Best years for JCM800?

[Shawn Lutz]

Not true, i had an 1984 2204 that sounded just as good as my 1981 2204, they both had 6550's, the only difference was the 1984 had DI out.

As to the 80's marshalls either being good or bad, well either i have gotten really lucky and got two great ones, or there werent that many bad. In my own opinion tubes were not as good back then and that made a huge difference in the amps that sounded good and the amps that sounded bad. i think if you retube any 80's marshall it will sound great with an exception of a bad one here or there.

It is true but having said that...all Marshall's are not created equal even if they are from the same era, same model # and power section. I had a bunch of the 2204's and 2203's from 83-84 and no two were the same. They are inconsistent from my experience. I have no other Marshall experience other the JMP's and the 2203/2204's so I cant comment on the other ones...

[thebisch]

I agree with Marshall being inconsistant. They always have been and are still to this day! I was surprised to find that even a current DSL 50 can range from great to terrible.

[adrenaline junkie]

There's no difference whatsover between the early and later model 2204's. All they did was switch them from having flying leads to the pots, to having board mounted pots and jacks. That's it.

The 2203's only got changes in the filtering. They dropped from 6 to 5 cans, then later to 3, but I've heard they wired them differently, so that they used both sides of the 50/50 can, so they equal up to about the same. I don't know about that though, that's just what I've read.

Just like any of the amps Marshall has put out over time, I'm sure there were some component brand changes, that may have led to some different tones, but for the most part, other than the filtering in the 2203's and switching over to board mounted pots/jacks, they didn't change the 800's.

I've had both, early, late, and JMP's and still have quite a few, and one of the best sounding 2203's I've heard is the 79 that I have now while one of the best 2204's I've heard is a friends 86 2204. I think it all depends on the amp like some of you guys have been alluding too.

Some of the hype around the early ones has gotten a little like the hype around Plexi vs. Metal paneled Super leads. A Super Lead made in June of 69 is the exact same amp as a Super Lead made in August of 69, but it's worth 1000.00 more, and people will swear it sounds better all due to changing the front and back panels from Plexiglass to aluminum.