Late 60s early 70s Marshall JMP

What's Hot
BachBach Frets: 11
Hello all,
I'm wondering what will be the price range for these amps and if they are scarce or pretty easy to find in UK. I'm from Romania, always a fan of the 72 jmp since the start, i've started playing the guitar inspired by Yngwie and always wanted a 72 jmp a d of course an early 70s strat. The strat is on the way, it's a late 70s but i hope it's a keeper, now I need to find the amp for it. I had a 75 jmp 50 and a 76 super bass in the past and I will forever regret selling them. 
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    Not that rare, but the difficult problem is that many, or possibly most, have been badly repaired/modified/hacked/de-modified to one extent or another over the years. Even if completely original and in good condition, they will have issues including the electrolytic caps (including bias and cathode caps) replacing, voltage and impedance selectors (unreliable and the voltage selector is questionable for safety), Bulgin power socket/cable (dangerous and illegal now), and often no screen resistors (not fitted in the early 70s). All these things need to be fixed to make the amp reliable and safe, plus any other necessary repairs (broken brass mounting screws are common). So it's hard to put a value on any particular amp without knowing what work it might need, or if it has been done, how well...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GoldenEraGuitarsGoldenEraGuitars Frets: 8820
    tFB Trader
    @bach the last time I looked (when I was selling my 79 JMP) I found that anything post 76 was around £750-1200 and anything pre mid 70s jumped up to a few thousand quite easily. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • crispycrispy Frets: 12
    How close is the current product SV20H to these in sound/circuit?
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • crispycrispy Frets: 12
    ... or nearest current production from any other brand/maker? Love the sound of metal face JMP 50 but real vintage ones seem like a scary purchase.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    You could just get a 1987x reissue - very close sounding to an early-70s metal-panel JMP, actually closer than the late-60s plexi it’s meant to be.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • crispycrispy Frets: 12
    Thanks I should look at the 1987x again, last time I played one I found it a bit chesty/thumpy which might be correct and how they should be but it's difficult to know without more experience. A pity there aren't more amps made to achieve variations on this type of Marshall tone, it seems brightness is out of fashion. I tried a Boogie Stiletto but it was missing some actual mids to my ears and had even more low end. That's why I've been interested in the SV20H but maybe that one is a bust .... anyone tried it?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BachBach Frets: 11
    @crispy have you tried the od1 orange channel on jvm410h, that channel is quite bright, in a good way, marshall high midds. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • crispycrispy Frets: 12
    @Bach thanks I will check that out, I liked a lot about the regular DSL50 but not quite 'there', perhaps the Vintage Modern is a bit closer then.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    crispy said:
    @Bach thanks I will check that out, I liked a lot about the regular DSL50 but not quite 'there', perhaps the Vintage Modern is a bit closer then.
    Avoid... they're poorly designed and unreliable.

    The SV20H is a good amp - it does sound very like an old JMP50, although with a bit less bottom end (which sounds like you would like it) and more compressed when pushed hard which gives the impression of more gain, although I don't think it really does have. It works perfectly for that old-school classic-rock sound with a guitar straight in. I found it didn't have enough headroom or depth to handle being driven with heavy fuzz and distortion pedals at band volume though - it became overly squashy-sounding and with a harsh upper-mid frequency which dominated everything.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • crispycrispy Frets: 12
    Thank you that's interesting, less bass emphasis while retaining the JMP MkII character is what I'm after. Hmmm this thread has strayed from OP's question I hope it's still ok. I would be using fuzz but not fully thrashing the amp so the headroom doesn't bug me too much. I realise it's a fashion thing but there are so many dark sounding amps out there right now it's become tricky for me to pick out the characterful 'bright mids' alternatives that don't cost new car money (like the Suhr plexi one).
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.