Talk me in to/out of a Jubilee 100

bubucci said:
muddy and harsh at the same time, weird mids, personally don't understand the apeal of Jubilees. Old 2554 is good because Drake trannies and without diode clipping it is very JCM800-ish. 2555X are very cheap in EU but still I will choose cheaper DSL or JCM900.
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Sorry man but I’m gonna have to call user error, or something was wrong with yours.
A healthy, properly set up Jube is anything but muddy and harsh.
 
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I’ve got one ordered from here for $1078 shipped to the US. It’ll require a simple rewiring or a $50 step up transformer to operate at 110V, but at that price it was my moral obligation as a gear whore to hit it.

Jubes are great amps. A little darker, smoother, and lower mid voiced than a JMP/JCM, but still a killer and different Marshall flavor. They have much more available low end and go beast mode with a boost. With a Guptech Que-Bec in the loop they’ll get downright brutal. Extremely versatile amp.

https://www.musicstore.com/en_US/USD/Marshall-2555X-Silver-Jubilee-Reissue-Head/art-GIT0034252-000
 
itsgoodnow said:
I've owned 2 jubilees and playes a reissue. The best one I had was the last revision jubilee that was also used for the slash signature model. It was aggressive and more versatile than you would think. But, it is darker, rounder, with more gain. So it does not really sound like a marshall. The reissue I played sounded brighter and more cutting, and honestly more like a gainier 2203 than the original runs did. Could be a bias thing or a parts tolerance thing. Idk. Anyway, I liked the amp, but ultimately I liked the 2203 with a boost more because I like a more raw sizzly sound than a darker smoother one.
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Agreed. I never had much good stuff to AB with when I’ve tired the reissue jubilee’s, but I also remember them being brighter and grittier than what I remember of the 1987 2554 I had, so at least in isolation I liked the reissue more in that way. AB’ed with other stuff could definitely change my opinion though

At first I liked a lot the 1987 2554 I had, but then AB’ed with the 1979 JMP2203 I had, it came off comparatively smooth, tonally bland/homogeneous and less raw. I liked though its heavier, tighter low end, but then it paled still in that department vs the Wizard MTL I had, so I couldn’t find a reason to keep it
 
braintheory said:
Agreed. I never had much good stuff to AB with when I’ve tired the reissue jubilee’s, but I also remember them being brighter and grittier than what I remember of the 1987 2554 I had, so at least in isolation I liked the reissue more in that way. AB’ed with other stuff could definitely change my opinion though

At first I liked a lot the 1987 2554 I had, but then AB’ed with the 1979 JMP2203 I had, it came off comparatively smooth, tonally bland/homogeneous and less raw. I liked though its heavier, tighter low end, but then it paled still in that department vs the Wizard MTL I had, so I couldn’t find a reason to keep it
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Guy brought over a 50 watt combo one time. Hideous thing. Who the fuck plays combos? Jesus.

But he plugged into my 4x12 i was selling. And the sound was so good i almost kept the 4x12 and bought that fucking combo off of him.

There was nothing smooth about it. Maybe it had high plate voltage, maybe it was the original tubes. Idk
 
Probably the amp I gigged most with, over the last 10 yrs of playing out. They are great amps, and if anyone says they are 'thin' sounding then they are not setting it up correctly.
You HAVE to run the gain above 6, as well as either the Output Master or Lead Master above 6 as well. That is an absolute MUST. If you don't, you're kneecapping the amp from the start. It will only sound thin/less ballsy if you set any of those lower. The Jubilee also has, by far, the BEST EQ response of ANY Marshall, ever. They are darker than a superlead or 800 but can be dialed in bright enough. They are also the only Marshall that likes ANY version of a V30, as well as the usual suspects ie GBs, 65s, 75s.....

I've had 10 originals from 87-89, the best value are the black tolex versions from 88-89 since they will have the final preamp circuit revision that appeared around serial #3000 or so in 87. The earlier pre circuit amps are still great, but have a touch less gain and low end available.

I've had 1 2555x, and while I agree with Tiago in that the originals are better I found that the reissue is damn close in a direct A/B comparison, the 87 2555 I had won that contest at high volume with the vintage Dagnalls but not by much. The reissue is absolutely a killer amp. The Slash from 96 is also great and has even more low end than any other version.

The super cool thing about the reissue 2555x is, you can use any 2 pairs or quads of octal tubes you want in the power section. 2 EL34s with 2 6550s, 4 6L6, 2 KT88s with 2 6L6, KT90s, etc etc. THAT is a very cool thing and can really change your tone up however you want it.
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
Guy brought over a 50 watt combo one time. Hideous thing. Who the fuck plays combos? Jesus.

But he plugged into my 4x12 i was selling. And the sound was so good i almost kept the 4x12 and bought that fucking combo off of him.

There was nothing smooth about it. Maybe it had high plate voltage, maybe it was the original tubes. Idk
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My very first Jube was an 88 black tolex 2554. That was one of 4, 5 amps that I wish I hadn't sold. I figured I'd get another, which I did...but none of the Jubes I've had since can match that amp's tone. It was easily one of the best amps I've ever had. Paid 800 bucks for it too. Sold for 1800, but a year later I tried to buy it off the guy I sold it to. He passed.
 
Racerxrated said:
The super cool thing about the reissue 2555x is, you can use any 2 pairs or quads of octal tubes you want in the power section. 2 EL34s with 2 6550s, 4 6L6, 2 KT88s with 2 6L6, KT90s, etc etc. THAT is a very cool thing and can really change your tone up however you want it.
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I didn't know that. Very cool!
 
Thinking about it, the Mids were a bit strange. I copped Joe B's Jubilee settings when I got mine and left it alone. The Mids were at 2:00.
What I did notice, was when I dialed the Mids back a bit, I quickly set it back to 2:00. To me, it didn't sound right w/ the Mids less than 2:00.

As a Strat player, this is some of the sickest blues tone w/ a Strat I ever heard-

 
CarlF said:
Thinking about it, the Mids were a bit strange. I copped Joe B's Jubilee settings when I got mine and left it alone. The Mids were at 2:00.
What I did notice, was when I dialed the Mids back a bit, I quickly set it back to 2:00. To me, it didn't sound right w/ the Mids less than 2:00.

As a Strat player, this is some of the sickest blues tone w/ a Strat I ever heard-

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Thats awesome tone. I bet those people up front are thanking God for plexiglass!
 
motorboy1 said:
Had one, tried a few, harsh sounding. Much prefer my Splawn quickrod for Marshall type tones…
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If it were just the jubes on sale, i’d probably pull the trigger, but there are so many other amps, marshals-splawn-ceriatone- etc. around the same price point with more sounds
 
I’ve got a Jcm Slash. It’s cool but not my favorite Marshall

I like the 2204 and Jcm 2000 way more…the Jubs are a very different circuit. Cool amps but I thought I’d like mine more based on the online fame.
 
Jdub said:
I have had a few of the originals and the reissue. Every time I revisit the jubilee, I like it, particularly at first. It is a fun amp to play and is instantly pretty gratifying... but every time, I eventually conclude that my 800's sound better..
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Yeah same. I like the 2555X but there's something in the mids/upper mids that just isn't as satisfying as a good 1959 or 2203. Probably the clipping and weird tonestack.
 
flimz said:
Thanks everyone! It seems most people here dig the Jubilee. I would probably get a matching cab as well.

Do you think $1500 is a fair price for a mint used one about 3 yrs old?
Or just wait till someone has a new one in stock?
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$1500 f0r the 100 watt
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
Guy brought over a 50 watt combo one time. Hideous thing. Who the fuck plays combos? Jesus.

But he plugged into my 4x12 i was selling. And the sound was so good i almost kept the 4x12 and bought that fucking combo off of him.

There was nothing smooth about it. Maybe it had high plate voltage, maybe it was the original tubes. Idk
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Was it a vintage one or re-issue? In either case, it's about relative comparisons for me with smoothness. I found it smooth vs a good 1979 JMP2203. Vs most other amps it wouldn't be smooth, but I just cut to the chase and my opinions about amps are only about them compared to the good stuff as benchmarks. I don't care, for example, how they compare to say a Splawn or Friedman
 
ZEN Amps said:
Yeah same. I like the 2555X but there's something in the mids/upper mids that just isn't as satisfying as a good 1959 or 2203. Probably the clipping and weird tonestack.
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I find it's smoother/more tonally bland in those regions. For me tonal complexity is the most important factor in evaluating any given piece of gear
 
rsm said:
these prices are amazing, it's now or never. most other price reduced amps are out of stock. I paid more for my JVM410H and 1959HW last year, who knew the prices would go down even more!
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I would imagine luxury stuff like guitar amps are NOT selling so they have to try to move inventory somehow.
 
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