Marshall JCM 900 4100 Dual Reverb

pretty versatile amp here 2 channels with separate gain master volume and reverb- and a half power switch-very nice- if it had dedicated tone controls for each it would be even better. Its big it's heavy but it's worth it for live gigs out of a 4X12 with 2 Relic 30's and two green backs it really moves a lot of air even at modest volume. All tube and one of the last breed of hand wired amps from the best thing to come out of Britain since the Fab Four!, oh and the Stones and the Who and Cream and Hendrix ( yeah it was England) And Zep etc...

This just sounds great! both channels are very cool- now i've been doing this for a long time and this amp gets way less respect than it deserves many die hard old school Marshall guys don't like it- period but if you take 5 minutes and play with the gain/volume of this you can pretty much geta very passable JMP sound or a JCM 800 sound- Clean channel will gget a very close JMP sound when pushed. I like not taking stop boxes- Best sound is pulling two tubes and running it on High power. a bit more claptonon bluebreaker sound. Doesn't have what my PTP wired JMP has as far as overall bark but where can you turn that up?

never busted

never needed

playing 45 yrs , not as versatile as my 6101 anniversary ( still think thats the best amp Marshall ever made!) but it sounded TONS better than a brand new 94 100 watt Plexi re-issue I had - as I said before at times sharing the tone stack could seriously affect performance but this one doesn't suffer as much as my early Boogies did from that affliction. Anything I wish it had- Someone to move it and the 4X12 cabinet

1996 version. 5881 power tubes. May as well have one channel, though it can be classified as having two.

Half power is useful; reverb is passable. Effects loop works well.

It fits my needs because it does many different styles without a lot of tweaking. However, since it includes the channel B that I never use, I'll rate it at a 6.

Sound quality is a 10. Easily.

I believe sound quality should reflect what an amp is capable of. My "trick" with this amp is to ignore the fact that it has a B channel and only use A. From there, it's crank the master - literally crank, not 7, not 8, crank - and then adjust the gain to taste. From there, I'd put this amp up against my $3500 Bogner 101b in a heartbeat. While it's not capable of everything the Bogner can do, if you set them up for the same type of the sound, they're just different; one isn't better than the other.

Specifically, I use it with a Strat and a Les Paul. I go from cleaner stuff, to lightly distorted blues, to rock and even metal. While it doesn't have as much gain as I could sometimes use, say for leads, what is does, it does with prowess.

Where does it not sound good? Channel B. It doesn't matter where the settings are, channel B doesn't sound good. Sonically, it's very thin with a lack of lows and not enough high highs to let the tone "breathe"; it's anemic. This is where the 4100 gets a bad rap, which is why they're so cheap!

All in all, it's a great sounding amp!

The previous owner for years didn't play the amp. In fact, when I got the amp, it had EL34s in it!! It was neglected; no doubt about that.

I threw some 6L6s in it, biased it up, and that was it. These are as solid as they come!

Have not heard great things, but I've never dealt with them.

Think and say what you want to, but I bought this thing after learning Korn used it on their first album! I learned it used 6L6s and that was about all the convincing I needed (had been wondering what a Marshall would be like with them).

The positives: what it can do, again, it does VERY well. Solid amp with a ton of power.

The negative: channel B is useless

Overall it is disappointing to see Marshall release an amp that has such great potential and yet falls so very short. It's like they took the JCM 800 circuitry for channel a, and used 6L6s since EL34s were made very poorly at the time. That much is awesome! Then, they needed to get more gain out of it, but got a little lazy, so they put DIODE CLIPPING in the gain channel! That sucks! I find myself sometimes wondering if they bothered to listen to it before it left the factory!

I'll give it an 8 because they're damn inexpensive for what they pack in channel A. I'd give it a 10, but since it's supposed to incorporate the second channel with more gain and it just sounds bad, its intended purpose isn't met.

1992 model made in England of course.This is the 2 channel independent reverb model switchable from 100/50 watts.Ample power to get the job done either way.Theres an effects loop and footswitch for channel switching and reverb I believe...mine is MIA!This model was supposed to be the "high gain" answer to the earlier 800's.Versatile? Well I can't think of anyone that gets a Marshall for it's versatility but as far as standard features it's enough.They were cool enough to put LED indicators for blown fuses.2 outputs (1 for each pair of tubes).There are 2 line out jacks in back.1 for direct and 1 for recording compensation.Not familiar enough with the workings of these to comment further.

This is where I'll need to split to a 2 part review.This amp carries a stigma of love/hate with it.Supposedly the worst amp Marshall ever made I've heard."Out of the box" I would tend to agree.The high gain is really a joke however the clean channel is fantastic.A nice touch over the single channel 800's.Reverb gets the job done.If you are looking for a pounding metal amp you WILL be disappointed BUT...KEEP READING...Don't give up on it.To wake up this AC/DC only amp you will need pedals.I got a Boss SD1 super overdrive and a GE7 Eq.Best investment ever.This thin,sustain starved and anorexic thing became a monster and wants to kill every other amp around now.The Eq alone thru the effects loop was 80% cure...seriously.This pedal has the volume control and 7 bands to mess with so you can get it all effectively using the volume to push the preamp.Depth?More than enough to be had.You will even be able to tame the harsh upper mids this amp is plagued with.Then add the SD1 and the sustain for leads WITH harmonics,all thru the dirty channel so as not to lose the Marshall tonal qualities.Bottom line is theres an awesome amp waiting to be unleashed so don't feel there's no hope for it based on other reviews.I like classic rock right through total brutality metal and with this setup you will get all of it.I've got a couple decent Jacksons,1 USA KV2 and an older Jap neck thru as well as a 95 Gibson Les Paul Classic custom shop all with SD pickups.Rating WITH pedals is 10 but for the stock amp a 5.

Every amp company has it's lemons and you also never know what will happen on any given day with a tube amp so no backup?Let's not kid ourselves.Mine was a used from ebay jobbie.It came with a blown fuse but promptly replaced it and have had no other issues yet but it's still kinda new to me so we'll see.

Heard the support from Marshall was kinda lacking but personally haven't needed them.No warrantee used.

Since these are going reasonably cheap used due to their reputation,I would say get one if you can.With the added volume control of the EQ it is no longer an amp that will only sound decent cranked but still does sound better that way.I hated the thing at first but have never sounded better since adding the pedals.This setup will keep up with amps selling for way more $ now and I'm glad I got one.I was considering the Line 6 Spider Valve head but no longer need to look further.My needs have been met and for less $ still.I've tinkered with the guitar since I was 15 and I'm 41.Bought and sold more gear than I care to remember always looking for something better.Since I don't have the bank account to get really high dollar stuff,settling for used has become the way to go for me.The JCM 900 4100 is a bargain given it's potential.Besides I've never met a Marshall that could do it all on it's own so here ya go.

Mine is the EL34 model, dual channel/reverb(gain and clean) with shared EQ(Low, Mid, High and Presence). It has both a Master volume and a pre-amp gain for each channel. Effects loop in the back with level control, Recording out(useless), 8 or 4(16) Ohm switch, high or low setting, basically runs the tubes in Triode when at low, also other stuff but im doing this from memory so I cants remember what else is back there.

Ok here is the part that has plauged these amps since their release. The problem with them is they use diode clipping in channel 2, now this for the tube purest its a no no, on the other hand they can get of their boutique amp high horse soap box and actually give this amp a shot. This amp is no easy fix to make it sing, I have had mine for almost 13 yrs now and it took some TLC to get it to sound the way i like it. Before I explain what I did to get it that way, Ill say what it sounded like before I modded/added stuff. The Clean channel was about the only reason I bought this, its warm and has just the right amount of overdrive if you want it to, also if you dial back on your guitars volume knob you can clean it up quite nice, then turn it up for some good ole' bluesy classic rock tones. The gain channel..well, it lacks, alot, fizzy gain, loss of low and jesus the damn high's will kill you! But i guess if you are doin some pop punk 3 power chord riffage you'll be right at home with it. The gain on channel two is basically useless after 3/4's, it really makes no difference if you stay there or go to 10(wish mine went to 11, but oh well). So yeah, the mod part, I kept asking myself should I bag this thing and free up the space, I never used this amp, I had my Mesa Dual recto and I was a happy camper for the time, but then i decided why not just mess with it until it either broke or I would use it. I spent quite a while on the net looking for an answer then i got my first step..http://web.aoct.org/marshall/jcm900-gain-mod.txt, follow this and you will not regret it! wow what a difference it made, suddenly I had this amp sounding like you would think a Marshall should! But i wasn't done, It still lacked, so I threw a Modded TS-9(pick a TS-9 mod, there has got to be 50 different ways to mod this pedal, all do ok stuff, mine is the JRC4558 op-amp with a few cap and resister changes, sounds great anyway look into it)BAM! again fantastic rich overdrive on either channel. Ok were almost there, so I started to use this amp now instead of my Mesa, I know crazy right, not really Im so sick of the "MESA is the only way to go" ********, besides I never once was told what a great sound I had with the mesa, and now everytime I fire up the JCM 900 people say what the hell! So i played with it for a while perfectly content with its sound, great gain, its good enough for any style you want, you just gotta know how to caress it. Then one day i bought the BBE Sonic Stomp, just because I figured it would sound good for my bass rig, I used it on my Marshall for fun(thru effects loop, very important)......MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! It was just like they say, my amp sounded like a blanket had been lifted off the cab, beautiful tight lows, perfect mix of mid and highs all in a 2 knob box, seriously if you don't have one get it! Sure you can probably get a close enough sound with any EQ, but c'mon it has two knobs and workd amazing! Ok i know this isn't a review for the BBE so back to the amp. I know can palm mute this thing and it jiggles my belly, i can solo and blast right thru the mix(i play with a full band including the 2 other guitars, one Orange AD30 and the other uses a Mesa Triple) they both sound great but now its like a whole new ball game kids! Anywho, this has been wordy and kinda all over the place, but really just pick one of these up, I swears i see them all the time for like $250 on craigslist, its well worth it if you give it some love. Another thing with or without the mod, this amp loves pedals of any kind. Also the other thing is, its not a Plexi, Mesa Recto, Orange High gain, Peavey 5150, Soldano Hot Rod so quit trying to say it dosen't sound like one..it's not! YOu do however gotta crank this amp, just like most tube amps, its sounds pretty thin until you hit 12 noon on that master, but c'mon why not just got all the way!

Like i said mine has been in my hands since 1996'ish, and never had a problem with it.

Never had a need.

I use a 2x12 cab with Vin30's and a 4x12 with Gt12-75, Les Paul Deluxe and an American Tele. Pedals include the BBE Sonic Stomp, Ibanez TS-9(modded), Daddy-o overdrive(modded), Boss DD-3 delay, Holy Grail reverb, and a DIY volume pedal.

First run 1989-90 4100 with EL34s. Features are listed in prior reviews. I couldn't ask for any more features on this amp, other than no diodes in the gain channel and two EQs, one for each channel, otherwise everything you need. My output transformer has been replaced.

I use EL34s. I mention this, as there are two power amp tube versions of the 900. Also, people often switch to 6L6s or 6550's etc. I play a LP Standard with burstbucker pickups and a full pedalboard rig. I mainly use the clean channel with the pre cranked on half power mode and pretty flat EQ, switching to the gain channel only when I need a little more grit. I love the sound of the clean channel cranked, it's really the amp at it's best. It sounds outright flat below 12 o'clock on preamp or poweramp settings. Clean is not this amps forte, although it's not terrible. 100 watts is so overkill, the half power setting is the only way to go, through a 16 ohm cab. Tube breakup is necessary to remove some of the sterility of the gain channel. A pretty versatile amp all in all, and capable of solid tone, just turn it up. Reverb is decent and subtle, good for smoothing out clean tones.

I have been gigging with this amp for about 7 years, and the reverb has died on me twice. I had it repaired, and it died again. I don't mind much, because I use an EH Holy Grail into the preamp for some cool reverb through distortion splats. Also the stock output transformer blew in the middle of a gig once - worth noting. I had it replaced with an inexpensive upgrade, no Mercury Magnetics or anything, and it sounds even better. More note definition. All that aside, I feel like this amp is very dependable, and use it regularly with no backup.

Bought it used.

These amps go used for less money than most Marshalls, and they're a complete bargain. Not the king of the heap, but a solid gigging amp and an underrated performer. It's really become a part of my sound, and is slowly becoming harder and harder to replace, no matter how hard I try!

This amp has all of the features and functions that I use on an amp. In this sense it is the perfect amp for me. It has an effects loop with trim control, 50/100 watt switching, a lead channel, 3-band global eq, and my favorite: footswitchable spring reverb. REAL Spring reverb is often taken for granted. When you sort of "overload" the reverb chamber it gives off a haunting sound and sort of feeds back. I can't put into words what it sounds like. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Just go to your local store and do it. Then you'll vever want another digital reverb pedal.

The clean channel is good, but not great. It doesn't have the thick, silky highs like a jtm or jmp marshall amp, but it does have that "glassy" sound. Especially with single coil neck pickups. Oh man do those sound great, especially with the reverb cranked. The Lead channel is beastly. I don't know what some of these metal guys are talking about. I have a les paul with a 498t bridge pickup and wow, I can get a good brown sound. It will get up there with the JCM 800's. It's a shade lighter. As far as clarity goes, the gain channel lacks the definition in your notes when you play a power chord or add notes to the chord you are playing. That's why I only use this channel for leads. I use a fulltone OCD on the clean channel for dirty tones when I'm not soloing.

if you've ever seen the pixies, my bloody valentine, or the lemonheads live, chances are you've seen/heard this amp. I've seen all three in the past 7 years and they had "killer tone, man".

I have dropped this thing a few times. I tour all the time, all over this great United States and I have never had a problem with this while I was on the road. Regular tube changes and I just got new springs in the reverb tank a month ago. My amp was built in 89 I think, two years after I was born. It's in better shape than me ;)

Never needed it, but I'm sure mr. Marshall has his hands full. I go to local guys anyways. Support local music and business.

Alot of people knock this amp because it doesn't have the bassier marshall tone that everyone loves. What people need to know is that Marshall was obviously trying something different with this amp. The highs on this amp are crazy sensitive. I keep the treble at about 2 o' clock at the most (on my plexi clone I keep it fully boosted for that tony iommi sound). I almost think this amp sounds like an AC30 on steroids. I'll tell you what, my plexi clone kills this amp a million times as far as tone and harmonics go. but That plexi doesn't have spring reverb and I wouldn't count on dropping my plexi and playing a show with it. This is the best live amp I've used. It is great for any style. Love it or hate, just don't knock it until you try it.

excellent example from Marshall but more versatile

Marshalls always sound scary at high volume,because of their power amp distortion. Very brutal and beautiful.

excellent quality workmanship

been playing for almost 20 years,owned a lot of amps. Marshall are the best amps

I love this amp when im playing live and you're there to feel its raw power, however on recordings it tends to lack its brute strength. I have used my JCM 900 on all of my bands recording with gibsons but always need to triple layer to get a heavy sound.

2 channels with reverb in each of them .Eq bass middle treble and pressence .Very usefull head.

Words from me are not enough to describe this head.The name marshall tells it all.The clean channel just crystal sound and the lead gain channel is maybe the best overdrive i ve ever heard in my life .The exellent eq that this head has it s very sensitive leting you make whatever sound you can imagine.THIS head is loud as hell.WORTH BYING IT IF U CAN FIND IT HAHAHA.

2 friends of mine plus me own this head and never had problem with something.If you are kind with this amp(make the nessesary service when needed ,change tubes etc)the amp will be kind to you as well.

1996 Marshall JCM900 100w valve head, model 4100.

4 x 5881 valves
3 x 12AX7 valves
Spring Reverb
Footswitchable Gain/Reverb
100/50 output switch

The JCM 900 is a simple split-channel amp, the clean and drive channels share the EQ section and only have independant gain and reverb controls. I only ever use this amp in the 50w mode, nobody should ever need 100watts unless you're ripping up a stadium. Its easy to use and doesnt over complicate anything. Would have been nice to have some sort of mid focus/contour control on the lead channel, just to give the voicing a wider sweep.

This is actually my 4th JCM900, but my first 100w version. The thing i love about them is the transparency of the sound, it sounds like a marshall always does but you can still hear your actual guitars tone, this is something that most modern amplifiers fall down on. The simplicity of the design means that the sound is very consistent in most situations, dont expect it to sound like a mesa or a 5150 because it never will, this is pure modern marshall. My main guitar is a heavily modded 50's re-issue Telecaster, bartilini humbucker at the bridge plus a high mass bridge and saddle set up. I also use an ibanez jet king jtk2 and an Aria Superstrat.

Clean - The clean on this amp is nice and choppy, its not overly deep or overbaring, which is great in a band situation, but you may need to add an addition EQ to the front end for recording just to make the tone jump a little more. Its a good sound for clean rock passages, ska punk or pop-rock, it doesnt really have the bite for fast country or the smoothness for soul and r&b. Push the gain on this channel and you can get some nice rootsy break-up, great for 70's rock and punk.

Drive - The drive channel is what i've always loved on these amps. The gain is nicely graduated until the last quarter and then it seems to lose its feel, i've heard this can be graduated further by changing the valve in position 1 to something a bit cleaner, but i like the sound of the EH 12ax7's i always use! The lower gain settings are great for subtle lead work and forceful rhythm chops, but the amp really comes into its own when you push the gain up to about2 o'clock. You'll be rewarded with a chunky, rich and musical distortion thats easy to control but sounds great. One thing you'll notice is the amps lack of mid range control, you'll frquently find yourself maxing out on the mid knob just to be heard above the drums, definately go for some EH tubes because they help project the mids and keep the low end tight.
The band i play in is a pop-punk/melodic rock band, its all original material, think jimmy eat world, spitalfield and yellowcard.

I've had four of them, aslong as they're serviced and revalved regularly then theyre reliable and road worthy.

Marshall doesnt even have any email details on its webpage!

I love jcm900's, they're very much MY sound. I never liked the 800's, DSL's we're good but very generic sounding, the new Vint/mods and JVM's are great amps but i still think that the 900 is the best modern amp they've built. Just make sure that you look after them well, in the next ten years this will become the marshall amp to own!

You can also pick these up mega cheap, especially the 5881 versions.

This amp has a 3-band eq with presence and reverb. Honestly I think the reverb is a little weak. I have to turn it all the way up to get the sound I desire, but that's just me. Also I have to crank the pre-amp gain on the clean to get it loud enough so that there is a clean balance switching between clean and dirty. It has your basic fx loop and slave outputs.

The sound quality is awesome for rock, blues, or metal. The clean is nice but the pre-amp gain has to be turned up to almost 8 for volume with out it breaking up too much. The overdrive is just awesome though, this is a true rocker's amplifier.

When I bought the amp it was broken, probably because of shipping. After it was fixed it worked really good. It needed a new reverb tank and some other things so maybe this is why the reverb is weak. Other than that it has never let me down in the year that I have had it.

Never had to contact.

I like it because i got a good quality amp for a pretty meager price ($400). If I had the money though, I would get something else.

3 band EQ
2 Channel - Clean and Dirty
Presence control
Dual Reverb

Wish it had separate EQ and volumes.

I have played all types of Rock and Roll, Metal and Blues.
This Amp is amazing. It's never been moded, Tho I have been trying to figure out a way to put 6550's in it. (Dont ever try it without consulting a pro... You will melt the power transformer!!)

Sounds best with Humbuckers or EMG's.

I have 3 guitars that play through it as of current:
97 American Fender Strat

SUPER MODIFIED Epiphone Gothic Explorer with Seymore Duncan CUSTOM CUSTOM Pick up

Ampeg Dan Armstrong Acrylic (Keith Richards, Joe Perry, Dave Grohl, Josh Homme)

LOVE THIS AMP.

I have had some fuse issues with the amp occasionally. But that was just due to a need for tube changes.

I gig with this amp non stop. And I will continue gigging with it until it dies.

MARSHALL FOR LIFE!

Never Needed.

I WILL USE THIS AMP FOREVER.

Marshall could just make this amp for the rest of time.

Made for the rock and nothing else. I love the straightforwardness of the design, as it seems the best amps do (Orange, Hiwatt, etc.). The only confusing knob is a "presence" button, and I still don't know what that thing does exactly. I find the Direct Recording out useful for running a tuner (not recording out of - come on people!).

This amp seems built like a muscle car - with a lot of useless horsepower. It's totally overbuilt for me, as I only use one channel and always use it at half power (and only turned up half way from there). Even at that setting, many a soundman has asked me to turn down, so that 100 watt feature is a waste. Maybe it's a macho thing.

I run it out of a 212 with Vintage 30s, as I sold the matching Marshall 1960a half stack I bought it with to a metal kid. What a difference in sound! That and my rig is now 50 pounds lighter. No matter how many speakers you have, the soundman only mics one. The rest you are senselessly lugging around. Again, maybe a macho thing?

This amp is for making that AC/DC style, straight up rock sound. You know, the sound of a thousand classic rock, southern rock, punk rock and hair metal bands. If you are looking for anything different or diverse, you will probably be disappointed. I am personally in love with that sound and this amp does it for me.

This thing worked great for years, but in the last six months it has failed on me twice. One of those was one of those tricky problems that happens here and there, with the volume cutting in and out. My tech told me that these "new" Marshalls tend to do this a lot, with random connections coming loose and other problems. Yow, that is scary.

I'm no amp afficionado like a lot of people on hear, judging amps as others judge types of wines ("full body," "nice vintage," "a little bit sweet"). I haven't tried a lot of amps, but I have been consistently in love with the tone of this one for years.

My JCM900 was build in the early 90's, it has al the things I need, A simple equalizer, 2channels with reverb and gain, and tons of power and rock 'n roll

Both channels are amazing and sound like they have to sound, the clean is very bright and you can drive it up with the preamp gain control of this channel up to some nice overdriven bluessound, the B lead channel is amazing too, because I like late 80's and early 90's rock and heavy metal, it has leadsounds up to m??torhead and stuff like that. Sometimes I use a distortion pedal if I want to play something more modern..

This amp never let me down, never broken down, I have the amp for about five years and I had never problems with the amp.

I've have been playing for a long time and probably the jcm900 was the deal of my life because i could get it very cheap with a 1960a cabinet. This amp is just completely rock 'n roll, excellent for gigging or just a jam with some friends.

Produced in 1991-92 and still has the original EL 34:s. Dual channels working very well, could have been even nicer with dual EQ:s, but it is not essential. The half power possibility is very handy. The fuse system seems practical, but i have never blown one.

The clean sound is OK, but can be a bit harsh at moderate levels. The distorted sounds are much better (no surprise). The clean channel produces a nice bluesy overdrive when pushed. The high gain (diode clipping) channel contains a more lead type sound with distortion and sustain. This is a little brighter, for making leads stick out which cold make it a little buzzy for accentuating other parts of a song. If you use moderate clipping and play very loud some really nice tones come out of that channel as well. It is a very, very loud amplifier and a 50W head should be more than enough and better for cranking the power amplifier. I have used it without effect pedals, but have recently tried a Marshall GV-2, to get three kinds of basic sounds and that works very well and sounds natural. I have been playing guitar for 36 years and I use both single coil and humbucker guitars.

No problems.

Can't say. I have never had any contact with Marshall.

I have used it for 12 years, bought it second hand and have never had the slightest problem with it. I've heard better plexis in a classical Marshall sense, but a lot of worse 800:s and this is far better than the new Vintage Modern i tried. The plexi I had before was a very good one trick pony if cranked, but this 900 has a wider sound spectrum.
This amplifier will become a classic in spite of the internet bashing and the excessive 800 cult. It is now reproduced by Marshall.

dual channel 100 watt
made in the 90's sometime
came factory with 6l6's
Modded eq section & change from 6l6 to el34's

This is a really nice amp after changing out preamp tubes to tung sol 12ax7's & converted the original 6l6 to el34's (svetlana)
Had the eq section modded & now it has a huge variation with tonal character...I love its range now...I play rock & roll so this is the perfect amp for me

I blew several sets of power tubes using a power soak & have since sold the power soak...No problems with the amp otherwise

? I hate customer support anywhere...they all suck regardless...even if they help you out , they still suck

Ive been around the block for a while & have tons of gear to fuck with...This amp is my nucleus...Im positive theres several jcm 800's that would give a left nut to sound like my modded 900 model...
Im in bliss now
I got this thing dirt cheap...best deal on anything I ever bought new or used...it needed retubed when I bought it & that was a cheap thing to take care of...Did I mention I got the 4x12 1960 cabinet with it as well?
BEST DEAL EVER ON ANYTHING...IM'A LUCKY FUCKER

Well enough said about the hardware features by others. My Amp is actually the 100watt combo with four 6L6 valves.
I sometimes use it as a head with a 4x12 standard Marshall Quad box to get that classic "Brown" Marshall Knock tone or otherwise on its own as a combo coz the open back sound is also very nice and versatile.
The main feature is that the JCM900 is a fabulous and tasty sounding Rock Amp that wont suck the tone of your instrument and will deliver that classic Fender single coil or Gibson humbucker sound whether in context of smokey jazz or overdriven tones ala Gary Moore etc.
Its getting harder but you may just jag one of these amps cheap on account of past criticism by those who must have presumably had faulty hardware or just those who have no clue anyway.
As mentioned by many many others - make no mistake - this amp is a classic and will be sought after for its classic benchmark Marshall tone.

This amp is a monster - a gorgeous capable and reliable one at that and will easily deliver those musical sounding classic rock or other desirable guitar tones die hard tone dogs would die for. Easily one of the best Marshalls ever made which wont allow other guitar players or other fellow musicians to intimidate or elbow you out of the stage with their sound at a gig and at the same time actually make you stand out as a guitarist and musician. Experiment with the effects loop that is to say the power amp "in" as mentioned by others and you will have a four channel amp with different sounds enabling you to harvest the sounds of most styles with ease - yes even speed metal. Also try the reduced power setting. You wont actually get much drop in volume but it does change the sound although both settings sound good. This Amp is a classic to those with good ears and fingers. A Tube Screamer or decent equivalent, Boss delay chorus and EQ thru the power amp in section will place you in Tone Heaven in less than a heart beat. I have owned this amp for nearly four years and I'm still in love with it.I'm in three bands - one does mainly Corporate shows and the occasional Pub gig doing a variety of popular music, another is a Jazz Combo and we work regular at a variety of venues and also a rock band doing a fair amount of our own originals or covers with our own arrangements.
My JCM900 is the only amp I found capable and versatile enough 2 cut all three different type of gigs.I have seen and heard others try to get the same vesatility by resorting to tone modeling pre-amps with their very identifyable imitation over-processed sounds that lack character and that exciting tone of a real amp. Well I also own a COSM Preamp but only use it to sketch guitar parts in my studio for recording which I eventually re-record with a mic in front of my amp.

Very dependable but just look after the valves and service every year if you work the amp hard and often (five nites a week in my case) and it wont leave you in the cold

Not ever needed so N/A

In the last 15 years since my first High SchoolBand I have owned many classic valve amps like other Marshalls, Fenders Boogie etc and non valve amps including the brilliant Roland JC120 and JC77 - actually still have the Rolands and in truth the JCM 900 is my fav Valve amp. My JCM 900 and the Rolands have the classic tones sought and heard in many contemporary and classic rock recordings.In fact friends of mine have hunted this model Marshall down after hearing and trying mine. Mine is the 6L6 valved model and I personally like it better than my friend's EL34 valved model as the 6L6 sounds smoother. I mainly use Strats, Tele Thinline and also have a Les Paul Custom I hardly use coz its so heavy and a Nighthawk I do use very often All my guitars sound good with their own hallmark sounds thru this tone monster amp

I've owned this amp with EL34's since 1994, and I have to say I love it. Has more than enough features. I play blues/rock (Clapton, Moore, Santana) and is great for this style. I gig with it regularly - it is very well made, what you'd expect from Marshall.

Clean sound is good, but nothing like a Fender sound. This amp's strong point is its distortion sound. When driven hard, its hard to beat... but it needs pushing. At low volumes the tone isn't great, but then again it's not designed for that! I always have it on half power and run it through a 2x12 cabinet which sounds very sweet..better in many ways than before when I had a 4x12 which needed higher volume to sound good. I play a strat with tappable humbuckers made by Evans which are wonderful pickups (sadly no longer made). In a nutshell, this amp sings, cries, sustains and kicks ass all depending on how you want it to sound.

Certainly, its very well made and solid.. in fact it can manage to play on if a tube blows. The clean channel gain pot needs replacement and can be a pain to set it right as it scratches the sound if not.

Never needed it.

Would be devasted if it were stolen and would certainly replace it - perhaps with a lower powered model. I love its looks and sound - I get many compliments after gigs.

1998 model with 5881 power tubes, changed to better sovtek tubes after few months or so.
Reverb is nice, adds extra presence and cut for soloing. Nice when used subtley on clean channel.
I thought having only two channels would be a downer as i was used to having a solo boost channel (previously had a TSL combo) but the sound cut right through such that i found i didnt need the extra channel. very impressed.

B channel is great a it allows for a massive range of sounds, all with a twist of the gain. A channel is great, awesome clean sound (up to 5 or 6 on the gain) and nice crunch for gain settings over 6ish. Even at gain levels over 6 pulling back on the guitar volume even from 10 to 9 will clean it up nicely.

I am currently using this with a marhsall 1960A cab although wouldnt mind trying out the 150W version with the vintage30s. Anyway using this with a fender strat with lace sensors (blue, silver, gold), Gibson LP Studio, Ibanez RG520QM and an epiphone gold top (took a lot of work to get it sounding good with out all the damn electronics issues that come with epiphones, it just looked so good and i couldnt afford the gibson version as most people can understand)

Distortion would be good for metal if kept at max and you were really pushing the power tubes but for me this is a ROCK amp! clean through to crunch through to awesome high gain dist!
good stuff all round.

Ive only had it a year but its got me through all my gigs so far hassle free! i never use a back up mainly cause i dont have another $2k.

I can compare it to the TSL and DSL combos, Valvestates & Fender hotrod (as i have owned all these) and i'd have to say this is the better of all of them, more flexible, dynamic and probably just better suited to my style. Range of sounds was better than i had expected and i cant see myself ever getting rid of it!

I just got a Marshall 1993 JCM 900 4100 with 5881's. I am writing this review because like most, I have been in search of that right sound. This amp is the most versatile amp out there. I have read many reviews under rating this amp and you guys are missing the boat. I will agree that you have to get the right version of this amp. I have owned 5 of these and did not like the EL-34 version or the 50 watt version as the 50 watter lacked bottom and the EL 34 version was not very smooth.

This amp can go from pretty clean with the 5881's to screaming all out rock. The clean channel with the 5881's is very clean at high volumes. It is not a Fender clean but does not distort if you keep the gain no higher than 5-6. My amp came with 6L6's which I immediately changed to Tung Sol 5881's and also changed the pre-amp to Tung Sol 12AX7's. This change changed my life. These are by far the best tubes to use in this amp. I have tried them all. I have been playing in bands and guitar for 30 years. I have all old Boss Japan timed effects running through the effects loop and a Keeley tube screamer in front for boost and light distortion on the clean channel. This is the most under rated Marshall. I have owened the TSL 60 which sucked, the DSL 50 which sucked, 1987X plexi which was cool but just to damn loud and again 4 other JCM 900's which sucked until I got the 5881/6L6 version.

These amps are simple but great.

No Comment.

I would never sell this gem.

I bought this amp second hand for #400 with a jcm900 1960 lead cab, shared EQ is the main problem, I solve it with a EQ. I used to have a 4 cahnnel AVT, totally uneccessary and for amateurs. Load up on the stompboxes though, I found the clean channel wouldn't go clean enough but it may be broken. I also paid more for the AVT than I have for this, and that sounded like a cheap imitation so don't even bother.

I play modern rock, so no nu-metal shite, more Janes Addiction, Chilis, Muse, Rage, that sort of sound and you can get that sort of ballsy rock I personally love from this amp easily. I haven't even tried to scoop out the mids, what's the point when they sound so good? I use a cheap PRS santana SE with dual humbuckers, a les Paul and a squier tele custom (Im on a budget of course) it sounds the business, if you can't get a decent tone with this then you're a lame guitarist or you like lame music - Nu metal is dead and this amp's rating had been dragged down by kids expecting it to sound like the next big metal band, it sounds good, period. Clean channel is a bit poor though, still 10/10 because channel B makes up for it.

PS-I'm not a middle-aged rocker, I'm 18, and I love this amp.

It occasionally needs turning off and back on again for some reason, but it's old and well used and it works second time. Makes a loud noise when you turn it off though, I should look into that really! Haven't had it long, I'm writing this so I don't lose any friends by bragging about my new amp too much!

This is my dream amp, the next step for me would be something ludicrous custom made, this is all you need. If you can't make it sound good then you have a problem with your technique or somewhere else in your setup. I do wish it had seperate EQs though, and a better clean channel. Still...go and buy one, now.

100 Watt JCM 9000 4100 Dual Reverb Reissue, 2005 or 2006?... 2 channels - the 5881-type tubes in it not the EL-34's. Its all been covered already. Its not the most versatile head out there but its two channels allow it to do what it was designed to do - play rock music! Shared EQ is kind of a bummer though. Effects loop is always a useful feature.

I used it at the store for a couple hours with my 1980's Kramer USA Nightswan. This beast is meant to be played LOUD and absolutely ROCKS. The overdrive is to die for! If you love AC/DC, Whitesnake, Guns N Roses, Aerosmith, or any other classic rock bands I would check this head out. It covers those styles very well and is lot of fun to play! Tight and punchy amp, with a lot of midrange - sustains for days and feeds back beautifully. I was able to get both great rythym (with the gain lower) and searing solo tone (with the gain set higher) on the lead channel. Clean channel wasn't a vox or fender... but don't let that hold you back from trying this amp - the clean isnt half bad and the amp is a MARSHALL! cmon its meant for rocking out. The pinch harmonics seemed to really pop off my guitar through this amp. Also the reverb was great when used moderately. I am no great guitarist but everyone who walked by came over to see what amp/guitar I was playing and they all dropped compliments on my tone.

To be honest, I have no idea why these JCM900's are so maligned by most Marshall fans... you can sometimes see the old ones going for really low prices! I think these things are overlooked and will get more popular as more people come to realize what a great and distinctive rock tone they put out.

Don't know but the salesman (an older dude with a lot of experience) told me that tube-head marshalls have been great over the last few years for reliability. The amp certainly appeared to be well put together - its a tube amp though so it needs to be babied.

Can't say. I think the warranty is 5 years - which is what it should be for an amp of this price. I have never dealt with Marshall.

So to recap:
100 watts - dont play it in your bedroom - get a powerbrake!
Tone - Sweet rock, blues, and even edgier rock/country tones on tap... great rythym and lead tone here.
Metalheads - Don't buy this, you probably won't be happy. Not enough gain and sounds far too warm to be a good metal amp. I find that Krank or Mesa Rectifier series make much better amps for metal. This amp likes standard tuning and searing solos not drop D or C chugging.
Don't play it with crappy guitars - My Kramer was a match made in heaven. I think any solidbody gibson or quality solidbody rock guitar with humbuckers would love this amp. Strats w/fuzz pedal or tubescreamer would be good too.
Don't play it through crappy cabs - I played it through a Mesa Rectifier 2x12 vertical slant cab... WOW did it sound good. Vintage 30 speakers are great for this amp.

I can't fairly give this an overall rating, since I don't own it - but I would say that its worth checking out if you love rock. The price is too steep in my opinion, so I will probably check out some of the old ones to see if I can score one of these amazing (and unfairly criticized) amps. (also see: JCM 800 users who pay thousands for their amp are suckers when this one can be had for a few hundred)

Jcm 900 high gain dual reverb 100 watt 2 channel amp head.
Seperate volume, gain & reverb controls for each channel. Shared eq.
4 el-34 tubes and 3 ec883 preamp tubes. I've used it to play gigs and it has tons of power. Very loud with great tone.

I play a strat, sg, epiphone dot, les paul, Ibanez and a tele.
I play mostly rock, blues, heavy metal, reggae and original stuff.
The amp is like "oh my god" awesome. Very quiet with humbucker equipped guitars. Single coils are a litle nosiy but that the guitar not the amp. I run this head into a Marshall 4x12 jcm800 straight cab
and usually on 1/2 power. I use a tubescreamer with the gain set low and the level a little high so it acts as a boost, into a hendrix wah and a digital delay thru the efects loop. This gives me basically a 4 channel amp. Clean, clean with tubescreamer for a vintage sounding crunch, lead and lead with tubescreamer for over the top sustain for days type leads. The clean channel can get clean to a vintage crunch depending on how much gain you dial in. The reverb is really nice. Its kinda sterile sounding but clear, bright and crisp at the same time. I Like it alot. Usually I set the clean channel up with the gain on 4 and master on 5-7 depending. The lead channel is really great. The distortion rules on this amp. Its much better than any jcm 800 I've heard. This channel has a trebly character to it with a heavy bottom end thump. The amp seams to be starving for fuel unless you turn it up. As it approacheds 1/2 volume it really starts to open up. I usually peg the gain and run the volume between 4-7 depending. It sound great at 6 on the volume with the gain at full, but this is too loud for most situations and people start complaining even on 1/2 power which is how I keep it. The amp isn't really that versitle. Its great for rock and metal and it can do blues allright. Its hella loud even on 1/2 power and it really sounds great. The distortion is where its at on this amp, it has that distictive Marshall roar. The clean is good as well but definately no fender clean.

Yes its dependaple. Other than a couple of pots that are scratchy
which I will replace eventually, the amp has never let me down.

I've been playing 27 years. If it were stolen I would probable try to find another one. I love the Marshall sound.
This amp is the shit for hard rock music.

I got mine used for $800 w/. the matching cab. It's a 1991 i believe. I mostly use the Dirty channel - I play punk music. My only complaint is the lake of independent channels, but you'd be surprised how different you can get the 2 channels by tweaking the gain.

I've used this head to power half stacks, full stacks, (marshall and mesa), the ohm selector is very helpful. Also the half power setting is good when I run the amp thought my 100 watt green back cab (but I do loose some tone)

I use gibsons w/. humbuckers or P-90's, and the all sound good wit this amp.

The Clean channel is really good though...if you put the Gain to 8 or so you can get a killer AC/DC type sleazy rock'n roll tone. The amp doesn't really do a "fender" type clean (but if you want that, get a f*****g fender.

the hi-gain channel is really good. It has a little more distortion than jcm-800's and jmp's I've played. This Amp is very suited to playing punk rock - especially if you don't have the cash for a high priced jcm-800 that's be moded.

the only thing on the amp that is sub par is the reverb. it's barley there - but then again....Marshall's aren't really known for reverb, are they.

I've used this amp to record 2 full lengths and 2 EPs. It's been on 2 US tours and 5 west coast tours and played about 300 gigs locally!

The only problem I've ever had was right after I got this amp it blew a fuse and cracked two tubes..however I finished the set! I had the fuses changed and the amp retubed and have never had a problem sense (that was 2001) and it has failed me sense.

I bought in used and ten years old. It was WAY out of warranty.....

I've be playing for 10 years. I would definitely replace this amp with the same. I've owned Crate, Fender, mesa, and laney heads. They all disappointed me - but not my 900

Enough. If you need more, then buy a couple of stomboxes...(you can never have enough of those little bastards)

People are hating this amp because its distortion(which comes thru every brickwall ;) and they complain that clean isn't good enough. Well, like someone said here that if you don't like like the marshall sound, then why you did buy it in the first place...

The clean channel makes me play with Joe Strummer feel everytime, it is definitely NOT a dull channel. It's not sterile at all, it's more like between fender and mesa. Picture if Jeff Buckley would've been in the Clash :) Ballsy, bluesy, you name it...

The OD-channel: First time I played thru this channel I was like "oh, what the fk". It sounded like thousand bees are about to buzz you. It was so piercing sound that I wanted immeaditely to check the back of the amp that it really had tubes. But as most of you know, this isn't a full tube amp.
I started to like the sound after I had turn the gain little back. The all knobs full isn't the best sound you can get from this head, I must admit that.
But what really makes this amp versatile, is when you put EQ-pedal(like boss)in its FX-loop...Well, it opens a totally different world...like when you using V-curve(at pedal) you get mesa/zakk wylde-tone...
I was about to buy a new head(yep, gotta keep moving, never stay with one girl more than a few months...heh ;), but luckily I read somewhere that you should try to use an extra eq-box with this amp.
When I don't use pedal it sounds like a hard-rock amp should sound. And when the box is on then it sounds "modern USA crunch"...well, I can't complain, this is the amp for me.

I'd gig w/o a backup. Change the tubes once a year(if you gig/practice every day).

Well, the key here is to build machines so good and realiable that no one needs to complain or manage even to crush these things. But unfortunately nowdays everything is made so cheap that it takes no time to break, that's why there's need for this customer support thing.... :)

If you like manic street preachers(90s-era), hard-rock, dave navarro stuff or basic pure rock with no techno tricks, then check this out. But everything depends on your personal taste, so try this amp before you buy...never buy anything without hearing how it sounds live, unless it's superbly cheap... :)

Bought it new in '93; Franklin, TN.
Sales pitch definitely pushed for the controllable dual reverbs feature, but the other JCM 900 features in the 4101 give this high marks. Two channels: one clean, one lead both with separate gain and reverb knobs (I still remember the Nigel Tufnel ad for these exclaiming the lead gain goes to 20!!). Bass, mid, treble and presence a'la Marshall are there (but shared, so a point deducted for the eq limitation). Purchased footswitch separately; kind of a crappy plastic bulky double switch, one to toggle channels, the other to turn off reverb. Valve fail LED light, adjustable level for effects loops (but you gotta use a flat tip screwdriver to adjust). 50/100w power switch built in!! Impedence selection 4,8,16. Direct/Line outs for recording direct or to another power amp.

Used a '91 Fender American Strat, stock pups and a '69 Gibson ES335 with PAF's. Played this thing for most of the 90's straight before selling it. Mostly did 90's rock (ala Soundgarden/Pearl Jam) but used it for occassional country and blues gigs for the green. Ran it through a brand new 1960B 4x12 with Celestion V30's and was not too thrilled with the lead channel until the speakers finally broke in. It went from harsh and squawky to bassy and full within a few weeks of breaking the cab in. The lead channel definitely has the Marshall sound flat, but the master has to be cranked at least to 6 with the gain all the way if you're looking for "that" Marshall sound (12AX7's in front of 4 EL34's sound). Untweaked, it'll get that early Dave Navarro sound. But once I got it dialed in, it had very rich and bright distortion that pushed the humbuckers nicely in my ES335 (feedback a plenty). The single coil through the lead wasn't as pronounced or bodied, but worked very well. Overall, this channel is good for foundation as opposed to lead work.

The clean is not very useful for jazz or country, but works good with blues with the gain up (it's not a plexi sound with the gain turned up as the ad suggests). It's not a bell-like clean, but it's still good for texture if you have decent effects. I toggled between a tc electronics chorus with delay, and used various distortion boxes in front of this with gain set halfway. Got some very useful leads using a TS9 and a chandler tube driver in front of the clean. Still a bit noisy when doing this, though, but voiced very nicely. It really opens up whatever pedal you put in front of it. The only downside is if you really tweak the voicing to the lead channel perfectly, you're stuck with the eq settings for clean. Invested in an eq pedal to compensate. But the eq's are passive anyway which means your reducing from an applied curve rather than adding to it. The presence knob was perhaps the most helpful for me in tuning to live venues.

This amp was used on the road quite a bit playing out. The footswitch jack was the first to go within four months of use. The jack was repaired twice in the time I've had it (had to resort to pushing the button on the panel to change channels during some of the shows). Within the second year the main input jack was unstable and the volume pots were scratching. And finally, the pcb board started coming loose from the chassis causing the amp to either cut out or squeal during the third year. All of this stopped once I invested in a well padded metal case for the head. Tubes were changed between 1-3 time a year. So bottom line, if you use it to gig heavily long-term, I'd invest in a good protective case.

Never dealt with Marshall though my amp repair guy is well versed.
First repair was done under warranty but wasn't very costly to begin with.

Been playing for 27 years. Still playing out live and loving life. Have various gear now, but will never forget the impact (both good and bad) the JCM900 4101 had on me. Regret selling it to help pay for a silly botique amp, but then 'you can never go home again' as they say. There are slew of JCM series amps, but this one shouldn't be overlooked.

i bought my JCM900 4100 in 1995 in garland texas. awesome amp, i used to play solid state until i bought this one. never looked back since. this model has reverb,effects loop, recording output, a high/low output swith. plenty of juice for any venue.

i play a 40th strat. all types of music. this amp is the key to bringing the great players like hindrix and page into your sound.
i was at the crossroads music festival in dallas texas and i spoke to a marshall rep, of course they quit making the jcm900, but he told me that the JCM900 was made for billy gibbions of ZZtop.

i'm embarassed, but also proud to say that my tubes lasted ten years before i just could'nt stand it anymore and had to replace them. ohhh but what a rebirth, this amp sounded sooo sweet with four new EL34's made by groove tubes in china! nice warm tone.

never spoke to the folks at marshall, but i'm sure they are a cool as the amps. i understand that they first started to build drums, then moved on to amps.

perfect! i love my marshall, and i know you will love yours.

I bought this amp new in 92. It is a 50watt 1x12 combo. I have enjoyed owning it verry much. I have useed it to play anything from country to metal(80's style) to jazz. It has 2 channels with a footswitch and effects loop. It is also equiped with spring reverb.It has a tube preamp with 12ax7 tubes. It has a 50watt power stage consisting of 2 El34s and a solidstate rectifier. .

Although the preamp sounds good, humbucker pickups are a requirement to get a truly nasty distortion sound. I enjoy the voicing of the distortion chanel due to its clairity and focused tone. I have found that bypassing the preamp through the effects loop and driving the power stage with an outboard tube preamp/processor, will give me the majestic vibe of the tube power section, which also makes it possible to enjoy tones beyond the range of a typical marshall. The dual EL34s, in which I have been using Svetlana tubes, has a wonderfully organic tube sound. I have never one thought of letting this one go. It has all of the EL34 type of tube tone i could ever use. I tend to use it as a combo although i have plugged it into a 4x12 cab and the distortion became much more brutal.

I have used it many times without a backup(due to lack of one) and it has always delivered. I have had a capicitor blow once(acording to the amp repair guy), although i didn't know it at the time. I don't know why it blew, but I had run the same tubes in it for 2.5 years and thought it was just old tubes. It had lost some of its volume and tone. The next set of tubes i instaled myself, at which time i opened up the amp and adjusted the bias by ear and found a level of volume and tone i had not yet experienced in this combo. This being the first modern tube amp i owned, i assumed these types of situations were just par for the course. At least opposed to a vintage fender amp i own that sucks the tone out of tubes in two or three months.

I dont recall the waranty info. The only repair i have had(blown capacitor), i was unaware it needed and was found when i took it in to be retubed.

I have been playing for 16 years. Mostly stratocasters, but i have had a few others over the years. Now only Strats. I have an old digitech 2101? multi effects rack unit with a tube preamp plus various common effects pedals like crybaby, mxr flange, electroharmonix small stone.... I love the portability factor of this amp. It has a top handle and handles on both sides, making it easy to cary in any possition. The only issue i have had, is the speaker jack, from the 12in speaker, stuck out in such a way that it became damaged and required replacement. After insalling a lower profile jack, never another problem, jack wise. At the time Boogie's were too expensive, which was the only other choice that seemed compairable. All the other brands available at the time either didn't have the solid reputation or was a fender, which aren't known for their brutal distortion. There were alot of solidstate options available, but i didn't consider them options, even at 1/3 the price. If it were stolen, i would probably opt for a old fender or something that would give me a nice overdriven tone, since my tastes have changed over the years and i dont play with a highly distorted tone much anymore. For the size, power and tone, I would surely consider buying another one of these, were i to loos this one.

1992,versatile enough for most rock/hardrock stuff, which are the styles I play. 2 channels, clean/crunch and lead, a series effects loop, spring reverbs for each channel.

I play an ESP M2 custom with EMG humbucer pickups and it sounds great. The distortion is sinister, but warm sounding, responsive, but edgy, the kind of sound that kicks you in the jewels. Bottom line is that it is not a very polite sounding amp, but in the right HANDS it can shine. One thing to remember is not to overdo the gain amount on the 2nd channel, it will turn into mud in any high gain amp. Instead, I strongly recommend learning how to play. By adding an eq pedal in the effects loop you will get as fat sound as you wish, and this thing is so loud, that you will cover any venue no problem. The clean channel is good also. This amp does extremely well what it was designed to do.

No problems

No idea

Been playing as far as I can remember, also own a Bogner Shiva and a Mesa MK3. If it were lost I would definitely hunt down another one, because you cant get this type of sound with any other amp, it is a very distinctive sound. The only gripe I have is the compensated line out. I`ve had plenty of gear in my life and this is one of my favourites along with the MK3 and the Bogner Shiva. They are all totally different kinds of amps and have totally different characteristics.

By the way, Marshall has put this amp back in the production, along with the JCM 800 2203 and a few other vintage gems. What does that tell you?.....

I've bought this amp off ebay two years ago and have played it nearly everyday since.
Its a very veristale amp in my experience. I play everything from jazz, to grunge, to blues, surf ,and some hardcore.
I mainly play a strat I built with a 78' maple neck, ash body, 1980 tele single in the neck (the best neck pickup ever for jazz/flamico lines), mexican middle coil, and a tone zone in the bridge with coil tap. One of the best electronic mods for any guitar Is a no load tone control.
The other axe I use is another homemade strat with a floyd rose, airnorton, tonezone, and steve's special humbucker. That one has a shaved maple mexi neck on it. For when I want to really shred.
Having two different reverb setting for each channel is a great idea and I beleive that more manufacture's should be doing this with all thier amps.
I can't say much for the effects loop as I have never used it.
Tube based tremelo would be cool but that just me and not very "Marshall-like"
The compensated line out it is useable at best, if you want to record, you need to get the voice of the speakers with a decent mic.
The 100/50 Watt switch in the back is cool. I mainly play on the 50 watt so that you can get more ofhte power tube type sound.

I mainly play a strat I built with a 78' maple neck, ash body, 1980 tele single in the neck (the best neck pickup ever for jazz), mexican middle coil and a tone zone in the bridge with coil tap.
The other axe I use is another homemade strat with a floyd rose, airnorton, tonezone, and steve's special humbucker. For when I want to really shred.
The clean channel sound is very rich. Marshalls inheriently compress more than most and thicken up the sound. If you want something jazzy go with the reverb on 4 or 5 with a neck single coil. If you turn up the gain on this channel you get a nice "who's next" type crunch.
CHANNEL B: This is where most marshall users spend thier time. The distrotion is very cruchny and thick. If you dial is wrong it can also be muddy. My drummer says that he preferes a mesa because it has better note clarity. Mesa's do but this is better for sonic textures ala smashing pumpkins.
If I was a heavy metal man (and I'm not) I would like alittle more gain.
IF you want to get a good tone on this amp you really have to turn it up. The creamy compression that we all love is from the power tubes.
Surf tones leave something to be desired though. There just not enough breakup with the reverb and it doesn't do that glassy fender sound that well. I would not used this amp for funk at all.
My roomate has a line six duoverb and this thing smokes it. The line six can do decent clean tones, but it can't stand up to that marshall crunch.

I play this amp everyday and I've had two major problems. One time it got quiet and then just died, I took it in and a capictor had blown.
Now, It getting quiet and won't get very loud whatsoever. I just bought all new tubes for it and installed those last night. It still didn't help. So Now I have to take it in :(
Other than that I've taken it out to many places to jam and it has held up pretty damn well otherwise. It has a feature where if one of your power tubes go out then you can still play on the remaining.
There are also two fuse failure LEDS.
All in all its a very relible amp. Its more relieble than anything else I've ever owned, but nothing is perfect.
My roomates line six just died on him two weeks ago, and that's solid state, so don't be afraid of tube relieblity.

Never had to deal with them directly. Marshally website and documentation is really poor. The only way to get a decent schematic or answers to your question is by looking around on the web.

In the end I would say that there is no silver bullet when it comes to amps, they all have there own strengths and weaknesses. Find a good one and play with is, make that tone your own.
Keep in mind that 80% of your equipment related tone is in the amp so spend the extra cash and get a good one.
There are better amps out there, but for the money and the sound I would say that this amp is great, but I've had my eye on orange amps for awhile though.

One thing to look at when you are buying this amp it the type of power tubes. MOST of the JCM 900's out there use 5881 which is like a CG6L6. If you like marshalls you really don't want this. Its a common mod to change these and some shops can do it.
The earlier one like mine have the EL34's which has more of the classic marshall compression poperties in the tube.

I play in a classic rock band doing a lot of 80's music but not limited to 80's. We play ever weekend and this amp is a work horse. It's not a plexi but has great clean tone and a lot of gain in it's dirty channel.

I use Fender strats with alnico pickups in a classic rock band. Don't like the muddy sound of a humbucker. Clean this amp can overdrive with the gain all the open or it can give an almost Fender bell tone with the gain backed off to 3/4. Of course you loose volume doing this.
On the other hand the dirty side is very gainy. Almost too much for my taste but you can always back it off.
In some clubs I play with more power the amp is noisey so I run a Furman Voltage Reulator to help clean it up. With good electricy it's fine.

The only failure I've had with the 4100 is when my full stack fell to the floor. I dived for the head and broke the fall with my arms. But the force still knocked off the back cover on impact. I used it that night and went through it the next day. I found the tube sockets needed to be tightened and only two power tubes were testing good. I had retubed it 6 or 7 months before that.
My arms didn't do that well. Brusied and sore for a week.

Mashall is the most unreachable amp company in the world. I have about every brand or have had and they are the worst. I repair my own but if you need a simply schematic you better get it on line.

I've been playing for over 40 years and have a house that looks like a vintage music store. This amp, a Plexi, AC 30 and a Fender Showman are amps I will always have.
If I could have any mod I wanted to this amp it would be two more speaker jacks.
And it would look better if it had a plexi cabinet

2 channels, shared EQ

This is where this amp gets a bad rap. I find high gain or metal pedals don't have tone. Stay off the gain channel and just crank the clean/crunch channel and it's very musical. Roll the volume down on the guitar and it cleans up pretty good. Enough for that Marshall clean with a little crackle, But thats what I like. Mine is EL34 version and it sounds great. With that said, if it isn't enough gain or don't sound good enough for you then get it modded. The value of mine goes up everytime someone mods theirs. This amp HAS TO BE CRANKED !! at least half for my taste.

Great amp. If it were stolen I'd get another one ASAP!!

Two channels, one shared 4 band eq (boo), 100 watt output, half wattage switch, two independant reverbs, pre gain and master for each channel, footswitchable reverb & channel. Pre amp in and out, power amp in, recording out (sounds like shit).

Within reson this amp achieves pretty much any basic tone within the rock idiom. Oddball and studio-hyped tones excluded. From spanky clean (although at ultra-clean levels it sounds a little thin), to thick crunchy distortion, it pretty much gets them all. I like to warm up the clean channel by pushing the pregain a little bit, removes a lot of the brittle characteristics this amps clean channel can have. I mostly use a Gibson Les Paul standard with burstbucker 1 & 2 pickups in it, as well as an Epiphone Casino, with p90's. This amp gets decent blues rock tones, depending heavily on what guitar you use. The Casino gets awesome blues tones from this amp, I plug it in the clean channel and turn the pregain all the way up. The Les Paul is more focused and brings much more rock and high-gain characteristics to this amp. This amp is insanely loud on 100 watts, and it sounds thin unless you turn it all the way up. I have a recomendation to all of you: turn this amp on half power and turn it up as much as you can to yield better tone. I just retubed the power section with a matched quad of JJ E34L's, and had it biased super hot, so it'll break up earlier without taking my ears out. It was the BEST thing I could've done with this amp! It's tone improved dramatically! And I was using NOS Svetlanas before, too! I never take this amp off of the half power switch, because I don't need to. The thing is so damn loud, even at the 50 watt setting. I've heard people say this is their least favorite Marshall, and I've noticed that it tends to sell lower than any other tube Marshall on Ebay. I only payed $400 for this thing used, and it was a STEAL! This amp has a bad stigma because the overdrive channel uses silicon capacitors and diodes along with the tubes for the "natural" breakup, which lends it a sort of uncurably rockish tone. The drive channel is only good for focused rock, metal, punk, etc. The clean channel is where this amp is at, because there aren't any frigging diodes breaking up that nice tube tone, and thats why you bought this thing in the first place. This amp doesn't get enough credit... I own about five other awesome tube amps, and I still use this one regularly. It's a great bargain-priced tube amp, because I think a lot of people don't know how to get a good tone out of it. I've used this amp for ska, reggae, blues, blues rock, rock, metal, punk, funk, and country. I got a decent tone for almost all those musical styles, and that's pretty good for using an amp that's considered lesser than it's peers. I use it with the stock Marshall 4x12 loaded with Celestion gt-75 or whatever they're called. I also like the way it sounds with the Vintage 30's, but they can be too loud and a little "scooped" sounding for this amp. But if you like metal, or punk, you should consider those... I've used this amp with many speaker cabinets, from 1x12 to two 4x12's, and my favorite is the stock, standard issue Marshall 4x12.

Never had it not work unless it was someone else's fault. The only thing that has ever gone wrong on this amp, in it's 14 years of service, is that the reverb died. I had to have it repaired, ran about $90. This amp is a friggin tank, I don't expect to have any problems with it, and the guy I bought it from never had a problem with it either.

Never really needed it.

I payed $400 for it, and I still can't believe the guy sold it to me for only that much. I own several other fine tube amps, including vintage Fenders, Custom made amps, new Fenders, Peaveys, other Marshalls, etc. Honestly, this is by far the best value.

I dont know the year it was made in.This amp is pretty basic and straight forward in features, not very versatile at all.You get a few sounds out of it, but they are very good, especially the high gain sound.It has all the power you could ever need.My amp is equipped with Svetlana EL-34`s. See below reviews for more details.

I use a Gibson LP custom, an american Strat and a tele, straight to the amp and two 412 Marshall JCM 900 cabs, a full stack. When crancked enough, the high gain sound is pure, grinding aggression, with penetrating sonic momentum and attitude. The clean sounds good, but dont expect Fender clean. On the other hand, dont expect a good high gain sound from a Fender...So it it all good, if you only need a really good and powerful hi gain tone.

So far so good...

No idea.

I have been playing fo 21 years. I also own a Marshall jcm 800 2203, wich is very good also. I chose this amp because I love the marshall sound, the distinctive roar and tightness. If it were stolen I would get another one without a second thought.

You know them by now.....

Ibanez Jem with DiMarzio Evolutions straight to the amp to a Marshall jcm 800 4*12. The clean sounds are warm and natural and the high gain sound is simply phenomenal. Just remember to set the amps output to 4 ohms and the cab to 16 (reduces greatly speaker breakup)
Set the preamp gain to "3 a clock", mids in the middle, cranck the treble and bass, presence in the middle, and cranck the fucker up in the 100 watt mode and if this beast does not "do it" for you, you`re either 1. deaf 2. smoking crack.

Ol`faithful.....

It`s a fire breathing beast.....Period.

Pretty basic...everything else you see here. Reverb is useless on the lead channel, in my opinion, since it adds noise and gets drowned out (try a digital delay if you want noticeable reverb with high gain.)

This is a great amp, but it's not exactly a turnkey product. 6L6's/5881's sound tinny and produce little gain with this amp due to diode clipping in the rectifier. Have it biased for EL 34's, and you'll get a nice fat tone with a little more gain and less scratchy treble. Be sure to set your mids high, because Marshalls break up most in the midranges. I also use a $30 Danelectro eq pedal that refines the tone a little and adds a shitload of gain if you raise the output slider just a tad. The right cab will make all the difference, too. Stay away from cheap speakers. I use a custom 4x12 with Celestion Greenbacks. Mesa cabs with Vintage 30's sound good with this amp too, albeit a little harsh. I usually play my ESP Hybrid through this amp. This guitar is perfect for the JCM 900 because I can switch between the humbucker and lipstick pickups to get a wide variety of sounds, including super-saturated metal chug, Jimi Hendix-type fuzz, "clean" Fender tones (as clean as Marshalls get), and 70's rock and roll. I play Hardcore, punk rock, blues, and straight ahead rock and roll ala AC/DC and Motorhead.

Dropped it off a stage onto the floor, forgot it out in the rain for a half hour and played an entire gig with a cab that was the wrong impedence. Still haven't had a problem. Still, it's a tube amp, so with that in mind, it'll always need some maintenence.

Amazing amp for the price. I've been playing for 12 years. I've owned a lot of crappy solid state amps, a 70's Fender twin reverb and a custom built 10 watt head that's similar to a THD univalve. If this amp were stolen, I'd beat the shit out the thief and take it back.

I dont know what year it was made in. But its got the origonal ECC83 x3 valves in the preamp section. And ive had to replace two 5881's in the power stage.

Selectable 8 or 16 ohms could do with 4 ohm setting for quieter stuff.

This amp is quite versatile, it has Recording compensated and direct outputs, i have tryed these but they dont really give the same sound as the full-on out put of the amp, I conected it up to a mini disk recorder and a desk and it just sounds like a small 10 watt solid state practice amp. If want to conect it up to another power amp i just go out the effects send out put, it creates a better valve tone.
The effects loop is quite good although i dont use it, i have connected a wah peddle ocasionly, a good sound is had, you can change the level it operates, (have to have a small negative screw driver to use the knob though). But on the hole if i have any stomp boxes i put them in between the guitar and main imput.

Two channels A/B one clean one overdrive, Reverb and channels Foot switchable, but more about this in the next catagory.

This has quite enough volume, but I always have it set on 50 watt mode, It has a switch round the back to bring it down by half. But when i use it for bass i have it on full 100 watts. I always have it miced up though, even in practices ( with my bass players amp setup its needed anyway!) if its further up it deafans you.

A nice Accutronics Reverb unit, with indiviual controls for both channels.

I play good old Ac/Dc rock and roll, Punk Rock, well just any type of rock music. But where it lacks is Metal, I play metal mostly (metallica, pantera) but it just dosent have enough gain even though its called a hi gain. )The Jcm 800 2210 has way more gain and thats called a lead.) If i need more i put a Marshall guvnor in front with the gain at 9 oclock, trebble on full, vol at 12 oclock and the rest right down, that seems to crank it up some, but it then gets muddy like a solid state. But for when i go punk rock it sound cool, its the same amp as Lars Fredericksen used on his last tour of england with the Bastards.

It only has one set of Equalisers ( Treble, Middle, Bass and Presence tone controls) for both of the channels, A and B, this limits what you can have going on. I would prefer to have a very tinny clean and a quite scooped overdrive, but only one of the two is possible for live situations.

Channel A has reverb, master volume, and pre-amp controls. The
pre-amp or gain control allows it to go from a beautiful clean sound right to a Status Quo or AC/DC sounding crunch with great tone and presence.
Channel B also has the reverb, master, and gain ( ive been thorough this) but as with this channel it goes from almost no sound to crunch (you can make the cruch sound like the Channel A's) then to full distortion.

I use an epiphone les paul special with it i dont really no much about guitars, all i know is that with a nice solid thick guitar i can make it sound like a different guitar on the amp.
I only play rhythm guitar, but on the rare ocation that my lack lead skills are used it sounds great on this amp, not too much gain make the other strings feed back(lol).
To get the noise I use a Marshall Jcm 900 sterio 1960B 4x12 cab, and a Jcm 800 1960BX 4x12 cab, nice big fat noise.

I also use this amp with bass, for this it sounds like an old 70s bass like the Ramones first album or some Small faces stuff, real old.
But also you can get some Green day sounding nosies out of it if you tun the trebble up more.
Channel B is where it really sounds good for playing Motorhead Bass, Lemmy has his backline full of 900s. For the noise making for bass i use a 200 watt 2x15 Cab at 8 ohms, i made myself, to the exact specs of a marshall DBS 2x15 cab. The sound is fat.

I allways without backup, its a marshall, built to last and the valves dont give for ages. They have gone once but that was because they were the origonals. It has fallen off a box in the back of my car and still produces the sounds.

The marshalls guys are always nice, give you all the info you need.
Its so reliable the warranty has run out years ago.

ive been gigging for 6 years, and this is the second best amps ive had, second to a Jcm 800 2210, but this is better as features go.
If stollen id get an 800.
Id like it to have separet EQ but not many amps do. And more gain please.
I chose it because you can get 800, and 2000 marshall sounds.
But on the whole a great giging marshall amp, with cool sounds, solid as a rock (bloody lump) but built like a tractor.
Any other info needed please fell free to contact.
Although you cant idd really give the Rating at a 9.5

2 channels, , footswitch + manual switch, effects loop, 50 watt/ 100 watt selector, reverb, 5881 power tubes. This amp sounded thin and didn't have enough power so I had to fix that. What I did is very simple. I took my Boss graphic equalizer stomp box and built it inside the amp. I made a bigger hole in the grill and fixed the input of the equalizer to it so that the device is attached and the input is always accessible. From the output of the equalizer I connected a cable to the return input of the effects loop and from the send output I made a connection (removable without opening the grill )to the equalizer input. The Boss adapter was built in as well. I then boosted the volume slider of the equalizer between +2 and +3 leaving the other sliders at 0. This doubled the power of my amp immediately without changing the original sound ! Of course I can do whatever I want with the sound now that I got an equalizer in the loop, but for now I think it's just fine as it is. And having done this simple modification I can now put my JCM 900 next to my Hiwatt 100 watt Custom without putting it to shame ...

Before it sounded thin and now it sounds whatever I want it to sound like. It's not too noisy even with the lead gain on + 20. The distortion sound it produces is what you hear on Survivor's "Caught in the game": crunchy, bright and percussive.

The only problem I have is that the pots suck ! I used a contact spray to eliminate the cracking noises but it doesn't work for a 100 %.

Never dealt with them.

It's definately an amp that can produce THE Marshall sound with a little help from you !

Made in 1996
I play mostley rock and metal and this amp dos it all. It's best suited for hardrock en classic metal. You do not get a nu-metal sound out of this amp !!
it has two channels (clean and OD) with a shared EQ (bass/Middle/Treble/Presence).
It could use a solo-boost. Mine has Groove Tubes !!!!!!!!!
It's easy to find the sweet spot between the two channels.
I use this amp when i want my vintage sound. I also own a Mode Four with is much better for playing shred.

I play a Gibson Les Paul Standard, a Gibson Les Paul Classic and a Gibson Les Paul Custom (Zakk Wylde with EMG's). They're all humbucker guitars and they sound amazing trough this amp.
the clean goes from crytal clean to slight crunch when you turn the gain swith
the distortion is chunky.

It's a tube amp so don't expect that it will last forever but it's a Marshall so built like a tank.

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for 13 years. I also own a Marshall Mode Four and I love to combine both amps.
If it were stolen I'dd buy it again.
The only problem is the lack of boost when you want to start a solo. easy solution is to trow in an SD-1.

I don't knwo what year its was made ... probably mid '90ies.
I has "only" two channels compared to the three-channel marshalls I had before (JCM 2000 TSL60, 6100 30th Anniv) BUT it has tons more authentic Marshall tone ! Anyway, the third (solo) channel on my previous marshall always s*cked ...
The eq is shared by the two channels but it's easy to find the "sweet spot" between the two channels. If you don't : use an equalizer.
I do not like amps with too much knobs and switches on it ... as they say : less is more. I also avoid any pedals and effects.
Reverb on both channels ... it's not the greatest reverb I've ever heard (compared to my Fender 1967 Super Reverb) but it's just fine.
I use this amp on stage, on rehearsals and at home (with a jcm900 4x12 cab loaded with Celestion Greenback speakers ... great choice !). Even on low volumes, I was able to get very nice tones out of it. Although, it has lots of power and can be switched (100 or 50 watts). Mine has 5881 power tubes (6L6's with more gain) ...

I play an original 1972 Fender stratocaster and always played on strats before (SRV strat, '50s classic, '62 re-issue, ...) but I also own a Gibson SG Standard. I play a lot of blues/rock at home but in the band we play pop and rock covers from the eighties till now.
The JCM900 accepts strats very well ... and of course it loves humbucker guitars like my SG.
Most of the time I dial it in with lots of bass, treble at 3/4 or 1/2 and cutted mids (on 1 or 2). Gain never goes beyond halfway ...
The clean channel is very nice for a Marshall (in fact, much better than the TSL or 30th Anniv. i.m.h.o.) and by playing with the volume knob on the guitar, you can easily switch between ultra clean and light crunch. The second channel is Marshall at its best ... powerful distortion with lot of headroom ; not muddy at all.
I also use a Vox Wah, a oss TU-2 tuner and a Boss LS-2 (line selector) betwee the guitar and the amp. I use the line selector as a volume booster, without extra crunch/distortion.
With this setup, the basic sound of the amp isn't coloured by any pedals and that's just what I was looking for. I must say that, after having owned and heard many many amps, I prefer these unequaled Marshall tones. I think this JCM 900 is - despite its reputation as being only a 'moderate' Marshall amp - would still be my first choice. Simply, it IS really THE rock sound you can hear on many of those records from the eighties and later ...
I think it is also a very versatile amp; I was able to get some real convincing Jimi/SRV tones out of it. Pop, rock, blues ... even jazz ... this amp does it all. Maybe there are better choices if you want to play metal.
Conclusion : this amp has BALLS and sounds very satisfying to me !!!

I never had problems with it so far but I only own it for two months (bought it second hand) so I can't really judge.

The 30th Anniversary head I had before was the most unreliable amp I ever had : I had to take it to my amp tech every single month ! Then their was a noticeable loss of volume, then the input jack crackled, then the knobs were crackling, then there came smoke out of it (!) and it blew two NEW tubes, ...

I hope this is not a common problem on Marshalls ...

Never had to deal with Marshall and I probably won't since there are no real Marshall-manufacturers in my country. If something goes wrong, I will simply take it to my local amp tech.

Honestly, I have to admit I'm very pleased with this amp.
I owned lots of Fenders, Marshalls, Mesa/Boogies ... and played on lots of boutique amps from a friend of mine (Matchless/Bogner, Rivera, ...).
I will not pretend that my jcm 900 is a "better" amp than all those expensive amps but I only can say that NOTHING compares or equals the Marshall sound.
So if you like the typical Marshall sound, buy a Marshall. In my opnion, you can't go wrong with a JCM 900 model, but I didn't hear all the other Marshall models ... maybe there are better ones, but there are also certainly worse ...

Fianlly, I would like to say that "the Marshall sound" provided by my JCM 900 also "blends" really well with the overall sound of my band. I'm also always able to hear myself when playing; the Marshall always cuts through without being harsh or too loud.

I think price/quality-wise this is one of the best amps you can buy.

This review is for a '96 model. two channels, 4x 6L6's (stock anyway), 3x 12AX7's/ECC83's, dual reverb, effects loop, pentode triode switch, pretty good features, I just wish it had seperate eq's for each channel, but can I get by with it being shared.

It sounds pretty good with the stock 6L6's but they just weren't cutting it for me so I modded it for EL34's now it's a 10 easily now!
the mod only takes 20 minutes (even for a newbie tech) and makes a world of differance. I've got all jj/tesla tubes and they are the best without going nos. the clean channel isn't the best, but it's a marshall not a fender. For guitars I have a dean evo premium with seymour duncan pups (jb and pearly gates), a prs tremonti se with u.s. tremonti model pickups, and a fender american series ash tele (completely stock).

I've had to replace tubes and fuses a few times, normal stuff for tube amps. I don't think there is a tube amp in existance that deserves a 10 for reliability.

n/a, haven't dealt with them, I bought it used so there was no warantee

I've had the amp for two years and I still am in love with it, I've tried out other amps (mesa, peavey, crate blue voodoo's etc etc...) and none of them were as good as this, imo. I can really cut through the mix with the added mids of the EL34's, and they break up so much earlier then 6L6/5881's do so I can get alot more power tube saturation at lower volumes. I'm happy with my setup now, and that's hard for me cause everytime I hear somebody on mtv or fuse with a really good tone I usually wish I could have that amp, and that hasn't happened with this setup. If you need an amp that has enough gain to do modern styles, yet don't want a toneless gain machine that can't cut through a piece of paper, much less bass and drums, then this amp is for you. I highly highly reccomend doing the EL34 mod for this amp, and find out what marshalls are all about. If you have no prior experiance with electronics I would NOT reccomend you doing it yourself, don't risk your life to save the extra $20-$30 it would cost you to have it done at your local music store for you!

I'm the second owner of this amp head, reissued... I believe it was
a 96' or 97' model...judging by the stupid little "5881" sticker I tore off it. This amp has all the feature that I need, eq w/presence, fx loop and indipendant reverb for both clean and crunch. I give it an 8 because it a lot of other guitarists would appreciate a separate eq for the dirt channel... doesn't bother me cause I always use a Boss GE-7.

This was my first choice after selling my p.o.s peavey supreme, and I am really pleased with it. It was shippid to me fitted with svetlana 6L6GC tubes, sound great, I think they are similar to 5881's.

I'm into rock/emo/hardcore. I play a strat w/Duncan SH-6 in bridge. I plan on getting a custom cabinet from www.avatarspeakers.com... most likely the cool vintagey looking one with vintage 30's.

The first thing I noticed with this baby is the warmth, Its such a drastic change from my last amp, a punchy powerful clean. The overdrive thoroughly impressed me as well, a little lacking in the bass department, but if you run an equalizer thru the FX loop, it just GRINDS!

I will still use my ibanez SM-7 distortion for over-the-top gain.
But this amps drive cuts through so well and is so loud, I just wish it had a little more sustain and saturation!

I havent owned this for a month yet so I'm not sure... The inputs are extra sturdy and it has valve failure LED lights. solid construction

Marshall would retube me right or rebias if i need it...

I love this amp, it suits me perfectly. I
f you want a crystal or glassy clean just don't buy it.

made in 1998. 2 channels and a switch (Low 50Watt- High 100Watt) wich is pretty usefull. This amp suits me well to play punk and rock.

I use a fender strat signature series on it with Seymour Duncan pickups. The clean channel does sound really clean, even at high volumes. Distortion: good for rock and punk but do not touch this to play metal on it.

Many Marshalls I played do have problems with the buttons on it. They easily fall off. So be carefull with them (transport etc) ! No other complains about it!

A year ago my amp had a backup. Marshall customer service replaced all tubes for +-?150. They handled fast, good en friendly !

If I would lose this amp for some reason I would truely buy it again ! This amp has balls on it!!

Mine is a Re-issue model, made in 2003. All the features are exactly the same as the original 4100's. A third channel would be nice, simply for a boost for solos. This amp is good for what it is, if you want a heap of channels & modes, but a TSL.

I use an Ibanez RG270 with a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge, straight in, no effects, most o fthe time. The clean channel is nothing special, its by no means bad, just not great. I like a really glassy clean tone, and this cannot really be acheived. The dirty channel does lack a little in the bottem end department, but this amp does produce that classic, agressive marshall raw. I would prefer a little more gain, as for newer styles of music, and even some slighty older hard rock/metal styles, there is only just enough gain in there. If you spend a bit of time, it is quite easy to get a chunky-ish rock guitar sound, if you play nu-metal, dont bother with this amp. I give it a 7 because of, to me anyway, a slight lack of bottem end and gain. Dont get me wrong, this is a great amp, good bang for your buck.

I would rely on this amp without a back up, i would confident that it would get me through a show, even with a valve failure. when i got it (used) i had to get a resistor in the power switch replaced, but it was still under warranty, so there was no charge. However i am planning to have my amp modified, for more gain and punch.

I got the warranty repair through the store where my mate bought it from.

overall, this is quite a good amp. Its very good value, particulary if you can pick up a good second hand one. Ijust wish it had a bit more bottom end & a touch more gain. Comparing it to the DSL & TSL , although they have more bottem end & features, in a good mix, live a JCM 900 sounds better. A raw, agressive marshall rock tone.

just an update. If you have one of these, load your cab with V30's. I use no effects at all and I just biased it up a little on the hot side and with the Celestion V30's it just screams. Cheers!!

I don't reallyknow when this amp was made, but I do know that it is a great & very versitile piece of gear! I am thoroughly convinced that anyone that can't get a good sound out of this thing is either tone-deaf or just inexperienced. I'm not much for bells & whistles so this amp suits me just fine. I play everything from clean blues/jazz, rock to extreme black metal and have not had any problem finding usable tones for any of it. Marshall's hallmark has always been their midrange, so scooped mids don't find their way in my musical vocabulary anyway (hate scooped mids)! My only complaint would be lack of volume. This thing on 7 or 8(with gain @ 3 o'clock) is about as loud as my 5150 or my Laney GH50L on 4.

My guitars are mostly Charvel/Jackson(DiMarzio's), but I also have a Les Paul and a very modified Epiphone flying V w/EMG 81/85. Depending on what I am playing, I can get great shredder tones or an all-out screaming metal tone. Hint-if using this head with a 1960 cab(stock), use a Boss EQ in the effects loop to kill some of the hi's and this amp sounds great! Otherwise, I use a Johnson 4x12 w/Vintage 30s. The clean channel with the right speakers sounds pretty damned good for a non-Fender! Just kidding, but it was way better than I had expected.

Although I have only had this amp for a couple f weeks, I know the previous owner and know that it has never given any major problems. I have the atvantage of working at a repair shop, so, maintenance is no problem. ANY amp will have problems if not properly cared for.

I have absolutely no clue!

Overall I would have to say that this amp has become one my favorites. Definitely way more versitile than I had expected. I've been playing for about 18 years and really there are so many good amps out there. Besides a Soldano SLO 100, I can't think of much more I would want from an amp. I have owned Ampegs(VL1002 & V60 Tri-ax) a Marshall JCM 800 2205, a '74 Fender Pro Reverb, Peavey 5150, Laney AOR 100 & GH50L(SUPER BADASS!!) and a handful of others, and this one fits nicely! For those of you who just can't get good sound, try talking to the Old Cats around town, as they can offer a wealth of tone info. Also MIDS and speakers along with proper use of pre-amp gain are the secret to screaming metal sounds! Ask Zakk or K. King/J. Hanneman(Slayer)! Friends don't let friends scoop their mids! Great amp!

Discontinued amp made in 1992. 100 watt EL34 2 channels, shared tone controls, effect loop. These are the ones that are notorious for having clipping diodes in the distortion circuit. Has a dial that goes up to 20 that results in a cheap fuzzbox, buzzsaw sound with no dynamics. I was looking for a classic rock/80's metal kind of sound. No scooped-mid thrash or grunge for me, thank you. I nearly regretted purchasing this amp untill I heard the MP3's on the Voodoo Amps website & contacted them.

I have around 20 guitars & basses. Gibson Les Pauls,Tokai Love Rocks, Fender Strats & lots of Frankenstrats. Various single coil pickups, but all my humbuckers MUST be Seymour Duncan. I don't like Dimarzio or EMG pickups. I have only scratched the surface of the sounds I can achieve with this amp since it's return from Voodoo

I have not had it long enough to have an opinion. I hope to use it in a band situation. I'm gearing up to hopefully play out again.

Trace Davis is the man. That's all there is to it. He will work with you to make the kind of sound that YOU hope to achieve--within reason, of course. I give him a 10 only because I can't give him 10,000. These amps look nice & say MARSHALL on them, but sound like crap unmodified. You can buy these amps on Ebay & send them directly to him. Don't even bother to take them home.

I had my first guitar lessons in 1968 when I was 9. I have a rack head I assembled with a JMP-1 preamp & also a 4 input 100 watt Marshall MKII Super Lead. I might buy a Metaltronix head for a good price. I used to have an unmodified Marshall Major 200 watt head. It sounded awesome but was just too damn loud & heavy. If my JCM900 were stolen, I have other amps, but this amp is growing on me every time I turn it on & plug different things into it. It's not a Plexi but the sound is in the ballpark. I just found a brown sound very similar to early VH & some George Lynch sounds. One other thing: Since these amps have silicon in them, they DO NOT LIKE effects pedals at the input. You MUST use the effects send & return to get a good sound.

Discontinued amp made in 1992. 100 watt EL34 2 channels, shared tone controls, effect loop. These are the ones that are notorious for having clipping diodes in the distortion circuit. Has a dial that goes up to 20 that results in a cheap fuzzbox, buzzsaw sound with no dynamics. I was looking for a classic rock/80's metal kind of sound. No scooped-mid thrash or grunge for me, thank you. I nearly regretted purchasing this amp untill I heard the MP3's on the Voodoo Amps website & contacted them.

I have around 20 guitars & basses. Gibson Les Pauls,Tokai Love Rocks, Fender Strats & lots of Frankenstrats. Various single coil pickups, but all my humbuckers MUST be Seymour Duncan. I don't like Dimarzio or EMG pickups. I have only scratched the surface of the sounds I can achieve with this amp since it's return from Voodoo.

I have not had it long enough to have an opinion. I hope to use it in a band situation. I'm gearing up to hopefully play out again.

Trace Davis is the man. That's all there is to it. He will work with you to make the kind of sound that YOU hope to achieve--within reason, of course. I give him a 10 only because I can't give him 10,000. These amps look nice & say MARSHALL on them, but sound like crap unmodified. You can buy these amps on Ebay & send them directly to him. Don't even bother to take them home.

I had my first guitar lessons in 1968 when I was 9. I have a rack head I assembled with a JMP-1 preamp & a 100 watt Marshall MKII Super Lead. I might buy a Metaltronix head for a good price. I used to have an unmodified Marshall Major 200 watt head. It sounded awesome but was just too damn loud & heavy. If my JCM900 were stolen, I have other amps, but this amp is growing on me every time I turn it on & plug different things into it. It's not a Plexi but the sound is in the ballpark. I just found a brown sound very similar to early VH & some George Lynch sounds. One other thing: Since these amps have silicon in them, they DO NOT LIKE effects pedals at the input. You MUST use the effects send & return to get a good sound.

I got an early 90's JCM900 4100 head, 100 all-tube class AB-watts. It's got the standard amp knobs, Presence, Treble, Mid, Bass plus individual gain, reverb and volume for channels A & B. On the back, you got "compensated recording out," line out, two parrelel speaker outs, a power switch (hi and lo) a resistance switch (16 and 8 ohms) effects loops in and out, a fuse and a failed tube LED. The front has a footswitch in and instrument in. It's a pretty basic amp.

The clean channel is pretty useless, to me. It sounds thin and strangely, I like my cleans to sound full and fill out the room, so I got an AC-30 for that. The distortion is amazing. It doesn't do a lot, but what it does, it does well. It sounds very Marshall-y and gets pretty loud. I play music like Fall Out Boy and Thursday (two completely differant artists) and this amp works well for both.

I would bet my life on this thing. I've yet to have any problems at all out of the head, the cab on the other hand, has given me a bit of trouble. (always check the inside of a cab, when buying used) I got my cab replaced and since then, no problems what-so-ever.

never dealt with them.

This is an intensely amazing amp for the cash. Sure, you can get a Sovtek Mig-100 or something like that for less, but, it's just not the same. I love my JCM900 and wouldn't trade it for the world. It's the cheapest all tube Marshall head out there and in my opinion, the best sounding distorted head. The TSL & DSL's sound too brittle, the JCM800, not harsh enough.

Everyone knows the features of this baby!

Before buying this amp, I was lucky enough to use the same model at a rehearsal studio, at high volume (when any amp should sound its best) and I instantly fell in love with it.

The only thing that worried me was the shared EQ. I like to play with a fairly "middly" overdrive, yet a fairly "trebbly" clean. So I have had to find comprimises inbetween...

The amp came with a footswitch (two way one, with no LEDS). I loved the fact that my previous amp (Marshall VS100H) had LEDS in its footswitch. So, I got out the old drill, and took a trip to the electronics store and bought myself some blue LEDS and clips. My switch is the coolest looking switch I have seen!

I love how this amp, when pushed to its limit, seems to have a compression effect on your rib cage! It lets me know its being pushed hard.

I play an Epiphone SG, and a Jackson PS4. The SG with Invader and JB in bridge and neck respectively, and stocks in the Jackson. Both guitars sound totally different through this amp, unlike they did throuh my valvestate. The amp has opened new sounds to me, which I love!

The distortion is better than any valvestate or transistor amp I have played with (as you'd expect). Its just perfect for me, as I play ska-punk. Still, however I would have preffered separate EQs for each channel, oh well.

I've only had the amp a week or so, but I think it will be very reliabe. It's lasted this long all ready with no faults that are evident. IT'S A MARSHALL!!! BUILT LIKE A TANK

Marshall is only down the road from me in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK, so I'm sure I'd have no problem obtaining spare parts etc.

I love this amp, but I am yet to gig with it, although I'm sure it'll sound great.

Through the 1960a cab it sounds wonderful - very full. And through my homemade 4x10" cab, it sounds a lot more trebbly, completely changing the sound of the amp. So with a simple change of speakers, you have a whole new amp!!!

I was either going to buy this or the JCM2000 DSL, but that turned out to be too expensive, and nevertheless I am very happy with my purchase and I think it was a steal!

I love the 900. i dont really mind the shared EQ that much because it still sounds so damn good switching between the two. if it really bothers you to use a shared EQ, pay more than twice as much money for a 900 and buy a triple super lead.

I play a stock gibson SG standard and a mexi strat with lace sensors, l.r. baggs piezo bridge and i run my 900 through a 4x12 mesa cab. Two effects: the morley mark tremonti wah (which is totaly wicked) and a BOSS metal zone (if you consider a distortion pedal and effect). ive stopped useing the metal zone because it sounds too... old school metallica meets solidstate. I play anything from blues, to rock, to metal, to hardcore and the amp sounds damn good for every style. Not a lot of gain but if you want a lot of gain, again, pay way more money than you really want to and by TSLs, rectos, etc. I don't understand why people are saying the clean isnt really clean. I also have a fender from the 70's and i think the 900 is just as clean as the fender. So i have come to the conclusion that people are retarded and they dont know how to use this amp. i have turned this amp up to 8 (its 100W) and it sounded just as clean as it does on 2. The only thing i need from this amp is a small push of gain for solo work, thats nothing a duncan pickup booster cant fix

no problems except for when i bought it, it had this crazy buzzing noise because the guy before me didnt really take care of it, it had a buch of dirt on it and sticky stuff all over it, most likly a spilled pop or beer. it turns out there was a hairline fracture in a line in the circut board, no biggie. since i've fixed it it sounds brand new and the amp repare man fitted the 900 with JJ 6L6s. I dont know much about tubes, but these sound really good

ive never delt with marshall but if i did im sure they would be very helpfull

I have been playing for 6 years, im 17 so i don't have much money. If it were stolen i would cry, then buy another one. I really love turning my overdrive channel up to 6 and 8 (havn't made it to 11 yet) and listening to the amp bark out this nasty bottom end. ive owned one other amp that i sold to get this one, it was an old school mesa studio .22 that was a great amp, sounded good, but i couldnt play with any bands and so i need more wattage. there isnt one thing i hate about this amp, the lack of gain for solos isnt a big deal because it still sound raw straight through. if you are looking for one but havent herd it, listen to AC/DC, its not the same amp but it sounds very very close

Not sure on the date,traded an "AVT" 50 Head and "MGD" 100 WAT "A" cab for the "JCM" 900 used,but I've owned the JCM 900 for about a year now. I have found it to be unparalleled in sound quality.I unfortunately damaged it in a gig move. Still waiting for "PARTS", but I think what ever the cost of repair it's well worth it!!! The sharp highs just blow you away,and volume is outrageous!!! I've tried to imitate the sound, but have been unsuccessful. I Think this Amplifier is a 10.

I use a Dean Icon ,Dean EVO,Les Paul Studio . Each has it's own sound but the 900 brings out the best in each one of them!Playing things from Cooper to Ozzy to Alice in chains I can expect the best from this AMP!!

Thru my own fault I await the bill for repairs . I otherwise have never had a problem with this model!!!

Unknown

I find this Amp to be invaluable to my band and myself.

I don't know what year my JCM 900 4100 is... thinking 80's... but I've gotta tellya...as is...it knocks cigs outta my ashtray at 6 feet away!!!...which is what I was lookin for!!!! I was looking for tubes with "POWER"... with intentions of using pedals I've enjoyed over the years! Sure you can buy "Boutique Amps"...that will create those perfect tones you need...BUTT...who in this economy can spend 10grand for Dumbles...or Bruno's or etc.etc.etc. shall I go on? We all know that Jim Marshall is the Father of "LOUD" & thats watts that!!! My preferance for over 32 years of guitar playing has always been FENDER...period!!! But for the origanal sucker punch to your face....it's always been MARSHALL!!! Wait till those tubes get HOT!!!!!

Jimi Hendrix got me going in 1968...not only that...a local guitar hero in Brooklyn, NY was gettin all tha girls!!! I finally fixed his butt when I got my 1st Fender Strat 1963 & a FenderDual Showman after working my paper route...then I heard of "MARSHALL" I bought my 1st. JCM 800 and fawgetabowdit!!! Sweeted my style...no noise...75% up on everything...then WOODSTOCK!!! Clean channel needs my boxes but will definately do a Pete Townsend...distoetion is minimal but that's why I love my boxes!!!

Jesus blood never failed me yet.

Never needed any support...I STAND ALONE!!!

32 years of playing guitar...to many other Major Amps to say...

From what I've heard I think mines a '96 model, it has 6L6's. The amps pretty versatile, but its just a simple amp, no real features. Its just two channels which I guess was great after having only one...

I dont love the distortion channel, its just ok. This amps cool and it barely meets my needs. The clean channel kinda sucked too. It seems on the lead channel it lacks bottom end and on the clean theres too much. My clean channel is messed up though and it has a boost of gain. I use this instead of the normal distortion channel because it sounds so much better and is way louder. It sounds like an old Marshall should. I have a Gibson Les Paul with an EMG 81 in the bridge and helps to get a tone that I can live with. I have a Peavey 412MS cab and a Marshall 1960B cab. Both cabs sound totally different and its hard to say which is better. I'm trying to get a killer tone with amazing depth and clarity meanwhile with a lot of punch. The way my gear is right now is it does that, I would totally keep this head around for certain styles and whatnot. Its great for vintage rock.

I've had this head for a few years now and its great. Nothing major has ever happened to it to make it stop working and its been played at a bunch of shows. The only thing is that the clean channels messed up but thats only made it better. Not sure if its something i can rely on though.

Never dealt with them but they should be fine because they're a huge company.

It all really depends on what you want your sound to be. The JCM 900 is a fairly versatile amp but I think its best for rock. Nothing too heavy, nothing too soft. Although it does do ok for heavy and soft music. The way my gear is now is its fine for heavy metal and hardcore, punk stuff and its amazing for vintage rock.

? I think that this amp was made somewhere in the first 90's (91-92)

? If you want a HARD ROCK sound, this one is probably one of your best purchases. But don't expect it to make all music styles, no amp can... My music style is contiously changing between Heavy (classic one) and Hard Rock, and the sound is very very good, but IT'S VERY NOTORIOUS THAT IT SHOULD NEED A 3rd CHANNEL!!... because it lacks of gain, mostly in lead parts. I sometimes would like it to sound more distorted, but i won't put any stomp boxes which could colorize or dirt my sound.

? I have written about the channels.. well, it has 2 channels, the first one made for cleans and soft dirt sounds, and the "LEAD CHANNEL" supposely made for soloing, but IMHO is best to make gain power riffs, but not at all shred...

? It also comes with a dual reverb (2 reverbs, one for each channel), which is very good. It's slightly useless when your knob it's higher than 5 (12:00) because is a powerful reverb which will destroy your sound if you don't put attention to it.

? About the power.. damn it.. it's one of the most powerful demons out there... it's 100 Watts, but it sounds like a bomb. My cabinet is a 375 watts 1960A 4x12 Marshall cabinet, and I think i could completely destroy the speakers with this amp... The only problem is the gain level... less power and more gain could be great,,,

? I'm going to change it soon for a rack setup. Concretely a Mesa Triaxis preamp + 2:90 Poweramp. I don't have enough money for them both, that way I'll buy the triaxis at first and use it in the FX LOOP of the Marshall (which, BTW, it's a great FX LOOP; slightly noisy, but still good), taking the power from it... Next i'll buy the 2:90 and sell the Marshall...

? Finally, the 6 is for the ABSOLUTE NEED OF A 3rd channel...

? My gear (i will talk just about my MAIN gear)is next: My guitar is a PRS STANDARD 24 with HFS and VINTAGE BASS pu's into a MORLEY BAD HORSIE wah. From the wah, the signal goes directly to the input of the marshall. In the FX loop i have a ROCKTRON INTELLIFEX XL as effect processor. My cabinet as i said before, is a Marshall 1960A 4X12.

? About the sound, i wrote hard above... If you make Hard Rock, go for this amp (KISS, ol' SCORPIONS, ol' JUDAS PRIEST, etc..). Don't buy it if you're a metal-head, a shred guitarist (if you hate stomp boxes), or a DEMON-DISTORTED-SOUNDS lover.

? Note that this amp is also good for blues sounds when setting low.. it's a very good one for that, considering that the rest of your gear (like your guitar) is very important for that too...

? I finally put it a 8 because what it can do, it's one of the bests, but it isn't versatile at all for heavier (or very soft) things..

Well, I have had it for a lot of years (at least 4-5) and it's like new.. i put a 8 because it sometimes break the fuses, but except for that, it's like a tank (it also weight like a tank)...

Never dealed with them...

? What can i say of this amp that i don't said above... it great if you feel that it fits your sound... it's bad if you think it lacks of gain or pristine cleans,... I'm done.

Same as other 4100 Marshalls

When I first got this amp I didn't like the sound. It was very bright and it came stock with el34. What I did was change the tubes to JJ6L6GC which cut way back on those highs. Then I put a Boss SD-1 in front of it to boost the overdrive. Level all the way up, Gain 9 o'clock, And tone to taste. Just keep the tone down or else it will get get feedback(your call). Just with those simple changes this amp sounds totally different then when I first bought it. I wouldn't think of getting rid of it now.

I bought it used with the original marshall el34 tubes still in it. When I replaced the tubes to JJ6L6GC and re-biased it, It didn't seem to have any work done to it. I think it is 12-13 yrs old.

Never had to deal with them

everyone was telling me to keep the El34 in it, But I took a shot at the JJ 6L6GC, and it was a good shot. El34 are bright in this amp which some may like. If you don't like the harsh highs of the El34 then give the JJ 6L6GC a try. And yes!! It still sounds like a Marshall....And a Good one at that.. Hope this helps those people that are in that treble hell I was in..

Features are well described below, it has lots of features and options so i rate it pretty high, but.... it would have got a 10 when i could attach my PC keyboard to it hahahaha

I had 3 of em because i could buy em cheaply back then, all equiped with 5886's (6l6). I used them for a while but was not very satisfied with the sound in the long run, i used to play em without any stomp boxes. Turned out that the EL34 equipped JCM900's sounded a lot "browner". I had some great fun with these amps but now i replaced them for JCM900 2500 SLX's. These just have more marshall tone (and more drive then those 2204's from the old days). The Hi gain dual reverb 900's have a very high output volume, especially when playing large shows i had all three of em cranced all the way up, this way you can compensate a bit what the 5886 tubes are missing. I am not saying that these amps are not good, they are fine, but try em before you buy em to make shure that the sound is what you expect of it, they just don't sound classic Marshall. I am giving it an 8 because they can sound a bit harsh en when playing at lower volumes they sound very sterile in the overdrive pre-amp section.
I play a Fender Stratocaster with (don't laugh) Squier Japan pickups, they just sound great and everybody wants to know where i got these great classical fender sounding pickups hahaha, this guitar sounded very pure on the jcm's. I also use a Gibson LP with EMG active pickups wich does well for those heavy metal bits, and finally a Marco Messer built custom guitar with Gibson ES135 elements and wich i a real sustainmonster but without the classic gibson look (it looks like a IbZ JS1000 but is better finished and had a glued on neck en hardtail).

It is very reliable. My amps were played full throttle all the time, only thing i had to do is having the tubes replaced because they just wear out now and then, but that is what you get when you burn en that hard all the time.

The company does not give any customer support as far as i know, when you need good support, ask the store where you bought the amp.
I have an engineer checking my stuff out now end then, when using a tube amp you should do so too, just have em checked up once in a while en be treat em with care and you will never need any customer support.

I am playing for several years. I have tried all sorts of gear and still have some great amps, guitars and rigs. I still have one Hi gain Dual Reverb left, sometimes i use it for recordings when i need a different rythm sound or somthing like that, never do rock hard solo's with it anymore. This amp is a good buy but don't pay too much for it. It also lends itself as an amp to mod all the way, other tubes (EL34's), a rectifier tube maybe and Drake Trafo's , then you can make this thing shine.

This amp came form the early 90's, it has the el34 power amp tubes (4) and 12ax7 preamp tubes (3). This amp is good for rock, and some punk (if you want an amp w/ lack of bottom end). I play metal/nu-metal, so this amp suits me not at all. It's got a real nice clean channel, and a "hi gain" channel. it has an effect loop (steals tone), I just wish this thing sounded better in general.

I am playing through it w/ an ibanez artist w/ DiMarzio PAF PRO's, a rebuilt ibanez rg w/ a seymour duncan trembucker in the bridge, and an ibanez rg 7 string w/ DiMarzio Blaze pickups. This amp has a complete lack of bottom end and a serious lack of gain. if you turn it up to at least 6 for it so sound "good" it's harsh as hell. switching to 50 watts does nothing more than make it sound worse. It is a pretty clean sounding amp (very little noise when not playing) overall, if you want this amp to sound good, you need a seperate eq control, and an outboard preamp like a JMP. shame on Marshall for this.

I've only had it about 1 1/2 weeks and i'm selling it, so i dunno

I've been playing for about 6 years, and figured i'd "upgrade" by getting a "hi gain" Marshall tube amp. yeah right. i'm selling it for as much as I bought it for and buying the new Line 6 Spider 2 head. if it were lost or stolen, i'd be pissed because I didn't get any money out of it, but then i'd just go get my spider 2 head.

Everyone should know these already

This thing sounds awesome. I don't know what people are talking about, that the cleans sound fuzzy, just mess around with the nobs a bit. I got the A channel gain on 4 and the thing fucking sound awesome! Perfect tube clean! The distortion I have set to sound very close to the jcm800, and if i crank the gain up more it gives me the newer marshall distortion sound. I love it.

2 years without problems.

It's great. Anyone playing rock will love this amp, if not. Check your ears, because this thing rocks ass.

Mine was made in 1993. Two channels: 1- cleanish, and 1- distortion. Footswitchable reverb for both channels with seprate controls for the reverb on both channels. EL34 power tubes. YOu should know the rest by now...

Set up: ESP Eclipes with Duncan 59 (bridge) and Alnico II (neck) & a Frankien-Strat with a Duncan 59 in the bridge to the 900 to a 1960A cab.

The cleans are ok. Not Fender clean, but then again, it's not a Fender. With a little chorus it get me through a gig.

The Distortion is the reason you buy a Marshall. Depending on how you set the controls, this amp has a wide pallette of tones. I have done ZZ Top to AC/DC to MOP era Metallica to AIC with mine.

My settings: Pres- 3, Bass- 9.5, Mids- 3, Treble- 4-5, Pre gain- all the way up and then roll back a touch, Master- 5-6.

No problems in the six years that I've had it.

I love this amp. If it were stolen, I'd get another one. My only complaint is that there is no 4 ohm opperation. For the money, these are hard to beat.

This amp has very few features, but that's one of the reasons i bought it. Simplicity. 2 channels, one clean (ish), one dirty. All valve grunt. This amp is plenty powerful, and if the power is too much you can flick to half power on the back which cuts out 2 of the power valves (i've been told).

One complaint... I wish marshall would supply footswitches as standard with these heads.

I'm using this head with a brand new Marshall 1960B cab and a Maverick F1 with stock humbucker pickups and it sounds fantastic. The clean channel is *clean* despite what i've read on here. The lead channel sounds great too. Really full distortion, so full i'm thinking of using that channel as my main distortion and scraping my distortion pedals. I play mostly metal and heavy rock and it can do pretty much everything i want.

I've heard some horror stories of this amp setting on fire etc but i've yet to experience any problems. I gig without a backup, but my other guitarist has a spare H&H head for emergencies. I would have rated this amp at 10 but i'm still not 100% sure it is reliable.

Have dealt with Marshall before regarding my AVT-100. They were helpful and dealt with my query with no problems.

I have played through quite a few amps in my time, mostly marshalls, and i can honestly say this is the best thing i ever ever heard in person. In my opinion it sounds better than my other guitarists JCM 800 setup. Great value too. I agree with another guy on here, these amps will become the new JCM 800. Personally i don't see what the fuss is about with those amps. I do think a good cab is important too. I played this head through an old vintage marshall cab and it sounded very thin. Get a stock Marshall cab and you'll be laughing! All i have to do now is find me a footswitch.

bought it in 1997, i believe edition came out late 80s early 90s for this one particularly, Not too versatile,good for rock but in my opinion about it, Particularly i play death/black metal, 2channels with channel switching,effects loop pretty good, has the ability with a screwdriver to adjust the loop volume, i have gigged with it, toured with it,good for home,small gig, medium gig venues so power is fine especially with 100watts, dual reverb, volume, gain, presence,low, mid. high.

gig rig, jackson,esp customs with emg h4s, into the fxloop in descending order from head, bbe sonicmaximizer,boss gx700 preamp,roland vf1 virtual effects processor, samson wireless, NOISY AS hell, when you have the volume on the amphead around 4, and your volum on guitar down you hear fuzz/static big time, regardless of environments, clean channel does distort at high volume, this amp minus my rack gear would be best suited for rock with a plexish sound but nothing metal in distortion and clean is alright for some things, i love the fx loop though, but withoutsome real rack gear or pedals distortion is not brutal at all.the highs however are bit too high and the brightness can be a pain to handle

well first 5 years no problems worked great, then some tubes went replaced them, then it had to be rebiased and wasnt the same after that then the damn preamp started going and i gave up 4 years later.The amphead was always kept clean, in a moist free environemnt and always warmed up still had these issues

bought off of a jazz musician, company itself was nice but repairing it to be sent back to england= massive shipping. and as for having it serviced around the us not very good as problems reoccured despite lutheiers awards etc

Ive been playing 14years, i have a jackson,esp custom, boss gx700 preamp/fx, roland vf1 fx, bbe sonic maxmizer, jcm900head,jcm2000, 2x 1960a cab, 1 1960b cab

2 channels, four tone pots, two reverb levels. All tube. Multiple pre gains and post gains. Read some other reviews for full detail. Look for super versatility elsewhere, although I don't think I understand how versatile some people really want there gear to be. I play a range of music, and I find this amp suited to almost all of them very well. This was in the first run of the JCM900's, 1989-1990. It's over ten years old and running very strong.

Ok, this is where I've come to a realization. I have owned this amp for a while now, and it's really become a part of my sound. I reviewed it earlier, and I didn't give it credit where credit is due. I use a high output set of pickups, a duncan custom custom, and a duncan invader. I use coil taps on each, especially the neck, and I get good clean tones. Without the taps, I find humbuckers muddy on the JCM900. However, lean into it on the treble pickup, with the gain around 16 (it goes to 20...), and it has a great crunch. It's awesome, especially at high volumes. Gigging with this amp is fun, because I really get to turn it up, which is when it sounds best. I have never had any noise problems with it, although my footswitch is old and busted up. But I AM the 3rd owner... The clean channel cranked sounds much fatter than at low volumes, especially with single coils. I play ska, blues, garage rock, funk, a little metal from time to time, and some emo. This amp won't cut it using stock pickups if you're looking for a super-gain sound. But quoting a review below me, "then you'd just sound like a keyboard." I think that's hilarious. Funny cause it's true. I like grit and balls, not fuzz. I am using a Les Paul, almost exclusively with this amp. Strats are fun on it too though, especially for clean stuff. My advice is find your tone and turn it up. It doesnt sound like a Mesa, which is what I used to think I wanted. I went and played a dual rectifier, and I was surprised to come home and really, seriously prefer the tones I got from my JCM900. Fender has the clean channel beat, and they always will. But I have my 1966 Pro Reverb for that...

Reverb unit crapped out on me, but I am the third owner. The prior owner replaced it himself, so now I have to clean up his sloppy work. Thats the only problem I have ever had with it though. Built tough, looks great.

Never delt with anybody... never really had to.

I think this amp is bound to become a classis. I think it gets a few great tones, but that's all anybody could really ask of one amp. I don't like the 20 channel, solid state crap that Line6 churns out. For fat tube tone, this Marshall is awesome. I've played through a TSL100, and the only thing I liked better about that amp was the clean channel. This amp is really great.

MY AMPS ALL THREE JCM 900 HEADS WERE MADE IN 1998,SOME PEOPLE BITCH ABOUT THE LACK OF PERFECT CLEAN SOUNDS FROM THEM, I LOVE THE EDGE THAT YOU CAN GET. I DONT WANT CRYSTAL CLEAR. IT USES 5881 TUBES LIKE SOLDANO SLO BUT IT DOES NOT LOSE THE LEAD TONE AT HIGH VOLUME LIKE A SOLDANO DOES.THEY ARE Essentially 6L6 TUBES LIKE 5150 USES.

I USE PEAVEY WOLFGANG GUITARS AND THEY SOUND GREAT WITH IT. I GET PEOPLE THAT ARE PISSED OFF THAT MY STAGE SOUND IS SO GOOD. THEY CANT BELIEVE THAT I GET THIS OUT OF A 900. VOLUME 5-7 IS WHERE I PLAY. THIS IS WHERE THIS AMP COMES ALIVE. I PLAY LEAD LIKE YNGWIE,EDDIE AND RHYTHM LIKE P.O.D,SALIVA,OZZY,MUDVAYNE.AND DONT USE A FUZZ PEDAL.

NEVER HAD A PROBLEM

NEVER HAD A PROBLEM

BEEN PLAYING LIVE FOR 17 YEARS THESE ARE THE BEST AMPS I HAVE EVER USED. PEOPLE TELL ME EVERY DAY I HAD THE BEST AMP SOUND OR STAGE SOUND THEY EVER HERD, EVEN FROM OTHER GUITAR PLAYERS THAT USE RECTO,S
OR WHAT EVER. MOST OF YOUR SOUND COMES FROM THE WAY YOU PLAY SO I MUST OF MASTERED HOW TO SOUND GOOD THROUGH A 900 :)

Same features as listed already. I rate this highly on features mainly due to all of the output options (cab types, output wattage, operation voltage) as well as the fact that each channel has it's own gain and reverb settings. Excellent.

Best sounding amp I've ever played and I have owned and played many (including Peavey Classic 30, Classic 50, all tube Fender Blues Jr. and Blues DeVille, Fender RocPro1000, vintage Vox AC30 and a 1969 Fender Twin Reverb). Awesome distortion no matter which guitar I played through it. When I added a tube screamer before the amp as a gain booster (with the drive on the pedal turned down) the amp distortion became even richer. I don't play metal, just middle of the road rock as far as distortion's go - and this amp's distortion is amazing. I think the people saying otherwise either 1) haven't replaced the tubes / adjusted the bias, or 2) don't understand EQ settings. The clean sounds on this amp aren't brittle and glasslike such as a Fender would provide, but I tend to think that sound is a bit wimpy for most rock. I think the clean channel has a nice tonal character and cuts through a band setting better than the Fender type sounds.

This amp is a winner - though I bought it to resell (the price was great) I think I will be holding on to it instead.

I've been playing for over 15 years, have owned at least 150 guitars and 2 dozen amplifiers. This is an excellent amp and sounds a hell of a lot better than most of the Marshall's I have tried out at Guitar Center. Excellent, excellent amp. Don't let the ignorant people who don't know how to set an amp up discourage you from trying one out.

This amp has all the features I need. Other people might disagree but I like to simply plug straight into the amp hear that raw rock tone that it gives. Most don't know how to set a fucking amp right, that might make a difference.

The 900 sounds just as good or beter then any amp I played out of or heard. I use a Fender Strat with a Seymour Duncan hot rails in the bridge and that just kicks ass with this amp. Like a said before you just got to know how to set equiment right.

Never had probelms. The less shit on a amp the better. Everyone wants alot of effects built into the amp but that takes away of how the amp sound really sound.

JCM 900 - 4100 model - 100 W - 3 preamp tubes, 4 power tubes (2 in 50W mode)
Made: 1990-1992 (not so sure).
I play italian rock.... i use quite always dirty channel and get what i need with the guitar's volume potenziometer, so i need just it.
2 channel, for each channel indipendent gain, volume, reverb level.
The two channels share low, middle, treble and presence control.
It has footswitch for channel selection and reverb on off. The footswitch is without leds.
It has output power cutter: 100 to 50W.
It has something that i don't use: fx loop in and out, direct out, compensated out.
I give a 7 not because it misses something, but because i think that somethink is not necessary...and this is a lack!

Guitar: Gibson nighthawk
Style: rock
My amp isn't noisy
The amp sound quite everything. don't think at perfectly warm cleans, OBVIOUSLY, but it's perfect from crunchy clean to distorted tones.

I use it on my gigs without a backup
10 years old, i have it from 1, never broken

never needed

great amp for great stage.
you have to use it with good cabinets and you can make your guitar heard with its own voice.

not sure of the year this amp was made, but, its a marshall, does it really matter?
only one eq on this rig, but i play classic and southern rock, so it works well. It has the classic marshall "rock" sound, which is why i bought it in the first place.

i am useing this amp with a Peavey Odyssey, and a Gibson SG standard.
both of these guitars simply rock on this amp.
I run this head in a full stack configuration useing Peavey 4x12ms top
and a 4x12 m bottom. You are asking why i use peavey speakers instead of marshall. well, I dont play 50s style rock so the marshall 1960 series speakers are way to bright, the peaveys have much more balls.
the amp only has the power hiss when idleing...no other noises can be heard. The distortion on the dirty channel can give you all the gain you could possibly ever use, any more just would be over kill.
if you had any more gain you would begin to sound like a keyboard....whats the use?
this is not your country amp at all....its not a fender....but then again..you wouldnt buy this amp if you were playing country.
This amp fits my playing style perfectly.
I have been gigging for more then 20 years now ( getting old ).
This is my second tube amp, and i played a bunch of amps before i bought this one. Marshall is the "classic" rock sound.

i have had this amp for over a yer now...and am still on the same set of tubes. one thing in increasing tube life...let the amp warm up.
if you hammer a cold amp...you are taking a lot of life from the tubes.
this amp has performed without a hitch, and i expect it to continue this way.
i handle my equipment very carefully all the time...so i haven had much problems with any of it.
I do take a backup, just in case.

I have never had to deal with customer support.

like i said before..i have been playing over 20 years...this amp is simply the greatest i have had the pleasure of playing it that time.
if it was lost or stolen....yes... i would replace it with the same.
there is nothing i hate about this amp...i hear others complaining about the shared eq...not enough gain....not clean enough...WHY did you buy this amp?????
I bought this amp because it sounded like i wanted an amp to sound.
if i didnt like the features and the sound....i wouldnt have bought it.

Marshall JCM 900 Hi-gain dual reverb (4100), A channel (clean) and B channel (OD). I mostly play punk-rock/ hardcore/ rock and I think this amp is very usefull for these styles of music...no chit-chat..pure power, straight forward... It's a 100 watt, I tried it next to an orange OD (130 W) and I must say the marshall blew it away... with volume, but as well with sound-quality... The only stupid thing is that I don't seem to find a footswitch to turn the reverb on/ off ( if this is possible with this amp??? )... If anyone has a tip don't hessitate to mail..!!

Usually I play a Gibson les pauls special, but I've tried it with an Gibson SG and a fender (delonge) and I must say it gets the most out of your guitar... real pumping bass-sound end nice 'edgy' high-tones...

It has never let me down so far so I really don't have an opinion bout this... but I must say that I am very carefull with it during transportation and after playing a gig for instance, I don't move it for at least ten to fifteen minutes...so that the tubes have fully cooled down (maybe a good tip)

I bought it second hand...and like I said before .. it has never let me down so...

I'v been playing the guitar for 8 years or so... I'v played with fender amps, marshall valvestates, marshall JCM 2000, Mesa's, 5150's and other peavy's I must say this is one of the nicest sounding amp's I'v ever heard...

The features have been covered already, but I will say that it is pretty limited. Only a single EQ for two channels doesn't give you much head room. I play in an Indie Rock band and I like to have different pre-amp voicings for both the channels, but this amp lacks in that department. When gigging with this amp be sure to buy a surge protector (power surges blow everything out of this amp). A backup might be nice too.

I run a Tele through my JCM900. Though it isn't very flexible, it is a descent sounding amp. It is plenty loud also. Don't buy this amp for it's clean channel if you like playing dry. The clean channel distorts easily and tends to sound muddy. The distortion is great though.

The JCM900 is a very reliable amp until you have your first problem with it. After that it is never the same. Things start happening left and right. All tube amps are high maintenance, but this is a little higher than most. The casing may be built like a tank, but the guts of this thing are kind of sketchy. I have had problems with the valves, the reverb unit, the power supply, and a couple bad connections. Preventative maintanence will help you greatly, but it cannot prevent this amp from doing unexpected things.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing for about 9 years, and have been in various bands for the last 6 years. If someone stole this from me, I would buy something else.

Not sure about what year this amp was built. This amp is versatile for rock n roll. Two channels, not so dirty, and dirty. Marshall dont really get clean unless you are playing at bedroom levels in which case this amp is overkill for your situation. My only gripe is that there arent seperate tone controls for the two channels. I rock this amp on a daily basis, cranked to at least 5 so I can hear what it really sounds like.

I use a Les Paul Standard, Explorer and SG with this rig(JCM900 head w/1960A cab) and they all sound really good. This amp compliments my playing style(blues/rock,old school punk,classic rock etc.)This is a very quiet amp. The only buzz you hear is from the head itself,you dont hear it through the cabinet.Not much variety from this amp unless all your styles include the word rock.

I have only had this thing for a couple of weeks and havent gigged with it yet. So far, it is reliable, but anyone who knows anything about tube amps would never gig without a backup. Tubes only seem to fail in the middle of a set. The cool thing about this amp though is that if you loose a tube during a show, it has a feature that allows you to keep playing until the show is over. If you play at least three hours a day, you will need to re-tube any amp once a year. I wont rate this section only because I havent had it long enough for something to go wrong with it yet. Seem to be built pretty solid though.

This is actually the second Marshall I have owned and I have never had to deal with the company. If I ever needed to get it repaired there are several service centers in my area. I have no rating for this section either because I have never had to deal directly with the company.

I have been playing for 15 years(more than half my life) and I have played through Peavy, Crate, Charvel, Traynor and Marshall amps. This one is my favorite out of all of them. My second favorite(which I still own) is my Traynor Custom Valve 40 tube combo. If this amp were stolen, I would be assed out as this amp is getting hard to find and I got a good deal on it at that. I have never played through a Mesa or a Bogner or a Diezel, but, in this day and age, you dont need to play through one to hear what they sound like, just turn on your radio. I prefer the Slash, Hendrix, SRV, Mike Ness tones that I can easily conjure up with the few knobs this amp has. I chose this amp for simplicity, smooth warm tube overdrive, and, lets be honest here, nothing looks or sounds cooler than a Marshall stack! Overall I will give this amp a 7.5 because no company has made an amp that does everything and that is the only thing that would deserve a perfect score.

Two footswitchable channels, dual reverb. Separate volume and pre-amp controls. Shared EQ between the channels. 4 5881 power tubes. 3 ECC-83 preamp tubes.

This amp has the classic Marshall sound. It is not a 5150, Rectifier, or XXX. It will not give you the Nu Metal sounds. I traded my Crate Blue Voodoo in because the Crate lacked the tonal versatility in needed, although the Crate was easier to solo with.

I also have a Marshall TSL 100 which is much easier to play when doing legato phrasing than the 900, and I use the TSL for more "High Gain" music. I had an original 5150, but the clean sucked.

I'm in a cover band in Chicago that plays almost every weekend. The 900 is definitly the amp to go with for rock (60's rock, classic rock, hair metal, etc.). The clean channel is not as pristine as a Fender, but nails Slashes clean settings i.e. the intro to Paradise City.

Keep in mind that the amp has only 3 preamp tubes. Eddie Van Halen says that you know an amp is happening when it plays itself. This is not that amp. Unlike other High Gain amps, you must have your left hand together to play smoothly. Again I'm speaking of solos, but like I said, it has the Marshall sound.

If you're playing rock, this is your amp. When soloing I sometimes use a Boss Compressor to add sustain and since it doesn't alter the sound. Zakk Wylde uses JCM 800's which also only have 3 preamp tubes but he uses a Boss DS-1 when soloing. Satriani and Vai do the same thing with the same pedal.

I never gig without a backup (neither should you). A bar owner is paying your band 1200 to 1500 bucks for a weekend gig and doesn't want down time. Keep the customers drinking and dancing.

My backup believe it or not is my Marshall TSL 100. I keep both in good shape, and there are tons of pro audio shops in town that specialize in maintaining tube amps. This is not cheap to do however. Tube amps are the Ferrari's of the amp world. You can't just put gas and oil in a Ferrari. When you buy a tube amp, you have to expect this.

I've been playing a very very long time, and have had more gear than Musicians Friend. Once in a while a good piece of gear comes along. For instance, the Fender strat, the Les Paul, the Podxt, the Triple Rectifier, Boss MT-2 pedal, Digitech Whammy pedal, PRS single cuts, etc.

The JCM 900 is one of those gems.

I think this amp was made between 1991 and 1995, not shure, cause I recently bought it from a second hand owner!!! The amp I bought is in absolutele perfect condition, except the valves, I beleve the ones in the amp are stll the first set since the amp cae out of the factory. But, never the less, the amp works perfectlly.
The amp has 2 separet channels, the firs is clasic crunch, bet when some power added, oh boy, AC/DC here I come.... clasical HARD ROCK; the second channel......hold on to your skirts girls, cause here I come.... You HAVE TO HEAR IT SO YOU COULD BELEAVE IT. Do not forget, thisi is how I SEE THIS AMP, it does not means you will see/hear it in the same light.
One thing I don`t like, is when you plug in the footswitch, the reverb is TURNED DOWN!!! Other way to switch between channels is by hand on little red button, it requiers sompractise to do it on stage, but, what can you do?
I play this amp on rehersals, and on gigs, small, large, it is adjustable for every situation, on the back pannel it has a mode switch, that cuts the power of 100 Watts, to 50 Watts!
Also on the back pannel there are send and retpurn inputs, line out, but who needs that?!, but a don`t care much about that, caus the only way to play an amp like this is ..... guitar + cable +( preapm pedal)+ volume.
Let`s go on the front pannel : presence, bass, middle, treble used by both channels, (that kinda sucks, if you want to have two different colours of your sound; not just 2 switchable gain levels), then there are controls for channel A: master volume, and reverb,; controls for channel B: master volume, reverb; and there are gain controls!!! Channel A goes 0-10, CHANNEL B 0-20!!

A play a Fender STRATOCASTER, and in my bridge position I have a Seymour Duncan JBJr, ( I am planing on installing a Quarter Pound in the neck position). The only pedal I use for now is a BOSS SuperOverdrive SD-1, just so I could bust up my signal for solos.
A play from rock`n`roll, blues rock, hard rock to hard and heavy, and I can tell you, this amp was all I ever wanted.
If you want a clen ton, FORGET IT. I mean, it`s possable, but not quite right, to get something like that you have to put gain ( on channel A, of course), max on 5, and cranck up the volume, but when you do that it`l get little bit crunchy. But when you want to show just how big ba... you got in your pants, ooooh baby. It`s like driving a very good car, it`s fast, but it doesn`t seem that way, `till you look at the dash board, ...... you just keep turning it on, and on,like you can never get enough, but, .... nevermind, I hope you`l be able to see what I`m talkin` about.
Excelent harmonics, even on low volumes, not much noise, when tha band ( and you) stops playing, you can hardly hear it ( if the amp is working properly).
It gets a 9 because, of the equlisation controls, and the lost of reverb when you use a footswitch!

Haven`t played a lot of gigs with it, so I`ll have to come back for this one.

Never used them ,a have a local guy, that is a wizard with these things, so if EVER NEEDED, all call him.

I play on stage for 2-3 years, and have had a Marshall VAVLESTATE 102R, Marshall JCM 800 50Watt lead combo, and Marshall VALVESTATE 8080. I also playd my friend Marshall JMP Master model 50Watt Lead, the is absolytely perfect in it`s own way, but thats a whole other story.

Forget combos! The only true Marshall is : head + 4x12 or even the whole stack.
I drive this amp on a Marshall 1960A 4x30W box, that a recently bought, and it`s like a dream.
I hated the JCM 800, valvestates vere tooo....... I don`t ...expencive toys.
I never heard this amp before in my life so I took a lot of risk, when decied to purchase it, but it payed off...
DO NOT FORGET, TRUST NO ONE, ONLY YOUR ONE EARS......

You can read the other reviews and find out what this amp has. The 4 band eq is limiting because it is on both channels. I channel switch alot and it's kind of a pet peeve. But it's an all tube 100 watt beast. Serously loud, growly overdrive. I love having seperate reverb levels for each channel though. That's a big plus to me.

This is an amp that you can't play in your basement or your bedroom. This is not an amp to be played at three. Turn it up for really great Marshall overdrive. The clean is a litte weak, as I'll agree with other reviewers, but if you use a strat on the neck pickup, you can get a full bodied sound. I use a Les Paul, and it's a little thin sounding for clean sometimes, because I use a coil-tap on the neck pikup for most of the clean. I use a Duncan Invader at the bridge, serious lead tones, lots of cut. The amp could use a little more pre-amp gain I feel, but I am not going to complain.

Never had a problem with it.

Never had to deal with it.

For the price of a used 900, its hard to compare ANY amplifier to it. I hear so many people on this site complaing that it doesnt sound like their Fender, or it doesn't sound like their Mesa. Well that's cause it's a fucking Marshall! It has it's own independant tone! It does it very well I might add. Not to mention that this amp also cost me a third used of what a triple rectfier is new. I also don't play nu-metal, which Boogie is kind of known for. Don't get me wrong, I love Mesa's, but they're a little ass rock at times. For the money, this amp can't be beat. $1000 for it, and I'd say other wise. I would have gladly paid $700 and still felt like I got a good deal. I only paid $430! I am going to retube it with 6L6's for a fatter clean tone, though.

2 channels- seperate reverb- shared EQ 100 wats tube- WTF are people talking about that it doesnt have enough gain, you just have to crank it.

Playin with fender strats and gibsons. Perfect for punk rock and/or rock. MUSIC THAT TAKES TALENT. By the way, NU METAL FUCKING SUCKS. SLIPknot, KORN HAVE NO TALENT. ALL IT IS IS STATIC. they should listen to the atari's or misfits, and learn how to play their instruments.

I gig with extra tubes and fuses, and have a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier as a back-up. I like then equally and the Triple was 1200 more, haha. I do depend on it.

-

LOVE IT, CRANK IT AND PLAY WITH YOUR BAND, NO BETTER FEELING

The features have been covered a thousand times already, so i'll just get down to my opinions. At first, it seemed like the shared eq thing was a bad idea. How could they both possibly sound good on the same settings? Then it dawned on me that i don't really change the channels on my amp during actual songs anyway. I have a Morley little alligator volume pedal that i use to back the volume off for silent, or lighter parts. Just wishing, i would wish for a seperate eq just for the hell of it. Could be worse. Could be better.

I use a Les Paul and a Washburn with it mainly, both with fairly stock pickups. I got it with the 1960a cab. I have a few Boss and Morley pedals that i use, but other than that, i plug strait in. The clean channel is your classic Marshall clean. Not really all that clean. But it breaks up nicely and get's a fairly spongey open sound. Excellent for single string runs and single strums. But who gets a Marshall for the clean sound? On to the overdrive.
This is how i really judge an amps character. Push it to it's limits and see how it reacts. This amp was my first tube amp, so i really had no idea what i was doing when i got it. Volume on 3, gain on 10 doesn't work with this amp. This is no crate. It's a delicate balance between the volume and the gain. Any tube amp is going to open up and respond more fluently with the volume around 5-6. With the volume higher, there's a lot more overall gain than you would expect. Which is what makes playing amps like these in stores a pain in the ass. Overall, i preffer to get most of my gain from the preamp rather than the power amp and speakers (the way marshalls seem to work). So this is a completely different way of doing things for me. Overall i'm a little dissapointed at the lack of preamp gain. It just doesn't have the distortion i was looking for. Maybe i'll get another preamp and use the Marshall for a poweramp. Either way, it's not satisfactory for extreme gain.

It seems to be built well. Mine's had it's share of problems. The people whom i bought it from just pulled the old tubes and stuck in some sovteks without having it biased. And they blew a bunch of fuses somehow. So there very well may still be something wrong with mine. It works. But doesn't sound like others i've played, or how people described it.

N/A

Overall, it's not a bad amp. Fairly basic in it's design. I think it was made to be a sort of post 80's, gained up, grunge-rock type amp. Which is not exactly what i wanted to do with it. It's certainly a tube amp. With the volume up and the gain cranked, you can feel how the power & preamp react, and how they feed the speakers. It pushes air. Just not enough preamp gain, in my opinion. If you're looking for a scooped nu-metal type sound, this isn't your amp. I've been running a Metal Zone through it for added pre-gain (which completely ruins the tone of the amp, but i don't seeem to have a choice). But for rock or a really springy country-rockabilly sound this may work well. It's just not what i needed for the music i play.

I HAVE HAD THIS AMP FOR 7 YEARS. I BOUGHT IT 2ND HAND FOR $550 FROM A HALF RATE LITTLE MUSIC STORE THAT NEVER HAS NICE THINGS LIKE THAT.
I DONT KNOW IT TO WELL FOR ITS FEATURES. I RUN INTO IT THROUGH THE FX LOOP. BUT THE REVERB AND ALL THE VOLUMES AND THE PRESCENCE STILL SEEM TO WORK. THE LOUDEST AMP IVE EVER HEARD.

I PLAY IT THROUGH A LES PAUL AND A MID 90'S IBANEZ. I'VE MESSED WITH THE IBANEZ A LOT AND HAVE TO SAY ITS THE BEST SOUNDING GUITAR IN THE WORLD. BUT I DO LOVE THE GIBSON. I USE A HEAP OF EFFECTS AND IT DOESNT MAKE THE LEAST BIT OF UNWANTED NOISE. SOUNDS AMAZING WITH OLD TAPE DELAYS. NO DISTORT IN CLEAN AT 10. I PLAY IT THROUGH A 1060A THAT IM NOT 100% ABOUT YET.

ONLY BROKE DOWN ONCE AND IT WAS VERY MINOR. TOOK IT TO SAM ASH AND IT ONLY COST ME $25.
I HAVE PLAYED A TON OF SHOWS AND TRAVELED AND PLAY IT AT PRACTICE TOO.
ITS REALLY BEEN THROUGH 7 YRS OF HARD CONSISTANT USE. YET IT SEEMS INDESTRUCTIBLE.

MARSHAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT?
NEVER SPOKE TO THEM.
THOUGH THEY DID A GOOD JOB IN MINE (PROBABLY CUZ IT WASNT MUCH)
I HAVE SINCE LEARNED THAT THE SAM ASH REPAIR DEPARTMMENT IS NOT COMPETENT ENOUGH TO COMPLETE MODS AND REPAIRS

IVE BEEN PLAYING FOR ABOUT 12 YEARS, I STARTED VERY YOUNG AND HAVE PUT THIS AMP THROUGH TONS OF RIG COMBINATIONS. IT ALWAYS PERFORMED IMPECABLY.IF IT WERE STOLEN ID REPLACE IT BUT SOMETIMES I BELIEVE SOME OF SUCH THINGS ARE 1 OF A KIND. I DO SOMETIMES WONDER HOW THAT 9200 POWER AMP WOULD WORK FOR ME.

You probably know the features by now, four el-34 power tubes, three 12AX7 pre-amp tubes with a little solid state assistance on I believe the first stage of the pre-amp. I don't know when this amp was made. It does have channel switching, BUT both channels share pre-amp controls, so whatever amount of distortion that I have on one channel, I also have it on the other. This makes the dual channel feature a volume control more than anything else. I use to wish that this amp had two channels, but I got over that(more about this later). Is the amp versatile enough for me? No!!!!! No amp does everything well. This one is what it was designed to be; a hot-rodded JCM-800. Versatility was not issue when this amp was designed. I have read countless reviews that say it isn't a good new metal amp (not enough gain). I'm not sure how much more gain that you really need. I play hard rock that borders on metal and I think that it has plenty of distortion. It is a 100/50 watt amp, so obviously it has plenty of power.

I'm using Gibson guitars(Explorer and Hawk) with Duncan Invader Pick-ups. This amp suits my style very well. It has a great distortion sound. By the way if you own one of these or any other high gain tube amp for that matter and you are not playing with your master on level six or above than you don't really know what your amp sounds like. High gain tube amps were made to be opened up, if they are not, you don't get the true sound. And please use your tone knobs, no amp sounds good with everything on ten. I know this sounds simple, but for some reason very few players tweak their amps. This amp was not made for your bedroom. It sounds horrible with the master volume set to under about five. Master volume under three? You're going to want to throw it out of a window. To get a clean sound I roll the volume on my guitar down(I actually like this). The clean is typical Marshall clean, which means not clean at all. It is acceptable for stage work as long as clean isn't your main sound. If it is (jazz and country players) this isn't the amp for you. One more thing, speaker and cabinet selection make all the difference. I play this thing through a 2x12 Fender cab with Celestion G-12T100 speakers. This is bad match with this amp. I played it through a friend's Rectifier 2x12 cab with Vintage 30's. This is a much better match for this amp. By the way, if you're looking for Rectifier/5150 type distortion, this is different. Jcm-900 distortion is smoother, less in your face. Not bad, just different.

I have had this amp for two years. It gets three hours a day three or four days a week of play with the master on five or above. I haven't had a single problem with it. It's built like a tank.

Never contacted them so I don't really know.

I like this amp more than most people do. I also have a Peavey 5150 amp and I like it too. The Peavey has more distortion, but I never get the pre-amp above six on it so more distortion isn't an issue for me. They have different types of distortion. I bought the Peavey because I wanted two channels, but I find that I still prefer to just roll the volume on my guitar back to get a clean sound. I've tried switching channels for clean to dirty, but I find that for a clean soundI prefer the tone of rolling my guitar volume back better. The 5150 works much better with the G12T100s than the Marshall does. This is simply a difference in the voicings of the amps. I thought about selling this amp after I got the Peavey, but I like the sound when the speakers are well matched. Next week I am going to re-bias the amp for 6L6 power tubes. I prefer the sound of them. 6L6's have a more industrial sound. More sanitized, less warm with more bass. After that, The third amp that I'm considering purchasing is a Matchless or a Vox AC-30 to record clean parts in the studio. It's pretty hard to go wrong with a good tube amp. If you're in the market to buy an amp and I'm assuming that you are or why else would you be reading this, condsider Marshall, Mesa, Peavey 5150/Triple XXX, Hughes and Kettner, Rivera, Soldano. All of these plus a few others are good amps. The choice depends on your how much money you have to spend and which of these sounds best to you. They are all quality amps but some are very pricey. Remember to work with your amp and all of your guitars when you get it. If you do, all of the above amps will serve you well. Don't buy the hype that more distortion is always better, it isn't. By the way I didn't do ratings because I think that the text tells everything.

This amp was made early 90's and I bought it used. It's a very, very simple amp, not anything like a triple rectifier and I like that its so simple, 2 channels, clean, dirty and simple 3 band eq(presenceas well). Its not as solid as a mesa boogie(I also play a dual rectifier) so you sort of have to mess with it a bit to get the sound your looking for, but its killer. It also has 50/100 watt power settings problem with this is that you have to readjust your eq/gain ect. when you do it. Has recording outs that are pretty good quality, but I suggest micing it for recording is the best.

I play melodic punk and this amp is great I used to love mesa boogies,but I got this amp because it was cheap and I love it I love it more then my mesa. I use a gibson les paul classic which has very hot pickups and this amp is perfect for it. The only problem is when you use the 100 watt high settings you incredible highs, too much and not enough saturation so I had to mess with it a bunch to get it right when I play live, but now I found some rad settings for it. I play it through a mesa boogie rectifier 4x12 and the combo is killer.

Nothings gone drastically wrong with this amp I had a problem with the power input and it was giving some funky noises, but some minor adjustments fixed that in a jiffy. I even stopped bringing my mesa head to short distant gigs because this amp has never failed me and also its alot of work to bring an extra head for really no reason.

Don't know never had a problem with a marshall amp.

Well I paid less than half for this amp then for my mesa boogie and I like it more it's really the simplicty and you have to find your sound(as with any amp) I don't use any pedals just the great crunch on this amp, the clean is good, but it can get fuzzy depending on your eq settings/reverb. But I really think this is a great amp for someone who just wants a simple amp with massive tone and distortion. And why pay so much more when this cheap amp/nice amp can get great sounds for mor ethan half the price.

two channels, footswitchable, pretty basic..... two channels can give you a couple of different sounds, but this amp is basically a one or two trick pony.....It is tube, but not all tube (it uses diodes for clipping). I used this amp live, band practice, etc.

This amp can get a pretty nice sound if you're at the exactly right place.... I enjoyed this amp, but always felt there was something missing. It always seemed a bit mushy and undefined. The most recognized sound I could get out of it was your basic 80's hair metal sound. The clean channel kind of sucks, and I typically like clean ala Marshall. I now have a 69' Jmp-50 modified by Voodoo Amps of New York and it makes this amp seem like a crate gx-15.

never had a problem

This amp is, of course, one of the downpoints in Marshall's history. They just don't make them like they used to, as it goes.

Mine is EL34 loaded, so it is probably very early 90's. The reason I bought this amp was because I wanted separate preamp and power stages plus different reverb controls on each. This amp had these features, although pretty soon after buying it I realised that I would love separate Eq's. In order to get the best tone out of each channel you needed to change the EQ setting. Therefore, the setting to switch between channels was always a compromise of both worlds. I was damned to never achieving a great tone on live shows. Yes, I could have fitted an EQ in my effects but I don't think that would give a fair rating to this amp.

I have played this amp both with single coils and humbuckers. To me a great valve amp should achieve various things.
1. Allow the tone of the different instruments to shine through, obviously mixed in with the amp's character. This amp does not achieve this. All the guitars, I have played through it sounded more or less the same. To me that is not good, it limits the sounds you can get and no matter how much you tweak your EQ I just can't hear my Strat or my Tele or my LP. I just hear 6 strings through an amp.
2. I also believe that an amp has to be loud but more importantly it must push air in a way that it cuts through the rest of the band without injuring anyone. This amp just sounds loud on its own but mix it in with a band and it wimps out and disapears. AND IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHETHER IT IS ON 10 OR 11. It just doesn't sound good at any volume. Too quiet your power valves aren't working, too loud and they work but it doesn't cut through when you play with a band. I suppose that is what most people use their amps for especially at volumes past 5. Otherwise you should stop bothering your neighbours playing at 11 on your own in your bedroom... and get into a band.
3. I also want my valve amp to sound like it carries valves. The power stage of this amp is definetely powerful but the preamp (transitor heavy loaded) really kills any good sound that could come out of the power section. So really this amp has a poor rating for me. No roundness or spongyness to my ears just a fast attack and no character. I suppose it depends on the music style you play and what it is that you are looking for. But to everyone, in my experience volume and features is not everything and don't believe that every VALVE amp is going to sound VALVE LIKE. ;-)

Very reliable. This fucker has been in planes and worked perfectly after customs. That is all I need.

Marshall has always been helpful with any of my queries.

After playing with this amp for 10 years I sold it recently. I haven't been using it for the last 4 cause it was limited and did not fulfil my needs. I kept it just in case it could suit a track ... but hey all you need is is a good preamp pedal and you hit more than this amp gives. It was my first half stack. If you are going to fall in love with the looks of a Marshall stack like I did... think again... there are very few great Marshall's out there and certainly non are found in the JCM 900 category.

Bought it 10 years ago, new!

Basic stuff, typically Marshall, the clean channel does the job, nothing fancy, use a chorus and it sounds just fine. Channel B is awsome, tons of gain and balls of steel.

Channel switching works fine, use the effect loop, without its sounds real to bright. The effects loop is nog as good as my mesa's but who care's this is not a 'search for sound amp', this is a 'volume @ 10 & plug in amp' and go with the flow.

Awsome loud, go get earplugs. Almost never use the 100w setting (always @ 50w).

I rated it 6, this is not a bad thing imho, its just not that kind of amp.

I use an Aria anniv (Les Paul copy), Ibanez RG and a Fender strat. The amp sounds fine with al guitars. I did use a telecaster once, that really sucked.

I play heavy bluesrock and this amp is perfect for that! It's not like a Mesa when you turn up the gain it goes to metal, this baby keeps rocking.

The downside is that your really have to crank it up to get 'that sound', and crank ik up means, earplugs and the whole neighbourhood on vacation!
Really get earplugs, I mean that ;-)

Tons of gain, again only when you use the effects loop, I think this really is a bug in this amp.


The clean channel (A) is not so good, but hey, it's a Marshall, it gets distorted really quick at higher volumes. Nice crunch sounds here.

The lead channel (B) is awsome, this is why I bought this amp. I rated it a 9, there must be something better, but I haven't heard it.

Own it for 10 years, never let me down.

Dunno, see reability

I play for 15 years, also own a Boogie and a little 30w Marshall

If it where stolen, i'll buy the same new one.

I love the sound when your crank it up, then I'm in tone heaven. This amp *IS* my sound, not my guitars, not my effects, just my fingers and this amp.
I hate nothing but the clean channel could be better but then again, I look good but my ass smells bad when I shit ;-)

Just like that Marshall Tone.

This is an update of a previous shiny review, where this amp could do no wrong. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... Lets just say my opinion has changed! In 1 practice at low volumes all my valves went, so i had it re-valved. Gigged once since then for a short 45 mins slot, then during a practice 2 weeks after the re-valving and servicing by a marshall engineer, the amp set itself on fire. Still dont know what happened, i assume the transformer went. Luckily there was a fire extinguisher to hand! I'm never going to gig with this amp again, which is a shame because i really did love the sound. R.I.P

Oh my god, the "Marshall" growl. I play on a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Fender Highway 1. Les Paul i use
for that '80 Guns and Roses sound. The fender is Hendrix and SRV. This is the very reason I own this amp.
Very quiet, my fender m-80 hums like crazy. This amp makes no noise what so ever. Must be honest, the clean
sound does suck. I get by just to hit that foot switch to channel B

Turn up the gain and rock hard. Im not that good at "settings"

No very, have had this amp for 10 years. For the last 3 years it has had to have new something (power tubes,
preamp tubes, etc....)

never dealt with marshall, only had problems the last few years

Never had a better rock amp. The 4X12 sealed back cab is very important to my kind of sound. Very heavy
bottom, almost no mid, full Treble. Its not a value, but its my favorite amp

This is a great amp and i read some displeasing reviews so I decided to defend this amp. It has reverb levels for each channel which is a plus, gain levels for each channe which is neccesary for getting bluesy crunch from the clean channel and alot of gain from the dirty channel. It has a 4 band EQ which I hate. The prescence knob is useless to me, I leave it at 0. It makes the distortion a bit too fizzy I guess you could say. There is a loop with an adjustable level. 2 recording outs, valve failure LEDs and other useful functions. I would not want an EQ for each channel like the new TSL series. The simplicity is nice.

I would give it a 10 but there must be something better out there. I use the amp with assorted guitars with fairly hot humbuckers. presence 0, treble 6, mid 6, bass 10. This gives me all of my tones for metal and clean. I turn dirty gain up to about 16 to give me enough gain but not excessive feedback at high volumes. I really like that. Use the amp loud with a 4x12" and you get incredible tones, especially considering this amp is not expensive compared to so many other high gain tube amps on the market. It is worth every penny. I would say this amp is very brutal.

Nothing has ever gone wrong since I owned it and I bought it used. Still works perfect with no wierd noises. The tubes have lasted a pretty long time too.

Never dealt with them.

I would buy it again in a second if stolen. I lvoe my tones adn I recently stopped using all effects to work on my technique with this wonderful amp. I really like any Marshall amp pre 1992. I use no external EQs or boosters and I get some great tones and there is alot of gain ready for you. So if you need a nice amp, get a JCM900. Those rarer red ones are nice too.

I own an early 90's 900 fitted with EL-34's - I haven't contacted the previous owner so I don't know when the tubes were last changed (dusty) but it takes at least half an hour of fairly consistent playing before the raspyness gives way to classic, unadulterated marshall tonal warmth so basically, yeah, it delivers in spades but I've read about a load of people who have 900's fitted with 5881 tubes who wanna mod their amp to take EL-34's and it looks tricky/expensive so if you want earlier breakup it seems that 5881's should be used, they're also supposed to be more rugged, but EL-34's are supposed to have more vintage, purer tone. You might as well decide which kinda tubes you want first and save yourself the hassle. But I'm quite glad mine runs EL-34's because it's such a rich sound. I intend of course to get new Svetlana tubes fitted which seems to be the order of the day... It's got two footswitchable channels both with individual gain and spring reverb(mine makes funny random noises, like industrial disasters miles away - it never does it when I try to record it though! I presume a spring needs sorted.) I don't use the fx loop 'cos I'm a front end kinda guy. This amp is loud as hell, don't worry about volume, it'll fill a hall. Ear-bleeding, yet very warm. If you wanna rock, this is the sound but it's a different deal to an 800, and I find the ability to "go one louder" using the channels with a pedal very useful. Does what it says on the tin.

Ok, there's no tremolo/vibrato, so what? If you don't wan't to rock out don't get this, there's no point. You can, however, get a nice variety of clean tones from this amp on A, although I usually set A up on a crunchy level anyway. Fender it 'aint. But if you set your gtr right you can go from Wayne Kramer to Robert Fripp in a second. All I use these days is the channel selector and a good ol' DS-1. Channel B involves some extra clipping but does the job for my own brand of post/prog/kraut rock. Bon appetit!

I dunno why some people find theirs breaking down but I have heard some reports of reliability problems. Needless to say mine has never flickered except for a fuse which had to be replaced while recording in a basement studio with an undoubtedly dodgy power supply. It hasn't let me down yet and it's been chucked about in vehicles without a flight case plenty of times.

I bought the amp second hand but what I will say is that there is some good info on this amp posted out there by users and techs which is pretty useful to a potential buyer as well as owner.

If I could give it ten for everything I would, but it'd probably break down tomorrow. I own a fender amp but it doesn't get used much, the 900 is used on all my recordings and gigs - I run a home studio involving a combination of analogue tape and digital multi-track recording, I'm in three bands and this amp is the workhorse of my sound. I tried other amps but was always uninspired by fendery things and deep down it had to be this amp. The only other amps I want are a Vox AC-30 and a Hi-Watt. So you see where I'm coming from...

Well, there isn't a whole lot here, but it's good for what it does. It has some versatility, but not much. But if your just going for the straight up bluesy rock stuff, with no frills, your good to go.

I have it set up right now with a standard PRS, and it sounds pretty darn good. I play straight up metal, so I have lots of gain and whatnot, but it stays pretty quiet when I'm not playing, but not completely quiet. As far as tone goes, I haven't found anything I like better, I like a bigger-than-life guitar sound, not all processed down, and this delivers. Clean isn't that great, it's the typical Marshall, "yeah, this is clean... but not quiet clean" sound, but the dirty crunches like none other at high volumes, and still keeps clarity.

I would never leave Marshall if it wasn't for this category. My Marshall has broken down so many times, and just when I need it too. It's broken down at least 5 times in the last 2 years. Always blowing a fuse, or a tube, or something. And I've treated this thing like a baby a 3 years I've had it. Every time I take it to a registered Marshall tech guy, and I always get the run around, "There's nothing wrong with it, you must have just gotten a bad tube and/or fuse." Well then, I don't know how these tube and fuse companies can stay in business, cause I don't think I've ever bought a good set. So, unless your into buying a new amp every year, steer clear of Marshall, run as fast ans far as you can away from a Marshall dealer.

Like I said before, they keep giving me the run around... until the warranty is up, then it's a bad power tranny or something like it. Marshall sounds great... for about a year, then your stuck with a very inconvenient end table. I've talked to many, many people who have played or do play Marshall, and they all have problems between 1-3 years. And the customer support sucks royally.

I've been playing over 10 years, and I've never played anything that sounded like a Marshall, but they just don't last, it's not worth it. If it got stolen, I would be the happiest man alive, cause then I could collect the insurance and get some mesa and vht, which I'm going to do anyways. If you have any questions, or you wanna give me some advice on gear, drop me an e-mail.

I bought the full stack in march of 97 The head was 890.00 total was 2300.00 for full stack..I am a blues player and with a couple of right pedals this thing can't be beat.

I had a lot of problems with my Marshall head the second year I had it i bought a pb100 power brake made by marshall and then it went down hill from there.I cranked the power brake to 11 and amp vol at 3 and every year from then on it was replace all fuses and tubes.Finally after three years of spending 150.00 each time for tubes my guitar tech said take that damn power brake off and no problems since. I wrote to marshall in England about it and they said the power brake wasn't the problem,but it would shorten the life of the tubes to 2 years. I never got 2 years from the tubes.

I would never use mine on a gig with out spare tubes or all fuses any power surge takes them out..

When I wrote to England they were concerned about my problems and answered back but it was 3 months later so i am glad I didn't need an amp just then.my letter was signed by Steve Yelding advertising manager..WHO's HE???..

I have been playing 45 years and have always wanted a full stack,I bought the Slash Head at first and took it back after the first week it didn't fit my style at all..I had the solid state 100 watt 2x12 and traded it for my tube stack,which i have had for five years and play everyday,i just like that big sound..its a great amp even with all its quirks and rather expensive to own..

2 channels, variable level effects loop, 2 direct recording outs (not so good); presence, bass, mis, treble and preamp gain for both cahnnels. Oh and its dual reverb, ie seperate levels per channel (great!). My only gripe is that there is only one eq path for both channels, not a seperate one for each but hey all you need is a Boss GE-7

I use a Maverick F-3>Marshall ED-1 Compressor>Boss GE-7>Alesis dual comp with noise gate>guitar input of amp>300W 4x12 1960A cab.

I agree that some people have sed that they cant get the distorstion levels of a JCM800 or a messa dual rect, but run it through a compressor and increase that gaing on the compressor (i know i use two but theyre for different sounds!) and you can get an amazing nu metal or metallica sound that is to die for! I love this amp, even though there arent 2 eq channels ive found settings that sound great for both the channels on the amp which are then boosted by the eq on the GE-7. You can get a sweet warm clean on this that almost made me like it better than the distort (but then i found a compressor!) play around with the effects loop and eq and compression pedals, its worth it. I can get the great sounds of Mike Einziger in Pardon Me and Calgone by Incubus. I think i still have the original 5881s in but they do need to be changed (i need a new job to pay for them!). The amp isnt totally silent, but the noise doesnt come over the cab, it just sounds like it comes from the head, ie it doesnt matter. This gets a 9 as you do need a couple of pedals to really bring out the sound.

V reliable ive only ever blown one fuse when i left it to my idiiot bassist to unplug it all after a gig. NEVER unplug the cab while the head is on. Honestly, some people!

Marshall website FAQ is great, and i emailed them about some things and got replies the next day, no qualms.

This is overall a very versatile amp if you have the right pedals (compressors are essential imho), i need to buy some more effects like chorus and phase but theyre not essential. I think the sound is the most important pursuit for me and this amp rocks. Along with its reliability its all id ever want. Feel free to email me with questions.

After reading a lot of these reviews, I have to retaliate a little bit.

Why do you need more than presence, bass, mid, treble, and reverb to make the sound sound good? So there's no separate channels for the distortion and clean...so what? You already know that before you bought the amp. And all that dirty-to-clean-to-dirty etc. crap is old news for stupid Metallica fans who want to try and make "emotional" songs.

What are you talking about this isn't an amp for death metal? The only difference between this and Mesa/Boogies and VHTs is that there's simply more gain on those other amps. If you want a death metal like sound, simply turn the distortion all the way up on the amp and crank the level (not gain) on a distortion pedal, and also use a BBE Sonic maximizer. What the hell are you talking about use a distortion pedal on the clean channel? That sounds like shit. If you want an AC/DC sound, just use the amp alone with a Gibson SG. If you want supposedly the "nu-metal" sound, just use a Boss Turbo Distortion. You can't get a death or old school thrash sound from simply the amp's distortion...you need a distortion pedal, period. Listen to Sepultura's stupid "Roots". All they use is a Mesa/Boogie's amp distortion and it doesn't have the chugga chugga that death metal bands have. Amps are used as a base for the sound, then it's customized with effects and certain guitar pickups.

I'm, however, going to give this a 2 again for reliability

No idea on year of manufacture, although it was bought in 1995.
The amp is basically a 2 channel deal, with a footswitch for channel and reverb. I usually have a booster pedal into the amp too, effectively giving me 4 stages of gain (Clean, semi clean, dirty rhythm, screaming lead)
The effects loop doesn't interfere with the original tone at all, although there is a dial on the rear panel to adjust the mix. The 2 direct recording outputs (compensated & without) are ok for the clean sound but are pointless for dirty tones. The tones sound like the rattiest solidstate ever! ha ha I prefer mics for recording anyways.
I'm more than satisifed with the features on offer, any more would create that "agony of choice" scenario. I have effects for the loop if I need any tonal variation.
The amp is rated at 100 watts, and these are LOUD WATTS! Past 11 o'clock and I have drummers screaming at me to turn it down!! ha ha

I use a variety of guitars through it and it never masks the original sound of each guitar.
I mainly use an Esp Explorer and a Dean V for live work, both humbucker guitars.
My music could generally be called a cross between Rock/glam/metal/punk and I get the sound I had in my head for years out of it. A powerful, tight, glassy sound with a little of that tube sag.
It's not whisper quiet but at least I know its working behind me ha ha Total silence and I'd worry.
On it's own the amp can do clean, semi dirty and dirty at home volumes. Crank it past 12 o'clock and it's a fire breathing monster!!! It is a 100W amp after all, to roar it needs volume!
The distortion is brutal enough for me with a tiny amount of boost from a EQ pedal.
Reverb is just enough, any more and the sound would get too distant.
As the volume increases the treble does need to be tamed a little but it's better than maxing it and wishing you had more like other amps I've seen.
I prefer to use the 120W cabs than the 300W. Too much of the amps muscle is spent pushing the larger speakers, sacrificing bottom end otherwise.

Never needed a backup! The only repair job I everdid was in the studio to a slightly loose input on the cab...
Solid as....!!
Even when the tubes are on the way out, they take a while to die.

This is one area where I felt another addition to this great amp was necessary! The one occaision where I had problems with the amp, I called Marshall in Milton Keynes, England. The guy I spoke to was unbelieveable!!! He really knew his stuff, from the brief description I gave him he talked me through the short repair job on the phone. Nothing more than a dry joint on the board.
Even the music they played while they patched me over was pretty cool! What little I heard of it cause there was someone to help me straight away!!
Awesome!!!

I've been playing for 10 years now, and owned this amp for 7 years. With the exception of my first practice amp (kept for sentimental reasons) this is the only amp I own.
If it were stolen or lost...bounty hunters would be despatched!!! ha ha We've been thru so much it'd be impossible to replace.
I absolutely love it and hate playing thru anything else. Slash won't play without his Jubilees, I couldn't play happily without my 900.

Mine is a 1999 I think. Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence. Volume, Gain, and Reverb controls for each channel. Seperate EQ's would be nice, but I easily found the sound I was looking for, and it sounded really good for each channel. It's got a footswitch out, Effects loop, Effects loop level, and all that other good stuff. I use it at home, at gigs, and at practices. It has more than enough power for my needs. Oh Yeah, 4x 5881's (6L6) and 3x ECC83 (12Ax7).

My guitar is a Fender Jaguar, which really grinds through this amp. I play hard rock like Rage Against the Machine and the Smashing Pumpkins, to Metal like Alice in Chains, to Funk like Red Hot Chili Peppers. It sounds awesome for the hard rock and funk, but if you want a Metallica style tone, get an eq to filter out more mids, and get a gain boost. These are pedals that any guitarist should have anyways. I got a decent Rage sound with about 5 minutes of screwing around with the knobs. You gotta put the Presence around 5, the Bass and Treble to about 7 or 8, and the mids at about 4. Then crank the gain on channel A and stand back. Sleep Now In The Fire all the way. Oh yeah, I had a gain boost on too. You can get easy Red Hot Chili Peppers with this amp and a strat. Especially from stuff like One Hot Minute since Navarro used this exact setup. The amp has so much it can do, and I probably haven't even heard half of it yet. It's also really quiet. My Jaguar is darn near noiseless until you start cranking the hell out of it. You can get the clean to stay clean until about 8, but to do this, you'll have to keep the gain down (duhhh). The distortion can get pretty thick and chunky, but you'll find no Korn or Slipknot here. I wouln't go heavier than Alice in Chains, and even that's pushing it.

Haven't had it for too long yet, but I know people that have had Marshalls for like 30 years, and have never had a problem with 'em. Marshall is like the BOSS of amplifiers.

Haven't ever talked too them. It came with a pretty shitty manual though. Oh well, whatever.

I really love this amp. People complain about the 900's not being up to par with the 800's, but my 900 would rip apart any 800 any day. Maybe mine's just special. I tried a DSL 50 which was pretty cool, another band's guitarist's Dual Recto which I thought was rubbish, and a Peavey Triple XXX. It ended up being between the XXX or the 900, but the 900 just worked for me. Happy shoppin'. :D

I've had my JCM 900 for about 2 years now. Bought it new. It's very versatile. I play Metal(80's,90's metal) and IT ROCKS!!! I love all the features it has, and it has MORE THAN ENOUGH POWER. In a nutshell, I wouldn't change a thing!!!!

It sounds positively killer--seething warm tubey distortion. I play Metal and only metal(80's type metal-Judas Priest, Dio, Dokken, Racer X, Accept, etc.) This amp suits this type of sound to a tee. My sound is somewhere close to Zakk Wylde's sound. I cant understand why these weenie nu metal peckers who posted down below don't like the sound. A Marshall is made for METAL, not this nu metal CRAP that my GRANDMA could play!!!!! Anybody that plays nu metal with MESA has NO TALENT, and I can BACK IT UP with my playing.

haven't had a problem with it yet. Built like a tank!!!

if I ever have questions, I contact Korg by email. Their tech guys are great at answering questions by email.

I've been playing lead metal guitar for 19 years, longer than any of those nu metal weenies have been alive!!!! I have 2 Kramer Baretta's, a Crate 150 watt combo, and a Boss GT-6. I LOVE my Marshall, I'll never play ANYTHING else. When I went to buy a Head and cab, I knew it was going to be a Marshall pure and simple.

Bought mine new in 1991 for about 500 pounds (UK).
Being a marshall, this baby was made to rock and I have giiged with it in rock, blues and metal bands ovet the years. But the beauty is that because the clean tones are such a good foundation, this amp could handle any conceivable situation if you add a few choice effects.
The standard high gain marshall valve head. Tried and tested formula: 3 x ECC83 preamp valves and 4 EL34 Power tubes, driving two channels, each with master volume and reverb. All cased in a bomb proof birch ply case. Useful extras include 'failsafe' circuitry (if one valve calls it a day, you can finish the gig on half power), effects loop, and a 'half power' triode mode to get those el34's singing at lower volumes. Has all the features it needs, really. Midi control? I went rack for that.

Enough power? This thing is bloody deafening at full tilt. Rememeber, 100w of solid state does not equal 100w of valve power. My hearing may never be the same...

I graduated to this amp from a 100w transistor laney head, which sounded sweet but didn't quite have the bollocks for really loud live work. No such problem here. I've grown to depend on it over the years.

What really impressed me with this amp, compared to my previous solid state gear, is the dynamic range on offer. The notes really 'breathe' and simply sound more musical and alive. Tranny stuff just sounds flat by comparison. The bass goes so, so low yet reamins focused, the middle is warm and focused, and the top end really sparkles if you want it to.

The clean sound chimes like a bell, and can do that out-of-phase strat sound to a tee; just add some chorus and digital reverb - instant knopfler. No fender, for sure, but read on.

The first channel when cranked delivers perfect AC/DC grunt. Wind the gain up and you get those just-on-the-boil blues sounds with consumate ease. This, to many, is what marshalls do best, especially when you crank the power section into overdrive, something you just can't do on a hybrid design. Vintage Van Halen tones can be achieved.

The lead channel gives a very good rock overdrive rhythm sound. Perfect but look elsewhere for scooped metal sounds - the passive eq hasnt really got enough clout. Fully wound up, the lead channel is brutal, classic marshall high gain. Not that refined, but very good in the right context (just think of slash's finest work). Again, this is what a lot of people buy marshall for, and what made them famous. For more refined, smoother overdrive, you'll need a good pedal, eg boss.

This is a very quite amp, as far as power stage noise goes. But hiss is audible when the preamp tubes are in overdrive mode. I think this is inherant to the design of all high gain valve amps, and realy isn't a problem. (just change to the clean channel between songs played live)

Tough as a brick shithouse. I've seen one (not mine) dropped 6 feet with no problem. No valve lasts forever, though. Change the power tubes yearly if gigging regularly, and you'll have no problems.

Excellent. Marshall are friendly, and their staff knowlegable and enthusiastic. Mines due for a service, as the volume pots crackle on adjustment. Marshall over a full service programme in the factory where they make them. And they can supply any conceivable spare parts. (even a new lid for my el34 rack power amp!)

All in all, i've been extremely happy with the jcm900. It really does perform well on stage, as evidenced by how many you see the pro's using. It excells in classic rock and blues tones, and has surprisingly good clean sounds. It doesn't sound like a boogey or a fender, but it does sound like a marshall should!

If it were stolen, i'd probably update to a TSL, the contemporary model.

One last thing. I've recently 'gone rack' - JMP1 plus el34 50/50 power amp, and although this rig is stereo, and infinitely more flexible, something's missing. I don't know if its a dynamic range thing, perhaps due to the hybrid valve/solid state JMP1, but my old JCM 900 simply sounds more alive. Deeper, smoother, sweeter. Much more musical. So, for now, my JCM900 stays...

This amp has plenty of features for what I bought it for. It is an 86. I was looking for pure marshall sound straight out. I bought it used off of ebay not even knowing what it was gonna sound like. Any more features and I wouldnt need them. I like it fairly simple. I would like to see an a 5=band eq (ala boogie) but the 3 tone knobs do a pretty good job. I dont bother to use the reverb on this. I use this amp in a large home and can barely warm up the tubes. IT IS LOUD. It has way more power than I will ever need. I beleive the gentleman that I had bought this off of had retubed and balance the amp before selling it.

I am a fairly novice guitar player (4 years on and off) but I have heard all the major amps UP CLOSE as I was a professional rock and blues cover drummer on and off for 16 years. I know crap sound and I know when an amp kicks me in the jewels. I had bought a Peavey tripleXXX and when I got this I immediately returned it because this kicked it out of the ball park. I own 30 guitars of all different types Fender USA strats, Warmoth strats and Fat strats, Gibson Les Paul (2001), Kramer USA Barrettas, Jackson soloist customs, Kramer Pacer (83), Wayne Charvel rock Legends. I play single coil, aggressive hums, mellow hums, aggressive singles, Heavy wood guitars, light ashe body guitars. I keep a stockpile of pickups just to fit my moods and urges for different sound. I have battled half stacks for years and high powered combos and all sorts of amps. THis amp would kick my ass in a fight if I was drumming against it. It is pure Marshall. The best sounds it makes are 80s technical metal and huge classic Gibson/Marshall sound. There is nothing that sounds as cool as my LP standard through this head. It is mesmerizing. It has a tendency to be noisy on single coil bridge settings which can be annoying but I traced it to the electical lines in the places I play in. Make sure to filter your power source! It is Loud enough for anything. Anything louder needs to be miked. It doesnt really start to speak till you open up the volume and gain. It works best for me with the 3 tone knobs turned up about 85 percent but with the lowend at about 60 percent. THis amp loves Seymour Duncan Pickups. It is a very detailed sounding amp so Dont use cheapo pickups. It will be apparent that you have them. THe Clean channel is suprisingly nice at mid and low volumes. I cant get any natural gain through them so I run a Fulltone Fulldrive2 and that fixes that. It is by no means a classic strat single coil amp. Go look for a fender 65'reissue or a high priced Dr z for you purists. It can be set to sound good for everytype of music so if I had to have only one setup for every type of blues, Rock, metal, goth, etc. I would stick with this. It sounded just as good as a soldano so whats the point of spending over twice the money? I used to love only boogies but this particular marshall swayed me to the Marshall side. Nuff said.
It comes close enough to be doing it all. The only other amp I have tried that I like as much was an early 90s boogie .50 Cal head. I tried this against some JCM800 heads from he early to mid 80s and it cleaned their clocks. I think the right JCM800 might get the nod but nothing I got my hands on.

It is quite dependable. Remember its a tube amp though. Depending on the weather and humidity level the sounds can change. I would NEVER go on a gig without a backup no matter what type of amp I had. It has never given me a problem.

I am still a novice as mentioned earlier. I also own a Johnson JM60 combo which is really nice but it wont get the hair on the back of your neck rising like this will when you get IN THE ZONE. For pure rock sound and especially if you play quality humbucker pickups ( Bill Lawrence, Seymour Duncans,Gibson 498s and 500s,PRS Dragons and #7s etc, you will love this amp. It doesnt oversaturate and it is Loud. It has a great classic Hard Rock tone that cant be matched. If you need more buy some pedals. I wouldnt trade it for any head. The price was a bargain for the sound. You cant outgrow this type of sound.

There may not be a lot of features, but they get the job done. You have to tweak a lot. Could use separate volume/tone controls for the two channels (to compliment the separate reverb).

Let's get one thing straight: this is not a new metal amp (mesa, Crate). You can play Zeppelin, Maiden, ACDC, etc, but nothing muddy or tense. Also, if you are playing anything without humbuckers, keep away from this amp. Even a fat strat. Treble hell. Not so much at low volumes, but as it gets louder... But with a gibson les paul, it is a whole different story. Now, at first, it still sounded kinda high pitchy. But then, I tweaked, and played it outside (basement with smooth floors/walls- bad idea), and it was nice. Also, this thing is brutally honest. If I screw up, it is played loud and clear. You have to get used to it. The reverb is no fender. It is barely even noticeable on the gain channel. This thing needs time to warm up, too. ie, more than a minute or two. Oh, and this thing is loud. I can't bear it past 5 indoors.

The first time I tried it, the volume would cut out every now and then on the clean channel. But I've had it for a month or two now, and it hasn't happened since. Only happened once or twice. I don't have a backup (If this thing breaks at a show, I would be too pissed to play).

I have been playing for 2 years. At first, I was very disappointed. I was going to sell it and buy a Fender Hot Rod Deville. But I decided to mess around, buy a Gibson (I was going to anyway, this just sped up the process), and it sounds great now. Really raw, hard rock-ish. And don't clodder this thing with too many pedals. It may not be a soldano, but it is a high end amp, don't degrade it with a Zoom Multi effect deal or a DOD Death Metal. If this was lost or stolen, I'd get the Fender Deville only because it is cheaper and has a better clean channel (though this one has a surprisingly nice clean channel).

100 watts, two channels, all tube (4 power tubes el34, 3 12ax7)

Great sound and versatility. Good for blues, rock, heavy metal and instrumental heavy guitar style.

great so far after 6 and a half years. Just replaced tubes twice.

never needed it.

Great overall amp for sound and versatility. Great price even used. I would definitely buy another if it were stolen. Better for the price than Carvin, Crate, Randall, Fender, Soldano, Bogner, Bruno and Mesa/Boogie. Mesa although has the rectifiers which help in sound compression.

I dont know the exact year it was made but I FIGURE IT DO BE ABOUT 3 1/2 YEARS old which I have owned it for 2 1/2 YEARS and I keep it covered when not being used. For me I like the sound it puts out 2 Channels w/reverb and Yes it can get loud ask my neighbors across the street. I wish it had another channel w/ its own volume, I bought the TSL 100 WATT and I sold it 2 days later for what I paid for it, that head to me sucked It didnt sound right at all. I'll keep this one as my practice amp.

I have 3 guitars at the moment im always selling one and buying another. My #1 guitar is an 88 showcase edition les paul blk/slv which it had emgs in it but I changed the pickups, and a Fender Strat USA of course with fender lace pickups its also is blk/slv. and a Custom lespaul wine red flame top. The distortion is perfect for me I dont need a pedal. The clean channel sounds decent. IM A classic rocker my fav. or UFO, RAINBOW, RUSH, you get the point.

Never had a problem with MINE, and i used MINE several times with out a backup but I feel I MIGHT have been pushing it. Thats why IM in the market for another head and im going to use this one as my practice amp.

never dealt with them Im lucky for a change

been playing for 22 years, if it were stolen I might buy another one as a practice amp. AS compared to the TSL 100 MINE sounds 100% better,
for 500.00 you cant beat the SoUnD


I did this review pretty quick, killing time

This is a 91-92 all tube amp with 4 el34 and 3 12ax7. It has two channels with master, preamp and reverb. It has an effects loop and two speaker outputs. It also has a half power switch to go from 100 watts to 50 watts.

The sound is great. First thing to do is to replace the ecc83 tubes if that is what is has - no one has mentioned these. These are low gain 12ax7 tubes (aka 12ax7a). Replace with standard 12ax7 (groove tubes or electro harmonix) It has a great tube/warm sound. Lots of smooth and usable overdrive/gain and lots of power. Good for all types of music from Blues to Rock to Metal to Fusion. The clean channel was not totally clean but clean enough for soulful blues or southern style country. The reverb had great ambience at all levels. I use Ibanez, Peavey, Fender and Kramer guitars and all have great responses on the Marshall head, driven through a Peavey 5150 cabinet and a JCM900 1960 cabinet.

Been good for ten years

Haven't needed it.

I have been playing for 18 years and Marshalls are the standard for teh 70's through the mid 90's. Classic sound with versatility and response. I would definitely buy another if it were stolen. Marshalls also retain at least 60-80% of there value even after 19 years. Excellent.

Made in 1998 i think....
It has 2 channels, clean and lead. Reverb treble, bass, middle, presence. Nothing else.

Ridicolous, it has no warm clean or something particular, it doesn't seems e valvolar amplifier... i want to sell this head because it sucks. The lead channel is empty. I play hardcore and it doesn't satisfy me but it doesn't satisfied all the peoply who has tried it.
Marshall has made e bad amplifier and for this reason I won't buy another marshall amplifier for no reason.
I'm going to search a used Mesa Boogie head... so better than this one.

Never broken.

I don't know... :-)

4. If you are searching for a good and warm and defined clean buy a fender or an orange head. If you want to play jazz buy a vox. If you want to play hardcore, metal, punk rock or similars buy a Mesa Boogie head. If you want to lose your money buy a jcm 900 marshall, the worst head i ever had. ps sorry for the english...