Back to the Square 1 with my JCM2000 DSL 100

[jhowe24]

Hey everyone, new poster here. I am also feeling like a total noob in need of some direction and advice.

I have a 2003 JCM2000 DSL100 and I recently have been thinking about parting with it. I run the head into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe cab with 1 12" Celestion G12P-80 speaker in it. I have been thinking about making the switch to a blackface style fender amp or something clean but I recently came across Leon Todd's 5 Killer Tones video where he recreates a Twin Reverb style sound on the JCM2000 and now I'm questioning everything. It sounds great, loud but great. too loud for my small place but I'll get to that

So let me go back to the start like i just bought the amp again. I love my pedals, i run a MXR Dookie Drive and Pro Co Rat. Wah peadal, delay, tremelo, chorus, hall reverb also on my pedal board. I love playing cover songs from Green Day, The Dirty Nil, Jack white/White Stripes, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, just to name a few. Punk, Alternative, Garage Rock, Classic Rock. Is this the right amp for me?

As for how loud my amp is, Leon's tone for the Fender Twin style tone uses the full clean channel and has the volume at 10, and gain about 6, which is pretty loud. For when I'm just playing around at home, is it better to use the Volume Knob to make my amp quieter or use the Gain knob? what affects tone more? espicially since I use drive and distortion pedals?

Thanks everyone. I don't think I really want to part with this amp, I think I need to just learn to use it better and get the most out of it for me and my taste

 

[fitz]

volume at 10, and gain about 6, which is pretty loud.

to the forum.
Um, yeah, a 100 amp with the volume on 10 is pretty loud.
DSL's are master volume amps, you can just turn the volume down.
There is a tone you only get from a loud amp pushing the power tubes and speakers, but with a pedal or two, you can get good tone without making your ears bleed.
Add a little gain if you use a little less volume.
Use all the knobs, they're there for a reason.
Try an EQ in the loop to compensate for what you're losing at lower volume.

 

[jhowe24]

to the forum.
Um, yeah, a 100 amp with the volume on 10 is pretty loud.
DSL's are master volume amps, you can just turn the volume down.
There is a tone you only get from a loud amp pushing the power tubes and speakers, but with a pedal or two, you can get good tone without making your ears bleed.
Add a little gain if you use a little less volume.
Use all the knobs, they're there for a reason.
Try an EQ in the loop to compensate for what you're losing at lower volume.

Thank you! I'm still getting used to Tube amp life, and using a Master Volume. With the master down at a lower volume, will an increase in Gain create more break up?

 

[fitz]

Thank you! I'm still getting used to Tube amp life, and using a Master Volume. With the master down at a lower volume, will an increase in Gain create more break up?

Yes, more gain will add break up, but so can other things like your dookie & rat in the front end, even as just a boost.
Time-based effects like chorus & reverb in the loop can also add some of that loud amp ambience to an amp at lower volume.
Speakers with lower efficiency can also help to drive your amp to a "louder" tone without transferring as much (to a small extent) to the output volume.
Everyone has a different idea of the tone they want and hear from the gear they got.
Try adding or changing settings a little at a time to see what you like more or less of.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

@jhowe24 Welcome to the forum.

 

[Kutt]

My two cents-

The key to what you're asking is that the volume is pegged at 10, but you also need to control how loud the amp is. The tone you're after could be the fact that the volume is so high, driving the output stage. I'd recommend putting a simple volume pedal or similar device (JHS Little Black Box works great, I have one) in the effects loop to experiment. You can crank the output section of the amp but attenuate the preamp section and bring down your overall volume by doing so. Might get you where you're trying to go but it's a balancing act because that output stage needs to be driven hard.

You have a good amp. I would hang on to it and continue exploring all the other sounds it has to offer. There are many.

 

[Maxbrothman]

It's a high-gain amp and you are describing hard rock which would mean using the classic gain channel's crunch.

So dial in a crunch. You won't need much gain. Your guitar vol and tone on 7. Now bring the tone to 10 and the volume to 1 or 2 on your guitar. That's your clean. Back to 7 and 7 for your crunch. Everything up for OD.

No pedals.

When you have that, then you can think about what pedals you want, but you shouldn't need any for your core tone.

 

[Bat Pup]

Hey everyone, new poster here. I am also feeling like a total noob in need of some direction and advice.

I have a 2003 JCM2000 DSL100 and I recently have been thinking about parting with it. I run the head into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe cab with 1 12" Celestion G12P-80 speaker in it. I have been thinking about making the switch to a blackface style fender amp or something clean but I recently came across Leon Todd's 5 Killer Tones video where he recreates a Twin Reverb style sound on the JCM2000 and now I'm questioning everything. It sounds great, loud but great. too loud for my small place but I'll get to that

So let me go back to the start like i just bought the amp again. I love my pedals, i run a MXR Dookie Drive and Pro Co Rat. Wah peadal, delay, tremelo, chorus, hall reverb also on my pedal board. I love playing cover songs from Green Day, The Dirty Nil, Jack white/White Stripes, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, just to name a few. Punk, Alternative, Garage Rock, Classic Rock. Is this the right amp for me?

As for how loud my amp is, Leon's tone for the Fender Twin style tone uses the full clean channel and has the volume at 10, and gain about 6, which is pretty loud. For when I'm just playing around at home, is it better to use the Volume Knob to make my amp quieter or use the Gain knob? what affects tone more? espicially since I use drive and distortion pedals?

Thanks everyone. I don't think I really want to part with this amp, I think I need to just learn to use it better and get the most out of it for me and my taste

I have a JCM 2000 DSL100 also. It's one wicked sounding amp! I play on the clean channel with the gain on 10 and my volume on 2 and all dials on 10. (Bass, Mid and Treble) If you don't want it that loud you can turn the Bass, Mid and Treble all the way down. I don't use the present knob because it sounds too bright to me. Anyways, Experiment and have fun!