Marshall JCM 900 Hig Gain Master Volume MKIII opinions

[darkerknight]

Hi there,

I recently bought a JCM 900 master volume MKIII head (2100 model) with a 2x12 1936 marshall cabinet (with celestion G12T75 I think).
I practically bought this amp blind, because I was looking for a 5150/XXX head. I had about U$700 to buy an amp head and a cab, and my options were a bugera 6162/333xl or with a little luck a used peavey 5150/xxx.
I live in Venezuela, so I could't try the amps and try to make the deals trough some friends in the US.
All the peavey heads that I found were for about U$700 or more.
Looking for cabinets I crossed a guy with the 2x12 marshall and he offered me also the JCM900 head, all for U$700.
I decided to go for it, and now it is in miami waiting for the deliver to venezuela.
The amp and the cab looks in really good condition and very well taken care, almost like new.

I try to find info about this amp on the web, but I get mixed reviews, and there is little info about the 2100 MKIII. Some people says it is a gem, and other people says it is crap. There are others JCM 900, the dual reverb, and the SX-L, and for what it seems those are totally different amps.
I read that the circuit is identical to the JCM 800 2203/2204, but I hardly believe that.
This amp was made only from 1990 to 1992

Can please someone give me a review of this amp.

It was a good deal or this amps are crap?

Thanks and please excuse my english

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Not to worry, those are good sounding amps. I think you'll be very happy with it. $700 for the head and a 2x12 cabinet sounds like a nice price to me.

[markD]

don't sweat your english either. it is better than many native english speakers'!!

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Get a tube screamer or boss sd-1 and you have one awesome sounding rig.

[jgcable]

I agree. Great amp and cabinet combination.

[zeegler]

Yes, all the 900s are good, but different. I agree that you'll need an SD-1 or TS-9 to slam the front end, and an EQ pedal in the loop will make the amp 1000 times more versatile. The boost and EQ are pretty much essential for getting into modern high gain territory.

[darkerknight]

Yes, all the 900s are good, but different. I agree that you'll need an SD-1 or TS-9 to slam the front end, and an EQ pedal in the loop will make the amp 1000 times more versatile. The boost and EQ are pretty much essential for getting into modern high gain territory.

I have a digitech RP500 pedalboard.
It is my first tube amp and I wonder how the RP500 and the amp will match.
The head has an effect loop, but everybody tells me that this amps will need some pedal in the front end to boost up the gain and improve their tone.
I wonder if I should use the RP500 in pedalboard mode (like stompboxes) in the front end or through the effects loop?

[Twitch]

Ive had all three 100w head models. For my tastes, the SL-X was the only one that didnt need some gain mods to make smile ear to ear. The tone of all three models are great though. The Dual Reverb model is the most flexible though, as it has a clean channel.

[zeegler]

I have a digitech RP500 pedalboard.
It is my first tube amp and I wonder how the RP500 and the amp will match.
The head has an effect loop, but everybody tells me that this amps will need some pedal in the front end to boost up the gain and improve their tone.
I wonder if I should use the RP500 in pedalboard mode (like stompboxes) in the front end or through the effects loop?

It's hard to say, but the important thing is that the boost is in front, and the EQ is in the loop. Neither will do its job properly otherwise. That doesn't mean you couldn't use the RP500, but if you used it in front of the amp, you would still need a separate EQ in the loop. Let's face it though, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I find that this way works the best for me, gives me the most versatility, with the simplest set-up.