NAD - took the Chance on a 900

[Frigo89]

I decided to go try out a JCM 900, there was a 4500 for pretty cheap locally, so I said "what the hell, might as well go give it a shot, I can always say 'no thanks' if it sucks"

Well, it came home with me.

I'm not exactly sure what people gripes with them are exactly, aside from the dreaded Diode clipping, which is a crock of shit anyways. Transformer size? I don't give a FUCK what the size of that shit is on the inside, I don't see it when I play if the tone is there, good enough.

I am a little bummed, I was lined up to grab a 1989 2205 and a 1960A cab (I was gonna flip the cab, I HATE Celestion 75s), but it sold the day before I was able to make the trip to get it. Oh well, the 900 will do fine.



Running an old BOSS GE-7 in the loop sometimes for fun, sometimes not. Boosting it with an OD808 for leads, just because, and the tone is pretty good me thinks, certainly good enough for it to serve its purpose for me, which is as a backup for my H&K Switchblade (not that I expect it to fail, but its always good to have a plan B haha)

[BenoA]

I like those. They have bad rep on the internet but never understood why. I always thought it was user errors.

I played one a few times and always managed to make it sound good and cut through very easily. Receipe is easy: cranck it loud and user your favorite OD if you need more gain! Roll your volume off for a cleaner sound.

Congratz and rock on!!!

[Frigo89]

I remember reading a suggested settings thing on HC I believe, and it said "crank the bass, keep the mids above 5 and the treble not much higher then 3 and you're good", and that guideline seemed to work quite well

[dannyr]

The JCM900 gets a bad rap, but it's not a bad amp. I used to own one at one time. An overdrive in front, and an eq in the effects loop did wonders for the amp.

[rdamaral]

You don't "take a chance" with a 900. Play the shit out of it, it will kick ass. Nice amp. Grats

[zeegler]

Congrats! Looks in good shape.

Stick an SD-1 in front as a boost, an EQ in the loop with the level up, and the 4500 is a firebreather.

[BenoA]

Stick an SD-1 in front as a boost, an EQ in the loop with the level up, and the 4500 is a firebreather.

+1! But even with no EQ in the loop, you can rock this amp

[catzodellamarina]

We had one in our band and 5 years ago sold it to a kid on my street. I need to buy it back from him. It was not a bad amp. Like everyone here says, run something OD in front and that will kicks it in the ass. The other guitar player ran a ME-30 with it and played a LP. He always sounded like a lord.

[zeegler]

+1! But even with no EQ in the loop, you can rock this amp

Absolutely! However, the complaint some people have about the 900s, is that they aren't as loud and as big sounding as an 800. The EQ in the loop fixes that big time. I have my effect loop level pot relatively high to start with. On top of that, my Boss EQ pedal has a level control. I set this just half a notch above the centreline, and the amp is WAY louder than with the EQ disengaged. With the EQ set with a very mild, slightly bass heavy scoop (the midrange on the amp is at 12 o'clock), the amp sounds HUGE!!!

Here's a really quick clip I did a long time ago. This is just an SD-1 with the level on full, and the drive barely engaged, the EQ in the loop, and I believe I also had my ISP Decimator in the loop, but the 900 is a fairly quiet amp, so the Decimator isn't really necessary.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=7055632

It's funny that most people complain about the high end on these amps, but when I posted this on the HC forum, one dude said it was too muddy. You just can't fucking win can you?

[horns666]

Cool amps. Great tone is anyway possible. I love Marshall's diode clipping. I had the 4100, but liked the diode clipping and headroom of the last JCM 800 (2210) better. Better than slammin' it with any pedal of your choice. I've done that alot, we all did. But I like Marshall's all- in-one, pre-slammed Marshall factory tweaked diode tone better than any SD-1, TS-9, 808..etc. Actually those pedals seem to tighten up my Uberschall. But the Uber is nowhere near as tight as my 9200/JMP-1/JFX-1 rack.

Diode..oh sweet diodes, oh how I love thee. You make my penis feel all warm and tingly.

Good score man. But, I love the Tube Purists Elite that slam their boutiquities with all kinds of stupid shit ..just to sound like someone else that don't use any of that shit.

[horns666]

Zeegs..what up. I love you!

[zeegler]

Zeegs..what up. I love you!

I feel it brother, I feel it. It's kinda hard to sit sometimes.

I'm about to get my hands on a DSL100 to expand my small Marshall head collection to 2. I figure then I'll need a 2203, a JVM, a 6100, and an AFD100.

[Frigo89]

I feel it brother, I feel it. It's kinda hard to sit sometimes.

I'm about to get my hands on a DSL100 to expand my small Marshall head collection to 2. I figure then I'll need a 2203, a JVM, a 6100, and an AFD100.

I was gonna try to grab that 6100 that was in Toronto a little while back but the dude never got back to me.

I'll have to do a clip with the 900

[zeegler]

I was gonna try to grab that 6100 that was in Toronto a little while back but the dude never got back to me.

I'll have to do a clip with the 900

I've wanted one forever, but whenever I have available cash, I can't find one for a decent price. One day. Clips are always cool. Post up.

[horns666]

I bought a brand new a '92 Blue 6100. Very Nice amp...probably due to the diode clipping : ) I sold it to buy a new recto....what was a mistake. Recto..also diode clipping. hahaa.

I'm still in love with my rig. It sounds amazing at whisper levels, and the loudest amp I know. The coolest thing is the tone doesn't change when you crank it. So, what I tweak in at practive levels, stays the same at loud levels. It doesn't compress, honk, or change like most amps I've owned and heard. I prefer preamp distortion. I guess I have alot of head room with the 9200. 100 wt a side ran in stereo into 16 (4cabs) stock 75'. The only celestion I like better than the 75s are classic 80's. I HATE Vintage 30s, because the're nothing but mids...something ALL Marshalls don't lack. So, I like the trade-off.

But I heard both of your tone, playing samples and thought they were excellent. Honestly, it's not removed from the tones I go for. We prefer various gear but go for similar tones. It's ALL in our ears and hands. That's a very good thing! I wish I had Uli Roth's hands..but I'm stuck with my own.