Trade my Vetta for a JVM?

[PowerTube]

I bought a Vetta II HD a few years ago. I "like" it, but I don't. Before that, I bought a used Flextone II and a LOVE it. In fact, I love it so much I recently bought another one and I might even get a third. To me, it's tone heaven. However, I want something that sounds good at louder volumes.

The Vetta? It has its good points, but...... no matter what I've done, it still somehow sounds lifeless. I can't really explain it. It doesn't sound "bad," but I find myself playing across the Flextone 100 times more often. I have two 4x12 cabs with the Vetta, one on each side of the room.

For years I said that Marshalls were overrated, even when I owned a JCM 800 2210. So I've been watching tons of video demos of the JVM410H lately, and I must say that it sounds killer. Le me add that I've never been a "tube snob" in the least.

I like an 80's shred type of tone; nice and beefy on the leads. I also like an amp to sound "organic." The Vetta will somewhat do that, but now the JVM is stuck in my head and I can't stop thinking about it. I tried one a few years ago and declined, but now I want to give it another shot. Naturally, my local GC doesn't have a single one in stock and none inbound, either. On their Used Gear site, they have some for about a grand or even less. I'll have to find a place to try one first.

So what do you guys think?

[bucketbrian45]

I would say buy the used one at GC because you could always return it if you don't like it. If I didn't like the Line 6 I would just sell it to fund another amp.

[PowerTube]

I would say buy the used one at GC because you could always return it if you don't like it. If I didn't like the Line 6 I would just sell it to fund another amp.

That's the thing; the GC return policy is great for situations like this. Most stores won't do that.

[bucketbrian45]

I would do it dude, what have you got to lose?

[DonP]

Le me add that I've never been a "tube snob" in the least.

Yeah sure. What's your handle? Oh yeah, PowerTube.

[PowerTube]

Yeah sure. What's your handle? Oh yeah, PowerTube.

Hmmm.... Can't believe I didn't make that connection.

Maybe my user name should have been Processor.

[lhrocker]

I had a few Vetta's and a couple of JVM410's. I still have the 410's. The Vetta is a great amp if you want everything in one package since you have built in FX. Add the floorboard and you've got super versatility that can duplicate most tones off a cd. Great for a cover band. The JVM is super organic and gets every single Marshall tone. You can order a JVM used from any GC, have it shipped and return it to your local GC if you don't like it. Think of the shipping, which you probably won't get back, as a rental fee to check out the amp for a month.

[PowerTube]

I had a few Vetta's and a couple of JVM410's. I still have the 410's. The Vetta is a great amp if you want everything in one package since you have built in FX. Add the floorboard and you've got super versatility that can duplicate most tones off a cd. Great for a cover band. The JVM is super organic and gets every single Marshall tone. You can order a JVM used from any GC, have it shipped and return it to your local GC if you don't like it. Think of the shipping, which you probably won't get back, as a rental fee to check out the amp for a month.

That's what I'm thinking. I can get the head for under $1000.00 and I can pick up a 1960A cab for $350.00-ish. If I don't like the rig I can just return them.

I'm also wondering what the JVM might sound like across my Line 6 4x12's.

Why did you decide to lose the Vetta's?

[PowerTube]

After watching a few more demos, I'm now also interested in the JCM 2000 TSL, in either 100 watts or 60.

[chrisolson]

The TSL is NOT one of Marshall's finest. The DSL is definitely better...and likely cheaper. That said, I thought the JVM killed both.

[lhrocker]

^^^^^^^

Definitely what Chris said. The Vetta was cool, but with so many options for tweaking, you get caught up in dial twisting rather than playing. I actually prefer my Spidervalve 2 to the Vetta. Much more organic.

[DRM]

The JVM is the king of Marshalls.

[PowerTube]

Considering that used Vetta heads are selling for about $550.00-ish at GC, that tells me that they would give me around $250.00 to $275.00 in trade. So, it looks like I'll just keep the Vetta. There's no way I could let it go for that because I still like it a lot.

But I can't stop thinking about Marshalls and the JVM in particular. In the videos I've seen, the JVM's sounds were incredible on both overdrive and clean. Naturally, my local GC isn't stocking any and neither is anyone else around here, so I'll have to use the "buy it, try it, with a return option" through GC.

When I had my JCM 800 2210, I loved the sound *WITH* a Metal Zone and GE-7 ran inline. The hiss was very annoying this way but the tone was really sweet. The clean sound sucked donkey balls no matter what I did with it. The JVM seems to have some nice cleans onboard.

I'm hearing that the JVM is very hissy on higher overdrive settings. I can't imagine it being any worse than what I had before.

[PowerTube]

The Vetta was cool, but with so many options for tweaking, you get caught up in dial twisting rather than playing.

Yeah, I've done that. It can be loads of fun at times to sit down in front of it and just play with settings for an hour or so, and I still find myself adding new presets by doing this and coming up with names for them, or revisiting others I was experimenting with before.

[Big Al]

I recently got a JVM410 and have been really happy with it. Lots of features and it also works well for a low volume practice amp. Gain for days, nice crunch channel, good cleans and two master volumes to choose from. Lots of mods if you find something about it you would like to tweak. If you buy one used, it is hard to beat what you get compared to the price.
The only drawback is there is some noise to deal with. Everyone says that this is expected from a high gain amp but I think the JVM has more noise at stage volumes than most amps. I use a Decimator G-String in the loop but it is activated by the guitar signal up front and it works great. Hard to tell the amp is on when using the G-String. You could get the JS model with built in noise gates and not have to worry about the noise.