JVM Review

[Dreamland_Rebel]

got a chance to play through our cover band's set with a JVM. used a Keeley modded SD-1 to boost it on certain songs like RATT and Wasp. kept it off on the Judas Priest songs and Thin Lizzy.

Pro's - the tone was absolutely great. loud, bold, with sweet singing single notes. very organic sounding with no pedal. hifi sounding with the pedal.

Con's - halfway through the set the amp started poping and clicking like i had a bad cable. i know my cables are good so i put the amp on standby and checked the back. i noticed an active / bypass switch for the serial FX loop and it was in the active position. i switched it to bypass and hit standy by and went back to jamming with the band with no more issues.

conclusion. - one of the best sounding marshall's i've heard in a while, don't trust the new technology with all these switching options. if i had a choice between this 100w JVM and a JCM900, i'd take the 900. IMO the less push buttons on an amp... the better. there is just too much to go wrong on these newer designs. gimmie a good used 900 and an overdrive pedal and i'll still be sounding good 20 years from now. with only having to chang the powertubes every couple years.

[Fretburner]

"RE: CON'S"

Wow that's to bad. I have been gigging with mine for a year now doing a metal gig covering Maiden, Priest Dio etc...and have not had one problem. I'm sure I will have to replace tubes real soon though. I love mine. It's the best head I have ever owned sound and feature wise.

[jgcable]

Yep, the JVM is sweet but it doesn't have anything on a good tuned up JCM900 50w with a YJM308 slamming it in the front end. My JCM900 running Mullard's is the best sounding Marshall I have ever owned.

[Infernal Death]

The other guitar player of my band has a JVM and it's a great sounding amp. Too bad it already died two times so build quality really seems to be shit. I think the next time the amp is going wrong the other guitar player will through it out of the window

[slash-ed]

Maybe he should replace it with the EVH 5150 III...:ROTF:

[horns666]

That's too bad..it has the right kind of gain I dig. They should make a simple 2 channel version..clean/ultra. In my case a single channel would do..less shit to break...maybe.

[Infernal Death]

Maybe he should replace it with the EVH 5150 III...:ROTF:

Good idea, then he can through it out while it caught on fire I guess a burning while flying amp looks much cooler than a flying amp.
Flo

[Infernal Death]

That's too bad..it has the right kind of gain I dig. They should make a simple 2 channel version..clean/ultra. In my case a single channel would do..less shit to break...maybe.

Well there is a 2 channel version of the JVM, called the JVM 210/205 although i don't know which channels it got from JVM 410. On the other hand i don't think having only 2 channels will help the build quality of those amps.
The owner of the music store i regulary go to (and where the other guitar player bought his amp) has a JVM for his private use and he told me apart from a dead footswitch out of the box everything works fine and continues to do so.

Flo

[horns666]

Cool Flo..I'll check that out or try the JVM (again) and other amps next time I hit GC. That's all we have around here where I freely touch everything..

[Dreamland_Rebel]

you know, it might be just fine if you remember to keep the FX loop on bypass when not using it or the foot controller. but 40 mins into the set with the loop on the thing started acting up. bypassed the loop and it started working properly again.

[darrellm]

Dunno what the JVM's like, but if it's anything like my DSL50, it's a design fault.

The effects loop sockets are mounted directly onto the PCB, if the cables dangle down the back they pull on the sockets and the combination of strain and/or heat results in the connector disintegrating and/or coming away from the PCB.

I've had to replace mine fairly regularly - not any more though, the amp finally went pop a few months back, now switched to Engl

[shredmonster]

Glad I decided to go with a 6100 instead of the JVM.

[horns666]

Glad I decided to go with a 6100 instead of the JVM.

How ya gettin' along with it. It had just enoiugh amount of gain for me ath that time. I didn't require a stomp in front..how 'bout you? I may need to slam it now for the stuff I do..but I doubt it.