JMD heads? Picky yet open minded

[libertarian]

Hello everyone,

Haven't been on here for a while and actually haven't played out in a while. Now it looks that I may be getting back into playing live a bit more often and it'll be a cover band again. The usual classic rock radio station stuff plus some more modern heavy songs a la Godsmack et al.

My gear for decades (gulp...) has now consisted of a late 80s 50w JCM800, 4x12 G12t75 cabinets, Boogie 3 channel preamp, effects processor (currently a piece of cr.. TC G-major), few pedals, midi switching gear. You get the idea.

That stuff is pretty versatile and this kind of setup would always be my go-to rig for original music and for recording. That old JCM800 just feels right and hasn't been matched by anything else for me. Closest was one of the Engl amps that I had access to for a while.

That being said I'm also totally open to modeling and must have been one of the first people to buy the original Line6 POD. Great for practice and for recording. Live not so much. I came pretty close to buying a Fender Cybertwin at some point.

Reason I bring this up is that I'm now considering getting one of the Marshall JMD amps for the cover material. I'm mostly looking at versatility and ease of transport and setup there. I understand that it won't sound like my JCM and doesn't need to. So what's the issue with those (head or combo)? I see them disappearing from the large stores' websites. Why aren't people buying them more? What other budget flexible alternatives are there that still are somewhat, err, professional if you will?

 

[Micky]

JMD's have been rumored to have been discontinued.
People are snatching whatever they can find up in a hurry.
(and yes, with fine-tuning will sound like your JCM)

The only real issues I have seen are that of the MDF they used in the combos, a 2X12 is heavy and possibly too heavy for the MDF to handle. Cracked and crushed cases, even on the heads are commonplace. Other than that they are an extremely desirable amp.

I wish I had one...

The new DSL line is affordable. You should go play one of those if you can.

 

[libertarian]

JMD's have been rumored to have been discontinued.
People are snatching whatever they can find up in a hurry.
(and yes, with fine-tuning will sound like your JCM)

The only real issues I have seen are that of the MDF they used in the combos, a 2X12 is heavy and possibly too heavy for the MDF to handle. Cracked and crushed cases, even on the heads are commonplace. Other than that they are an extremely desirable amp.

I wish I had one...

The new DSL line is affordable. You should go play one of those if you can.

Thanks a lot. I'll have to see if I can find a 50w JMD head nearby and try it out.

The DSL line or really any "real" amp after the 800 is not my cup of tea and doesn't help with my issue. I'm looking for a second/backup amp that includes basic studio effects (delay, chorus, reverb) so that I don't have to bring my rack. A DSL or something like that wouldn't see much use I suspect. We had one of those 4-channel JCM2000 monsters at some point and I always went back to my 800 in the studio. If I wanted a "modern" multi channel amp I'd go straight to Boogie or Engl. The JCM2000 was replaced by a Engl Savage 4-channel and even that one saw only live use for it's versatility but no studio use.

 

[Cadblaster]

The JMD is an absolute monster for gigging cover tunes (Marshall tones only).
The effects are very usable and transparent. The noisegate awesome !
Only thing I added was a Midi pedal. Like to keep things simple @ gigs, so pedalboard and rack fx stay at home.

I mic the cab , but some prefer the emulated out. Both sound good

And yes it will do your 800,,, scaringly so......

 

[Username2]

JMD's have been rumored to have been discontinued.
People are snatching whatever they can find up in a hurry.
(and yes, with fine-tuning will sound like your JCM)

The only real issues I have seen are that of the MDF they used in the combos, a 2X12 is heavy and possibly too heavy for the MDF to handle. Cracked and crushed cases, even on the heads are commonplace. Other than that they are an extremely desirable amp.

I wish I had one...

The new DSL line is affordable. You should go play one of those if you can.

The JMD1 was discontinued some months ago. The heads are very hard to come by, more combos simply because the cabinets didn't stand up to UPS, FedEx, or warehouseman. I have seen guys buy the broken ones and rackmount the chassis or build a cabinet for it. Sourmash can do this.

Marketing unfortunatly was very poor for this range and it wasn't until some time later after its release that players started to realize just what great tone and versitility the amp offered. I would argue it's even more versitile then a JVM.

Some say there will be another JMD type amp in the future but while I never say never it sure doesn't look like it. Modeling continues to make huge advances, I just scored the Kemper Preamp rack and IMO its the best piece of gear I own for gigging or studio work. The modern models in the preamps can sound amazing but you still want to push that into a tube power section, their is where that sound becomes what we love.

IMO the JMD1 100 watt head is a real serious contender for the unlitmate gigging amp if you are playing covers. You literally can program the tone and effects for a 28 song setlist and be consistant night after night. I run a quad of Lead 80s with mine and IMO it has some of the best crunch and cleans I use.

Ask most any JMD1 owner if they want to sell it, the answer is usually NO.

 

[Mockingbird]

Well get this guys...........

After 3 months of gig's where I have altenated between my Satch JVM and my JMD501 ..........

The Satch JVM is being sold !!

The JMD to my ears just sounds better - clean/ crunch / lead - you name it, the tones are staggeringly good especially at gig levels.

And don't just pigeon-hole it as a "covers band" only amp - awesome tone is awesome tone.

 

[libertarian]

Thanks for the encouraging responses. Has anyone compared the 100w head against the 50w head? Are the differences similar to what you get from a "real" head? I would suspect that since the power stage is the same as usual the differences are similar as well.

I'm more a 50w guy since I like the slightly warmer/hotter output trading it for the bigger headroom on a 100w head. Maybe it's different here though.

Too bad there aren't any around at my local stores to try it out...

 

[whatknot]

Waiting on a 50W head right now!!!!
Never played through one, and only heard comments and youtube vids.
The 2558 can rest every 15 minutes on the hour.

I posted a 50W combo in the ebay deals. Finding the head alone is a bitch.

 

[Username2]

100 watt head will always give you "more". If you plan to use the JMD1 for direct recording, silent recording or into a mixer there is no need to buy a 100 watt version. The 50 watt will hold its own and is plently loud and still delivers excellent tone. I prefer the 100 watt version only becuase I am of the school where its better to have to much then not enough, eaiser to compensate for.

As far as sonic side by side differences, again the 100 version is just more, and more money.

 

[Silverburst]

Well get this guys...........

After 3 months of gig's where I have altenated between my Satch JVM and my JMD501 ..........

The Satch JVM is being sold !!

The JMD to my ears just sounds better - clean/ crunch / lead - you name it, the tones are staggeringly good especially at gig levels.

And don't just pigeon-hole it as a "covers band" only amp - awesome tone is awesome tone.

Wow really? Maybe I'm still missing something. Played trough the 1x12 combo last week. Okay a lot of different tones in there. Without a doubt super versatile, almost perfect, but too me at first glance it missed warmth and sounded a bit thin. Or is the head that much better? Guess it gets better when you spend some time with it.

 

[Quasar-Kid]

Wow really? Maybe I'm still missing something. Played trough the 1x12 combo last week. Okay a lot of different tones in there. Without a doubt super versatile, almost perfect, but too me at first glance it missed warmth and sounded a bit thin. Or is the head that much better? Guess it gets better when you spend dome time with it.

1 x 12's suck (always)

 

[Mockingbird]

Wow really? Maybe I'm still missing something. Played trough the 1x12 combo last week. Okay a lot of different tones in there. Without a doubt super versatile, almost perfect, but too me at first glance it missed warmth and sounded a bit thin. Or is the head that much better? Guess it gets better when you spend dome time with it.

Yeah really !

JMD501 into 1936 loaded with 2 x V30. EP Xotic booster to add some angel dust, crank up loud and viola the biggest, fattest, warmest tone/s I've had at my fingertips.

In fact it made the Satch JVM sound thin.

Anyway after extensive a/b'ing at home, studio and a dozen gig's my £500 digital preamp JMD has, for me, the better tone/s than my £1400 flagship JVMJS.

 

[Cadblaster]

Nothing will make you a real believer unitl you've spent the time A/B'ing the JMD against the amps it emulates.
My son's JVM sits here while we fight over the JMD

 

[whatknot]

I will be running through my 2558 (2x12 v30's) or the jub 4x12 cab.
Will be doing some recording too. TC elect chorus in the loop. My other pedals may just sit there....

 

[diesect20022000]

I don't think you'd have any qualms with the JMD heads or combos but i'd go for a head as mentioned before.

I want one too but my next purchase is an axe FX II (it has tone matching like the kemper except it matches the whole amp) but after that is likely to be a JMD 50 H.

i think you'll be pleasantly suprised at how accurate it is to the original models with some careful tweaking I'd avoid the DSL too man, it's not what you need. it's a good amp but isn't what you're looking for.

the JMD is EXACTLY the kind of amp you'd find most useful for features in one box, tone, stage appearance (it's a marshall so it lets them know you mean to rock before you even go on) it has a tube power amp so it does have the nuance for the most part and the modeling is pretty stellar.

and you can use it all with a single footswitch sans fx,gates or boosts.