Delicieuxz
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 129
- Reaction score
- 59
Just kidding. But I did just buy a 1985 2203 - yet to be shipped. And it appears to be in great condition. I'm wondering what can be discerned about it, technically.
The seller said it's all stock, except for a couple of caps (I think) - the seller is in Spain, and a bit of a language barrier might be present. He said: "The amp is all stock except a couple small condenser close to the bias trim for safety (see pics)." I think he's referring to the bias supply electrolytic caps, C19 and C20, which appear to not be the originals. They also appear to be two different sizes. I'm going to have a take a look at them when I get the amp. But is it concerning that one might be a different value?
The amp inspection date is January 9, 1985. One transformer is stamped "10 84", suggesting October 1984, to me.
The amp has five filter cans. Four of the cans are blue, and one appears to have an L and a C on it, and I guess they are LCRs. There is one can that is black. Does anyone know what brand that would be?
Would that bias trimpot be original? I think I've only seen the vertical one that adjusts from the side on JCM 800s. The one in this amp is adjusted directly from above.
The amp has pointer knobs, which is kind of cool. I might prefer the look of regular knobs, and might change them later. I sold the pointer knobs from my 1982 2203 (which I just sold, coming out $1200 CAD ahead after the purchase of this one - before counting what it will cost me to ship this one from Spain to Canada) for a decent amount and put on these aftermarket knobs by Musiclily that are much better quality than Marshall's knobs, while costing a lot less! They have aluminum sleeves and caps, they have some weight to them, and the gold tone of them visually matches the amp chassis better. See the last photo here for an example. Only thing that might be a problem with using the same knobs on the 1985 amp is that the Musiclily knobs seem to be suited for 3/8" shaft pots (which I had installed on my 1982), while I think the stock pots are 8mm (because I couldn't get replacement Marshall knobs to fit onto the 3/8" pots I installed in my 1982 2203).
I'm thinking this 2203 will be identical to the first horizontal-input 2203s, which started appearing in 1984 and also had five filter cans instead of the 1981 - 1984 vertical input model's six filter cans. And then sometime in 1985, perhaps earlier in the year, the filter cans were reduced to three (were there any four-can versions?).
The 1982 I sold, with the Musiclily knobs:
The seller said it's all stock, except for a couple of caps (I think) - the seller is in Spain, and a bit of a language barrier might be present. He said: "The amp is all stock except a couple small condenser close to the bias trim for safety (see pics)." I think he's referring to the bias supply electrolytic caps, C19 and C20, which appear to not be the originals. They also appear to be two different sizes. I'm going to have a take a look at them when I get the amp. But is it concerning that one might be a different value?
The amp inspection date is January 9, 1985. One transformer is stamped "10 84", suggesting October 1984, to me.
The amp has five filter cans. Four of the cans are blue, and one appears to have an L and a C on it, and I guess they are LCRs. There is one can that is black. Does anyone know what brand that would be?
Would that bias trimpot be original? I think I've only seen the vertical one that adjusts from the side on JCM 800s. The one in this amp is adjusted directly from above.
The amp has pointer knobs, which is kind of cool. I might prefer the look of regular knobs, and might change them later. I sold the pointer knobs from my 1982 2203 (which I just sold, coming out $1200 CAD ahead after the purchase of this one - before counting what it will cost me to ship this one from Spain to Canada) for a decent amount and put on these aftermarket knobs by Musiclily that are much better quality than Marshall's knobs, while costing a lot less! They have aluminum sleeves and caps, they have some weight to them, and the gold tone of them visually matches the amp chassis better. See the last photo here for an example. Only thing that might be a problem with using the same knobs on the 1985 amp is that the Musiclily knobs seem to be suited for 3/8" shaft pots (which I had installed on my 1982), while I think the stock pots are 8mm (because I couldn't get replacement Marshall knobs to fit onto the 3/8" pots I installed in my 1982 2203).
I'm thinking this 2203 will be identical to the first horizontal-input 2203s, which started appearing in 1984 and also had five filter cans instead of the 1981 - 1984 vertical input model's six filter cans. And then sometime in 1985, perhaps earlier in the year, the filter cans were reduced to three (were there any four-can versions?).
The 1982 I sold, with the Musiclily knobs:
Last edited:
Looks like it certainly could be from that era, though, yes.
