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Withdrawn: Marshall JCM800 2204 from 1981

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Alfi27Alfi27 Frets: 52
edited January 2019 in Amps £
Because I'm quite silly and my recent tastes gravitate towards more gain than this one is able to produce, I'm considering to sell or possibly trade this amp which is one of the first JCM800s ever made. I believe the note on the chassis says June 1981 or something like that. This is THE rock n' roll amp, pretty much no compression to hide sloppy playing so if you can shred on this you can shred on anything... 

The OT was very recently replaced with a Classic Tone OT imported from the US, one of the few companies that make them like they used to. Filter caps have been replaced with German made F&T caps, as well as the bias supply caps and volume and gain pots have all been replaced. Brand new TAD EL34B valves as well. Pretty much a bulletproof amp in perfect technical condition that will do its job for many many years to come. The cosmetic condition is very good as well, I think I actually would rate it as "excellent" taking into consideration that it's turning 38 this year. 

As the parts and recent work performed on it ended up at more than £250 I think a fair price would be £800, but I'm fairly open for trades. Unless it's a 1987 (JMP 50w Lead) it would have to be some sort of hot rodded Marshall, or maybe a Kemper. 


Sorry, no longer for sale. 
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Comments

  • Ah man. I just got an '83. Killer.

    I've had some killer boutique stuff, but the ballsy tones from this make me grin like a madman! Great price too. 

    Whoever buys this will be very happy. Sweeter than the 2203 IMO.
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  • robertyroberty Frets: 10893
    If it's anything like my ceriatone clone it will make someone very happy indeed
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  • Alfi27Alfi27 Frets: 52
    edited January 2019
    @guitarmanessex89 That's very cool, I used to have a 2203 from 1983 which was awesome as well! I agree that there is something unique about these, for *that* tone this is simply it. What boutique stuff did you have if you don't mind me asking? I've had some Friedmans, a Suhr SL67 and a Wizard Metal but the Wizard was a loong time ago... The Suhr was the closest to a real Marshall and the one I liked the best, and although it's an absolutely killer amp it bothered me a bit to have that much money trapped in an amp that is essentially copying something that can be had for less than half the price... It's obviously not quite as simple as that, but that's how I felt about it. 

    @roberty I actually just sold a Ceriatone 2204 back in Norway, the Ceriatone was a little darker and smoother while the Marshall is very raw, in your face and has that legendary Marshall kerrang. Still one of the best sounding amps I have ever had though. Only sold it because I got a 1972 Marshall JMP 50w Lead for an absolute steal, and I actually paid the same as I sold the Ceriatone for... If I were to keep the JMP 100% stock, I would have kept the Ceriatone because it has more gain and a master volume. I did the one wire/cascade mod on the JMP and man it's a gain monster now... Brown sound in a box! Just needs a mv... 
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  • robertyroberty Frets: 10893
    @Alfi27 very nice. I use the low sensitivity input with distortion pedals, sacrilege I know, but it's absolutely perfect for that
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  • spirit7spirit7 Frets: 333
    Get it modded by Dan Gower!
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  • Alfi27Alfi27 Frets: 52
    edited January 2019
    @roberty  Oh yeah, it is truly great for that! For a while I used a Bogner La Grange on the low sensitivity input, and it sounded no worse than the amp overdrive, just different! 

    @spirit7 I certainly considered it, and still do for that matter. After I did the one wire/cascade mod on my Plexi back in Norway I realised how much gain you can get from 3 gain stages, which makes me think that the first or second gain stage (or both) in the JCM800s is quite lazy. A second gain knob would make it possible to "boost" the amp internally. 
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  • DanchiDanchi Frets: 25
    Why was the output transformer replaced?
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  • Alfi27Alfi27 Frets: 52
    It already had a replacement output transformer when I got it, and after 20 minutes it blew for undisclosed reasons... The tech said it could be a combination of several things, but most likely old power valves and filter caps. It sounds better now than it did for the first 20 minutes, more open and bigger. 

    It's a weird thing that, this is my second vintage JCM800 and both of them had replacement OTs, while my 1972 Plexi still has the original OT. Could be that I've just been unlucky. 

    I'm very close to withdrawing it and possibly getting it modified, but I'll keep it up here for a bit just in case I change my mind again. Would love to try some sort of hybrid circuit between a cascaded Plexi and a stock 800! Or maybe the Soldano hot mod unit if I can find one. 
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  • Cornford Hellcat and Dirty Shirley are the two most obvious. Had Boogie, Budda Superdrive etc too. Something about a single channel 800. Larger than life. Also played Cornell Plexi, SL68 and various Bogners. I haven't played a Helios yet but they look fantastic.
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  • Hi there , Any pics?
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  • Alfi27Alfi27 Frets: 52
    edited January 2019
    Sorry mate, no longer for sale. Did the simplest mod in the world (added a bypass capacitor) and now it sounds perfect! 
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  • Alfi27 said:
    Sorry mate, no longer for sale. Did the simplest mod in the world (added a bypass capacitor) and now it sounds perfect! 
    As in the treble cap? Been thinking about getting this done myself.
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  • Alfi27Alfi27 Frets: 52
    Is it the treble peaker or bright cap you're referring to? It's not any of those though, it's the 820R resistor connected to the cathode on the second preamp valve. I just put a .68uf in parallel with it, a cap that was actually a part of the stock circuit until 1970-71, 4-5 years before the master volume model was introduced.

    Tonight I also tried to modify the cathode on the first preamp valve (second gain stage). 3.2k and .68uf instead of 10k: absolutely batshit crazy gain increase... For heavier stuff and leads it sounds ace, but for my normal rhythm sound it's too wild and can't really be tamed. Maybe I'll put it on a switch... 
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  • Very interesting. Thanks for the info. 

    How would you say the tone has changed?
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