NAD! JCM800 2205 1986!

[byrdparis]

So it’s not so close as the 6 lot Marshall’s NAD we encountered a few days ago, but it’s still an happy day for me. I’m about a year now without any Marshall amp, after I sold my jvm410 and yjm100 and bought a mesa Mark V… instead.. And other amps as I go along…
I finally “Back” to the largest “rock family”.
A friend of mine brought a brand new!!! Jcm800 2205 model that dates - 1986! I mean brand new as a condition of course. I’ve never saw an amp so clean! Not to mentioned a 30~ year old one. All original! Except the tubes of course. Plug in and got to rip some riffs for a couple minutes today before I needed to take off to work! This amp is a beast!!!

Here what the first minute with him sounded like (sorry for the sloppy playing… I was floored ;-)
https://soundcloud.com/byrdparis/2205-open-box-demo

Il take some pictures for you in a while…

 

[Kelly]

Sounds cool. Theres one sitting in a local shop here, I'd love to have it.

 

[byrdparis]

thanks man!
you should grab it! an awesome amp!

 

[AndyK]

Amazing how in the late 80's, these amps were hated by most Marshall guys due to the diodes in the gain circuit.

Today, these 2205's have HUGE transformers, great build quality, and, with a pedal, can probably slay most modern Marshalls!

It's all relative!

 

[Anonymous]

How do you think they compare to the 2203/2204 ?

 

[AndyK]

How do you think they compare to the 2203/2204 ?

The 2203/4 will rip the 2205 to shreds, but won't have the higher gain that the 2205 has (thanks to NO diodes in the tone path).

 

[Anonymous]

How do you think they compare to the 2203/2204 ?

The 2203/4 will rip the 2205 to shreds, but won't have the higher gain that the 2205 has (thanks to NO diodes in the tone path).

Well I always hear the "rip to shreds" part, I'm just wondering why
The diode difference is one, there must be something else

BTW, why do I always see 2203/2204 modded?
Is the 2205 circuit harder to mod? Too costly? Not a "good enough" base for mods?

 

[byrdparis]

From my experience with several jcm800 (re issue In most) they didn't always sound best on their on own.
it seems they always needed kind of a push... also there doesn't had the right feel to them.
This 86 2205 - is more immediate! Punchy and high gain crunchy - if that logic in some way

 

[AndyK]

A good 2205 will sound great on it's own, with nicer crunch - if turned up loud. BUT, a similar watted 2204 will be louder and more punchy. The diodes in the gain channel of the 2205 thins out the sound a bit, compared to a pure tube 2204.

But, like I said, the 2203/4 amps are low to medium gain, not a crunchy as the 2205 (or the Jubilee series - also with diodes for gain).

 

[byrdparis]

I guess it's a compromise that one need to get
Anyway to see 80th jcm 800 around here (Israel) it's a rare thing. Mine came from Swiss... I've never saw like it before. It's full of re issues all around.. And some 70th Marshall stuff here and there. Not so much an p heaven

 

[AndyK]

I guess it's a compromise that one need to get
Anyway to see 80th jcm 800 around here (Israel) it's a rare thing. Mine came from Swiss... I've never saw like it before. It's full of re issues all around.. And some 70th Marshall stuff here and there. Not so much an p heaven

Nice how vintage Marshalls are all over the world! You mean from the 80's and 70's - not 80th and 70th, right?

 

[MississippiMetal]

How do you think they compare to the 2203/2204 ?

The 2203/4 will rip the 2205 to shreds, but won't have the higher gain that the 2205 has (thanks to NO diodes in the tone path).

Well I always hear the "rip to shreds" part, I'm just wondering why
The diode difference is one, there must be something else

BTW, why do I always see 2203/2204 modded?
Is the 2205 circuit harder to mod? Too costly? Not a "good enough" base for mods?

It's because most mod hacks didn't and still dont know what the hell they're looking at when they see a 2205/10 circuit. You can't mod what you don't understand.

The amount of diode clipping present in the 2205 is no more than what someone typically slams into the front end of a 2203/4.

If you want a more organic tone, snip D1. Leave the rest of the diodes in place.

 

[byrdparis]

I guess it's a compromise that one need to get
Anyway to see 80th jcm 800 around here (Israel) it's a rare thing. Mine came from Swiss... I've never saw like it before. It's full of re issues all around.. And some 70th Marshall stuff here and there. Not so much an p heaven

Nice how vintage Marshalls are all over the world! You mean from the 80's and 70's - not 80th and 70th, right?

ya, sorry for my sloppy english.