Marshall JMP-1 Tube Pre-Amp

Purchased used, like any good piece of equipment it takes awhile to get a great sound. I use 3 or 4 knockoff guitars, a schecter C-1 elite, and an Ibanez Rg470 with EMGS. I mainly play heavy stuff so this unit alone doesn't cut it if you're into the scoop NU-metal but I like to experiment. Having serperate preamps and poweramps really allows this sort of experiementing to take fruit. I've gotten some amazing sounds with this unit and some really weird ones as well.

You should know these by now.

USEd and still kicking.

never dealt with them

Overall it's a nice piece to own but I don't think you could develop your entire sound around it, at least I couldn't.

Sounds great, when you get the hang of it, I use it on both Gibsons and Fenders - It feels like an old marshall head with more upgradetd technology regardet to switching of patches etc. It doesnt make more noise than expected - cables , pickups etc also makes noise, but the amp itself is quite to be a tube preamp.
You have to "tune" it in a bit, before getting it right. You should anyway set all tone controls to 0 (tone controls goes from - 6 to 6 = 12 steps) and volume to 10 and gain to 2 -4 before starting your sund development.
The "effects" control from 0 -12 affects your sound a lot when set to over 5 - but I use a Digitech S100 delay and it works fine with me at 5.

I have a Marshall 9200 Dual Monoblock at the end of this rig, wich gives a tremendeous marshall sound through a Behringer BG412S - or my modified marshall 1922 2x12" box.

Dont know when it was made - but its not new anyway, it is a tube preamp with 12ax7 tubes, and imidi controller 4 - channels

I Think so - seems solid, and a lot of people uset - I havent heard about any breakdown due to noremal use. Its in a Rack, and it's protected.

No e-mail adress on their website, but a lot of unoficcal sites

I Played for a lot of years, most rock and Blues - I Just baught it. There is An Swedish "tube doctor" : www.tommy-folkesson.nu that makes incredible modifications of this pre-amp. I will get him to modify it, then it uses more of the tube-sound, and it will sound better. You can allways buy triaxis or other stuff, but this box is easy to find on the used-market.

It has the features I need - nad thats enough. My rack is about 50 kg

Q- Ease of UseHow easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
A- Cake

Q- How about Editing patches?
A- Very easy even though the dial sometimes skips numbers, anybody know of a fix for this?

Q- How is the manual for it (if there is one)?
A- Typical Marshall Manual

Q- Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded?
A- N/A I don't know

9 total instead of 10 because of dial snumber slippage

Q- What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
A- I love this pre-amp, sound quality is awesome, It is going through a Marshall 9100 power amp into two Carvin Vai/Legacy 4X12's. Main guitar is a Ibanez Jem, and a Pawar, A few strats. People complain about the clean channels. One of my strats has a David Gilmore EMG pickup assembly on it, the 1st tone knob on that set-up makes a smily face out of EQ curve, freaken sounds awesome, you can get those shimmering highs & fat bottom in the clean channel then.

This set-up Jmp-1 into Marshall 9100 power amp into to Vai 4X12's in stereo is mind blowing, I control the whole set up with a berhinger MIDI floor board controller.

OD1 is my favorite channel on this amp, People who are saying this pre-amp has no gain must have bad units or something because this thing screams

OD2- I am not to hot on this channel, Not as transparent sounding as OD1

Clean2 is my favorite clean, This channel nails Hendrix clean tones, Play little wing on this channel with a strat in the neck pick up.

I have owned many many Marshalls and known many guys who have had some killer vintage marshalls, this rig out shines them, I really think it is a must to match a JMP-1 up with a Marchall power amp, they just work together perfectly. There is no hiss. I did just order some JJ 12AX7's, I heard so many good things, I figured it is only $20 to replace both tubes. I will leave another review after the Tube swap

Q-Is it noisy? On what settings?
A- Not noisy in my RIG

Q- Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?
A- Care must be taken with effect levels, I have a Lexicon 550 in the effect loop, sounds amazing

Q- What amp are you using it with?
A- Marshall 9100 50X2

Q - Can you get the sound of your favorite artists?
A- Old Van Halen to a Tee

N/A

This knob allways jumping numbers is pissing me off

By the way, wrap your guitar chord through a side rack handle before plugging into the input because if you step on your guitar cable plugged strait into the front and it pulls down hard enough, you can brake the plastic input jack very easily and it's sucks to repair, I found this out the hard way.

N/A

Q - What style of music do you play?

I have two instrumental guitar CD's out, kinda in the style of Satch, or Vai, or think instrumantal VH. Check out full length mp3's at

WWW.Michaelleehill.com

A little back ground...

Guitarist Michael Lee Hill has been hopelessly addicted to the guitar. At a young age he discovered a natural talent for the instrument, easily learning songs by ear from the radio and quickly absorbing any learning material he could find. His appetite for making music increased in leaps and bounds when the guitar became a means to express complex ideas and emotions largely unaddressed in his ?normal? life of school and growing up, etc. -- he was soon spending several hours each day and night concentrating on his craft, often forsaking his friends and social life so he could continue creating music and reaching new heights on the instrument. This would continue through his teens and twenties. Now at age 37, with more than 25 years of playing under his fingers, Michael Lee Hill emerges from obscurity in Ohio with the release of FROZEN THOUGHT, a 13-song concept album showcasing Michael?s guitar mastery and exposing deep-running spiritual & metaphysical interests as well.

FROZEN THOUGHT was written, recorded and realized by Michael himself, who created his own indie label Moment Point Records to release the CD this year. Counting Edward Van Halen, The Police, Steve Vai, and Prince as his most significant musical influences, Michael Lee Hill draws from these and other sources of inspiration while never sacrificing one ounce of his own identity; tracks like ?Feeling September? and ?The Lifting? capture a tenderness and musical sensitivity that runs throughout most of Frozen Thought, while ?Testing 1,2,3? pulls out the stops and keeps punching. Michael also gets to salute his hero Jimi Hendrix in ?Jimi?s Communication,? a recorded improvisation with a groove that feels five feet thick. In an age when too many guitar records sound like everybody else?s, Frozen Thought is a refreshing and satisfying disc of mammoth proportions.

The disc also includes ?Jibboom?, written by Grammy Award-winning guitar legend Steve Vai. In 2001, Tonos.com teamed with Vai and Ibanez Guitars for the TONOS GUITAR CHALLENGE, which was seeking the guitarist who could record the most creative and ?best? re-interpretation of the famous Steve Vai track. Thousands of guitarists from around the globe entered, but Steve Vai personally selected Michael Lee Hill?s entry as the winner of the competition (Hill also received an Ibanez guitar designed by Steve). A mentoring session with Vai would follow, in Detroit at the G3 concert with Joe Satriani, John Petrucci and Billy Sheehan, and Vai granted permission to Michael to release ?Jibboom? (Michael?s version, featuring the original drum and bass tracks by Mike Mangini and Philip Bynoe) on Frozen Thought.

Is this a good match?
Oh Yes

How long have you been playing?
As long as I can remeber, 7 or 8 I guess, I am 37 now

What other gear do you own?
Two much crap to mention

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?

Yes, I would get another

Very basic. The learning curve is in the listening which makes this fun. For the EQ and Presence(goes from -6 to +6) think of "0" as 12:00 on an amp knob, "-6" as 7:00 and "+6" as 5:00. EASY. I have a downloaded manual from the Marshall website. It is good, easy to understand, short(very good), a bit vague at times, the only suggestions for reaching a particular sound is in the descriptoins given of the factory sounds (which I found off mark according to my ear and gear setup). Only complaint is the manual says I can lock the sound programs, but doesn't say how. Also, the screws to remove to change the tubes are tiny and many.

I play PRS Cust.22 / pedal fx / Monster Cable chords (chords are under-rated for sound quality - get good chords) / Marshall el34 50/50 poweramp / Peavey 4x12 cabs.

First off, it sounds really great. OD channels have some noise in some setting, but then so do the OD and gain channels of tube amps. If the noise seems excessive, and you're sure it's from the JMP-1, ne tubes can do wonders - others in the forum give some good advice on tube selection. The Volumes on this seem to be true volumes and don't change the tonal characteristics of the sound (very cool). As others say,, this is a Marshall and gets a distinctly Marshall sound. It's sounds are very close to other Marshall amps, but I'd say it has a sound distinct of it's own, which is a good thing.

Gets cool thumping Marshall High Gain sounds, Great Classic Rock Sounds, Poor for Blues sounds (although a good OD pedal with mild breakup sounds great over the cleans in this). The cleans have alot of tonal variety, but I wish the gain in the clean modes would add a touch of growl or breakup when set high (when it does, it's not very smooth to my ears). I personally feel if you want a great blues or jazz sound, buy a tube combo amp.

A WORD ON TONE: This is just a preamp. Tonal breakdown:
10% Pre-amp (including tubes in preamp)
10% Power amp/Cabinet (especially the tubes and speakers)
10% Gear (Guitar, pedals, chords, strings, picks, etc.)
70% YOU (Technique, ability, attitude, soul, love for music)
Clapton will still sound like Clapton if he's playing a Silvertone guitar through a Gorilla 10 watt amp - maybe not EXACTLY what we've come to expect, but still Clapton.

Every sound has tone, some good, some not, but that is in the ear of the beholder. Find a sound you love and play it til you find another one you like better then play that one, and the rest of the world be damned. If you're in love with your sound, you'll play more, and the tone that is you will grow. (Sounds like fortune cookie cheese, but it's still true).

So far so good.

It's a keeper for what it does. Idealy, I'd also have a Mesa Triaxis, Vox AC30, and a Fender Twin. Someday. This is a great tool. But bear in mind, it's only as good as everything else that goes into it. I've also owned digital units (POD, Digitech, ART) and this is not digitally generated sound, it lacks the high end chime,ring or whine of digital sounds. Also owned Mesa, Peavey and Fender amps, and this is as good as any I've owned - like the others, it has it's own sound.

This preamp is designed for a more low to medium gain situation, old school marshall sounds. If youre looking to do metal on this preamp you better have something else pushing for distortion beecause its just not there for that. Very punchy and midrangey sounding. Sounds good at all volume levels, never had a problem with it being noisy. Goes from clean to a decent rock sound.

Preamp all the features you'd need really

Reliable, never had a problem with it. Uses cheap push knobs and the headphone jack isnt the best though.

never bothered with them

If you want a good preamp for low to medium gain sounds then take a look at this. If you want metal, probably not the best. Good preamp and will work well with a lot of power amps, thats the best i can say about this preamp.

The jmp is without a doubt the easiest straight forward unit ive ever used. Its so easy a young kid could have it going in 5 minutes. Ive had mine for 6 years and its the real deal!

This part is the winner. The tone out of this unit is TRUE marshall.
I'm an EVH freak and this unit will replicate his tone to the T if u know how to tweak it and have the right external gear. Use this preamp with an all tube poweramp and celestions or u wont hear the true magic of the unit. I use a wolfgang special, marshall el34 50 50 poweramp and 2 2x12 carvin cabs with vintage 30 speakers. I run a rocktron xpression thru the fx loop. And of course I have a bunch of effects pedals. I suggest for that true EVHish' type tone, set the gains alittle lower on the jmp and run a tube screamer or a boss sd1 in front of it. You'll lose your mind!!! This is the finest preamp by far ive ever used! "BUY ONE"

Like I said, ive had this for 6 years and never had a problem with the unit. Ide use it live without a backup. Its built like a tank...

Never had to deal with them...

Overall I have to say that if u love the marshall tone, I cant see why ude ever buy a marshall head. This thing will give u a full library of true marshall tone at the flick of a footswitch. From vintage plexi to the screaming bite of a jcm 2000. The clean channels are ok and useable but not the best so ill give this section a 9.Ide go with a fender or jazz chorus for that and just A/b it. Oh and for the reviewers who say this thing has no gain, either they have no idea how to use this or there simply not marshall fans. Dont listen to them, buy one and if u want buy a good overdrive pedal and you'll be in TOTAL HEAVEN......

I have several guitars, mostly humbucker / locking tremolo incarnations, but this was also used with single coils and P90 (also for testing purposes) over some years.

We can discuss forever about the benefits or drawbacks of hybrid technology (that famous bridge rectifier BR3 diode!) but is a fact that transistors are not tubes (or ?valves?) when it comes to guitar amplifiers, in particular if you want distortion out of them. What many manufacturers do (certainly including Marshall) is to present some amplifier (e.g. the Valvestate line of the brand) in which one of the amplifier?s stages (commonly the power section) is based on tubes and the other link in the chain (the first one, actually, the preamplifier which shapes and define the ?tone? of your amplifier) is based on tubes. Commonly, the preamplifier tubes are rudely more ?fundamental? in producing your amplifier?s tone, are easily replaceable, last longer and dissipate less heath, hence being this approach a logical one. Unfortunately, ?tone? is not exactly a logical concept, and the lack of tubes in the power section certainly affects the overall tone and feel of an amplifier. All the foregoing is particularly true if you want your amplifier to produce some serious, rich and punchy distortion. Transistor amplifiers could be far more sterile, but they are theoretically more apt to produce clean tones than a valve amplifier.

What happened in this case is somewhat different, being a dedicated preamplifier. The fact here is that the unit has two tubes (one for clean tones and the other for overdriven, ?hot? tones) and the amount of distortion that you can get out of one tube is technically limited by physical definition. To cope with this, and to produce the legendary ?raging? Marshall distortion, the JMP1 relies on a diode (the famous BR3) that (in very pedestrian terms) ?excites ? the corresponding ECC83 tube, boosting its ability to produce distortion.

Pros? A lot. This is probably the best preamp to record with IMHO(probable exception made by the Damage Control?s Demonizer), with nothing more than a pair of 1/4 cables, straight to the mixing board. No hiss or noise will bother your playing during the process. The tone is perfect to me, so I guess that Marshall did a good job here. Some people don?t like it, but I don?t know what they?re after.

Another department in where the JMP1 shines is flexibility. You can pull tones out of this baby that would require at least 3 or 4 conventional Marshall amplifiers (and you can switch between them seamless via MIDI!). Let me stress again something I consider very important, no matter how obvious should be to some of you out there. You won?t get Soldano, Mesa Boogie, Matchless, Budda, Demeter, Carr, Fender or Vox tones with this (not even simulations or resemblances), anything coming out of the JMP1 will sound true Marshall, which is good news to me in its own right.

Cons? Very Few. One VERY annoying missing feature is the fact the only volume knob in the front of the unit (hardware potentiometer, that is) controls the output to the power amplifier outputs, rendering the control totally useless for the home studio applications. Of course you can still control the overall volume in your headphones and the direct recording outputs through software, but it would be very nice to be able to do so the traditional way. Continuous Controller capability and phantom power would also be nice to have in a professional piece of equipment like this.

Two mono channels, two modes each (or four channels, depending on how you view it) with distinct voicing each: OD1 (Classic Overdrive Channel); OD2 (Modern Hi-Gain Channel); Clean 1 (Warm, Clean Channel) and Clean 2 (Bright, Clean Channel) / Bass Shift key / Hybrid (two ECC83 Tubes inside) / EQ Network (Three-Band EQ plus Presence control) / Stereo FX Loop (with software level and mix controls) / Full MIDI implementation (n, Out, Thru)/ 100 Patches / ? Straight and Speaker emulated stereo outputs with Level Control (-20db or +4db) for each / 1.5W headphones output / 1 Rack Space / 4.5 Kg / Made in England.

Just one rack space, merely 260 mm deep packing true Marshall Tone, as strange as this may sound. I?m not really sure if the JMP is capable of offering exact replicas of popular Marshall tones (in these days everything is judged under the ?emulator? ?simulator? or ?modeler? category, which in this case is kind of stupid as an approach) but what is positively true is that the tone this little golden thing pumps has definitively under the Marshall?s trademark. Most guitar tones rock sounds from early 70's to the present day are covered here. Tailor-made for me.

Never broke in several years. Tubes replacement was certainly required after some 2 years or so, being replaced by Groove Tubes, Svetlana and Electro Harmonix Russians. Cleaner with the former and much muscular with the latter, the unit delivered the goods every time.

Never dealt with the company.

I own lots of gear and I'm involved in a home studio project. In consider this piece of equipment a valuable tool, mainly for recording applications, even while I feel shall perform equally well in live envornments. For testing purposes, I grabbed what I got (namely a Mesa TriAxis, a Damage Control Demonizer, Mesa V-Twin, Mesa Boogie DC3, Marshall JCM900, ADA MP1 and my lovely ADA MP2) and started some serious shredding sessions, comparing tonal outcome. For testing purposes, I hooked the machines to both my Marshall 4x12 cabinet and straight to my Behringer EURODESK FX PRO 2442. The results are my opinons above. I did not favoured this one, I kept them all.

The only thing I hate about this, as I said, is the fact the only volume knob in the front of the unit (hardware potentiometer, that is) controls the output to the power amplifier outputs ONLY, rendering the control totally useless for the home studio applications.

This is not a review as such but a comment about the tube/diode debate when using the overdive channels.

As I am an Electronic Engineer I opened the case and spotted the Bridge rectifier BR3 as others have mentioned.
As an experiment I removed this and the difference to the tone was
to my ears very little other than increasing the top end.

I also removed the overdrive Tube and contrary to comments here the unit fell quiet, no tube - no sound.

The unit was a little screechy in terms of its distortion so I have replaced the tubes with JJ ECC84S and reduced the input signal to the overdrive valve. This has toned the unit down to my preferred rock growl distortion and the unit is less noisy when using Overdrive 1+2.

I am now totally happy with JMP-1.

JMP-1 Purchased off Ebay Aug 05.
Articulate Clean channel
Rock Growl distortion
Godsend to have the settings recorded.

No Problems so far - well built

Now out of warranty but have bought from Marshall and they have been
on the ball with introduction and warranty letters.

Still learning about the ideal tone but at the moment I am very happy with the tones from my modded JMP-1.

In my ideal JMP-1 I would prefer if the effects send did not reduce the main channel signal but there are ways to add effects later.

One thing I have learnt is that a great tone depends on your ears and your own tastes so if your happy with the sound you make the more time you will put in.

Made in 1995. By now, we all know the specs.
Absolutely versatile, but you have to combine it with a tube power section or forget it! I'm running through a Marshall 9000 series
EL-34 50/50 tube power amp. It's a sturdy live rig.
Speaker config is also a crucial in the quest for good Marshall tone. I view the extra features(midi,speaker emulator,direct out)as bonuses or opt to not use them at all with the exception of the effects loop To me less is more.

American '92 strat with custom Tom Anderson single/single/humbucker config and phase switch capability.
A vintage'78 Ibanez ES-335 Artist w/ factory PAF style humbuckers, and a chimey '72 Tele with a PAF in the neck and phase-switchable custom humbucker in the bridge for single-coil twang or Pete Townsend like grit.

It doesn't do everything, but, what it can do it does very well.
For those who can't get good tone, or are concerned that it doesn't sound similar to a Mesa or Vox(EL-84)or clean as a Fender, be conscientious of what kind of tonality you are looking for and expect the Marshall palette of sounds, then sculpt your tone accordingly.

I play Brit-Pop to Alt-Rock. You can also get some great bluesy Keith Richards like grind as well as some chimey U2/Edge-like tones.
I would use this for any gigging cover/original band situation where 60's thru 90's rock is played and I can also play serious funk and R&B with this rig, the cleans are THAT good. If you prefer the compressed spank of Nile Rodgers or some old school Prince/Sly & The family tone you can get it with the right guitar, pickup, effect selection. But, you have to use your instrument volume/tone in tandem with the parameters on the amp. Match up the right cab(s).

I've had luck with two Mesa/Boogie 1x12 cabs in stereo; one thiele closed back custom Boogie/Celestion, and the other half-open back
EV 200-watt 1x12 for the funky cleans. But, I have since found a Marshall birch 2x12 with Vintage 30's which sounded a little more robust and earthier.

I've become a minimalist and run the effect mix on the pre-amp at a low level(3-5)any more and you start to lose the round warm tonal quality. I use two TC Electronic pedals and a racked reverb/delay unit. I don't like to string too many boxes or rack units within the effects chain, I feel I lose precious direct tone whether it's through the effects loop or in front of this particular preamp.

I approach the unit like a channel-switching head but, rack mounted mand with 2 extra channels. My power amp is switchable in wattage from 50 to 25 watts a side.

I will rate it a 9 for two reasons; There is a noisy hiss in the high-gain CH2 area which can be annoying at high volume. Also, tweaking mid/bass/treble levels on the fly during a gig gets tricky which can sometimes result in accidently saving over a favorite parameter or changing a characteristic you otherwise shouldn't have, by pushing the wrong button on a dark stage. Aside of that this preamp looks classy, is an outstanding value and overall rocks!!

110% dependable. I feel the early JMP-1's were made very well.
It has stood the test of 10 years. I've changed the 12AX7's once with Groove Tubes. Volume pot is a little scratchy but has seen 100's of gigs and everytime without a backup. Mine has paid for itself in spades on it's reliability alone.

Hasn't required service. Out of warranty. Here in L.A everybody can handle repair needs.

I've been playing/singing seriously for 18 years.
I'm a singer-songwriter with my own project studio in L.A.
If it were stolen, I'd probably look into a different tonal palette. I'm into sheer simplicity at the moment, boutique tone without the cost for a one-trick pony. Possibly a Deluxe reverb w/blackface upgrades or a Vox 60/120 watt modeling head w/matching 2x12 Celestion Blue cab.

I love that the Marshall JMP-1 has the Plexi grind and cleans up very round and warm..it's different than a Boogie, not like a Vox or Fender, but, like a real Marshall.

This unit has to be the most easy rack unit I have used. If you cannot
operate this unit quite while your ahead. I found even the midi setup,
interfacing to my effects unit was easy.

I have tried this unit through a 59 Bassman, a 73 superlead modified
jack insert to power amp, A 2X12 all tube custom made combo,
and in the studio. All of the above gave me a selection of great
sounds from clean to wild. I love the overdrive sounds, as they are not to dull, they don't sound digital, and they rock. Most current day
effects units and pre-amps use digital AD DA convertors in which the
overdrive goes through. I can always tell in the sound and response.
I have seen the circuit for the JMP1 and even though they use digital to adjust parameters the signal stays analog (amen)The overdrive sound so good I don't need a mix with my Jack Daniels, shaken not stirred. I found there was some noise with earth loops in my rack, and found it to be the midi lead, earths conecting the units earths together. I cut the earth in the midi plug lead and the noise was gone. (dont cut earths in power leads unless you want to die)
There is typical noise on high gain settings, but not enough to
piss me off. I know a lot of noise can be from earth loops, and I know
a lot of people get caught. Their was a mention of someone having
problems getting pinch harmonics. I don't have this problem.
If I had this problem I would first off check I have good quality
guitar leads. I know by experience that old leads that have perished
or got wet will kill of top end, and make your sound sound dull.
I will rate this unit highly because I get the sounds I want.

Have not had it long enough to tell. But I do know that most Marshall
products used in Australia suffer from power supply problems due to our mains voltage being on avg 240 to 250 volts, and most Marshall
products are rated to 230 volts. (not counting 110 volts used in other countrys) This means the high voltage DC
rails in tube products go to high and cook the filter caps, and sometimes, cook the power transformer. Older 70's marshall gear seem to have no problems

I have always found dealing with Marshall directly great. Some of there distributors are not so great