Jcm 900 q

[toejam]

Ah. I've still got my 8240 2x12 stereo chorus combo that I bought new in '92 or '93, and it's still going strong as my living room amp.

[Grandturk]

Ah. I've still got my 8240 2x12 stereo chorus combo that I bought new in '92 or '93, and it's still going strong as my living room amp.

Nice. A 12" really made these things sound good. I used to run this through my Peavy Bandit 112. The stock 10" is really spanky and tinny on the overdrive channel. Takes a POD really well through the clean channel, and or course, reacts well to pedals.

[roodyrocker]

Yeah, if I was playing Shea Stadium that would be a good option, but I need a master volume. I'd love to play through one of those eventually.

True, the volume is an issue for sure on this amp. I'm using a THD Hot Plate with mine but thinking of trying an Ultimate Attenuator although those are expensive. People claim the UA keeps the amp sounding best compared to other attenuators so eventually I'll try one.

[Braindead]

I own a JCM 900 sl-x running on 5881 tubes and i have no idea what some people are talking about regarding the jcm 900. A lot of people talk about the JCM 900 but really haven't got a clue what they are talking about. My sl-x is totally different from a jcm900 dual rev. The thing is smoking and if it's biased properly and you play it thru a v30 cab it's fucking heaven.
I did try a MKIII and numerous dual revs and the sl-x stands out big time. I dont like the duals as much as the sl-x but 's because i think for soloing it's a little thin sounding. Having that said, i don;t think they are bad at all. Te MK III is in between the two IMO. If you can, defn go for the sl-x on V30's

[Trussrod]

Way too many knobs - that's why I dig the 900.

I like the 900 too. You can get great distortion with a compressor and some equalization. Less gain in the preamp can make for less overall noise once you have the desired level of distortion dialed in from your other effects.

[dmnall]

OK - I'm very familiar with the Dual Reverb models, but limited otherwise.

I was checking out a 50W 2x12 combo today - non-reverb. Sounded awesome. It had the switchable master volumes - i.e. no clean channel. And was marked "Mark III."

Were the "Mark III" 900's essentially the same as the SL-X? I couldn't tell how many preamp tubes it had - the combo bracing was in the way. I know the SL-X had 4 and the Dual Reverbs had 3.

Anyway, seemed like a decent price - anyone have some history with these?

Well since I have had both a mk3 master volume and mk4 master volume *SL-X*.. The Mk3 and sl-x are very similar amps except the sl-x adds the extra preamp tube to achieve high gain where the mk3 is using a clipping diode to achieve high gain! The MK3s were 90 - 92 and SL-X 93 - 98 or 99 *whenever the 900 series were replaced by the jcm 2000 series*.

Now as for my opinion, the SL-X is the amp to get because it does have higher gain then both the mk3 and dual reverb heads, but the mk3 and dr can sound pretty close but it takes more.. The mk3 and dr needs a mxr 108 in the fx loop and a good o/d pedal like a tube screamer or modded boss sd1 pedal in front to achieve death metal and heavier music where as the sl-x just need a guitar plugged in and start playing.. I prefer the simplicity of the Master Volume Amps. I would say try to get a mk4 sl-x but the mk3 is not a bad sounding head, just needs a bit more to make it really sound great in my opinion where as the sl-x does not need the 10 band eq or the o/d pedal because it has plenty of gain on tap for what I want to play.

Braindead,
If you want to really make your SL-X stand out, have the final bias resistor changed and add some JJ E34L tubes and watch your amp turn into a real beast! I did this with my 94 sl-x and damn it is a beast with a roar and nice fat creamy distortion!

Cheers,
Charlie

[Grandturk]

Awesome - thanks for the compar-o.