MGSchindel
New member
I acquired a Marshall Silver Jubilee 25/50 Model 2555 head many moons ago, in the late 80's, and later a matching Silver Jubilee model 2551B 300w bottom 4x12 cab for the head. I have owned this rig ever since, as part of my amp collection. Note that the Jubilee cab was the standard version loaded with G12T-75s. I almost sold this little rig a few times, but am now glad I did not, based on a recent, suprising little discovery that should have been totally obvious to me from day one.
I have used stock and modded 1970's and 1980's Marshall JMP 2203 and JCM800 2203 100w amps since long before acquiring the 2555 half stack, and continued to use them for metal and heavy rock gigs, long after, usually with just a tube screamer or sd-1 out front, with an NS-2 to settle down the noise. I used the 2555 to gig a bit, early on, and made good use of its effects loop, but didn't quite dig the rig enough. The 2203's just sounded bigger, more raw, bolder, fatter, punchier, more crushing, less compressed, less scooped, less dark, less fizzy, smoother etc., than the 2555.
In the 80's and early 90's I used my 2203 heads with four Marshall standard 300w 1960B cabs loaded with G12T-75 speakers, for many years. The 2203 amps liked those speakers for the heavy stuff back in the day, and I had ways around the harsh top end when it was time for leads. I had other cabs loaded with greenbacks, blackbacks and G12-65s for my personal enjoyment, but didn't wanna beat up and/or blow them out for loud, heavily distorted gigs or practices. The 75's were cheap and common and had a heavy sound well-suited to the 2203 for what I needed at the time, and mine were really well broken in. The amp and speaker were voiced for one another, as well. I had even tried the 2203 rig a bunch of times with V30s but just found them kinda unpleasant, spikey, and too full of filler sizzle and chesty mids for the 2203 amps, which were not really voiced originally for the V30, but can work with them for some folks. YMMV.
The 2555 was always a minor frustration to me. In light of my monster 2203 rig, it never sounded quite "right," especially with its own matching silver 300w 2551B cab.
Why was the 25/50 anniversary model a step down sonically, in my mind, from the standard 2203, I always wondered, as I would listen to its slightly fizzy extra filler in the gain, thinner lead tone, weird overly scooped and compressed mids, and funky lows. What was going on here?
Why was this amp both oddly dark, and slightly brittle and fizzy in the treble, at the same time? Why were my eq settings so odd, and never quite right? This was even the case when the clipping diodes were disengaged (the pull rhythm clip circuit was off) and I was just running it with straight tube preamp gain. For my 25w greenback/blackback cabs, G12H30 cabs, G12-65 cabs, and all my G12T-75 cabs, especially the Jubilee's own matching 300w cab, the eq just seemed WRONGLY SUITED to these speakers, albeit some certainly sounded better than others. Especially the mids seemed way wrong, too nasty when turned up too far, too dark and weirdly compressed if you turned the knob down too far. Treble was just scratchy, too.
I was recently discussing the Jubilee circuit with a noteworthy amp tech whom mentioned to me that the Silver Jubilee had started with the 2203 circuit and power section, then was considerably tweaked from there to add a host of features (more gain, optional clipping circuit, passive loop, channel switching, etc). More importantly, however, Marshall wanted an "ultimate" silver anniversary amp to introduce for their 25/50 anniversary, in silver trim and grey tolex, that would also match the voicing of celestion's exciting and newly developed "Vintage" high output speaker for Marshall, intended to be a high power mix of an alnico speaker and a G12H30, sonically. Now more commonly known as the V30, the Marshall "Vintage" was and still is an OEM Marshall-only speaker developed in about 1986 and really rolled out for and with the Jubilee amps, among a few others.
Hence, and to the point, I am advised the eq range on the 2555 head is vastly different from the 2203, not to be more "flexible" as some speculate, but BECAUSE the entire tone circuit of the 25/50 amps was modified to suit the low end, midrange, and treble frequencies and overall voicing of.......the bloody "Vintage" speaker! Just like the dark and misunderstood Bogner XTC 101B was revoiced from the Bogner 100B, to match the bright V30s Bogner had switched to.
Unfortunately, Marshall sold the Jubilee cabs with Vintages only as a pricey "upgrade option", as the 2551av/bv model. The standard Silver Jubilee 2551A/B cabs, unfortunately, all came with one of two speakers...either 1) the G12M-70s (with thin treble and limited bass, which almost everyone seems to hate) in a 280w labeled cab, or 2) the G12T-75s (with scooped mids and slightly harsh highs, but big bass, which metal guys like but vintage guys hate) in a 300w labeled cab.
Having not been a big fan of V30s over the last 20 years with my 2203s, I never owned any in a 4x12 for any real length of time, and had never even thought to plug the Jubilee into them. But I recently acquired a bunch of V30s of all different models to test in the studio for recording, and to shoot out against each other.
I rushed off and plugged my Jubilee 2555 head into one of my Bogner 4x12 cabs loaded with a certain model of English V30s, and I cannot believe my ears! Wow do I feel like a dope! ALL THE TONE KNOBS WORK, AND DO WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO! I can use the presence knob. I can actually push the mids up and it sounds smooth and rich. The amp no longer sounds dark and congested. What sounds like a fatiguing and ugly mid spike from the V30 with my 2203s perfectly fills in the weird, scooped mids of the Jubilee's dark eq, making the big fat punchy warm mids that were always missing. The Jubilee's ugly, fizzy treble is now perfectly rolled off by the rolled-of top end of the V30s, so the lead tone is now warm, smooth and thick, with nice attack and sag. The 2555's odd, thuddy low end and lack of low mids is now tight and properly eq'ed to match the low end roll-off, and bumped-up low mids, of the V30s. And the amp is now way louder, way more cutting, less fatiguing, and way more fluid with the higher-efficiency V30s. Wow what a roaring rhythm sound, and excellent lead tone!
Using the Jubilee circuit with its properly matched V30 speakers is like a key fitting precisely into a lock. Everything falls right into place. It's finally like coming home, and is the tone I've always wanted from that amp!
It's not about V30s or G12M-70's or G12T-75s being good or bad speakers, it's about the amp designer matching the amp's eq's frequencies to work precisely and ideally with the chosen speaker that they DESIGNED THE AMP AROUND.
Shame on Marshall for voicing the Jubilee specifically for Vintages, and then selling most of these amps and cabs with G12M-70's or G12T-75s, as a downgrade. While it can work fine with the 70's or 75's, and is just OK sounding (maybe), the V30's DESTROY IN THIS AMP. It sounds BEAUTIFUL. I can't even believe I'm writing that!!!! I've been known all these years to really dislike and even openly hate on V30s with many amps. I'm pleasantly shocked. Everything I disliked about V30s with my other marshalls is completely the opposite with the Jubilee.
Folks, if you have/had a Jubilee and don't/didn't understand the hype, try plugging one into some V30's, crank up, and be blown away. This amp kills it, and sounds amazing! Bye bye, tweaking frustrations! If you have a Jubilee combo amp or cabinet you don't really like, LOOK inside at what's printed on the speakers, and see what you're actually playing through!
Sorry for the small book! Cheers!
I have used stock and modded 1970's and 1980's Marshall JMP 2203 and JCM800 2203 100w amps since long before acquiring the 2555 half stack, and continued to use them for metal and heavy rock gigs, long after, usually with just a tube screamer or sd-1 out front, with an NS-2 to settle down the noise. I used the 2555 to gig a bit, early on, and made good use of its effects loop, but didn't quite dig the rig enough. The 2203's just sounded bigger, more raw, bolder, fatter, punchier, more crushing, less compressed, less scooped, less dark, less fizzy, smoother etc., than the 2555.
In the 80's and early 90's I used my 2203 heads with four Marshall standard 300w 1960B cabs loaded with G12T-75 speakers, for many years. The 2203 amps liked those speakers for the heavy stuff back in the day, and I had ways around the harsh top end when it was time for leads. I had other cabs loaded with greenbacks, blackbacks and G12-65s for my personal enjoyment, but didn't wanna beat up and/or blow them out for loud, heavily distorted gigs or practices. The 75's were cheap and common and had a heavy sound well-suited to the 2203 for what I needed at the time, and mine were really well broken in. The amp and speaker were voiced for one another, as well. I had even tried the 2203 rig a bunch of times with V30s but just found them kinda unpleasant, spikey, and too full of filler sizzle and chesty mids for the 2203 amps, which were not really voiced originally for the V30, but can work with them for some folks. YMMV.
The 2555 was always a minor frustration to me. In light of my monster 2203 rig, it never sounded quite "right," especially with its own matching silver 300w 2551B cab.
Why was the 25/50 anniversary model a step down sonically, in my mind, from the standard 2203, I always wondered, as I would listen to its slightly fizzy extra filler in the gain, thinner lead tone, weird overly scooped and compressed mids, and funky lows. What was going on here?
Why was this amp both oddly dark, and slightly brittle and fizzy in the treble, at the same time? Why were my eq settings so odd, and never quite right? This was even the case when the clipping diodes were disengaged (the pull rhythm clip circuit was off) and I was just running it with straight tube preamp gain. For my 25w greenback/blackback cabs, G12H30 cabs, G12-65 cabs, and all my G12T-75 cabs, especially the Jubilee's own matching 300w cab, the eq just seemed WRONGLY SUITED to these speakers, albeit some certainly sounded better than others. Especially the mids seemed way wrong, too nasty when turned up too far, too dark and weirdly compressed if you turned the knob down too far. Treble was just scratchy, too.
I was recently discussing the Jubilee circuit with a noteworthy amp tech whom mentioned to me that the Silver Jubilee had started with the 2203 circuit and power section, then was considerably tweaked from there to add a host of features (more gain, optional clipping circuit, passive loop, channel switching, etc). More importantly, however, Marshall wanted an "ultimate" silver anniversary amp to introduce for their 25/50 anniversary, in silver trim and grey tolex, that would also match the voicing of celestion's exciting and newly developed "Vintage" high output speaker for Marshall, intended to be a high power mix of an alnico speaker and a G12H30, sonically. Now more commonly known as the V30, the Marshall "Vintage" was and still is an OEM Marshall-only speaker developed in about 1986 and really rolled out for and with the Jubilee amps, among a few others.
Hence, and to the point, I am advised the eq range on the 2555 head is vastly different from the 2203, not to be more "flexible" as some speculate, but BECAUSE the entire tone circuit of the 25/50 amps was modified to suit the low end, midrange, and treble frequencies and overall voicing of.......the bloody "Vintage" speaker! Just like the dark and misunderstood Bogner XTC 101B was revoiced from the Bogner 100B, to match the bright V30s Bogner had switched to.
Unfortunately, Marshall sold the Jubilee cabs with Vintages only as a pricey "upgrade option", as the 2551av/bv model. The standard Silver Jubilee 2551A/B cabs, unfortunately, all came with one of two speakers...either 1) the G12M-70s (with thin treble and limited bass, which almost everyone seems to hate) in a 280w labeled cab, or 2) the G12T-75s (with scooped mids and slightly harsh highs, but big bass, which metal guys like but vintage guys hate) in a 300w labeled cab.
Having not been a big fan of V30s over the last 20 years with my 2203s, I never owned any in a 4x12 for any real length of time, and had never even thought to plug the Jubilee into them. But I recently acquired a bunch of V30s of all different models to test in the studio for recording, and to shoot out against each other.
I rushed off and plugged my Jubilee 2555 head into one of my Bogner 4x12 cabs loaded with a certain model of English V30s, and I cannot believe my ears! Wow do I feel like a dope! ALL THE TONE KNOBS WORK, AND DO WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO! I can use the presence knob. I can actually push the mids up and it sounds smooth and rich. The amp no longer sounds dark and congested. What sounds like a fatiguing and ugly mid spike from the V30 with my 2203s perfectly fills in the weird, scooped mids of the Jubilee's dark eq, making the big fat punchy warm mids that were always missing. The Jubilee's ugly, fizzy treble is now perfectly rolled off by the rolled-of top end of the V30s, so the lead tone is now warm, smooth and thick, with nice attack and sag. The 2555's odd, thuddy low end and lack of low mids is now tight and properly eq'ed to match the low end roll-off, and bumped-up low mids, of the V30s. And the amp is now way louder, way more cutting, less fatiguing, and way more fluid with the higher-efficiency V30s. Wow what a roaring rhythm sound, and excellent lead tone!
Using the Jubilee circuit with its properly matched V30 speakers is like a key fitting precisely into a lock. Everything falls right into place. It's finally like coming home, and is the tone I've always wanted from that amp!
It's not about V30s or G12M-70's or G12T-75s being good or bad speakers, it's about the amp designer matching the amp's eq's frequencies to work precisely and ideally with the chosen speaker that they DESIGNED THE AMP AROUND.
Shame on Marshall for voicing the Jubilee specifically for Vintages, and then selling most of these amps and cabs with G12M-70's or G12T-75s, as a downgrade. While it can work fine with the 70's or 75's, and is just OK sounding (maybe), the V30's DESTROY IN THIS AMP. It sounds BEAUTIFUL. I can't even believe I'm writing that!!!! I've been known all these years to really dislike and even openly hate on V30s with many amps. I'm pleasantly shocked. Everything I disliked about V30s with my other marshalls is completely the opposite with the Jubilee.
Folks, if you have/had a Jubilee and don't/didn't understand the hype, try plugging one into some V30's, crank up, and be blown away. This amp kills it, and sounds amazing! Bye bye, tweaking frustrations! If you have a Jubilee combo amp or cabinet you don't really like, LOOK inside at what's printed on the speakers, and see what you're actually playing through!
Sorry for the small book! Cheers!
