Is The Marshall Jcm 800 2203 A Good Amp For Ultra Distorted Death, Thrash And Black Metal Tones?

[Benjamin isaacs]

Or do I need a more modern Marshall that? I’m looking to play music in various tunings such as B Standard for my Brutal Death Metal, C Standard for my Modern Death Metal, D Standard for my old school Death Metal, Half a Step down and E Standard for my Thrash and Black Metal, all I play is Metal and I record my music on my phone, I currently have a Roland Cube 80GX but I feel it’s a bit of a bottleneck as my guitars range from £1000-£3000 In price each and for once I want to buy a decent amp instead of a expensive guitar.

 

[Mayhem13]

IMO, Marshall's are too loose and hairy for those genres. Look at Mesa Recs and stacking drive pedals.

 

[Deep Purple fan]

Or do I need a more modern Marshall that? I’m looking to play music in various tunings such as B Standard for my Brutal Death Metal, C Standard for my Modern Death Metal, D Standard for my old school Death Metal, Half a Step down and E Standard for my Thrash and Black Metal, all I play is Metal and I record my music on my phone, I currently have a Roland Cube 80GX but I feel it’s a bit of a bottleneck as my guitars range from £1000-£3000 In price each and for once I want to buy a decent amp instead of a expensive guitar.

There are a lot better options out there. The JCM800 is great for classic rock, hard rock, hair band metal of 80s and even blues. I’ve heard some decent clips of 800 doing metal but there are a lot, and I mean a lot, better options for death metal. I suppose you could get there with pedals. I’d think you’d want a 3 or 4 channel amp ideally. If you’re looking for a Marshall look at JVM.

Mayhem was right about Mesa. If you want to nail metal tones and do everything else, I can recommend ENGL highly that will give you versatility....much more than JCM800. The Special Edition is a lot of amp and can do everything. Cleans, blues, British, metal. ITS stupid expensive. I also have a morse and blackmore that can pretty much do the same with blackmore being affordable and fairly simple.

There are others. I’m going by personal experience, if you ever get a chance to try a Carvin V3, do it. You can pick up a mint one for $500 all day long..... very versatile ballsy amp.

 

[marshallmellowed]

Or do I need a more modern Marshall that? I’m looking to play music in various tunings such as B Standard for my Brutal Death Metal, C Standard for my Modern Death Metal, D Standard for my old school Death Metal, Half a Step down and E Standard for my Thrash and Black Metal, all I play is Metal and I record my music on my phone, I currently have a Roland Cube 80GX but I feel it’s a bit of a bottleneck as my guitars range from £1000-£3000 In price each and for once I want to buy a decent amp instead of a expensive guitar.

I'd look at what bands playing that type of music are using and go from there. No point in reinventing the wheel.

 

[BanditPanda]

Ah... old school death metal.....gotta love it !
BP

 

[chiliphil1]

Look at it this way, slayer uses the JCM800 but, they boost the sh*t out of it. The amp is good if you want a lot of clarity and punch but be prepared for pedals.

If you want something that’ll be more “suited” to the style look into the Peavey 6505, EVH 5150, Mesa dual or triple rectifier, etc.

As someone said above, look at the bands that play your preferred genre and see what they use. There are a lot of rig rundown videos on YouTube and that should get you pointed in the right direction.

 

[Jr Deluxe]

The answer is no. Its the very opposite of a death metal amp. The frequencies are all wrong. Get a boogie. And a 10 band eq.

 

[Bruno60]

Better you buy a Engl, Randall or Mesa.
Maybe DSL series ?

 

[Benjamin isaacs]

Better you buy a Engl, Randall or Mesa.
Maybe DSL series ?

I can’t afford a mess they heads alone are £3000 here plus I have to spend £1500 on a cab for it, whereas I can buy a Marshall JCM 800 stack for £1900

 

[Benjamin isaacs]

The answer is no. Its the very opposite of a death metal amp. The frequencies are all wrong. Get a boogie. And a 10 band eq.

I would love to be able to afford a boogie, but they’re £3000 alone just for heads and £1500 for cabinets.

 

[Benjamin isaacs]

Look at it this way, slayer uses the JCM800 but, they boost the sh*t out of it. The amp is good if you want a lot of clarity and punch but be prepared for pedals.

If you want something that’ll be more “suited” to the style look into the Peavey 6505, EVH 5150, Mesa dual or triple rectifier, etc.

As someone said above, look at the bands that play your preferred genre and see what they use. There are a lot of rig rundown videos on YouTube and that should get you pointed in the right direction.

I cannot afford a Mesa boogie, I’m unemployed and the heads are £3000 alone plus £1500 for a cab, whereas I can get a Marshall jcm 800 Stack for £1900

 

[Benjamin isaacs]

Better you buy a Engl, Randall or Mesa.
Maybe DSL series ?

IMO, Marshall's are too loose and hairy for those genres. Look at Mesa Recs and stacking drive pedals.

Mesa boogie recs are £3000 alone just for the heads plus £1500 for a cab, I’m unemployed I cannot afford that, I only get £500 a month on benefits.

 

[ampmadscientist]

Marshall Mode 4

 

[chiliphil1]

I cannot afford a Mesa boogie, I’m unemployed and the heads are £3000 alone plus £1500 for a cab, whereas I can get a Marshall jcm 800 Stack for £1900

Yeah, didn’t realize you were in the uk. In that case how about a Marshall jvm? Dave mustane runs those and they can get very nasty but stay tight. Also the new DSL should be pretty cheap.

I don’t want to talk you out of an 800 as they are incredible. The thing is though listen to some AC/DC and that’s what the 800 sounds like. If you add an EQ and a boost pedal it’ll handle metal just fine with tons of clarity. But don’t expect the amp alone to get anything close to metal. You’ll also need to play it very loud to get the “good” distortion from it. You can play it quietly but, it won’t be quite the same.

 

[Fat Strat Rat]

Alexi Laiho from "Children of Bodom" uses JVM, and he has got a killer tone

 

[lawrenz]

Dude for great metal/thrash tone JCM 800KK!!!!!!

 

[paul-e-mann]

If you're in the UK get an Orange, a TH100, OR100, TV200, Dual Dark, etc.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Yep. Orange or a JVM, man.

 

[Mayhem13]

That's a pretty crappy trade deal the US has with England........hopefully that gets fixed when the swamp gets drained!

 

[Ghostman]

That's a pretty crappy trade deal the US has with England........hopefully that gets fixed when the swamp gets drained!