Layman's thoughts on JVM410HJS

[lovehifi]

I say Layman because I am no expert on Marshalls and have never owned any model except the 410H and now 410HJS. Other than the 410H I cant compare to other models. First I don't want to take anything away from the 410H. Its an awesome amp.
I only play at home at above conversation levels and lower. I do live on 10 acres so I will crank it once in a while. Both the 410H and HJS sound great to me at lower volumes. I play through a 90s built 1960 Tall Vintage cabinet with British Greenbacks and also use a 2x12 with Anniversaries and the mix sounds great to me.
I think the JVM410HJS better suits me and the type of music I play which is classic rock and hard rock. I LOVE the sound of this amp! I like the cleans on the 410H better but have found that if I use the amber mode of the clean channel on the HJS I can get some decent cleans that I like.
The crunch channel sounds absolutely fantastic to me and I use both the amber and red modes.
OD1 and OD2 took a little time adjusting before I found what I liked. I use the amber mode on OD1 and red on OD2. I also use the mid shift on the OD2.
Whether playing my Stratocaster with Lace Golds or my R7 Les Paul I could not be happier. I run an Eleven Rack through the effects loop for things like reverb, delay and some other effects. I do wish the HJS had the reverb like the 410H but also like having the built in noise gates that seem to work great!
The tones on the HJS is exactly what I was after. I love the growl and grunt this amp produces and the gains just sound fantastic to me. Love the clarity even with the gains turned up. Definitely an amp I can feel when I play and not just hear, even at lower volumes. From blues to rock this amp fits all my needs and I don't see my HJS going anywhere else soon.
Sorry I cant do a better review with more detail. Like I said I am not a Marshall expert and don't gig or play professionally but I am a very happy Marshall JVM410HJS owner and this amp just makes me want to play for hours each day. I also have to thank many on this forum. I have learned a lot and hope to keep on learning.

 

[Mockingbird]

Yep - awesome amp,

Now we just need to convince Marker !

 

[Frankv]

I'm waiting for my H... Then off to Voodoo it goes for a full treatment. Why? Just because is all.

 

[lovehifi]

Yep - awesome amp,

Now we just need to convince Marker !

Guess we all cant like the same things, experience or hear the same things. Some will like the amp and some wont and that's ok. I owned an EVH 5150iii 50 watt and while most love it I didn't and sold it to get the Marshall.

 

[Marker]

Glad you like your new amp

I've also bought the same amp a week ago and I'm still trying to figure it out, I have another thread here about it. The tone is good but there's too much gain on it, that takes away the string attack - don't you feel it as well especially on the lower notes, they don't cut?

 

[crossroadsnyc]

I think they look totally awesome

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXmP9VA7uxw]Marshall JVM410HJS doing LOTS of Van Halen! - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Marker]

I think they look totally awesome

Marshall JVM410HJS doing LOTS of Van Halen! - YouTube

That video is guilty for me buying this amp, as well as the other recording that the same guitar player did playing it on the crunch with a telecaster doing a perfect jcm 800 tone.

 

[lovehifi]

Glad you like your new amp

I've also bought the same amp a week ago and I'm still trying to figure it out, I have another thread here about it. The tone is good but there's too much gain on it, that takes away the string attack - don't you feel it as well especially on the lower notes, they don't cut?

I don't and the string attack and cut seems great even on lower notes. I do run my gains low to medium though. All are below half. My presence I run at about 6-7 and I keep my resonance at zero.

 

[kips1963]

I think they look totally awesome

Marshall JVM410HJS doing LOTS of Van Halen! - YouTube

I think the JVM looks friggin' aweful with those 1200 knobs, but the sounds on this YT video are truly mindblowing!
If I'd be able to get such sounds out of a JVM I'd buy in a heartbeat...

 

[ToneWarrior]

I'm glad you like the amp. I'm the guy that sold it to you.

I liked the amp for all that it could do but I never used more than two modes so for me it didn't make sense to keep it. The one thing that I couldn't get passed and was really the deal breaker for me was I couldn't get a feel for the amp or it never felt like it was an extension of my playing and my technique wasn't coming through. I feel this way about almost all of the new amps I've played including the 3 DSL's that I've owned. I love the tone that I got from those amps but they always leave me wanting more.

I also have a 1989 JCM800 2210 and I liked it at first but I'm at the point with this amp as I was with the others. Even though the 2210 wouldn't be considered a new amp it does have a newer circuit and the boost channel sounds like there's a tubescreamer pushing the amp and I can't dial it out. That's obviously due to the clipping diodes they put in there but I don't like it. I want my hands and picking attack to have the biggest effect on the tone and breakup of the amp but I can't seem to figure out how to make it happen with these new amps. I've heard tons of video's with guys playing these amps and making them sound awesome but I have no inspiration playing them even though I like what I hear. The only amp I've ever played that gave me all that was my 1976 Super Lead which I mistakenly sold because it didn't have an effects loop and I didn't like the effects in front of it.

But I'm glad you like the amp and I got a 1989 JCM800 2210 for sale if you're interested.

 

[libertarian]

I looked into that myself since I was considering a new multi-channel head. My take so far is that neither is 100% ideal for my taste.

The JS is supposed to sound similar to a 6100 - an amp that went back to the store after a few months back then because it wasn't really good at anything (plus the effects loop was out of whack). The good thing is that it has the noise gates instead of the completely useless reverb (I don't do reverb usually and if I do it comes from a good effects unit).

The 410H seems to have the better sound overall for my taste and is more of what I'd expect for a classic Marshall sound plus some pretty decent clean sounds (better than in the JS I think). I wish it came as 50w version.

So, as always, a trade-off if getting a jack-of-all-trades amp instead of hauling around separate amps for different purposes.

 

[lovehifi]

I looked into that myself since I was considering a new multi-channel head. My take so far is that neither is 100% ideal for my taste.

The JS is supposed to sound similar to a 6100 - an amp that went back to the store after a few months back then because it wasn't really good at anything (plus the effects loop was out of whack). The good thing is that it has the noise gates instead of the completely useless reverb (I don't do reverb usually and if I do it comes from a good effects unit).

The 410H seems to have the better sound overall for my taste and is more of what I'd expect for a classic Marshall sound plus some pretty decent clean sounds (better than in the JS I think). I wish it came as 50w version.

So, as always, a trade-off if getting a jack-of-all-trades amp instead of hauling around separate amps for different purposes.

Yea personally I like the cleans on the 401H better too and don't even use the green mode on the JS but have gotten to like the amber mode on the clean channel. I even tried the Eleven Rack amp modeling using a Blackface amp model through the green mode on the clean channel on the JS. Long story short is I now use my Twin Reverb for cleans and my JS for everything else. For my style of music and playing I like the JS but agree I wish it came in a 50 watt model.

 

[lovehifi]

I'm glad you like the amp. I'm the guy that sold it to you.

I liked the amp for all that it could do but I never used more than two modes so for me it didn't make sense to keep it. The one thing that I couldn't get passed and was really the deal breaker for me was I couldn't get a feel for the amp or it never felt like it was an extension of my playing and my technique wasn't coming through. I feel this way about almost all of the new amps I've played including the 3 DSL's that I've owned. I love the tone that I got from those amps but they always leave me wanting more.

I also have a 1989 JCM800 2210 and I liked it at first but I'm at the point with this amp as I was with the others. Even though the 2210 wouldn't be considered a new amp it does have a newer circuit and the boost channel sounds like there's a tubescreamer pushing the amp and I can't dial it out. That's obviously due to the clipping diodes they put in there but I don't like it. I want my hands and picking attack to have the biggest effect on the tone and breakup of the amp but I can't seem to figure out how to make it happen with these new amps. I've heard tons of video's with guys playing these amps and making them sound awesome but I have no inspiration playing them even though I like what I hear. The only amp I've ever played that gave me all that was my 1976 Super Lead which I mistakenly sold because it didn't have an effects loop and I didn't like the effects in front of it.

But I'm glad you like the amp and I got a 1989 JCM800 2210 for sale if you're interested.

Thanks and I am enjoying the amp. So much more than the EVH 5150iii mini I had.

 

[Marker]

I'm glad you like the amp. I'm the guy that sold it to you.

I liked the amp for all that it could do but I never used more than two modes so for me it didn't make sense to keep it. The one thing that I couldn't get passed and was really the deal breaker for me was I couldn't get a feel for the amp or it never felt like it was an extension of my playing and my technique wasn't coming through. I feel this way about almost all of the new amps I've played including the 3 DSL's that I've owned. I love the tone that I got from those amps but they always leave me wanting more.

I also have a 1989 JCM800 2210 and I liked it at first but I'm at the point with this amp as I was with the others. Even though the 2210 wouldn't be considered a new amp it does have a newer circuit and the boost channel sounds like there's a tubescreamer pushing the amp and I can't dial it out. That's obviously due to the clipping diodes they put in there but I don't like it. I want my hands and picking attack to have the biggest effect on the tone and breakup of the amp but I can't seem to figure out how to make it happen with these new amps. I've heard tons of video's with guys playing these amps and making them sound awesome but I have no inspiration playing them even though I like what I hear. The only amp I've ever played that gave me all that was my 1976 Super Lead which I mistakenly sold because it didn't have an effects loop and I didn't like the effects in front of it.

But I'm glad you like the amp and I got a 1989 JCM800 2210 for sale if you're interested.

The HJS has a fat tone that comes from the huge gain it has. So much saturation results in a great tone, loads of sustain and lack of punch/attack/sensitivity for how you pick and play , that's how I feel about mine.

I'll record in the next few weeks some simple demos of the HJS, Jubilee, TSL 100 and AFD100; then you guys can see how they differ.

 

[mickeydg5]

The HJS has a fat tone that comes from the huge gain it has. So much saturation results in a great tone, loads of sustain and lack of punch/attack/sensitivity for how you pick and play , that's how I feel about mine.

I'll record in the next few weeks some simple demos of the HJS, Jubilee, TSL 100 and AFD100; then you guys can see how they differ.

I look forward to this.

Make sure all amplifiers are used with the same guitar, cables, cabinet or other equipment.

 

[marshallmellowed]

One of my favorite modes on the 410H is Clean Red. Mine is modded, and I get slightly more gain in that mode than stock (with great dynamics). I also find the Green modes of the OD channels are more dynamic (touch sensitive) than the Orange and Red modes, if that's what you're after. As far as a 50 watt version, you can just pull 2 tubes (inner or outer pair), re-bias, and now you have a 50 watt.

 

[bulldozer1984]

The HJS has a fat tone that comes from the huge gain it has. So much saturation results in a great tone, loads of sustain and lack of punch/attack/sensitivity for how you pick and play , that's how I feel about mine.

I'll record in the next few weeks some simple demos of the HJS, Jubilee, TSL 100 and AFD100; then you guys can see how they differ.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of gain. In fact, it has to do with how much treble is attenuated in the pre amp. In high gain amp designs, the builder has to attenuate bass and treble frequencies in order to keep the amp tight, and not too bright.

What you don't know (unless your into amp building/modding), is that you could easily fix the problem you find with the amp in 1 or 2 component changes. And that is not reducing the gain, it is reducing the attenuation of high frequencies.