FS: JCM900 MKIII 2500 50watt Head with Choke upgrade

[rokcabilly]

Hey Guys!

I hate to say it, but I've gone to the 'light side'. I scored a Fender Twin Reverb for $500 2 weeks ago, with some killer mods and blackfacing. Unfortunately for my MKIII, this thing is kinda putting it to shame through my quad of Greenies. I hate to see it go, since I've done so much to get my tone from it, but I do believe my tone is in the Twin. So, I thought I'd offer up the MKIII to fellow forum members before it hits eBay. I have it on CL locally, to see if I get a nibble, and also to try and alleviate the hassle of packing and shipping it.

With that said, here's some details and then pics. I changed out the notorious R28 resistor to 47k from 56k, to get proper bias range. Once this resisotr was changed, I was able to bias the amp to appropriate levels I could not get prior to the swap. I also recently installed a Classic Tone Choke. This little 'mod' gave the amp WAY more feel, and a little more bottom end. I also put a red nut on the speaker out I used, so I could be sure to plug the cab into the right jack in less than bright conditions at gigs.

I will also be including the Marshall 1-button footswitch that I 'modded' to take a 1/4" instrument cable, rather than the flimsy cord that comes as part of the pedal. Also included will be (2) spare pairs of power tubes. It is currently running a pair of Groove Tubes EL34M's rated at 10. The spares are a recently tested as strong pair of Winged C's and a pair of JJ E34L's with about 20-30 hours on them. I took out my old stock preamp tubes (I'm not that dumb). So the amp will ship with the following 12AX7 preamp tubes: a JJ in V1, a Tung-Sol in V2 and an EH in V3.

So that's the old girl in all her glory. Hate to see it go, but I have other things I could use the money on, AND, the old lady is giving grief for having 2 amps. I know there's gotta be someone out there looking for one of these, and I don't really see it getting much use if I try to hang on to it.

I do believe it's time for a cap job. There are some pops, hisses and crackles during tube warmup, but those disappear in about a minute or so. I just want to be up front with the person who gets the amp and thinks "WTF!" the first time they fire it up. Other than that, the amp ****ing screams! I just have a tone going on in my head, and the Twin seems to have fit the bill.

SOOOOOOOOO, asking price is $650 USD, and the person who purchases it will pay shipping as well. We can negotiate shipping carriers and cost, but I prefer to ship it via USPS or UPS with insurance. I can do FedEx as well, but YOU'RE paying for shipping, so you choose the carrier.

PM me if you're interested. I know, I know, keep the amp, screw the wife, do what I want to do. At the end of the day, happy wife, happy life, and, I really don't think I'l l be playing this amp very much if I kept it anyway.

 

[rokcabilly]

Still looking for a good home for this beast. ;-)

 

[ReiGnMaN]

The red nut mod is where the tone's coming from, forget the drakes or good preamp tube setup

Seriously would like to hear the amp, any clips?

 

[LPMarshall hack]

Man I outta sell my 2500 and buy yours! Plus I'm close to you!

 

[chuckelator]

Man...I'm tying to score a MKiii...but the timing is all wrong! This would be so perfect, if money wasnt so tight right now! Hate to let this slip though my fingers...

 

[rokcabilly]

The red nut mod is where the tone's coming from, forget the drakes or good preamp tube setup

Seriously would like to hear the amp, any clips?

I don't have a real "good" way to record it. I could try running my sm58 into garageband I guess. Let me see what I can do tonight to post clips.

 

[rokcabilly]

The red nut mod was the most tedious to pull off too.

 

[rokcabilly]

OK, so I got some recordings of the MKIII tonight. Not sure of the quality, but I made an iMovie clip and posted it to YouTube so it could be posted here.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lWJYvp5joc]JCM900 MKIII 50watt Model 2500 Demo[/ame]

It was recorded with an SM58 straight into the sound card of a MacBook Pro. I've never recorded an amp at home, so give me a little slack on the quality. It was recorded as 5 tracks in Garageband, and then I strung them together to make a long track.

The head is running through my 1960A loaded with UK Greenies. I tried to move the preamp and Gain Sensitivity knobs up for each section of the clip(see "Setting" flyby text).

I am a rhythm guitar player/singer, so my lead skills are pretty poor, but I tried to do a run or 2 so you could get an idea of the lead tones.

I played with my Epi LP loaded with a Dimarzio 36th anniversary bridge pickup, orange drop caps, volume and tone knob wide open.


*EDIT* I screwed up on the video clip text. On the 2nd to last and first to last text flyby's, it states that the preamp volume is at 5, but after the first sound bite, the preamp was on 10. The Gain Sensitivity was increased on clips 3 through 5. So, Preamp Volume is 10 from clip 2 through 5.

Thanks!

Thanks for checking this out, and I hope it helps.

 

[LPMarshall hack]

OK, so I got some recordings of the MKIII tonight. Not sure of the quality, but I made an iMovie clip and posted it to YouTube so it could be posted here.

JCM900 MKIII 50watt Model 2500 Demo

It was recorded with an SM58 straight into the sound card of a MacBook Pro. I've never recorded an amp at home, so give me a little slack on the quality. It was recorded as 5 tracks in Garageband, and then I strung them together to make a long track.

The head is running through my 1960A loaded with UK Greenies. I tried to move the preamp and Gain Sensitivity knobs up for each section of the clip(see settings fly by).

I am a rhythm guitar player/singer, so my lead skills are pretty poor, but I tried to do a run or 2 so you could get an idea of the lead tones.

I played with my Epi LP loaded with a Dimarzio 36th anniversary bridge pickup, orange drop caps, volume and tone knob wide open.

Thanks for checking this out, and I hope it helps.

Rock...Video is set to private.

 

[rokcabilly]

Rock...Video is set to private.

DAMN! Sorry about that. It's public now. Thanks.

 

[LPMarshall hack]

DAMN! Sorry about that. It's public now. Thanks.

Things sounds great! I like your rhythm chops. I also play rhythm and suk at leads! But your leads sounded good...way better than mine. I'd also like to get a pair of those 36th Anni PU'ps.

 

[rokcabilly]

Thanks! I want to play lead, but my discipline is for shit. The Anniversary p/u's rule.

 

[rokcabilly]

$600 plus shipping.

 

[ReiGnMaN]

Thats a good sounding amp, HARD to hear through the video, but clearly it fills the room well. IT also has plenty of grit and sass to it. It's not coming off brittle at all. Great bite, Someone buy this amp.

 

[RickyLee]

Do you need the cash or would you be willing to spend a bit of cash and trade for my '88 2205?

This is something I am considering so it is not in stone just yet. I have two 2205's and would like to get something I do not already have. The 6100 is on my WANT list as well.

 

[rokcabilly]

Do you need the cash or would you be willing to spend a bit of cash and trade for my '88 2205?

This is something I am considering so it is not in stone just yet. I have two 2205's and would like to get something I do not already have. The 6100 is on my WANT list as well.

Sorry man. Not interested in a cash/trade. I really don't even want to let it go. I'm thinking about just trying to hold on to it. I would need cash for bills and stuff. Thanks for the inquiry. If I was to consider a trade though, I would want a VM or 2204.

 

[rokcabilly]

Temporarily off the market.

 

[Alowerdeep]

I seriously dont even know why anyone would want a jcm800 with one of these available.....They do what the 800's do and more,seem to have more clarity as well....I saw a 100 watter local pretty cheap and have considered getting it,wish I would have kept it....

 

[rokcabilly]

I seriously dont even know why anyone would want a jcm800 with one of these available.....They do what the 800's do and more,seem to have more clarity as well....I saw a 100 watter local pretty cheap and have considered getting it,wish I would have kept it....

Strange. Every inquiry I get locally is for $500 or less. Not gonna happen. I temporarily took it off here, so I can try to get enough cash to do the cap job. Maybe then I could get a nibble here. I thought $600 plus shipping was a good deal, but I guess not.

This amp sounds great, but I've recently purchased a modded Twin, and I built a custom head cab for it. Now I have a head/combo Fender Twin(silver face) with blackface and gain mods. I also run a Joyo British sound in front of it, and the thing smokes. The old lady says we need money, so I offered up the MKIII.

If I can get $600 for it sweet, if not, I guess it'll sit in the corner......

 

[Alowerdeep]

Yeah,just depends on when you list it and where you sell it I guess..These forums are odd that way.Ive seen them sell for $600 plus on ebay but less on these forums like this one.The 100 watter was listed locally for a GREAT price,but I found a 6100 for a steal and grabbed it instead,otherwise I would have taken the MkIII.The 6100 just gives me the seperate clean I really like and the option of an extra channel I want to do some toying around with live....not to mention,it is an awesome sounding head.My favorite modern era Marshall....The MKIII is a close 2nd....