Marshall JTM60 - Is this the Greatest $500 Amp?

I'm playing a killer 1995 Marshall JTM60 Tube Head hrough a 1971 Marshall 1960A Cab using a Nordin Comet Krystin guitar. These amps are an insane bang for the buck. They have a reputation of overheating, which may explain the low prices. There is however a simple cheap quick fix in terms of a metal plate that takes care of the problem, that I show in this video:
• Marshall JTM60 with Fi...

[@NickPierro]

Nothing screams reliability like horizontally mounted tubes sitting right below paper-thin PCBs and press-fit wire terminals.

[@jamesscott7979]

I find myself forgetting about the amp and just digging on the riffage! Great playing! I love your videos!

[@stratfanstl]

I have this exact amp, the JTM-600 head and matching 4x10 cabinet bought in 1997. This is a phenomenal SOUNDING amp. Has a great clean channel that can be bright / glassy but dirty at higher volume. The overdrive channel uses clipping diodes kinda like the JCM 4100 (like having a Tube Screamer built in) and provides a wide sonic range. Overall sonically, it can do about three or four general areas of sound VERY well and the controls to tweak it provide a wide range of good sounds between all of those extremes. The problem with this amp was / is reliabilty. Mine is currently sitting on the floor taken apart after experiencing a failure for what I think is the sixth or seventh time in its 25+ year life. Most of the failures have occured after playing for 1-2 hours without issue, turning it off, then coming back the next day and having it overload either the external fuse or a secondary fuse on the mother board. In three of the failures, including its most recent, something has failed in the high voltage power supply while playing and the sound fades to silence with no blown fuses. I've been measuring voltages and comparing them to the schematic to decide if a) if I can deduce the fault and fix it, b) if I should just send to an expert or c) move on and just use other amps.

[@killingmasheen]

@@stratfanstl Check and see if the filter caps are still good because they're right in the line fire with that heat venting cut out of the chassis. Prolonged heat exposure will progressively kill electrolytic capacitors over time as the electrolytic fluid used to keep the foil layers electrically isolated from one another at DC voltages evaporates off causing it to short circuit itself into a purely resistive load. The reason why the HT fuse didn't blow right away is because the self DCR value of the cap starts off at more than zero but it quickly will get there. While all this is happening it's putting a huge strain on the power transformer which is subpar to begin with. I really wish you the best of luck on this one because it's one of those tech nightmare amps but if it doesn't work option D if you got the skills to pull it off would be to strip the chassis and rebuild it into a JCM80 or something easy like that all on a turret board or eyelet board so you can easily track down and correct any problems after the amp is built.

[@stratfanstl]

@killingmasheen Good insight. It's not like I can do much more damage (in terms of repair cost and parts) by taking a few key components out, measuring for failure and narrowing down the possible cause to see if it is worth fixing.

[@killingmasheen]

@@stratfanstl It's definitely possible do more damage with the flimsy PCBs these things were built on. You can get away with reflowing a soldering joint maybe 2-3 times before the traces start lifting off the board. I've been doing it long enough that I can reconstruct lost traces if I have to but it's like performing brain surgery on a rat with the miniscule size tolerances you're working with. I'd rather start over with a new PCB if that's any indication of my utter distaste for hardwired PCB reconstruction. Back in the day (late 90s-2000s) I was modding lots of dirt cheap amps like Crates and Peaveys built on low quality PCBs and found the safest way to change out components is to use fluxed solder-wick to remove the original solder joint till you get a clean hole to mount the new component lead through; be as quick as you can and use extra flux to get it to reflow easier if necessary.

[@stratfanstl]

@killingmasheen Curiously, in all of the failures, I've never seen any actual smoked component nor any darkened areas on the PCB. From that, I have assumed that the underlying cause is something in the high voltage power supply design that is probably 10% under spec. That can survive if I play at moderate volume for 30-40 minutes but anything longer / louder is enough to stress it to failure.

[@killingmasheen]

A component doesn't necessarily have to smoking or burning to indicate it's failing, a vast majority of electronic components will fail showing no visible signs of damage. It's why you need an oscilloscope to fix alot of stuff because most of the time you can't see it, you have to track down the problem which is just a guessing game until you find the part that went bad. For this though, checking filter caps, all you need is a multimeter with capacitance, DC resistance and amperage measuring functions. Make sure you first discharge any residual charge left in the caps because Marshall didn't use any bleeder resistors in the power supply but this is a good thing here because what you are testing for DC resistance to ground indicating the filter caps have dried and shortest out. If that shows good then check the capacitance values and see if the values have drifted way off it's stated value; not a few uF difference because that's normal. But before you go looking for problems elsewhere check the tubes because 9 times out of 10 that's usually the issue. Move the preamp tubes around checking for functionality in all sockets. Leave the power tubes in place, visibly check to see if they're red plating and measure the screen/plate current draw with the meter.

[@eddieholmes3236]

Great to see the Nordin again! Love the bit of twang with that amp.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Eddie! Yeah I love that guitar

[@mikedennis6979]

Great demo, I've been gigging with the 30 watt 112 version of this amp for the last 8-10 years. The biggest problem I've had to fix is the overheating caused by a poorly designed bias circuit. I also changed out the speaker for a 75 watt Celestion which voices quite well with the amp. Cheers

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Mike, Cheers!

[@kameel68]

You mean the JTM30? I've got the JTM30 112. Great amp. Uses 5881/6L6 tubes. I put 5881 JJ's in it.

[@bluesbenganblues]

I just love my 1x15 combo (the one in the metal plate fix video), specially after changing the speaker to a Celestion Fullback! Thanks Johan! Have a great summer!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks my friend! Yeah that’s a killer sounding rig. Have a great summer you too!

[@davegoodman6489]

I had the same head with the matching 4x10 compact cab. To reiterate what many people have already commented, mine burnt out during a practice. Killed the EL34s and a number of other components that a tech manage to fix. The head then laid ununsed for a few years but the cab was great. I eventually sold it as a set but wish I'd kept hold of the cab.

[@user-qt2ok6gd6s]

I nearly bought one of these a couple of years ago but was warned about overheating and reliability issues, bought a fender fsr bassbreaker 15 combo instead.. great demo of the jtm Johan! Nice chirpy crunchy Ace tones...

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks, glad to hear that!

[@vintagetone22]

Great amp thanks for the upload .the heat issue is the only thing that put me off.👍👍⚘🙏🙏⚘

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks

[@ZIMBY66]

I have the jtm60 1x12 excellent, very versatile amplifier!

[@121212Guitars]

The stock Celestion Marshall Heritage speakers sound really good. Another huge benefit - especially for the JTM30 - is the very reasonable weight.

[@rgbplumbinghilton]

If it wasn't for the wasp sounding overdrive and a poor layout of tubes that made them burn the board out, they would have been a bit more popular! I found the 1x15 was the only one that didn't over heat due to cab size and extra room for air flow. I had one for a couple of months, better amps out there for the money for sure.

[@killingmasheen]

Same experience, just a really awful sounding overdrive with a weird end overtone so bad that at the time I thought it was an all solidstate preamp. I know now it's just a worse variation of that tube/opamp hybrid preamp Marshall was using in the 900 series if such a thing was even possible. What the hell were they thinking? I guess maybe it was their idea of a 'grunge' amp with a ratty overdrive to make it sound like it's being pushed by a cheap distortion pedal? The 90s sucked more than people give it credit for...🙄

[@cchan11cc]

Bad tube design.

[@andytraverse]

Got the JTM30 2 x10 still going strong after nearly 30 years, they get hot but has been ok.

[@2204JCM]

You forgot the undersized transformers

[@sonor72]

Once you’ve got an AMAZING sounding cab, most of these amps start to sound insanely similar. Super interesting to think about, i think most people spend more money on the heads than speakers / cabs.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Yeah, indeed

[@mca1960]

I've one of these as a 1x12 combo. I like that classic Marshall tone. I've added a heat shield for the output tubes. So it works without problems year after year.

[@vosster]

I enjoy the Combo for 20 Years now. Best looking Marshall ever.

[@tonywissler5758]

I have one, sat broken for 20 years, had it repaired and the tech used new dagnall transformers, retubed, and i made a cab from a celestion fullback (wonder where i got that idea) in a closed back ebay purchased cabinet… wouldn’t trade it for anything. I use the high gain channel, no diodes removed. Killer

[@JohanSegeborn]

Great to hear that! 😉👍

[@loubydal7812]

This Marshall sounds great and has plenty of tones, but it's true this JTM series overheat due to the layout of tubes and the PCB. Anyways I liked so much the demo with the Demeter that I cannot think of other amps now, it was so good, I'll get one. Thanks Johan, cheers !

[@cantyouhearmeknocking1961]

I have a JTM 30 1x12, & a JTM 60 2x12 combo amps. Yes, they have an overheating issue which is easily fixed with a metal plate and/or a fan. I installed fans on both of mine that come on when the power switch is turned on. I have never had an issue. You can tell if one has been run really hot because the lettering on the back of the chassis will turn yellow and in some cases start melting, especially on the back left side. If you find a good one and know of the issue, it is easily fixed and these amps sound fantastic!

[@jcoulter43]

Love to get my dose of Johan riffage! Great sounding amp and you may be right, best bang for the buck amp at that price. God bless and rock on 👍😎🎸

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks my friend! Rock on! 🎸👍

[@stephenduncan9670]

had the 310 combo with a 410 ext cab, was massive sound. the Clean was the best that ive heard from Marshall.

[@romanphilippov3160]

Absolutely! I Have like this one...

[@marccarter1350]

As an Englishmen, you would have thought i loved Marshalls, fact is, i have always love Rolland JC amps, and Vox a little. But hey, i love the show, always return each week :-) The clean on this amp was really nice :-0

[@JohanSegeborn]

Glad to have you here Marc! Cheers

[@rocketpigrecords3719]

Sounds like you need some Hiwatt in your life.

[@marccarter1350]

@@rocketpigrecords3719 na, Roland JC-40 clean . It's all I use.

[@rocketpigrecords3719]

@@marccarter1350 well, cheers to.a man who knows what he likes.

[@soapboxearth2]

Sounds great, but it would be a nightmare to work on or to try and change tubes on the fly. I'll never understand why they would want to build an amp like that

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks

[@marcavus1]

Sounds fierce!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Cheers!

[@dananthony6258]

I wish Johan would make a record. I know I would buy it .

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks my friend!

[@dananthony6258]

Mine caught on fire man. It was a 30 combo though. Sounded great just didn’t last.

[@James-zx1qy]

Great review! The amp really sounds great!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks James!

[@James-zx1qy]

@@JohanSegeborn The Peavey Penta is a good sleeper amp to review and it's a misunderstood amp as well.

[@enghp351]

Johan I have heard that there is a solid state rectifier plug that you can substitute into your tube rectifier socket. we should try one in a jtm 45 or blues breaker and see if it sounds more like a plexi.

[@victorbeebe8372]

Aloha Johan! I went a large sell at a local music store about 20 years ago. I got the 1- 12 combo for $50. Unfortunately, it didn't last. I do still have it. Still use the speaker.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Aloha Victor! Hopefully it can be salvaged by the mod

[@victorbeebe8372]

@@JohanSegeborn I'm thinking of getting a chassis and building a simple older style Marshall at some point.

[@erikvaldur3334]

Always loved my JTM 60. Crunch channel is ok if I keep the gain down a bit n add a boost. Clean channel Is great and does a nice crunch with the gain pinned. 2 loops are great. Ran my delay in parallel. Very nice reverb with different levels for each channel. Nice. I swapped the EL 34s for KT 77s and absolutely loved the tone. Just couldn't use the tube cage as it didn't fit with the 77s in there. Bought a JTM 30 and it has less controls, only 1 loop but the gain is much more pleasant to my ears. I basically run it almost wide open with the band setting. Actually sold the 60 after using the 30 most of the time. Use that more than the JMP 50 watt 4 hole too. Ps. The speakers in those combos are Fantastic. Heritage I believe they are.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Erik! Yeah and some have Eminence speakers

[@erikvaldur3334]

@@JohanSegeborn oh wow. I've not seen that yet. Interesting. I have seen a few with vintage 30s someone changed out before selling. I thought of doing that with my JTM60 2 12 combo before I sold it but I decided to pass the amp on with those original speakers . Try a JTM30 if you get a chance. They have 6v6 power tubes. The gain is smoother, more natural sounding. Ha, I found mine for $325 barely used. 1. 12 combo. It still had the hang tag from the store on the handle. I got it from the original owner who played acoustic for a long time. He bought that amp brand new with a strat in the 90s and only played them for a week or so. He didn't like electric guitar but kept the guitar and amp for a few decades just incase he wanted to try em out again. He never did so he finally sold it. I got real lucky with that. Craigslist find

[@adamwatson6916]

How different are these from the JCM 600s ? I love the sound of the JCM 600s. I have heard guys get Killer 1975 era Live Jimmy Page tone with the JCM 600s Very Zeppelin at Earls Court 75 like tone

[@psychorock83]

It sounds good.i was thinking you should review the early 70 WEM dominator 50w 2x12 it is a monster very marshall sounding

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! I’ve done a 1x12 and a 2x10 but never a 2x12, I’ll look for one

[@DIGITZOOZ]

I have a clean marshall jcm tsl combo amp...can you give me some insight on this amp....thanks john

[@JohanSegeborn]

I actually haven’t a TSL on the channel yet. It’s about time I got one to do a demo

[@brozio77]

These Amos are Indeed good sounding, i like Also the colder of Channel that for metal Is not that bad. They have Indeed big overhating problems and they tend to burn out the output transformer. I ilke the sound but i never buy them for live using eventually only at home

[@ewanchalmers9498]

Curious to know why you always wear headphones. Ear protection?

[@wabbadu1]

It's like a Marshall with a VOX tone? Bet it cuts though in a mix easy. Very nice.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Yeah great stringy tone

[@BigTrouble324]

I had the JTM-30. Great sounding amp, but weak transformers. Mine started smoking heavily, then it died. Had to change the power transformer. After servicing I sold it.

[@fille6505]

Johan vill bara säga att jag blir häpnad av din kanal konstant, varje gång jag har en fråga och söker upp det på youtube så kommer du fram med en koncis, punktmässig video som är exakt vad jag letar för. Tusen tack för allt du gör!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Tackar! Gott att höra det!

[@wokeupthismorning]

Had the combo with 3 x10’s and just had a little fan behind it, cause they do get really really warm. Never really liked it with the 10’s and bit hard to trust it:)

[@michaelbrodsky]

Mine sounds exactly like Superlead/800 modelers, which proves that modelers are getting pretty good these days.

[@okiebob64]

I had the 612 combo and a matching 1x12 extension cabinet when they first were released. Sadly, I sold them because I thought I needed a JCM 2000 TSL 602.😢

[@BigTrouble324]

I did the exact same mistake.

[@user-tb9rw7dh2t]

👍👍

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks!

[@DIGITZOOZ]

Nice presentation of that jtm , very valuable insight. 《~¿~》 🎸

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks glad to hear it!

[@tonywissler5758]

Johan could plugin to a microwave oven and it would sound good. He has good hands

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Tony! Really glad to hear that!

[@goprepaid]

It’s a good idea. Bring in the micro waves

[@terohyvarinen4358]

I hava had a 30 and 60 watt combos. And even after modifications, did not like them. Especially the 30 watt version was somehow lifeless. But well, in this video, the apparatus rocks. Enough grunt to send the sound all the way to Vinga? (I don't know if that is the archipelago boat harbor. Just guessing.)

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! This was actually the Varberg archipelago. Cheers!

[@brianr76]

I’d wager any kind of tube Marshall could be made to sound great thru a cab w/ pulsonics in it 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@mrt7476]

No thanks, not for me. The overdriven sound is all over the place, woofy-sounding and unfocused. Maybe for someone in a hip lo-fi band 😉 Still, thanks for another great demo, Johan 👍

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! It’s indeed a loose amp, not suited for metal

[@stevieklaer9347]

I had one of these for a bit, unfortunately never got it working right and sold it to someone else.

[@Matte.u.k]

Who else upgrades their RCA reverb cables?

[@jace2u556]

Thanks for the demo, but definitely not my thing. Too much saturation and breakup. I'll stick to my JCM 900 model 4500. As they say, "to each their own"

[@JohanSegeborn]

Yeah both great but very different amps

[@wrongchordsrecords]

Perhaps they dont overheat in Gothenburg!

[@nycLPplayer]

$500* *till the release of this video Reverb just emailed all their listings to up the price.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Hahaha! Hope so, it deserves it

[@luckycharm4623]

I had the combo and it really could get some very nice tones but......reliability was horrible.

[@JBASH2011]

My combo's board literally spark3d out and caught on fire. They are cheap because they were extremely unreliable. The 600 series was supposed to fix everything but they also had the same issue and were discontinued quickly. It was a decent sounding amp, but no thanks.

[@Don_of_the_Dad]

I regret selling my JTM60 every day

[@i.m.22]

Not a bad amp but for 500 bucks there are better choices out there....

[@JohanSegeborn]

Which ones would you prefer?

[@i.m.22]

@@JohanSegeborn Used: JCM900 & JCM2000 DSL New: Bugera V22 (fantastic Amp!) An amp that I can also recommend (If you can find one!) is the Rocktile Angus GT-30. Its a 30W 2-Channel Head with 2 6l6s in the Power section. These amps are almost nowhere to find nowadays but I believe they where pretty cheap back then.....

[@121212Guitars]

Just so happens I’m getting this mod performed to a 2x12 version of the JTM60… kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHbQdoWAYtt8q5Isi=pto5G_YMaeCt_-l6

[@b1gnasty69]

If you buy this all, Expect it to stop working. The reliability issues are no joke.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Did you try the metal plate fix?

[@auntjenifer7774]

😂 I have had the same jcm600 head unit and played hundreds of 3+ hour shows over the 8+ years I've had mine and not even a hiccup ! Yes it gets warm but not so hot it burns up anything.

[@cchan11cc]

Go buy a B52 for $300. u get a poormans tube 100w mesa boogie. Get a 4 12 celestion cab with it

[@SlickWilly79]

Yeah, until the tubes give everything in there a nice broil

[@JohanSegeborn]

There is a simple mod for that actually

[@DMSProduktions]

MMmm idk, has a raspiness I am not liking! 🤔

[@Skoora]

Sold these in the 90’s. They’re OK, nothing great.

[@tides234]

garbage amp , avoid like the plague