JCM900 Dual Reverbs are junk? I thought so too.

RJF

RJF

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I acquired an older JCM900 4500 through a deal and figured I'd just fix it up and pawn it off, since I figured it would sound like garbage like my last Dual Reverb that was a 4100 with 5881's in it.

But dang..... this little 50W kicks butt. It's a 1993 and had an original pair of "Marshall" brand EL34's in it, I swapped them out for a good pair of Winged C EL34's I had laying around, replaced a couple scratchy pots, and this thing sounds better than my two previous marshalls I've had, including a modded 2203. With a Maxon 808 in front it has the perfect thrash sound to it, in your face and very aggressive. I don't know what it is, if it's the EL34's, the small power section...or what, but it sounds good. Slayer in a box.

It makes me want to play with a JCM900 MK3, an SL-X, and a DSL. None of these have passed through my hands and now I'm super curious.
 

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I played through one for a few years. Our guitar player purchased the amp and hated it. I told him I would buy it from him. He told me I was stupid. I set it up with a Boss super overdrive pedal in front of it and had a Rocktron Intellifex in the effects loop and I put some chinese groove tubes preamp tubes in it. He didn't believe it was the same amp. The look on his face was priceless. I told him every amp has a little trick to it. That was several years ago and he still brings that up when I run into him once in a while. They are good amps. You just got to really push them and have the correct tube combo. Sounds like you got a winner !!!!!!
 
I have the SL-X and played plenty of DR's.
Not bad amps at all. The clean on the 900 is very useable and the gain with a boost can get quite heavy.
The MKIII and SL-X are focused on one Hot Lead channel.No verb,etc,all components dedicated too a single and versatile channel.
Had Jmp's,800's,etc.... and the SL-X is right up there imo.
 
I owned a 4500, too. Sold it. Wished I never done that.

This amp has THE band frequencies. Always cuts through the mix.
 
I got one when they first came out, mine came with 34's, and it was decent but not quite what I expected. I only had it 3 weeks and sent it to Todd Langner (voided the warranty :LOL: :LOL: ) and when it came back, I was absolutely floored by it :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:
It still works fine 30+ years later and is one of my go-to rhythm heads.
At that time, Todd was the mad scientist of the amp world :yes:
 
I had two 4500s in a stereo rig. Great amps. There are obviously better amps but bang for buck they do what they do as well as just about anything...
 
There's one of these for sale at my friends shop. I could buy it for $350.00. As hard as I try......I can not MAKE myself like it.
 
I will say, without a boost, it leaves a bit to be desired. Reminds me why I dumped my 4100 years ago. But back then I wasn't using boost pedals yet. With the Maxon, and new 34's, it's a screamer. I am probably going to start hunting for a Mk3 and SLX. Then I'll have a nice little JCM900 collection. Everybody wants an old Marshall collection, I'm going to be different and collect the "crappy" Marshalls. :yes:
 
Yeah the DR's can be had all day but the MKIII and SL-X are a bit tougher to find.
Worth hunting down imo.
The SL-X 2100 I have has 6l6 gc's and nos sylvania and brimar's.
It has more oomph and available gain than most of my previous Marshalls.
Hangs well with my Mesa MKIII and Laney GH50l.
 
I actually see SL-X's pretty often, say one about every 2 months. But, I'm fortunate and have access to one of the best CL's in the country.
 
I checked out a JCM900 dual reverb 4100 full stack yesterday that was for sale on craiglist here in the U.P.. I have to say I wasn't expecting much. To my surprise there is a lot of good sound to be had. It was new in 2002 and has 5881 output tubes. Sounded like a Marshall to me. One thing I noticed is it didn't have as much volume compared to any other 100w amp I've played through.
 
for me, its not that DR's are junk, its just that you can get a better bang for your buck. even if you have to drop a few more buck. SL:X's are definitely better, but i don't see them at all around here. my craigslist is terrible though. idiots wanting $400 for a MIM strat. :gethim:

i know of some people removing some of the opamps in the signal path, but i haven't done it myself. but i haven't ever owned a marshall for more than a few days, and it was a DSL50. i like the DSL50 way better than the DR though. but i use my splawns for that.
 
RJF":1nj1x9t7 said:
I actually see SL-X's pretty often, say one about every 2 months. But, I'm fortunate and have access to one of the best CL's in the country.
Click to expand...
:2thumbsup: :clap:
 
Well nevermind. The JCM900 went out the door last night. Now to patiently wait for an SLX or MK3 to pop up....
 
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