Anybody who has played a JCM

I just wanted some other peoples comparisons between the Marshal JCM 800, 900 and 2000. I think the 900 suits me most at the moment... but I've never actually played an 800.

Anybody got any opinions on one or more of them?

than you probably should before you decide which one to buy, as it would probably suit your type of music better than the other two.:)
After all, there's no coincidence that most punk, hardcore punk and post hardcore bands that used/use Marshalls play JCM800 as it can handle well anything from hard rock to disonant sounds of alter rock.

But if I'd have to compare them I'd say that the JCM 800 is the most traditional sounding, has richer tone and less gain than the other two,so you couldn't exactly play thrash/death metal/grindcore/ without any aditional distortion pedals.
JCM 900 has observably more gain than JCM 800 and is a bit darker more modern(think 90s rock/metal sound) sounding than jcm 800.
JCM2000 is, as far as I'm concerned, just a big, more verstile, brother of JCM 900, with even more gain, more features than 900.
This is of course a very generalised opinion, cause there are differences between the models inside the particular series(for instance…reisued jcm800 sounds so different from the ones made in 80s that it hurts,same goes for one/dual chanel versions etc) and it's hard to give an objective picture.

Well, I play a lot of styles so I could do with a bit more gain than from what I've heard of JCM 800s.

So... you consider the 2000 to just be a better version of the 900?

heh,there's nothing that a good distortion pedal wouldn't fix.:P but hey, it's you buying an amp, not me(ironically I'm the guy who's usually selling them).

nah, I was just pointing out that 2000 is a successor of jcm 900(in terms of sound) and it's not a combination of vintage and new Marshalls like you might have read in some guitar magazines.
I generally prefer 900s sound better, but both series' have their strong points.

Yeah, I played both and I thought I prefered the 900. And do you reckon that an 800 with a boost/pedal would sound better than a 900?

yeah, I think it would. Try it out before buying though, 'cause you know what they say about opinions.

Yeah, cheers for the help anyway.

Yeah, I agree, sort of.
The JCM800 with a Ibanez TS or Digitech Bad Monkey (a cheap but a really good alterative!) sounds wonderful. Really love the crunchy sound of the pure 800 and adding a boost pedal.. =)

My favorit is definitly JCM800 (a model with 2 channels, dont remember name though) and a tremble or dist or such booster..

The 2000'n is the most flexible amp of them. From that one you can get both (pretty much) the 800's sound and the 900's sound. So IMO you should concider the 800 or the 2000 ;)
You said that you've tried both the 900 and the 2000, there are quite a lot different models of both of them though (the 800 too ofc) did you give enough time to really listen to the sound? Anyway I like the JCM 2000 TSL model (3 channels!).. very well :)

BTW If you choose the JCM900, don't buy the Dual Reverb :p They are boring ^_^ Go for the JCM 900 SL-X



tAUG