Whats a Marshall JCM 900 worth?

[midget donkeys]

Howdy do people of the future. There is a Marshall JCM 900 for sale in my neck of the woods and the guy is asking $300. Which sounds really low to me, but maybe I don't know shit from apple butter. I listened to some clips of them on youtube and they sounded really cool to me, not super metal, but I am not that extreme of a guy anyway.

So what's a Marshall JCM 900 worth? Do you have one? Do you like it?

 

[Joematthews]

$300? That sounds like a good deal to me

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

don't know what type it is but 300 dosn't sound like much to me either.
in Holland they usually sell between 400 and 500 euro's used. 400 for a dual reverb 50 watt, 450 for an SLX (without diode clipping stage, sounds the best IMO) and 500 for a dual reverb 100 watt

 

[midget donkeys]

Yeah it does seem cheap as hell. The guys probally broke because of the economy. But then again so am I.

 

[Metaltastic]

Apparently, though, there's a bunch of varieties of 900 out there, and some are definitely better than others. I started a thread asking for the lowdown on Marshalls some time ago, here's a quote from it:

JCM 900 4100 and 4500- usually regarded as "epic fail" for Marshall. This is where people hate on the diode gain stage. Has a true clean channel, but the gain is generally thought of as overly bright, thin and fizzy. Sounds better turned up. Weak transformers and nowhere near the volume of the earlier Marshalls.

 

[LSD-Studio]

which one?
the mkIII can be modded to be pretty cool.
the sl-x is great,
the 4100 dualreverb sucks donkeyballs but can be modded to be halfway unshite

 

[midget donkeys]

Thanks for the input boys. Here is how it was described in the craigslist post:

Marshall JCM 900 50watt, Super Lead, 2 channell ,All tube amp. EL31s and 12ax7 preamp tubes.

 

[Machinated]

If anyone wants to make any offers for mine, I'd definitely think about selling.....

Don't think I could let it go for that low of a price though

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Friend of mine bought one for $500 around 5 years ago (he uses an AC30 now) and it sucked so bad. It was a 50w version with 2 master volumes (but not really 2 chanells?).

I don't remember there being reverb.

 

[Sloan]

I've heard a handful of ok tones from them, but I generally dislike them.

I'm sure you could flip it for more if you don't like it - DEW IT BRAH1!!

 

[Carcass29]

Only if it's a model 2100 or a SLX model...stay away from the 4100 or 4500 models. Also stick with the el34 tubes since the 5881 tube models don't sound so good. Great price if it's a SLX 2100 model.

 

[greyskull]

yeah if its the dual reverb.. run for the hills. they suck

 

["Evil" Aidy]

I've been thinking about maybe getting a JCM900 recently, but read so many BAD things about them. I was going to start a seperate thread for my question but found this one already open so here goes...

Are they really that bad?

I heard that Trey Azagthoth uses them, possibly Erik Rutan too and their tones have always sounded awesome to me?

Looks like dual reverb models being used here. How much would a good price be in the UK?

[ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mp1TmPo35yM[/ame]

[ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa-beoW7WUg[/ame]

 

[MetalJonesy]

in the UK they are around £300, they have been for years. i bought mine in '02 and sold it in '07 or '08 for £340 via ebay!!!

 

[Torniojaws]

[quote="Evil" Aidy;7978435]I've been thinking about maybe getting a JCM900 recently, but read so many BAD things about them. I was going to start a seperate thread for my question but found this one already open so here goes...

Are they really that bad?[/quote]

As has already been mentioned in this thread, the general concensus is:

Model 4100/4500 (Hi Gain Dual Reverb) = Garbage (4100 = 100W, 4500 = 50W)
Model 2100/2500 (SL-X) = Excellent amp (2100 = 100W, 2500 = 50W)

There's also two combo versions of the amp: 1x12" and 2x10", and they're garbage too.

 

[STINNETT]

I do not agree with the general consensus.

It depends on what you want from the amp. I have a 50 watter and I enjoy the amp a lot. It doesn't get near the high gain territory of other amps unless it is absolutely all the way up - but at that point it sounds pretty damn good.

In contrast to my 5150, it doesn't have near the bite or the crunch, but it's way smoother and has a pleasant fatness in the midrange. I prefer it for a lot of things. For example - if I wanted to sound like Morbid Angel, I would leave the 5150 at home and use the 900 for sure. Then again, that's not the sort of sound that a lot of people want.

 

[Torniojaws]

You can slap an OD pedal in front of the 50W SL-X and boy will it scream after that And it will be very very tight indeed, not to mention how it cuts through it all

 

["Evil" Aidy]

in the UK they are around £300, they have been for years. i bought mine in '02 and sold it in '07 or '08 for £340 via ebay!!!

Thanks for that - not a bad price at all! Sounds like a bargain to me!

I do not agree with the general consensus.

It depends on what you want from the amp. I have a 50 watter and I enjoy the amp a lot. It doesn't get near the high gain territory of other amps unless it is absolutely all the way up - but at that point it sounds pretty damn good.

In contrast to my 5150, it doesn't have near the bite or the crunch, but it's way smoother and has a pleasant fatness in the midrange. I prefer it for a lot of things. For example - if I wanted to sound like Morbid Angel, I would leave the 5150 at home and use the 900 for sure. Then again, that's not the sort of sound that a lot of people want.

Cheers for that explanation - I big time DIG the Morbid Angel tone!

You can slap an OD pedal in front of the 50W SL-X and boy will it scream after that And it will be very very tight indeed, not to mention how it cuts through it all

I use an OD pedal or TS in front of my DSL on the green channel, by I'm still not satisfied with my overall tone. Maybe I just haven't got the amp turned up loud enough!

 

[MetalJonesy]

i never liked my JCM900 dual reverb 4100 with el34s, it wasnt bad recorded, but it couldnt get a multitude of tones. no power behind heavy rhythm playing. deffo more of a rock amp but the clean on it was unreal!!!

heres a completely raw JCM900 clip from my demo i recorded about 8 years ago. was recorded thru a 1960A cab in the sneap position, or dead on the speaker dome, i cant remember!!!:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/369408/JCM900EL34S DBL.mp3

 

[Metaltastic]

[quote="Evil" Aidy;7981460]I use an OD pedal or TS in front of my DSL on the green channel, by I'm still not satisfied with my overall tone. Maybe I just haven't got the amp turned up loud enough![/quote]

Bleccchhh, you still have that thing? If you REALLY want a Marshall, just get an 800 or a JVM and be done with it!