Marshall JCM 800 2204

I think it's an '89, (most of the inside is marked 12/88 & 1/89. It has the horizontal inputs. As stock, it is very limited and it truly is a single channel, the 2 inputs are actually electrically linked, so you can't even use an A/B switch box connected to both inputs. However, you can solve this simply with a soldering iron and a re-jig of the existing circuit, if u know what u r doing. The D.I. is awful and not worth bothering with, but it does mean you can swap the mono jack socket for a "sniff & break" jack, and wire in an FX loop which is unbelievably simple to do, and using a "Y" lead instead of 2 separate ones to connect my effects is tidier too. What I'm trying to say, is that although it's limited, it's very easy to modify into something a little more versatile, and there are a lot of circuits around on the web that show u how.

On idle, it's a tad noisy, mostly, hiss, but that doesn't matter because this thing doesn't do quiet, so once you're playing or recording you can't hear the hiss. The low input isn't really very clean, but it is very warm sounding. Single coils sound quite glassy through it. The high input is what it's really all about though. Proper crunch and very responsive. Hit your strings hard and it's metal, back off the volume a bit though and it's lovely and bluesy. I love both BB King and Megadeth, and it's fine for both, although the Megadeth sound needs just a tiny bit of a push, either from a pedal or a very hot humbucker, but that might be because it's running a bit cold (see reliability section). At high gain and loud volume settings it doesn't squeal either, it just sustains more. In the studio it also seems to have far more depth than anything else. Use an SM57 mic and it makes mincemeat out of my peavey 5150, despite that amp having a lot more gain. The secret is in the mids. Most metal amps sound better with the mid "scooped", but not this one, you meed to turn it up, (Kerry King has a mid boost on his).

I bought this amp in '91, 16 years ago. It has been gigged, it has been stored in damp cellars, it's been bashed and dropped, it has seen cigarette ash and beer in equal measure. It's been on the bus, the train, the car and the van over speed bumps, and although it rattles a bit, it is absolutely fine. In fact, (don't ask me how, it was some moron's fault), it actually fell off the train. That was several years ago and I haven't done a thing to it, and it's still fine! I haven't even changed the tubes since '92, which is why I think it's been running a little cold... but hey, why change it??

I bought it second hand, so there was no warranty. I've had it apart and looked inside, and there are no silicon chips or anything fancy, it's all very simple. There's a PCB and a lot of wire, but I think the whole thing was hand soldered. Apart from the valves (tubes) there isn't really anything to go wrong, and it's all solidly mounted. I have approached Marshall for advice when modifying it. Naturally they don't recommend it unless you're a qualified technician, which I am, but they were nothing but helpful and friendly, so a definite thumbs up there. Lastly, they're British, and as I am and I live here, by American standards, they are only a short drive away from me :-)

I have been playing nearly 20 years, and have always had at least 1 Marshall. I have tried the JCM900, the valvestates, the JVM's. Mode 4 etc. etc. I've tried out other makes too. The only reason I would ever consider playing any solid state amp is because of my bad back, (probably from lugging the JCM around all these years). No one would steal it, (last time I was burgled they dumped it because it was too heavy). I also own a peavey 5150, and although that's so much more versatile, with 2 channels, an FX loop, more responsive EQ etc. the less "full on" sounds just don't cut it, the Marshall sounds great at any gain, and where it really wins hands down, is that it's just so responsive to your playing dynamics. There are other makes, but if you want to nail that "classic" sound, this is it.

My 800 was made in June 1986. Single channel. I play in a metal band that does classic '80s sounding riffs ala maiden, priest, slayer. This amp delivers what I need. Don't buy this amp if you want clean sounds, because you can't do it!!

I play a gibson V, with the standard pickups, trough a ts-808 reissue, with it's output level cranked and the drive knob at about 35-40%. I am in love with this tone. I used to use a Rat instead of the ts-808, and that was okay as well, but my current setup...damn.

I have the amp professionally retubed about one a year, and it has never let me down. Except one time it blew a fuse at a gig, that kind of pissed me off, but now I carry back-up fuses. I would gig without a backup, but going on the road, bring a back up, because you never know.

never dealt with them. My amp tech says this amp is the last good marshall, and it is easy for him to work on.

I've been playing for 15 years, and I've owned a '74 Fender Dual Showman, '98 JCM 900, and assorted practice amps. The JCM 800 is by far my favorite amp...ever. If someone stole this amp from me, I would track them down and feed them poison dog crap, and the rip their head off and shove it up their ass. If that didn't work out, I would just buy another one.

sometimes i wish it had an effects loop.

Same as the rest....Just the basics with a useless DI on the back. On it's own.......Way to Loud and a Little Buzzy.

The sounds of ROCK -N- ROLL History; Past, Present and Future. I purchased it off ebay and had it sent to Voodoo Amps for servicing. It needed a cap job and a few points were cold. I also had a Post Phase Master Volume added in the DI jack on the back. Of course, we added new tubes and it runds dead quite ($300.00 Spent including shipping). On it's own the sound is Amazing!! Thick, raunchy Marshall tone is whatthis thing does and it just KILLS!! With the Master on the back I get even more of a range of tones and w/out any pedals I can get a great Stcky Finger Stones feel, Sabbath, Van Halen, G-n-R. etc. I run a ToneBone HB out front and it goes insane from Tool, to Metallica, etc. The biggest difference for me is that the pick attack can change the tone immediately, so by using the volume knob on the guitar and my pick attack I can pull all sorts of tones. Excellent depth and feel and you can knock down walls with this Bitch open up. I prefere to use the Post Phase master on the back to get in a general volume range and than I use the basic knobs on the front to adjust the flavor and it's classic Eddie Van Hallen!!!!!

Have your amp checked out becuase caps dry out and an ampo will sound like shit. Many people say it's vintage and original and that can mean heavilu used and not set up as designed. Check out Voodoo Amps for the best techs in the business!!

This amp now, should last another 10 years w/out major servicing umless something happens.

Today, Marshall production amps suck and the service is less than that!!

For Ass kicking Matshall tones you can't go wrong. On it's own, it's way to loud and little buzzy with the basic pre and master knobs. Pre phase masters just overload the small 12ax7 phase tube and sound fizzy or buzzy IMO. The post ohase master on the back was a must for me and noe I can puol thick, creamy Marshall crunch at lower volumes for home studio recording and it records lkike a small champ. I run a Genz Benz 2x12 and mic the cab with a SM57-GT Brick-Audio interface-Mac Garageband. I can be set up in minutes and this amp sounds better RECORDED than A SLO100, Fargen Bastage, Fender Prosonic or Matchless head. Classic Cream, Hendrix, Zep and all the other Great players that played a Marshall knew whatthey were doing.

Here's a useful technique for using this legendary amp in small to medium sized venues (150 - 500 people).

Purchase a Variac (usually around $80 on Ebay) in order to knock the voltage down to around 80-90 volts.

Out of the speaker output, use an attenuator (such as the THD or Weber).

On the front end of the amp, an SD-1 pedal or other boost effect to thicken up your tone as desired (Java Boost by Keeley is another sweet choice)

The only downside is that there won't be much of a clean sound, but for that "Brown Sound", this is a very cool method.

1986 50W 2204 JCM 800 with horizontal input jacks. Here is the deal, this amp does one thing better than any amp you have ever played ... but it will only do that one thing. Clean is ok, but if you are looking at this amp you do not want a clean sound. There is not much headroom on the clead side. 2-inputs, I only use one, the other is rather useless in my opinion. I use this amp in my makeshift "home studio". It has more than enough power to do anything I ask of it. In an effort to give a detailed and accurate evaluation of this amp I am scoring it low on the "features" rating. Because, well, it doesn't have many features there is no reverb, or channel switching. But if you want monster gain and gourgeous tone it does that better than anything I have ever played through.

I run a Gibson SG (57 Classic Bridge, 57 Classic plus Neck) as well as a Gibson Flying V (496R Neck, 500T Bridge). I really feel that you need humbuckers to really drive this amp, I have played a Strat through it but the single coils really do not push this amp hard enough for my personal taste.

I play in an original rock/metal band but I believe this amp can cover a variety of different music styles. Punk, Rock, Metal, Blues, etc ... I am not trying to tell you what to do with it. But this thing is a serious amp ... play it for yourself, you will see what I mean. In my opinion when you die instead of the angels playing harps in stuff in heaven, they will be playing an SG through a JCM 800.

In any event this amp is it, it is the F**cking bees knees! Oh, one more thing, you have to crank this bad boy up. If you run it at low volumes it can sound kinda fuzzy. There is a sweet spot between 5 an 6 on the master volume (you will know when you hit it). You can not play this amp quietly ... a bunch of guys will recommend Power Brakes or Hot Plates (Attenuators). IMHO they will cause more harm than good, DO NOT buy this if you DON'T want to PLAY LOUD.

Yes, I can depend on it. However, I would never play a show without a back-up, but that is just me. I have had the amp re-tubed and had the bias set, but that is about it. This thing is 21 years old and built like a tank.

Never had to use it.

I have been playing guitar for 13 years now. I own and have owned many amps. I would buy and sell on ebay and craigslist searching for the holy grail of tone. I have owned Fender amps, Hughes and Kettner amps, just recenlty a Vox re-issue AC 30 cc2x12, but this Marshall takes the cake. This will continue to be my baby for years and years to come. If it where stolen and or lost I would by another immediately. I love the fact that it is so easy to use. There is not 45 buttons and switches on this thing there is Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble, Master Volume and Pre-Amp Volume. That is it, and in my opinion that is how it should be.

This review is for my 1986 Marshall JCM 2204 50watt head and Marshall 1960ax 4x12 cab loaded with celestian greenback 25watt speakers. It was a matching 1/2 stack when I bought it in 1995.
It really is a bare bones kind of "one trick pony", however the one trick it does has become synonymus with RnR. It can make ANY guitar player sound like jimmy H for the first 4 bars of any blues jam in a minor key... guar-on-teed!!! After that of course you're on your own. Anyway, this monster rocks with thick harmonics and sustain that is only achieved from this killer amp. Totally different tone than Boogy, Vox, Fender or any of the "boutique" handwired amps like Matchless, Rivera, Topcat and a 100 other newbie companies. This amp actually wrote a chapter or two in the book that the newer companies are trying to emulate. It has GrooveTube EL34's. I heard that some are fitted with 6550's but never A/B'd the tonal difference although people do swear by the difference between the tubes. At %50 bucks for duet I have not replaced them in awhile but they still sound strong and articulate.
Been gigging with this (unbelievably heavy and cumbersome) rig for 10+ years now (approx 50 shows/year) and has created minimal hassle due to "down" time. Had to replace the filter caps and the power transformer (drake) was replaced about 7 years ago. Other than replacing tubes and cleaning with CRC it has been a cheap date.

Wicked sustain, crunch, growl, harmonics, controled feedback, thick and angry. AC/DC, Aerosmith, G&R's, VanHalen, SRV. Although I've heard David Grissom play a PRS through the same amp and it had a totally different feel to the sound... Marshall Tucker, Skynard or 38 special kind of southern rock sound. The sound of this amp is truely legendary.

10+ years and she's in better condition than I am and I'm sure worth alot more cash!

never dealt with them.

1970's and early 80's with vertical outputs are worth more resale value than the later 80's with horizontal Outs however ALL of the JCM800's kick serious butt and they just keep getting more popular decade after decade.

This one is from 1988. All tube, one channel. I play heavy metal, and it's versatile enough for my style. You can't switch between a million sounds, but it can do most sounds real good. When playing with my band, I use the low gain input for clean sounds, and throw a Boss Metal Zone in front for the kickass higain :) In our VERY LITTLE rehearsal room, it kicks severe ass on half volume, with a shitty AVT 4x12 cab. I'll be buying a 1960A in two weeks, guess I'll have to turn the volume down then ;)

Like I said, this amp can do most sounds, except for ultra brutal higain. Unless you have some really hot pickups and maybe a booster. Kerry King actually does that with an amp like this, I think :)

My main guitar is a '94 Fender Stratocaster with a SD Hot Rails at the bridge. Sounds really killer. I also have an Epiphone LP100, which also sounds good, but the pickups aren't that good. The amp is not noisy at all, not even with full gain at very high volumes.

Like everyone says, it's built like a tank. Not much more to say :) I don't think it ever will break down.

Don't know :)

Playing for 15 years. At home, I have a Fender Princeton Chorus, which I rarely use. But it's an OK amp. Our rehearsal room is in a really safe place, so I guess it won't be stolen. If that happens, I'd definitely get another one!

1984 2004 JCM800 50 watt MKI (mint condition).

All tube, brownish grill cloth (perhaps faded to brown?), no effects loop, weights 40lbs approx, has two horizontal inputs (tend to break easier than the vertical inputs, I hear).

bought it just a few years back on a whim. I've always been a JPM player(I still own a 71 Super Bass 100, '73 Super Lead 100, '78 MKII 50 watt and a '79 MKII 50 watt.)

Power out the wazoo! The loudest 50 watts on the planet!

Installed new caps...

Is it versitile? From Hendrix to Tool. Does every kind of style I play. Rock, Metal and Grunge!

Using a 2000 Fender American Series Stratocaster(with Dimarzio YJM very low output pickups) straight into the high input of the JCM with an old Marshall 4x12 slant with 65 and 50 watt speakers....the sound I get is totally awesome. I see why James Marshall reissued these monsters.
I have been playing with a rather loud drummer at his house with it and so volume setting have been rather loud (4 on the master volume and 10 on the preamp volume). Ya, a boost pedal is needed for wild soloing but bluesy solos are possible without a boost. Chord crunch and simple lower register single note hooks are a jaw dropping experience. What I heard was so very classic, first of all. Scorpions, Nugent, AC/DC, van Halen, Priest, Ratt, LA Guns, Tool, and more of course, is what the JCM reminded me of.
I think a mid or top boost pedal would take me right into Slashes tone. Oh and Tool, I know Tool originally used a 1975 Super Bass head but the JCM does the job perfectly.
Still, just because it sounds like all these bands is not all that important. What is, is like the definition, the smallest nuances of my playing have never been easier to hear over booming drumming. Single note runs sustain forever yet you can hear the wood of the guitar in them.
Truly a tube amp, harmonics are jumping out everywhere. Fat, meaty, my low E sounds like a grand piano's low string.
This amp is also loud! Louder than my 100 watters! I think it did structual damage to my friends home. The walls were shaking!
The only problem with this amp is that it's kinda noisy when not playing. Ya, it's over 20 years old and I'm sure there's a cap to replace or something but it's still annoying and without an effects loop a noise gate is not going to fix it.

Hendrix used Marshalls on the road instead of Fenders because they held up better. That's according to a book written about Jimi's life writtin back in the 70's.

I feel it's more solid and practical than my 70's models.

I spoke to James Marshall at the Namm show in Anaheim California (maybe LA...it was a long time ago) back in the lare 80's and he was a very humble fellow. He gave me some Marshall coasters for my coffe table even!
I told him to reissue the plexi's and low and behold he did! Is that customer support?
Other than that I have always relied on Marshall gurus to service my amps.

I've been a Marshall owner since 1980. I must of gone thru 20 heads or so and maybe 10 4x12 cabinets.
I've been playing lead guitar since 1975. I love classic rock, angry metal and grunge. I also dig Tool (whatever they are).

I love the balls this Marshall has. The earth shakes with the Master up to just 4.

I hate the lack of an effects loop and the noisy preamp section.

If it got stolen....I don't know...if I could find another without the noise...YES!

I'm comparing this head to a multitude of other Marshall heads, the Crate Power Block, an old Series 2 G-K 250 ML (really an awesome head but not as loud or ballsey as the JCM) and a B-52 100 watt( no soul ).

Sure beats the JTM45 reissues in all areas except weight!

BIG BIG BIG...it's the Grand Piano of guitar amplifiers!

Well where to start.. This is a freshly built one. Yeah sorry but I don't have a lot of money so I kinda built this one myself. I kept myself entirely to the schematics but changed the design of the amp. Anyways it got the same features. Gain, Low, Mid, High, volume, presence, Stanby, Power. Offcourse it has the usual two channels + the one I add myself. Low input, High input and the ultra. Though no matter what you do. you get the same sound every time. The equalizer is rather a toy then a real tool but.... read on!

OVERRATED??!! How has dared to say that this amp is overrated!
I've only played crappy amps before this and even tried a mesa boogie once. And somehow it was all the same. Crappy buzzy distortion. I really thought it was me or my guitar. When I turned this amp on I was really dissapointed at first. I never heard this type of distortion before (yeah the clean was clean but I don't care about clean). So a friend of mine said to get rid of the svetlana pretubes and fit in a few jj's. And before I knew it I was in tonal heaven. The high channel sounds really clear. Within one hour I learned everything about tone (never heard tone before not even on the expensive amps in store, allright allright the engl thunder really rocks), dynamics, sustain (thats right), punch and not to mention BALLS!! Turn this thing loud and your windows start shaking. Now I love old skool metal like malmsteen and van halen but this amp doesn't have enough gain for that so I punched in an extra hole sticked a tube in and voila.. All the gain and sustain, harmonics a guitar player ever wants.
At first I plugged this amp into a crappy 6,5" ibanez power jam speaker cabinet and I had very good tone. Now it goes into (yeah guess again) my homemade 2x12 cabinet fitted with jensen c12q. It gets even more freakin amazing!! Remember people, good speakers are 50% of your tone.
I have never had the chance to turn the volume up to 5 or higher but I hear from many people that there is a sweet spot out there in the unknown void called power amp distortion. Without the poweramp distortion it allready sounds amazing.
What I also experienced for the first time is the way the sound changes when you turn the knobs and switches. I never have to turn knobs on the amp again.
About noise. Yep its not noisy, you can hear the 50hz hum from the heaters and the ultra channel picks up the noise from my badly shielded guitar. NOW HERE IS A BIG HINT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Jim Marshall intentionaly left the 20k resistor out of the cap. I don't care about the 0.00001 db of hum If I have to give away all the biautifull tone this amp has away!! Placing that 20k resistor will make you have big sorry regrets SO DON'T DO IT. No matter what the people say. And yes it is worth it to add an extra tube just don't turn the pre gain to high or you start sounding like transistor. srry no 10 for this amp because the perfect amp does not exsist. I wonder when they will invent such a biautifull thing?

I'm not gonna rate this one since I built this thing myself. I did use very high quality electronics though and I play 3 hours a day sometimes on pretty high volumes (till the neighbours start knockin on the walls). What I though can say is that the way the amp has been designed, you can nearly trust your life to it. No microchips that can fail on you. No crappy parts in the poweramp. All values look cool and designed well within spec. The powertranny (dagnall PTX marshall 50) seems to get hot but I guess it is his job to do that. I would gig with this thing for sure all the other things I've ever used before are a plain joke. This thing turns all the other amps into toys. I'm still not to convinient about the pots though, they are made of cheap plastic. I don't like plastic ;)

AHAHAHHAHHAHAHAH "yes sir can I help you" "Yeah I downloaded a schematic and it says marshall, No my amp has died and you are responsible because it was badly designed" "yeah sure bring it over and well fix it + well pay all the mods required to make you even more pleased".
No that is not going to happen not even in the wildest dreams. I will have to rely on myself when this thing fries.

Overall this amp was worth spending money and effort for. Everyone has said the same to me "hey man you sound like a pro". And I really do so right now. The only thing that this thing cannot deliver is modern distortion and certainly not that oversaturated black metal nu metal junk distortion. But if you are into old skool metal ac/dc and even guns and roses or metallica. This amp can deliver that tone. AND NO!! you will not nail the tone. I mention metallica here but it doesn't sound like but it has the sound to play it and impress. If you play stuff like jimmi hendrix totally go for it, you won't be sorry. I play guitar for allready 11 years right now so I may say I know what I am talking about. Wan't to have huge amounts of sustain and gain just slam in a overdrive pedal in front or trow in an extra tube. My search for tone has come to an rest right now because I really love my amp (ANd it is mine for sure). If it gets stolen... Let's say it like this I will form an large organisation and start hunting the asshole down until I get my baby back and people will die for it. He may take my valbee and my kustom kga-10. I was too generous when I rated those two. I feel like a moron for saying that the valbee has tube sound because it has spungy crappy sad op amp generated distortion. You don't believe me, open it up and take a look inside. Now one last thing. Somebody here mentioned that the 2204 has solid state amplification. Well take a look at the original marshall schematics again moron the only solid state that you will find are the diodes that create the power supply. The jcm-800 2204 is all tube to the end!! If you want to play guitar for real go get yourself one of these or something like an orange, fender, ampeg, engl, mesa but make sure you get an acient design because the new age amps are all made to play nU METAL wich is no music to my ears. No 10 the path to the perfect tone lies within the eternal search. It's a way of life.

I bought this amp back in 1984 and sold (near enough gave away) ten years later, so this reveiw is looking back thru the mists of time. As for features very basic and easy to use compaired to modern gear. My six year old could use it! Two input sockets one high sensitivity and the other low, pre-amp vol, master vol, treble, middle, bass eq controls and presence control plus on/off and standby swithes. Thinking back reverb wold have been nice.

As I recall with the pre-amp vol set to max. The distortion was a little weak for the style of music i was playing at the time. Which was 80's rock, eg Ozzy and Van Halen, but a tube screamer sorted that out. However it would have been/still great for classic rock and blues which is what I play now I would love to be able to try a Les Paul thru this now! Oh yes this amp was bone crushingly loud. I never got a chance wind it up past 4, if ever a amp needed a powerbreak this is it.

Built like a Norman castle and would probaly last as long. These things can really take abuse, use to just sling it in the back of a car without care and it would just keep working. The only kid glove treatment it would get was at least 5 minutes warm up and 5 minutes cool down and thats it.

Never had to use them - is that a good thing.

As I said at the begining this is a retrospective review and should be taken in that context. I have been playing on and off for 32 years as an amuture but i did gig this amp few times. As for guitars at the time i was playing super strats as was everyone else. would I buy another? The simple answer is no, because i've no need or room for anthing that big. Still a great amp though.