New JMP 2203 and more

[Al Chapo]

Well, I got the amp on Christmas Eve, but I've been re-working some stuff and figured I'd wait til I got it all together. I traded a Suhr Alt T Pro to a stranger on the other side of the country for it. The shipping process was a mess, it involved washed out hiways and blizzards and took over 2 weeks for both items to arrive. The filter caps were replaced in '18, it is otherwise stock. This thing is downright nasty! I've been insanely busy lately but I managed to rattle the neighbourhood a few times. I'm psyched to bring it to practice, hopefully in the next few weeks.

I also picked up a Fryette ps2a, mostly to re-amp a 20W and add an fx loop. I didn't realize just how useful these things are! I tried running the Boss IR-2 through it now I find myself doing that more than using the amps.

I also got a Player II Jazzmaster, bcb-60 board and a Traynor 4x12 with V30s to tie me over til I get a Marshall straight cab with g12-65s lol. And to top it all off - an Earthquaker ZEQD pedal. It's a boost/OD/pre amp pedal based around an ef86 tube. I'm loving the pedal, I was hoping to run it as a pre into the ps2a but it seems the cab ir only functions thru headphones or XLR, and can't be defeated in headphone jack. No XLR input on the ps2a, so the ir-2 has to stay with it. Other than a few pedals, I should be set for a good while! 'Though I'm always ready for attempt 60 at loving a Gibson!

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

Hell ya. Congrats, man!

 

[Alpha Stryke]

Canada model no 16 ohm tap.

 

[Al Chapo]

Canada model no 16 ohm tap.

Yeah, 1980 mkii.

 

[dstroud]

nice!!

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

What a clean beast! Congrats!

 

[stephen sawall]

Just awesome

 

[Racerxrated]

Congrats!

I also have a 1980 2203. Might be the best of all the MV Marshalls I've had. Didn't need it, but at 1700 I couldn't pass it up.

 

[mixn4him]

Been modded a little but otherwise looks good..

 

[ZEN Amps]

Interested to know if there's also "Canadian" 8Ω cabs from the era.

 

[Al Chapo]

Been modded a little but otherwise looks good..

What's been modded on it? I'm no Marshall expert...

 

[fusedbrain]

Interested to know if there's also "Canadian" 8Ω cabs from the era.

Yes, as a matter of fact, there are.
Hard to find in Canada. Good luck south of the border.
They are JCM800 badged cabs, and have a tiny 8ohm sticker near the input jack.
Also note in the Canadian amps, on the fuse board RB, D1 and F3 are for the bias supply.
I've seen builders do be forced to do some stupid shit by the regulatory authorities over the years, but fusing the bias supply is def in the top 2.

edit: just wanted to clarify that removing the 16ohm tap and putting in all those fuses was NOT Marshall's idea.
They were forced to do it by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) to get the approval to sell the amps in Canada.
Apparently, some jackass with a pocket protector and too much time on his hands thought that all the different power circuits inside the amp needed their own fusing, and that there was just too much voltage available @ the 16 ohm tap so it had to go.
I guess he was worried someone might put the end of the speaker cable in their mouth instead of a speaker cab and get electrocuted or some shit.
I can't remember how long this shit lasted, but it eventually went away, and all us Canuks got our 16 ohm speaker jacks back.
None of this shit affects the sound of the amps, and given that there aren't all that many of them, some dudes will try to get a premium for the Canadian versions.
Other more decerning individuals will look at the lack of a 16 ohm output, and all them fuses, and say thanks but no thanks.
YMMV

 

[peterc52]

Here in Scandinavia/Denmark we have the same versions without 16 ohm tap. There’s also 8 ohm cabs as well which normally would be 16 ohm

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Looks super clean. What is the fuse board? Is that a Canadian thing? I don’t think mine has that. I also have an ‘80. I swear they must have pumped out more in 1980 than any other year. Seems everyone has an ‘80.

 

[BesaMoogie]

I rectently bought a scandinavian/canadian model here in Switzerland. Just made me wonder if this model was a thing here as well or if it was importet at some point. This came to my mind, as I do see a lot of old JCM800 8ohm cabs floating around here.

 

[Racerxrated]

Yes, as a matter of fact, there are.
Hard to find in Canada. Good luck south of the border.
They are JCM800 badged cabs, and have a tiny 8ohm sticker near the input jack.
Also note in the Canadian amps, on the fuse board RB, D1 and F3 are for the bias supply.
I've seen builders do be forced to do some stupid shit by the regulatory authorities over the years, but fusing the bias supply is def in the top 2.

edit: just wanted to clarify that removing the 16ohm tap and putting in all those fuses was NOT Marshall's idea.
They were forced to do it by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) to get the approval to sell the amps in Canada.
Apparently, some jackass with a pocket protector and too much time on his hands thought that all the different power circuits inside the amp needed their own fusing, and that there was just too much voltage available @ the 16 ohm tap so it had to go.
I guess he was worried someone might put the end of the speaker cable in their mouth instead of a speaker cab and get electrocuted or some shit.
I can't remember how long this shit lasted, but it eventually went away, and all us Canuks got our 16 ohm speaker jacks back.
None of this shit affects the sound of the amps, and given that there aren't all that many of them, some dudes will try to get a premium for the Canadian versions.
Other more decerning individuals will look at the lack of a 16 ohm output, and all them fuses, and say thanks but no thanks.
YMMV

Down here in 'Murica the only 8 ohm JCM 800 era cabs I've found are the first version Marshall Vintage cabs, starting in '87 with the Jubilee AV/BV cabs. After 87 the only way to ID these are by the back badge; where it would say AV/BV and listed at 280w. Front badge would still say JCM 800 Lead. The Vintage badges wouldn't start until 91 with the JCM 900 series.
These are very hard to find (800 era Vintage cabs) and you'd have an easier time scoring a Pulsonic cab pre 1974.

 

[mixn4him]

What's been modded on it? I'm no Marshall expert...

The first gain stage, that cap and extra resistor all in line is incorrect. There is a bypass cap on the v2 820r which is probably a .68 cap like you would do on a plexi. Those Yellow wires are not stock either. Now it may sound great, its easily reversible, to actual stock..

 

[fusedbrain]

The first gain stage, that cap and extra resistor all in line is incorrect. There is a bypass cap on the v2 820r which is probably a .68 cap like you would do on a plexi. Those Yellow wires are not stock either. Now it may sound great, its easily reversible, to actual stock..

On the first gain stage, I don't think they did anything other than change the cathode bypass cap. That big black bastard looks like a Solen cap, which is a high quality film cap. So other than whether the value is the stock .680uf or not, its a wash. The yellow wires going to the grid of v1a and v1b are shielded cable, so that's an improvement, and the added grid stopper on the tube socket is ok as well.
The bypass cap on v2a could sound ok depending on what the value is, but that will add a significant amount of gain over the stock configuration with no bypass cap.
If that's better than stock or not, is a subjective opinion.
Overall, most of the changes are improvements, and it would be trivial to remove anything you don't like.
Overall, I think the amp looks really good.