Voodoo Amps Marshall JCM 800 2204 Mod

This is a JCM 800 2204 50 watt head w/ the horizintal inputs. I believe it was made in 1984 or 85. The guys at Voodoo amps hooked it up w/ the Hex mod. I also had them put in the OEI Plexi transformer, bottom, global mod, master volume (in rear of amp)and they put in an effects loop. All the tubes were replaced and it had a filter cap job. For the Hex mod an extra preamp tube was added and it also needed one for the FX loop. Its a one channel amp so its not very versaitile, however, for me versatility is a amp that sounds balls out at a low volume. When I say low volume I mean LOW VOLUME. Ya I like to play loud just as much as the next guy, but their are things to consider ie neighbors, girlfriends, small animals. I can plug into this amp going into a Marshal 1960AV half stack and get the most blistering tone and I can get that tone at a "bedroom level". Thats versatile to me. No excuses for not being able to plug in and play at any time of night.

I have two les Pauls, one Nuno Washburn, One Ernie Ball Axis and a Fender strat w/ a Li'l Scream'n Deamon in the bridge. All my guitars sound great through the amp, but I'm currently using the Fender right know. If you like old school rock like George Lynch, Warren DiMartini, Van Halen, Johny Stykes, Randy Rhodes there all here.

I have only had this amp for a little over a month. I don't have to much experince with it but it should be noted that this amp is very responsive to any slight tweeking that you make. It took me some time to dial in the tone I wanted but, when I found it I was floored! Great note definition, pinch harmonics are effortless and single notes sound thick.

Not very good for clean stuff, but thats not what I got this amp for. Like others have said here in this post, just roll back on your volume and adjust your attack and it will sound pretty good. The distortion is fantastic. No noise, no hiss just big fat tone.

I've only owned this amp for about a month but, before I sent it to Trace I inspected it to the best of my limited abilities (in other words I don't know shit about electronics and gave it a visual). Hey its about 20 yrs. old and it still works.

I bought this amp off of e-bay specifically to have Trace perform his magic. He has been a great guy to work w/ and responded to all my phone calls and e-mails. When performing the mods I requested someone made a mistake and put in a FX loop. I did not request one when I ordered the amp. So guess what? Trace said he can take out the FX loop or leave it in free of charge and he appologized for the mistake. Shit! I ended up w/ a free FX loop. Didn't really want one but, know that i have it I love it.

I have a Marshall DSL 201 ans a Vox Valvetronix (great amp). The Voodoo gives me exactly what I was looking for... Big stage like tone at a low volume. That was important to me. Alot of amps sound pretty good cranked but, how many sound great cranked and at a low level?

I'm always investigating other gear and I'll evetually purchase another amp or whatever but, the Marshall JCM 800 Hex mod will remain in my arsenal. It will probably be my main playing amp for some time to come.

You know... 1 channel... 50 watts... balls to the wall sound... Mine's got the mid girth, the bottom, and the global... extra tube, OEI plexi transformer... MONDO GAIN!

I run my PRS Custom thru it, and it wails. I do old Motley Crue covers.. the songs off of TOO FAST FOR LOVE... Alice in Chains... Audioslave... Metallica... Mudvayne... Switchfoot.. and original hard ass rock. This amp covers them all. AWESOME DISTORTION! Sounds pretty good at low volume too. Distortion goes from Brutal to Savage... roll back guitar volume pot and it cleans up good... sounds nice. It's kinda like a mix between a Hot Rod Marshall and a Mesa Dual Rectifier. Some hiss at high gain levels... of course.

Mine's been solid as a rock.

Cool Joes there at VOODOO... and my compliments to the chef... this amp went from lean to MEAN baby!

Been playin' ma geetah fer dern near 18 years... played Soldano, Mesa, Rivera, Peavey, Fender, and countless old Marshalls... This VOODOO is the shizzitt... fa shizzle ma nizzle (whatever that means) Haaaaaaaaa!

This amp was made in 1982. It has Presence, Bass ,Mid ,Treble , Master volume ,and preamp volume(Gain)knobs! It is a single channel amp! I had my amp worked on twice by Trace. First to fix it and then had the Hex circuit installed. The amp needed an overhaul. It is old! I had the following mods done! Hex circuit installed 4-5 gain stages, FX loop installed, mini toggle switch installed for Brutal/Savage in lower input jack. The brightness was tamed a bit. New tubes sockets, preamp tubes, filter caps, and a mid boost push pull knob installed on the mid pot.

I use a Epi G-400, an SX LP ,an SX SG ,and a Fender Squier! A Gibson Angus Young and 490T pickup, a Seymour Duncan Lil '59, and stock neck pickups. The amp is very quite except when the FX loop is in use. It kind of has this hiss/hum to it. A noise gate might help this! The amp now has plenty of gain. The JCM800 2204 was made for TONE! The mods just bring it out even more! I loved this amp in it's stock form but it lacked gain, an FX loop ,and was too bright. It is now fuller sounding and sounds like what a JCM800 should sound like. I play music from AC/DC ,Judas Priest, Krokus, ACCEPT, UFO ,blues and other 80's metal bands. The amp will do about everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top! This amp wasn't made for it's clean tone but can get it by rolling the guitars volume down or lowering it with an EQ pedal. I would use another amp for clean. The amp is pretty versatile. No way does it sound bad. It sounds great at low volume levels as well as high volume (but I haven't turned it up past one yet). That amp is one loud girl! You don't really need to. I think because of the way the amp responds you have to turn the amp at least up to one to get the full tone of it. The amp becomes fuller ,thicker sounding ,and opens up when you do this. The FX loop sounds great! Very full and versatile. It has a wet/dry knob , mix knob ,and pedal/rack toggle switch for db's level. The FX loop does make this hiss/hum when it is in use but it isn't a real concern. I think maybe a noise gate may help with it. Again the amp voume makes a difference with it too. You have to turn it up some. Now that it has five gain stages it has plenty of gain. You don't need a distortion pedal with it now. Great harmonics, lead tone is piercing ,and it just sounds right. Palm mutes are tight!

Now that the amp has been overhauled it should last for some time. I didn't have the OEI transformer put in this time. I may need to do that in the future. It would with the tone too. I originally sent my amp to Trace to get it back into working order. After reading some reviews from people about Voodoo Amps I was hooked! Trace is a great person to do business with. Very helpful, honest ,and does top notch work. I wish I had heard about this sooner. I wouldn't have had to put extra money into it that ended up being a waste. Next time I will just send it to Trace!

As I said above Trace is the man! Very helpful and will answer any questions you have. He knows what tones we are looking for and will go out of his way to acheive it! I won't think twice about sending him another amp!

I bought the amp used for $400 and the mods cost about $329! It was definitely worth it! Why spend thousands for an amp that doesn't have the tones you want. Just buy a used amp and send it to Trace! Well worth it! I am very thankful to have a JCM800 2204. It has become one of the most popular amp models. A lot of guitarist through the 80's had there amps modded. I can understand why now. The amp sounds the way it should and I don't think I will ever sell it! Marshall/Voodoo Amps = TONE!

This was a 2204 (50 watts) from 1986. You know... the horizontal input model with the PCB. Because of it's lack of real historical value, I didn't feel so bad about modding it. It's more a Voodoo Hex amp than a Marshall now. I had the Voodoo Hex circuit put it as well as an obsolete electronics OT. The front panel is standard (pres, bass, mid, treble, gain, master), except for the pull thick/boost function on the midrange pot and a Brutal/Savage mode toggle for another gain stage where the low input jack used to be. Two more tubes needed to be added: one for the Hex circuit and one for the effects loop. I use JJ Audio ECC83S's and E34L's.

Speaking of the effects loop, it is Trace's new design, which has enough tweaks to work with any effect you can imagine. Check with him for details, but it has a toggle for 0db or -20db, level controls and a wet/dry mix control. Very, very versatile and tube-bufferred.

Since the amp is originally a 2204, it's not terrible versatile to being with, but Trace's mods have made it so I can simply roll down my guitar volume to get a decent clean sound. Still it's a one channel amp, so this is a tough rating. It's certainly not as versatile as my modded TSL100, but much more than it originally was. I won't rate this since it's really not Trace's fault this awesome head only has one channel... :)

I play Les Pauls, mainly Customs, with Duncan Customs and '59's. The strings are Ernie Ball Skinny Top/Heavy Bottoms and I play in either standard tuning or drop-d, but nothing lower. My cabs are either a Marshall 1960AV or a Genz Benz G-Flex with V30's. We play Metal, but try to be more contemporary-sounding still with a melodic edge from our influences. This amp rocks for my sound and what my band is trying to achieve and allows us all to live in our own frequency space.

The natural brightness of a JCM800 has been tamed a hair, but it's far from muddy. The mids are full and thick and just get thicker without losing any articulation when you pull the knob out. The bass, IMHO, is perfect for guitar. It's just the perfect cutoff frequency and amount for guitar to give it punch and kick, but not make it muddy, boomy or intrude on the base. It just makes the guitar more full rather than boomy. I commented about this to Trace the very day I got the amp and he said it was intentional and that sound was something they were very much shooting for.

Very, very tight amp and very articulate even with the gain maxed and all stages being used. It's by far the most quiet amp I've had, also. This thing is not compressed at all. It is very dimensional, punchy and just chunks and crunches a long. I mean... I've heard people say such and such amp has balls, but this amp has BALLS. I mean, balls, balls and balls for days. This amp has elephantitis it has so much balls.

Below one, forget about it. This is not a keep-quiet practice amp (I'd like to have one of Trace's new Witchdoctor practice combos, though). Once you even just get above one, it gets fuller and thicker with the most amazing punch, crunch and (most importantly) clarity. It's the only amp I've ever played where I get the same high-quality tones from standard and dropped tunings without having to tweak anything. It just gets sweeter and sweeter from there. The sound clips I posted in the amp forum do absolutely nothing to justify the sheer girth and dimension of this amp. Standing in front of it, just just pushes so much air, even at a low volume. It's punches and has thickness, clarity, crunch and chunk. I can't think of anything more to describe what it does without totally gushing over the amp.

I can even get a useable clean sound without losing volume just by rolling down the volume knob. It doesn't become muddy and compressed like many amps do. It's clean and crisp and get get almost twangy, even, when using the bridge pickup.

The amp itself is extremely reliable. It has made it 17 years on Earth without anything more than standard maintenance. I put new tubes in it just before shipping it to Trace and he biased it and gave it a cap job, which was its first ever (I bought the amp from the original owner). I'm confident it wouldn't let me down at a gig, but I'd bring extra tubes just in case.

Like I said about them when I reviewed my TSL100, I wish I could give Trace and his gang much more than 10. Anyone who has ever spoken to them or asked questions will tell you that. He has gone above and beyond to give me my sound and has earned my business forever as well as my word-of-mouth to other people. I've never had the pleasure of dealing with anyone as helpful and kind. I doubt anyone ever has, regardless the service or industry.

I've been playing about 16 years, on and off. My other guitars are Strat-style ESP's, a few Strats, Wolfgangs, etcetera. If it were stolen, I'd be uber-upset, but I'd just find another one and send it to him or even see if Trace had one in stock he was modifying. Then again, I'd probably just buy a Hex head! I love everything about this amp I've mentioned. Nothing can come close to standing in-front of this thing and playing it. I do wish it had a proper clean channel, but whattya' gonna' do. It's not Trace's fault. Some day I'll just get a two-channel Hex head, which has this gain channel, plus an awesome clean... :)

The only problem is she's just ugly. That's not Trace's fault, either. I bought her ugly and she's still ugly. Someday I'll pretty her up a bit, but she has character right now. Also, it keeps me from being afraid od getting her dinged up a little when I take her out... :)

I play metal mostly, ranging from the older S.O.D., Overkill, Testament stuff to the more modern sounding metal like In Flames, Soilwork, Death and original stuff of course. I even venture into less aggressive stuff like Alice in Chains and even some southern rock like The Allman Brothers. For what I do this amp is perfect and can be easily tweaked to sound great in all of these styles.

The mods to this amp include the Hex Mod, Cream, Global and Bottom. This model of the JCM amp is a single channel amp from the factory so it?s not as feature laden as many of the newer three or four channel amps, though as with any other quality single channel tube amp you and control your sound quite a bit by rolling off your guitar?s volume to clean up the sound for mellow parts. So instead of clicking over to the clean channel you simply roll off the volume. Same result, it just takes a different approach.

The low input has been replaced with a switch that selects the two modes of the amp: Brutal and Savage. Honestly the distortion available on the Brutal channel is normally enough for the stuff I play but it sure is nice to be able to switch over to Savage and know that there is more on tap.

This is a 50 watt amp and has plenty of power for the places we play.

So, the amp itself not feature laden, but I think that is a plus. Over the years I have found that the more things you have to step on or tweak while you play the more you have to think about that rather than just playing well.

I use several different guitars with this amp but I tend to favor super strat style guitars. I have two Robin Medleys with a humbucker in the bridge position and a single coil in the neck. One has the stock Rio Grandes in it (hotter PAF sounding humbucker) and the other has a Screaming Demon Duncan in the bridge. I also have a Warmoth mutt with a single Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge. All my guitars have Floyd style trems. I use a variety of different tunings ranging from standard 440 E to low B. I use two Genz-Benz 2x12 cabs.

The level of gain you can get from this amp is amazing. I can?t see any way that you could use any more than what this amp has available and still make some sort of coherent musical statement. That in it self would be nice but this amp provides more. Rather than just throwing out distortion this amp is very musical. The problem with a lot of high gain amps that I have owned in the past is that as the distortion and volume level goes up the amp either get thin and transistor sounding or gets boomy and looses the bottom end definition. This amp does neither. It cuts like a knife through the mix yet remains very tight and focused without the bottom end ever getting out of shape. Be warned however. Because this amp cuts and projects so well it will reveal flaws in your playing if you have any. There?s no hiding behind the distortion with this amp.

You can depend on this amp and Trace?s work. He stands behind what he does. Because this is a tube amp you?d be foolish to gig without spare tubes though. I?ve had the amp for 4 months now and have used it extensively. It?s been rock solid.

I purchased this amp used but had quite a bit of contact with Trace at Voodoo before I purchased the amp. Trace is one of the nicest dudes I have ever dealt with. He answered all of my questions and made helpful suggestions. He answers e-mails quickly and is only a phone call away if you have more involved questions or concerns.

I know it sounds like an advertisement for Voodoo but, just like the amp, I could not be more pleased with the customer service.

I have been playing for 20 years. I have owned a lot of high gain amps and I have even had a full rack system at one point. I decided to simplify my setup with this amp and I will NEVER go back to the rack. I have been happy with my sound at certain points in the past but I feel like I have finally found ?it? with this amp.

I don?t like to rag on other people?s gear, I say ?to each his own?. I?ll just say that I?m happier with my sound than the other guitar player in my band is with his, and he has spent three times as much on his setup. In fact he?s doing more singing and less playing since I got this amp (maybe that?s a good thing).

This is a great amp and a first rate company to deal with. I couldn?t be happier.

This amp simply provides the best guitar tone I have ever had, Period. Thanks Trace!!

This is a JCM 800 2204 amp with the following mods performed by Trace: Hex circuit with Global, Bottom and Creamy mods. I also has the OEI transformer. The mods really do work well and change the way the amp feels and responds to my attack.

I have a Fender Strat, Les Paul, Ibanez RG-550, and my beloved ESP Lynch Kamakazi. This amp does everything from blues, classic rock, metal, and nu-metal. I'm heavily into George Lynch as well as Vivian Cambell, Warren Demartini, SRV, Jimi, Nugent and alike. I also have two other amps a Lee Jackson XLA500 and a Peavey 5150 and the Voodoo Modded JCM 800 is so much better then both of those amps. This is the amp I have always dreamed of having. Before I bought this amp I thought the 5150 was the shit until I bought this amp.

Reliability it's built like a tank.

Trace is the best in the business. I have sent him e-mails in the past and I always got a response back. I can't say the same for Lee Jackson. All future amp work will only be done by Trace.

I've been playing guitar for about 15 years. As I have stated before I own two other amps a Peavey 5150 and a Lee Jackson XLA-500. The JCM 800 with the Voodoo Mod does everthing. If it were stolen I would use my insurance money and buy another in a second. I love the decals and the fact that Trace signed his name on the back of the amp. This is world class amp period.

1983 50 Watt Head. I play mostley punk rock stuff so I only need one channel. The features that Trace added to this amp are night and day difference between stock.

I use a ESP Stephen Carpenter Custom through this and a Marshall 1960A cabinet. This thing has so much low end. I can dial in pretty much any sound with this thing. The distortion is better then you could possibly get with any stock amp.

Trace backs his work. End of story.

Trace knows his stuff and isn't afraid to spend the time on the phone with you to take care of problems or general info.

I had to sell this amp because I couldn't crank it up to its potential in my house and my wife said we are running out of room. I am going to get the 2X12 4104 combo of this head and have Trace do the exact same mods on it.

Single channel amp, very easy to use. I put ten because even though its only a single channel, with the volume knob on my guitar I can go from a nice spanky clean, to a grinding crunch, to screaming lead.

Thats good enough for me.

I use a 56 relic strat with stock single coils.

This amp is perfect for my style of playing which is a cross between hendrix and SRV. I can get some really nice and creamy tones with the mods I had Trace at Voodoo amps do for me. I got the transformer swapped to a OEI replacement, and also the bottom, global, and creamy mod.

The amp can get a noisy at higher volumes, and especially since my guitar has singe coils.

This isn't your typical fender clean, its gonna have a little bite, but I never liked super super clean anyway.

The distortion can be set to ear splitting buzz or overdriven creaminess. Both of which can be usrful depending on the style of playing.

I give it a 10 because its so versatile.

Trace at Voodoo Amps by far THE best amp tech I have ever talked to, not to mention that he is a fantastic guy that really really provides the best possible service.

I've been playing for about 12 - 13 years off and on. I'm definitely a bedroom musician. But I do know what sounds good. I've owned various amps throughout my life, and right now I've settled on my xtc classic and my jcm800. I've been finding myself really using the 800 more because of the way it sounds. They way I describe it is that the modified jcm800 is like a working mans beer, and the classic is a fine wine, both taste good for different occassions.

I love this amp. Btw, I should have also mentioned that this amp is a great building block to start with, I've added a captain coconut2 and an rmc3 and I'm now in hendrix|srv heaven. Thanks again Trace for doing such a great job!

AMP YEAR: Unsure
I play straight up agressive punk rock, and a bit heavier but melodic "hardcore" The amp can give me an amazing crisp punch and tone for the punk sound, and an awesome dirty tone for the latter.
I only have one channel, and that is all I could ask for. I use every feature that the head contains, but wish it had just a bit more volume. Although I am still in the process of finding a more powerful cabinet, but I have compared the head to others and haven't found it to be as loud as all.

Suits my style beautifully...I can get the tight punk sounds, and an awesome dirty sound for the screamy-emo band. My head is a bit noisy, not feedback wise, but plugged into any cabinet, it emits a bit of humming. not exactly what i want, but i can settle due to the awesome tones. The amp can get a decent variety, but i don't use very much. I found a sound that i love, and i'm sticking to it. The distortion is amazing, exactly what i wanted.

Very dependable. I always use it without a backup, never had a problem. I've only had the head for 5-6 months, but played about 30+ shows with it, and never had a problem.

Very helpful, very friendly, seemed like a great person. Have never had repairs needed as of yet. Unsure about any warranty.

Best tone i've found, but wish it was louder. Also wish it had less buzz. Besides that, great company, great sounds, great prices...

It doesn't seem like this amp should get a ten in this category but read on and you'll find out why. Features 1 channel (Presence, bass, middle, treble, Master, Gain), Bottom Knob on the back(tightens up the bass) installed by voodoo amps, 2 EL34 power tubes, 3 standard preamp tubes and a 4th installed by voodoo amps. It's not the king of features, but I don't want to sacrifice my distortion tone so that my amp can sound like 200 other amps. With this there is no sacrifice in tone anywhere. It has killer distortion and I just use another amp for clean. Also this amp cuts through in the mix so well that a boost switch or solo channel is totally unnecessary. I give it a 10 because even though it doesn't have a lot of lights, buttons and imitation sounds, there is nothing I want it to do that it can't.

Well, I'm in a rock band that draws influences from strung out, juliana theory, propagandhi, radiohead, alkaline trio, bad religion, the get up kids, grade, stretch arm strong and other punk/alt/emo/hardcore/metal/pop bands. We put all that stuff into various parts of our original tunes. This amp and a les paul can do all of it better than anything else. Not noisy at all. The sound is heavy and bassy (don't let anyone tell you that marshalls can't be bassy) but distict, clear, intelligible, and has tons of character. It's everything you want in a distortion, the perfect blend of pre and power tube saturation so you just get heavy crunch and not that buzzyness that a lot of heads have. This head is all about tone.

Well I totally depend on this head. I gig without backups. The amp is already 15 or 20 years old and it kills every other new head I've owned or heard. Plus I know one of the guys at Voodoo Amps so I know that he puts his heart and soul into these things. He wouldn't sell you an amp that was gonna break...

Like I said, Voodoo Amps puts everything into getting you a head that suits your style and has unmatched tone. Also, we made the arrangement for me to buy the amp over email. It never took more than a day to get a reply. Not many places will get back to you that quickly. These guys are great.

I've been playing for 6-7 years. I own 2 Gibson Les Pauls both with seymour duncan pickups. Over the past two years I've been going through guitar heads and cabinets like crazy trying to find the guitar sound that's in my head. I owned a Peavey Ultra, Peavey Transfex, Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, and this Modified Marshall. The peavey's were good for the price, The Mesa's were much better, I have nothing bad to say about rectifiers, but they still weren't quite it. This head is it. Great tone, great price, great service.