My JCM 800 sounds like garbage. Any suggestions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter River City Studios
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Schaf: No worries just pointing out the ones I own now and at 47 and quite the gear whore I have owned a few of these. I have had a few turds. I wasn't joking about the Cameron really, I mean he is in Cali as is Mark and maybe he could bring it and leave with it? I know the guys name is mud around here but you can't take his skill with amps away from him. That 800 re-issue in my pics is one of his Jose LG/HG mods and it is beyond amazing. Just don't look inside. But that's a different story all together.
 
ibenhad":2kql8q4d said:
Schaf: No worries just pointing out the ones I own now and at 47 and quite the gear whore I have owned a few of these. I have had a few turds. I wasn't joking about the Cameron really, I mean he is in Cali as is Mark and maybe he could bring it and leave with it? I know the guys name is mud around here but you can't take his skill with amps away from him. That 800 re-issue in my pics is one of his Jose LG/HG mods and it is beyond amazing. Just don't look inside. But that's a different story all together.

lol. Yeah, I think his mods sound great. They are unique sounding too and that's something in the world of modded amps. Only thing is his reliabilty. Heck there's 2 for sale right now in the classifieds. I'd rather do that than send him an amp. Of course, the amp that the guy has now may be a little hard to sell given that he announced to the whole community that it sounds like shit. :lol: :LOL:

I have to say though, that Nic mod that Jerry does sounds bad ass.
 
At the very least, pop the chassis out and look at the the preamp and master volumes. Check for that bright cap and the 470k/470pf cap to the volume pot. Take pictures of just the two volumes. That won't break the bank on Trace's work. One leg of the bright cap might be lifted, maybe it is woofy and dark because of that. Check it out man! The original schematic won't be any good for the circuit if Trace re-worked it..
 
Sounds like the OP expected the amp to sound a certain way and isn't familiar with 800's.

I'd also ask what speakers and cabinet are you using with it.
 
Sounds like the OP expected the amp to sound a certain way and isn't familiar with 800's.

I'd also ask what speakers and cabinet are you using with it.
 
Just to close this out, I thought I should post an update. I took Steve's advice and called Trace. He made suggestions as to what might be causing the problem, which I relayed to my engineer buddy who was then able to fix my amp. There were a couple components (resistors, I believe) that became disconnected. He re-soldered them and now the amp sounds great. The components more than likely came loose in shipment. The amp sounds really good and is very usable now.

Someone in a previous post questioned me asking Voodoo to "return the amp to stock". What I meant was that I wanted them to reverse the "mods" the original owner had done before implementing the "Jose HG" mod, I.E. I wanted a JCM800 with the Jose HG mod, not a JCM800 with Jose HG mod AND the mods the previous owner did. This was explained to Trace before I sent him the amp and, apparently, he did what he was asked to do. In the end, Trace gave me what I asked for.

Again, I meant no disrespect to Trace or Voodoo. There is nothing convenient or easy about using guitar and amp techs that are 5,000 miles away from your location. That's my problem, not Trace's. Thanks for all the responses.
 
Glad you got it up and rockin'. Knew it had to be components inside as even though stock they can vary in sound, almost any jcm800 2203/04 is pretty good and is definitely not lacking in cut or brightness if you want it.
 
glad to read the problem has been solved. this just didnt make any sense. I have dealt with both Trace and Anthony in the past and I found it highly unlikely they would send you an amp back sounding like why you described.
 
Rezamatix":nij9mzv7 said:
And this folks. Is why I dont play Marshall.

That's ok. Not everyone can bring it.










:lol: :LOL: I joke, I joke.....
 
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