NAD - vintage one owner ‘80 2203 JMP halfstack

  • Thread starter Thread starter jdel77
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jdel77

jdel77

Well-known member
Check this out - original 1980 2203 head with the matching cab with G12-65’s.
One owner since it was new, the lovely old bloke is 74 and he’s babied it. Original tubes. I was hesitant to fire it up as it’s been in storage since 1994.
The chassis had never even been out of the head in its life until last night when I took it out to spray/lube the pots (bit of dust and noise).
It sounds fucking unreal, the filter caps are fine as it sounds fat and punchy and is practically MINT, ....and I got it for an incredibly reasonable price -

I love when this happens!

(The dude had some serious guitars too, a nice bunch of 50’s, 60’s and 70’s Gibsons and Fenders)...









 
THAT IS AMAZING!!!! Man, big congrats....ten years back I drove up to meet a retired Elvis impersonator, he was a huge hard rock fan and had a similar half stack but from 79...I missed out on the head but he sold me his mint checker G12 65 cab for 300 with cover. They've been my favorite speaker ever since...every amp I've thrown at them loves those 65s.
 
Racerxrated said:
THAT IS AMAZING!!!! Man, big congrats....ten years back I drove up to meet a retired Elvis impersonator, he was a huge hard rock fan and had a similar half stack but from 79...I missed out on the head but he sold me his mint checker G12 65 cab for 300 with cover. They've been my favorite speaker ever since...every amp I've thrown at them loves those 65s.
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Awesome, he had a checker cab but sold it last year. 65’s rule, they’re Marshall labelled too.
 
jdel77 said:
Awesome, he had a checker cab but sold it last year. 65’s rule, they’re Marshall labelled too.
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Yep, mine too...they're 3120 cones and a little brighter than the Celestion labels.
 
Wow, incredible score. The Gear Gods have smiled down upon thee.
 
Congrats! That is a score! Over 40 years later still one of the best sounding amps out there. Hit it with a good boost and few modded Marshall's (or other high gain amps made today) will sound as good. I've got a '79 JMP2203 myself. With the Klon it is something special
 
braintheory said:
Congrats! That is a score! Over 40 years later still one of the best sounding amps out there. Hit it with a good boost and few modded Marshall's (or other high gain amps made today) will sound as good. I've got a '79 JMP2203 myself. With the Klon it is something special
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Absolutely. The Klon circuit is my favourite boost for both Marshall’s and vintage Vox’s ?
 
jdel77 said:
Absolutely. The Klon circuit is my favourite boost for both Marshall’s and vintage Vox’s ?
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It’s my favorite boost by far for almost any amp really and I’ve had over 130 other boosts (a bunch of Klon clones/types in those 130+). It may be overpriced, but has sent packing more money worth in pedals than what I paid for it, although I admit I paid for it more than what I paid for my actual ‘79 JMP2203 haha, but still worth every penny for me
 
braintheory said:
It’s my favorite boost by far for almost any amp really and I’ve had over 130 other boosts (a bunch of Klon clones/types in those 130+). It may be overpriced, but has sent packing more money worth in pedals than what I paid for it, although I admit I paid for it more than what I paid for my actual ‘79 JMP2203 haha, but still worth every penny for me
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I know what you mean, I got my Silver Klon about 10 years ago - swapped a guy in Hawaii a Crowther Hotcake and a recent reissue TS9 for it.
Sold the Klon a couple years ago and it paid for 90% of a PRS CU24. I bought a Ceriatone Centura with the rest and I can’t tell the difference ?‍♂️
 
jdel77 said:
I know what you mean, I got my Silver Klon about 10 years ago - swapped a guy in Hawaii a Crowther Hotcake and a recent reissue TS9 for it.
Sold the Klon a couple years ago and it paid for 90% of a PRS CU24. I bought a Ceriatone Centura with the rest and I can’t tell the difference ?‍♂️
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I just sold a Double Hotcake recently. Another boost that’s great with the JMP is the Thorpy Heavy Water. Probably my 2nd favorite boost right now. From my experience a bunch of those Klon clones can sound close to the original, but every time I did direct AB comparisons I found the difference to be clear and just couldn’t live with any of the clones I’ve tried, even the red KTR reissue (which I wasn’t really too impressed with or the best Klone to my ears), but I know many others won’t feel the same as me on it. For me they captured the overall flavor, but not as organic or vocal like the real deal. The magic just wasn’t quite there for me
 
braintheory said:
I just sold a Double Hotcake recently. Another boost that’s great with the JMP is the Thorpy Heavy Water. Probably my 2nd favorite boost right now. From my experience a bunch of those Klon clones can sound close to the original, but every time I did direct AB comparisons I found the difference to be clear and just couldn’t live with any of the clones I’ve tried, even the red KTR reissue (which I wasn’t really too impressed with or the best Klone to my ears), but I know many others won’t feel the same as me on it. For me they captured the overall flavor, but not as organic or vocal like the real deal. The magic just wasn’t quite there for me
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Yeah I agree, something in the feel for me when the gain comes in on the original Centaur into a dirty amp. The clones don’t really cop the harmonics and richness that the original has for me.
 
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