What do you guys like as a high gain JCM800?

Twilt said:
I love Greenies for classic rock and 80's hair metal(Zep, AC/DC, Priest, etc...).

But if you are aiming for a tighter, higher gain tone than that, a speaker change may do wonders.
Could save you a ton of cash too.

Someone else may chime in if this is something you are willing to entertain.
My speaker/cab experiences are rather limited so I will kindly yield to someone else to walk you down that slippery slope lol.
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My cab originally had V30s in it (the Mesa ones). I found them a little too harsh with the Mark IV. They sounded really good with the Friedman though. I found that Greenbacks have a more balanced tone than the V30, but maybe not quite as tight.
 
The Helios is nice, I had one for a few years and mostly liked it. But it does have a few WTF design choices. No grid stopper on V1, so it picks up radio stations quite easily. Half of one of the triodes is also unused, so there's a free gain stage there... so why Bogner chose to use clipping diodes instead of a tube gain stage is beyond me. I like diode clipping as much as the next guy, but a tube gain stage does sound better. A few other more technical things going on. For the most part, it sounds good though.
 
reignman454 said:
Again, to me, they seem more compressed and less chewy than my actual vintage marshalls.
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Appreciate your whole response, but I just wanted to focus on this little detail for now. I've never played a vintage Marshall, so is it normal for them to have a putty or chewy feel to them? I'm guessing that's what my Friedman is attempting? The DSL100 I owned for a long time, it definitely did not feel very chewy to me.
 
Twilt said:
OP, I've been down this road and wasted a lot of money chasing "The Marshall Tone" without buying a Marshall.

If you want Marshall tone, get a Marshall. It really is that simple.

By your description, and if you refuse to use a boost/od pedal, a JVM or modded JCM/JMP is what you're after.
But even those can greatly benefit from having some sort of dirt out front. Dont cut yourself off at the knees.
Some sort of dirt/boost in front of any amp is just plain fun! 😁

Marshalls have been around for decades.
Any given brand can have issues and/or duds. But should something go wrong with, say a JVM or JCM/JMP, they've been around for so long, any amp tech worth his/her salt should have you fixed up rather quickly.
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Appreciate this, and I agree that I should learn from others. I'm leaning towards just going back to Marshall in some form. I like to keep my SD-1 around just for fun, but it's not really my main sound.
 
BABMusic said:
Appreciate your whole response, but I just wanted to focus on this little detail for now. I've never played a vintage Marshall, so is it normal for them to have a putty or chewy feel to them? I'm guessing that's what my Friedman is attempting? The DSL100 I owned for a long time, it definitely did not feel very chewy to me.
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Yes and no. It's a sliding scale. A hot-rodded Marshall, if done right, will have a tight low-end that tracks fast. But it will still have a pleasant give when you dig in on the initial attack. When I think of "chewy", I think of a low-mid emphasis with a bit of compression—Bogner. Friedmans... I can't say I've played any that wowed me. They are on the more tame end of the spectrum, IMO. And I gravitate toward angrier, more aggressive, more pissed off tones. And a DSL isn't really in the same territory as a hot-rodded 1959 or 2203/2204.
 
BABMusic said:
Appreciate your whole response, but I just wanted to focus on this little detail for now. I've never played a vintage Marshall, so is it normal for them to have a putty or chewy feel to them? I'm guessing that's what my Friedman is attempting? The DSL100 I owned for a long time, it definitely did not feel very chewy to me.
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No problem buddy....

Most importantly, what are YOU playing? I typically resort to the Dokken, Ozzy, Whitesnake, Ratt, Journey, STYX, Van Halen, King Diamond etc... Bottom line, a lot of big, open chords and double stops...

Even newerish Marshalls IE DSL's (Actually a decent amp board issues aside) 1987X, Super Lead etc still have some of that chewiness compared to a tight, more compressed amp like a 5150, SLO, etc.

I'd bet you the DSL was biasd on the side of caution from the factory IE: Colder Bias, less chewy.. a tech can get more into that but typically, the chewier amps I've owned were always biasd on the hotter side. Modded Marshalls are a terrible example as I have Lee Jackson modded 800's that sound woofy and then a JMP he had a hand in that is absolutely Van Halen 1 in a box.

I'll stick with my original answer until I hear your music tastes.... When I was gigging alot, playing professionally a concern I always had was if my main amp goes down, 2 is 1 and 1 is none... I loved that the Quick Rod's were pretty available back then and I could likely jump onto a marketplace, guitar center etc and find one because they all were pretty close. Were some I owned better? Sure... Always preferred the older, pre 4th tube circuits if memory serves me, mine now is an 06'. When I thinned the heard, all the later ones were gone. Personal preferences but at least that would give you a good starting point.
 
FourT6and2 said:
The Helios is nice, I had one for a few years and mostly liked it. But it does have a few WTF design choices. No grid stopper on V1, so it picks up radio stations quite easily. Half of one of the triodes is also unused, so there's a free gain stage there... so why Bogner chose to use clipping diodes instead of a tube gain stage is beyond me. I like diode clipping as much as the next guy, but a tube gain stage does sound better. A few other more technical things going on. For the most part, it sounds good though.
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Man, I’m glad I don’t know what I don’t know. I’d be pissed off all of my amps! 😊
 
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