ug5tp]

Apples and oranges and inflation.

[@stevevender1154]

What is that silver guitar? 🤘🏻

[@PaulCooksStuff]

Henry's Fury. Czech company he's been impressed with lately.

[@stevevender1154]

@ thank you, sir! 😁

[@adamwatson6916]

Johan Segebourne can make a 900 sound Hella fat but he has them cranked .

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

Tasty. 😀🤘🎸

[@PooNinja]

Big kahuna tank to have some room

[@fives.]

too late, Herr Pauly (no but seriously I've been a stickler about these amps all weekend but the ONE thing I have to concede is, it sounds pretty fucking good, or at least it comes with the weird, haunting low-mids 900's typically sport, something I don't hate as much as I used to)

[@sunnibird]

The SV20 is the same crap build quality as the Origin. From what I've seen these are higher quality builds and components.

[@robarkskillie960]

That song.... AI lyrics?

[@dennisfuzzhead4439]

I love a good jcm900, but the price is a damn joke. You can get a brand new 100w 900 for the same price and all other studio amps are around 300-400€ less than this.

[@KentuckyPatriot1776]

I’d rather buy a used Victory Sheriff and save some money.

[@tiagoramalhais5493]

It's the same practice that a lot of companies have been doing for the past 5 years, overprice when an product is new and demand is hot and after a year drop 25/35% off the original price when demand cools, I can't blame them, most products nowadays only sell decently during the 1st year, people are always jumping on the new shiny thing and forget about it after 6 months.

[@where_is_christophe]

Broke guitar players in the nineties and early 2000s (myself included) : buying a 500€ used JCM 900 head because that’s the best we could afford and modding the hell out of it because it was weak sounding. Marshall in 2025 : we listened to the people, here’s a weak sounding 1300€ JCM 900 20 watts head ! I guess that’s Marshall’s three decades of R&D in a nutshell… Disappointing and out of touch with the players. Nothing against the review by the way, that’s great as per usual !

[@tiagoramalhais5493]

If it wasn't weak sounding it would be no longer a JCM900, some people like that sound though.

[@adamwatson6916]

Alot of people actually like the 900s .

[@gear-head]

Without question the absolute worst amp in Marshall's line-up. I have owned...and do own many Marshalls, and Marshall based amps and every 900 that I ever tried was sounded thin and brittle, especially compared to any JTM, Plexi or Vintage Modern. It's like they have a transistor like sound and feel.

[@adamwatson6916]

Could it be the Diode clipping ?

[@S1N15A]

You could buy a real jcm900 for way less