JCM800 solid states any good? 5210, 4302 etc..

[Msharky67]

I was wondering if the JCM800 solid state amps like the 5210, the artist 4203 and lead series are any good. How do they compare to their tube brothers or newer DSL40c? Any clips would be good. Worth getting or not compared to tube?

 

[Masliko]

No.

I would only buy one of these if you plan to use it in a bedroom or recording(i wouldn't even do that,although i have seen bands do this).Never live IMO,you'll get destroyed if a real player is using a tube amp at high vol but it does depend on what genre your into.BB King used SS amps.

If a guy came to try out for my band with one of these, he would have to change it or leave.


These opinions are only mine,others might feel different of course.

 

[dreyn77]

trebles are actually 'better than' the valves.
they have the sound and the build quality.
They ROCK!

the prices here are $100 for the solid states and $1000 for the valves.

I'm able to jam along with recordings with the SS and tell the difference with using different gear from the recordings right down to a tiny amount of string buzz. but when I have everything the same as the original guy who played the recording, I can't tell any difference in the 2 sounds.

nothing wrong with the full SS marshalls.
you're more likely to get an amp that hasn't been modded in anyway.

 

[T.J.]

I had one of those 1985 Marshall 75w solid state reverb amps....Kept it about 6 months, sold it and went tube.
Here's how you can fix one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi2WsG7Gg5E

 

[diesect20022000]

No they're terrible. You should just give them to me and move on. I'll be nice and cover shipping .

 

[ricksconnected]

I had one of those 1985 Marshall 75w solid state reverb amps....Kept it about 6 months, sold it and went tube.
Here's how you can fix one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi2WsG7Gg5E

not a bad video, but h3ll, i would just go buy a real Princeton.
they are worth the money.

 

[Musicmaniac]

I've got the lead 12 and when cranked it's eerily similar to my jcm800. Obviously not the same but gets that crunch I've come accustomed to.

 

[radiomatts]

I was wondering if the JCM800 solid state amps like the 5210, the artist 4203 and lead series are any good. How do they compare to their tube brothers or newer DSL40c? Any clips would be good. Worth getting or not compared to tube?

I've owned both the 5210 combo and the 3210 100 watt head, and I'm incredibly sorry I got rid of them both. Paired with a good OD, the 3210 through 1960 cabs sounded frightening close to a JCM 800. While YMMV, it was good enough for me. The combo a bit less so, but still a really good amp. The new DSL series is absolute garbage. To my ears they're fizzy and sharp.. nothing like the JCM 2000 DSL line. Don't waste your money.

Now I wish I had those amps again.

 

[Dean Swindell]

I was wondering if the JCM800 solid state amps like the 5210, the artist 4203 and lead series are any good. How do they compare to their tube brothers or newer DSL40c? Any clips would be good. Worth getting or not compared to tube?

I used to see guys using the combos all the time in bars and they sounded good. I didn't know the difference until I looked close. I used to watch a couple guys who used the 50 watt 2x12 single channel and even sat in with them once. Nice amps, good ol' straight analog solid state, no bad modeling and also rather light weight which is always a bonus.

 

[Seventh Son]

The new DSL series is absolute garbage. To my ears they're fizzy and sharp.. nothing like the JCM 2000 DSL line. Don't waste your money.

Interesting point of view. What do you guys think?

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Interesting point of view. What do you guys think?

For as old as the thread is.. really doesn’t matter much, I have a 3210 , and the Dsl40c’s. And they work for me

 

[SmokestackElRopo]

Necro post. LOL. Been there done that!!!

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Necro post. LOL. Been there done that!!!

More than I like to admit !!

 

[mrjones2004x]

Recently got a 5210 and I really like it. Took a long time to dial in a sound compared to my jcm900 mk3.
Clean is very clean and nice reverb. Better than clean on my 900 as it doesn’t have any really. The drive is nice. It does a crunch sound quite well and sounds good at bedroom levels. I have turned it up a lot more and I didn’t really like it but I haven’t spend ages trying to dial a better tone. Does sound good tho if you got one cheap enough. Can’t compare to anything other than my 2501 tho.
Does it sound like a tube amp….. not quite. Very fast note attack if that makes sense.
Better than any other S/S I’ve owned or tried to be fair