Any guys here still playing a stock 2203

[Spaceboy]

Amps are amps, mods or not. Not a huge difference.
After a fatty and some booze the average concert goer has no idea what you're playing anyway.

The average concert-goer is getting a bastardized caricature of whatever tone we spend too much money and time working on. Between whatever garbage system the house has, and whatever goofball soundguy they hired for the night, none of this really matters if we're looking at it from the audience perspective. But for me, in the room writing music with the band, it matters a lot. I buy gear and obsess over tone because of how it inspires ME, not because of what I think the audience is going to hear.

 

[Briman24]

I have a 81 stock 2203. I boost it with sd-1. I also have an 82 4104 with g12-65 speakers in it and kt66's. Love both amps. More versatile than they get credit for.

 

[ZEN Amps]

I have a stock 2203, mid 80's, horizontal input and it slays. It was my clear favourite of the three 2203's I had at the time, despite many believing that the earlier ones are always better. Sold the two older models and learned a valuable lesson - they all need to be judged on their own merit.

 

[glip22]

Not all 800’s sound good either. This is probably why some are satisfied with a stock one and some aren’t. Probably 15% of the stock MV Marshalls I’ve had sounded killer 100% stock. The other ones were marginal and needed some minor mods to sound good. Component variances, component changes, hot shield inputs, etc, etc….will all change the outcome of a stock amp.

It seems the transformers were very inconsistent back then. Probably more hand work on them. The 89 I modded was good but not great. It worked out very well though for the mod. I have a red shell 85 that is one of the best JCM's I have had for whatever reasons. I won't mod it. I also have an 81 4 holer that was modded in the 80's. I ripped that out and put a different mod in since the tube hole was already there. Sounds killer.

 

[Racerxrated]

It seems the transformers were very inconsistent back then. Probably more hand work on them. The 89 I modded was good but not great. It worked out very well though for the mod. I have a red shell 85 that is one of the best JCM's I have had for whatever reasons. I won't mod it. I also have an 81 4 holer that was modded in the 80's. I ripped that out and put a different mod in since the tube hole was already there. Sounds killer.

The earlier up to 85 2203s had 6 can cap filtering...but it's said the filtering stayed the same just done differently when they reduced the actual can caps. The Vertical inputs also did not have the board mounted pots, so easier to work on. We can debate on how some 800s in the mid 80s and on sounded worse, but the only sure thing that I know of with the earlier one are the higher powered PTs. Every single 82-83 800 had PT voltage at or around 500v. Leading to IMO a tighter and more aggressive amp. I just picked up an 83 2205, for a little over a grand which is a good price these days. Lore would have it a terrible amp BUT you just have to know how to dial it. 507v on the plates, gotta dime the channel volume and gain and its actually more open/organic than the later 80s versions I had...no channel bleed, and the clean is MUCH better on this than the 87 2205 I had that was also killer. It has more gain than a 2203/4 but less than a later 80s version..but boosted it's perfect.
Not for everyone but these amps are favored by Schenker and Norum, who get pretty nice tones.

 

[Samhain]

The average concert-goer is getting a bastardized caricature of whatever tone we spend too much money and time working on. Between whatever garbage system the house has, and whatever goofball soundguy they hired for the night, none of this really matters if we're looking at it from the audience perspective. But for me, in the room writing music with the band, it matters a lot. I buy gear and obsess over tone because of how it inspires ME, not because of what I think the audience is going to hear.

Oh i get it. I am a tone chaser because i had to have that sound in my head, mostly the upper mid bark of Marshalls. But as time goes on and now im close to 60 the tone chasing has less meaning than the last 45 years and ive started selling off stuff.
I like making good deals with musicians who will use & play my old gear as it was meant to be rather than just hoarding it.
When it comes to playing if im not having fun and "inspired" it just doesn't have much meaning.
I do still get a thrill from a good guitar & amp and my wife won't let me get rid of everything nor do i want to at this point.
I find not much joy in playing shows to drunks anymore as the boomers [50's and up] that are still drinking & drugging like its 1970 are a hot mess and embarrassing to be around.
I do 75% of rehearsals with a Scholz Rockman X-100 and love it even tho its 39 years old.

 

[lespaul6]

jeez, I remember those rockmans as a kid.... I remember trying one out in the store with the walkman type headphones it came with. they made me sound like a rock star when compared to the peavey bandit amp I had lol

 

[UpInSmoke]

Still love and regularly play a 2204, sometimes boosted! Simple and sounds great.

 

[saxxamafone]

Amps are amps, mods or not. Not a huge difference.
After a fatty and some booze the average concert goer has no idea what you're playing anyway.

True true - but studio recording and being generally inspired to create are things were the small details can start to make a difference.

But yeah at gig, nobody cares if you're playing through a Diezel or a Dill Pickle

 

[saxxamafone]

The earlier up to 85 2203s had 6 can cap filtering...but it's said the filtering stayed the same just done differently when they reduced the actual can caps. The Vertical inputs also did not have the board mounted pots, so easier to work on. We can debate on how some 800s in the mid 80s and on sounded worse, but the only sure thing that I know of with the earlier one are the higher powered PTs. Every single 82-83 800 had PT voltage at or around 500v. Leading to IMO a tighter and more aggressive amp. I just picked up an 83 2205, for a little over a grand which is a good price these days. Lore would have it a terrible amp BUT you just have to know how to dial it. 507v on the plates, gotta dime the channel volume and gain and its actually more open/organic than the later 80s versions I had...no channel bleed, and the clean is MUCH better on this than the 87 2205 I had that was also killer. It has more gain than a 2203/4 but less than a later 80s version..but boosted it's perfect.
Not for everyone but these amps are favored by Schenker and Norum, who get pretty nice tones.

My 85' has 5 cans so must have been during the transition from 6 to 3.
The other difference is the pre-amp voltage... the earlier ones had less which (to my ears) delivers a nicer tone.
My tech reduced the voltage on mine for this reason.
I didn't know this was a thing until he told me.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Not all 800’s sound good either. This is probably why some are satisfied with a stock one and some aren’t. Probably 15% of the stock MV Marshalls I’ve had sounded killer 100% stock. The other ones were marginal and needed some minor mods to sound good. Component variances, component changes, hot shield inputs, etc, etc….will all change the outcome of a stock amp.

This is true but I bet half of those bad sounding ones would have sounded way better if they were turned up in the first place. I have a bit of a dog in my collection but turned up and goosed, she's a beauty.