Thinking about getting Marshall JMP-1

[lordcthulhu]

Hey guys

I've been thinking about getting the legenday JMP-1. In a pawn shop for $400 but the seller doesn't know much about how to use it for home recording. Due to living at home still (and not having much money), don't have a big ol tube amp and cab as yet (just a small combo), but, correct me if I'm wrong, to get it rocking for direct recording to PC, I don't need a poweramp, just need to connect it to the interface, since impulses emulate both poweramp and cab? Or am I missing something really obvious here? Does the "grounding" issue apply here? I heard that AeternusEternus used a JMP for direct recording, but I hope I don't need a poweramp and cab!

Btw, please forgive me if I don't reply too soon, in the middle of cramming for an exam .

Thanks!

 

[Notuern]

400$ !??
They go for about 200-350$ here in Sweden.. for 500$ you could get a used ENGL E530.

To answer the rest: Yes, if you have a preamp you can run it in to your soundcard and use impulses.

 

[lordcthulhu]

Cheers mate, thanks for clarifying that. 200-300 bucks for a JMP? Yikes! That would never happen here in Australia, that's for sure. Anyone else have any experience of direct recording with it?

 

[MindsinK]

I just sold my JMP-1 and bought an Engl e530; IMO the Engl sounds much better for direct recording. The Recabinet impulses sound great with it...

 

[Nebulous]

Mate you're getting a better deal anyway lol. $AUS 400 is about the same as $EUR200 and better than $EUR300 nowdays.

 

[lordcthulhu]

I just sold my JMP-1 and bought an Engl e530; IMO the Engl sounds much better for direct recording. The Recabinet impulses sound great with it...

Thanks for the heads-up, but out of 10 how would you rate the JMP? I love the e530 clips posted on the forum so far (as well as the ampsim ones of it, hehehe) but I got GAS for the JMP, after hearing Tore Moren of Arcturus's saturated tone on Sideway Symphonies and Shipwrecked in Oslo. Both were both using JMP-1 through Marshall EL34 50/50 and JFX. I'm hoping that one of the high quality impulses, maybe s-preshigh or a GH one, can get me in that ballpark...

 

[StefTD]

I owned a JMP-1, actually I didn't like it that much while I owned it, but I think I would like it nowadays.
But at the same time, I would love to get a E530, if you already own an interface,
why don't you just use an ampsim? Just get yourself SoloC and stuff and rock out.

 

[Fragle]

i have no experience with neither unit as far as direct recording goes.

however, when put through a poweramp and cab in a band context, the marshall is made of WIN...imho obviously.
i have played through a variety of marshall amps, and still own a jcm800 (the original not the reissue), but i have to say the jmp get's really fucking close to all of those heads (especially when paired with a marshall poweramp....i think i had the 9100 in there), plus it has its own sound, plus it actually has a decent clean, plus the midi thing....no brainer really.
the engl on the other hand is much more limited, and personally it doesn't blow me away....seems to tame, too controlled. but then again it's hard to beat that marshall grind when it comes to live shows or band rehearsals.

but well, since you want to use them for direct recording i guess this post was pretty redundant haha

edit: +1 to what stef said - just grab all those free ampsims and all the impulse pack, and experiment. there's a lot of great stuff in there....i don't quite see the advantage of taking a preamp line out through impulses over those free amp sims, unless you're either looking for a special flavor (sansamp psa comes to mind, there's nothing like it as far as i am concerned), or if you know that you'll ultimately get a poweramp and cab and mic that one up.

 

[greyskull]

jmp 1= meh Jmp on the other hand =win

 

[ZebCahan]

I have had like 6-7 JMP-1:s over the years. (Obviously not all at the same time) Its a love hate thing really. I sell one and regret it a year later and buy a new one and so on. I think the JMP-1 has some really good sounding tones. Its tight sounding with that typical marshall mids, e.g. around 600-700hz and therefore I think it works great when downtuning as the sound doesnt turns to mud. Although it doesnt have so much bass. (It can be fixed if modded). I have found it to be kind of compressed sounding. A little bit like if you put a booster infront of an overdriven amp. (Maybe because of all the op-amps inside.) Its much more of a feel. It doesnt feel as "saggy" as alot of amps do and it can sound a little "fakey" at times. (But not digital fakey, more like pedal-fakey.) Some frequencies can be a bit piercing using it as a preamp to a poweramp. I have found it to be best to lower the prescence a bit as it seems to take alot in the 4000hz area (spike in the ear). If you want to know how it sounds, I have some recordings using the jmp-1 to interface and using Kefir and impulses. Heres one: http://netmusicians.org/?section=id&value=4767

 

[lordcthulhu]

@StefD & Fragle: Thanks, I have the ampsims, I just really struggle getting a nice saturated tone - not that it's a problem with ampsims, but just me. Some folks on this board like Syqem, Exzem, and GubbKuk have mustered INCREDIBLE tones using ampsims, but I dunno...I have practiced on their DI's with the best impulses, but can't get there. My attempts always sound too dry, thin, nasally and harsh, which I f*n HATE, even after doing things like gating, adding TSS, C4, and EQing (low and highpass, and selective mid-cuts).

I guess I'd have more patience with being able to tinker the tone directly on a hardware unit than endless fiddling with VST plugins (which I'm not too good in).

@ZebCahan: Hahaha I did a google search 4 days ago for JMP clips and I found yours there!!! I really love that clip, it was one of the clips that inspired me too look further into the JMP! I realise that sound-wise it can't touch the Triaxis and doesn't sound as authentically tubey, but hey, the price differential in Australia is about $1000. A used Triaxis will go for about $1300 in Australia for what I've seen so far. Damn Yanks!

 

[ZebCahan]

Yeah, the triaxis is peeerty expensive over here aswell! They go for around 2000 USD used. If you like the marshallsound i think you should go for the jmp-1. For the price I think it sounds very good. And you have midi, 4 channels, 128 patches, etc so its kinda versatile if your going to play it live or in a band later on. If you have the opportunity you could always try the Mesa studio preamp. It only has two channels but it also sounds great and has a really tubey sound. Over here they sell for a little more than a JMP-1 but they also sounds better.

Cheers!
/Sebastian