Marshall JCM800 owners please help.

[Alex-I.T.F]

Please answer my question only if you play live or rehearse at high volumes with a band through your JCM800 thanks.I know its easy to get great heavy sounds in your bedroom but I need something that will cut through walls of noise.




Bought my first 1980s model JCM800 about 15 years ago and I haven't found an amp that cuts through at high volume Metal rehearsals and live as well as it does (yet).

I had been using a BOSS Metal Zone during my Death Metal days and used to love the thing.
I'm almost back to playing in a Death Metal band project and have realized that the "sand-blasting a car windscreen sound" is driving me mad.
It is constantly present even when trying to use the pedal as a boost and EQ with the distortion level to Zero.

Please help me find a pedal or two which will keep some nice JCM800 tone but will also add tons of; distortion, gain, sustain and bottom end that is needed for fast Death/Grind style riff playing and wont drive me to have 7 cigarette breaks during rehearsals.

Thanks Ahead!

 

[Lasse Lammert]

Soldano hotmod!

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

Soldano hotmod!

Is that still done nowadays? Because I may want to do that to mine

 

[Lasse Lammert]

well, I don't care if it's still done....it sounds fantastic, so I'm doing it

 

[Wolfeman]

Yeah adding another gain stage wouldn't hurt!

 

[streetwise]

A graphic EQ (like MXR 10-band or Boss RGE-10), maybe with a Tube Screamer or Proco RAT.

= old school death metal.

 

[Alex-I.T.F]

Soldano hotmod!

Isn't that same as what Dino Cazarez used on Soul Of A New Machine?

That album has my fucking overall ideal metal sound ever!!!

Small problem , I'm not in the States...

Unless you mean the Soldano HOT-MOD Tube which I cant find a place that will ship to Australia

 

[Lasse Lammert]

Yep, that very thing.
You're gonna have to hunt a bit, but they pop up on eBay regularly

 

[Wolfeman]

I could build you one! It's fairly simple, just an empty tube base with the parts stuffed in it, with a cap on top that you plug the tube into.

 

[Alex-I.T.F]

I could build you one! It's fairly simple, just an empty tube base with the parts stuffed in it, with a cap on top that you plug the tube into.

Sounds good, any previous work done on these?
Do you think that the JCM800 moded for Dino Cazares on Fear Factory's first album is the same mod or something different?

"a cap on top that you plug the tube into"

By this you mean the tube that was originally in the same position?

Please give me a quote!!! Thanks!!!

 

[Wolfeman]

Actually, if you are decent at soldering, and can manage to McGyver rig a holder for everything, you should be able to do it yourself. It's probably $25 worth of parts(not including the 6C10 tube). Just a word of warning though, the Hotmod is pretty 'ghetto' and not the right way to go about doing things, but it's a pretty cool idea. They are known to be noisy as hell, and can fail pretty regularly. The shared ground inside them isn't very good either, I know a lot of people would run a wire from the ground on the hotmod to a better position somewhere on the chassis(which isn't ideal either, but it works).

I think what Dino had was an extra tube added, and I think he had the Jose mod or something to that effect done... I don't know if he used a Soldano hot mod.

 

[guitarguru777]

Get the HotMod ...

Turns any amp into a beast!

 

[Lasse Lammert]

I could build you one! It's fairly simple, just an empty tube base with the parts stuffed in it, with a cap on top that you plug the tube into.

I built one myself, wasn't as easy as I though to fit all the components in...I'm sure you'd do it much better though if you could build one for cheap I'd buy it off you and compare it to the real thing.

 

[AHChris]

Very interesting... Would this work for my JCM 900 4050 as well? Where do you put this thing? V1 or what?

 

[thefyn]

The most popular JCM 800 mod of all time is undoing previous mods and taking it back to stock.

Boost are really responsive to it.

From my experience:
For more transparent extra gain go for a Green Screamer
For classy responsive overdrive go Maxon OD9
For some edge/evil I use an Ibanez Soundtank Thrashmetal

If you want to go DM, I would go for a Marshall jackhammer because there is a lot of scope to add that grindy thickness with spikey highs that dont have all that scratchy shit you get from a metal zone.

 

[thefyn]

Saying that, the best Marshall I ever heard had a langner mod. That was simply astoundingly fkn amazing.

 

[Wolfeman]

Very interesting... Would this work for my JCM 900 4050 as well? Where do you put this thing? V1 or what?

I think it went in the cathode follower position on the JCM800's, V2?

So if your 900 has a similar layout, it may work. You'd have to call Mike's shop and ask him, but from what I understand he will just talk you out of using it for the same reasons I already mentioned

 

[Wolfeman]

I built one myself, wasn't as easy as I though to fit all the components in...I'm sure you'd do it much better though if you could build one for cheap I'd buy it off you and compare it to the real thing.

I think I may start building them, I don't think it's a protected circuit anymore. I can get the 9 pin base and the 12 pin socket, and wiring everything up is no big deal, I just have to figure out how to decently contain everything. Isn't the original just some really thick heat shrink?

My buddy has a 3d printer than can do anything with ABS plastic, maybe I can have him print me up some nice fitting adapters, then just epoxy the 3 pieces together.

 

[Alex-I.T.F]

Awesome info here Wolfeman and others. I think you can sell a few of those mods with your own brand on them!!!
And thanks for the advice against using them too.

My other concern is that actually instaling one would mean good bye all clean for that amp also , is this correct?
Not that I play much clean shit but its always good for more ambient efect options if needed.

That Jose mod is monsterous and someone should do some serious research and get that shit on the market.

Up side; I would cum in my pants whilst palm muting.

Downside; Thousands of skinny kids in tight jeans and fringes would be able to own one too

 

[Lasse Lammert]

the HUGE advantage of the hotmod is that it can be undone in just 10seconds, no harm can be done to the amp etc.