Is the the JVM that bad???

[Coopster]

I've had the 210 for a couple of years now. I only play for fun but I wanted something I could also goof around with my drummer friend with, if the opportunity arose, but still be useable at lower volumes. I've found that bedroom volume is achievable but it becomes very dark and compressed to me and it's near impossible to dial out at those levels and it's fizzy. Doesn't mean it's not fun, just doesn't have that sound to it. Opened up though is a whole different story, the fizz goes away and it blooms. I always tell my buddies that the first time I actually cranked her up was like angels singing. Lol... I honestly like my Renegade better for low volume applications, but loud... JVM, no questions.

 

[squank]

My Satriani JVM is a keeper. I liked the original JVM as well but dig the differences on the Satch model.
I had it sitting next to a YJM for a year and recently sold the YJM. YJM head was great with the Yngwie Strat and nothing else IMO. It didn't like humbuckers into it or my stock Strats. I didn't like the way it handled OD/ dist pedals up front either.

The JVM Satch on the other hand I can dial in whatever I want. If I want to use whatever fuzz, od, distortion pedal, I can find a clean- crunch- high gain mode that compliments whatever pedal I want to use.

Guy put up a JVM JS A/B with a Friedman Brown Eye vid, and even though the JVM was dialed in like there was a tarp over the cab, I thought it sounded better. Put that other guy's JVM JS doing VH next to the Friedman and it's not even a contest.

Wow, that's quite an endorsement. I've been wanting to play a JVM JS since they were announced. This isn't helping my gas.

 

[Racerxrated]

I've had the 210 for a couple of years now. I only play for fun but I wanted something I could also goof around with my drummer friend with, if the opportunity arose, but still be useable at lower volumes. I've found that bedroom volume is achievable but it becomes very dark and compressed to me and it's near impossible to dial out at those levels and it's fizzy. Doesn't mean it's not fun, just doesn't have that sound to it. Opened up though is a whole different story, the fizz goes away and it blooms. I always tell my buddies that the first time I actually cranked her up was like angels singing. Lol... I honestly like my Renegade better for low volume applications, but loud... JVM, no questions.

That's the undeniable truth about Marshalls...they need to have some volume to get the goods..

 

[headlessdeadguy]

The other guitar player in my band has one and it's one of the best sounding amps I have ever heard. Must just be one of the good ones...

 

[PhloridaMan]

I had a 410 for about 5 months. It sounded fantastic but it wasn't the exact tone I was looking for. If I could have afforded to keep it AND get my next amp, I would have. I definitely recommend picking it up if you can for a good price.

 

[JTyson]

Have the 210H here right now and Im trying to dial in some sounds...so far it sounds like a high gain shrill buzzbox Tried a few settings and its a no go. Gonna pull it out of the chasis and see where the bias is at...

They are always set pretty cold from the factory, the one I had was set at 28mv. running them up around 37-39mv does warm them up quite a bit

 

[Charvel_King]

I have a 210H and have used it for coming up 3 years, I love it! I've tried dozens of amps out and owed a couple of others and I always go back to the JVM.

For it has everything I need in an amp and some extra features that you don't find on the most expensive boutique amps.

Two very good channels, great foodswitching, responsive controls, decent build quality (mines a Made in England if that makes a difference), top notch customer support, high quality reverb, second master, very good FX loop/s, MIDI... I could go on.

I would agree he voicing is a more towards the modern side, as said earlier in the thread the OD on the 210/205 heads is the OD2 on the 410. But I have no problem with that.

I mostly used the Clean Green channel and the OD Orange channel. The clean is fantastic! Especially with the reverb on! I think the OD is perfect for 80s hair stuff to modern ultra high gain metal. If you want less, the OD Green is killer too for classic rock/ACDC stuff. It's so easy to dial in good tones.

I don't really understand the complaints about the gain being un-usable. I personally don't see what that even means and don't find the amount of gain to be a problem.

Two friends of mine have used 205Hs for 6 or 7 years in a local metal band (Maiden, Priest type metal with a twist of Trivium and Dream Theater esque stuff). Every time I go see them, which is 90% of their shows, they have killer tone. They work great in a band setting, very defined and they cut very well in the mix. Plus they both have had zero issues with them. They've shared the stage with bands using Mesa, Bognor, Modded Marshalls, Blackstar, Laney, Axe FX... JVM wipes the floor with them all.

It’s a real boutique killer in my opinion. I think most people on here are put off by the Marshall name, as it isn’t expensive/rare/desirable. It's the bread and butter amp brand. Everyone has or has had a Marshall at some point.

Sure there are shortfalls on some modes and thinks people would like to change but it’s all a compromise. Giving the clean channel more bass or making it more plexi like or fender-ish would affect the other channels, I think the designer did a great job balancing all things as a whole. Let's not forget the same person went on to design the 5150III if I remember rightly.

 

[Charvel_King]

Have the 210H here right now and Im trying to dial in some sounds...so far it sounds like a high gain shrill buzzbox Tried a few settings and its a no go. Gonna pull it out of the chasis and see where the bias is at...

What are your settings?

I had no problem dialing mine in.

What speakers are you using with it?

 

[War Admiral]

Using V30s....trying every setting known to mankind got decent results on the clean crunch channel but cant dial out the high spike when I hit the high b and e strings. The overdrive channel has a high shrill even when you slide your hand over the strings unfretted. The tone is good other than that annoying grating sound lol
Might be a preamp tube....going in now to put some Mullards in from my other amp....

 

[War Admiral]

Have the 210H here right now and Im trying to dial in some sounds...so far it sounds like a high gain shrill buzzbox Tried a few settings and its a no go. Gonna pull it out of the chasis and see where the bias is at...

They are always set pretty cold from the factory, the one I had was set at 28mv. running them up around 37-39mv does warm them up quite a bit

Checked the bias and it was at 64 roughly aside....put it up to 76....

 

[War Admiral]

I gave up....Im playing a gig tomorrow and I will be using my Orange.....I really wanted to like this amp.

 

[Charvel_King]

I gave up....Im playing a gig tomorrow and I will be using my Orange.....I really wanted to like this amp.

Well, to my ears typically Orange amps are pretty dark and loose. Maybe you just aren't use to it.

Typically i have it set like this for V30s:

Clean/Crunch (Green

B: 8-10
M: 3-4
T: 5-7
Gain (which is just the volume control for this channel as the Pre-PIMV is not used To taste to get pure clean.

OD (Orange

B: 5-6
M: 7-8
T: 5-6
Gain: 5-6

Presence: 5-6
Resonance: 3-6 depending on how modern i want it to sound

That works for me.

 

[greenmosheen]

The other guitar player in my band has one and it's one of the best sounding amps I have ever heard. Must just be one of the good ones...

Not to mention your other guitar player is really sexy and funny and smart and cool.

 

[shane159]

They are really pretty good amps, other than that horrible hiss on the OD channels. Unless my gain was below noon, it was way too much noise for me. I installed a choke on one of mine and it helped, but after playing a Quick Rod, the JVM went bye bye. I had one with the Plexi mod and Negative Feedback mod also, and it was much better, but it still was uninspiring after the Splawn.