Please help! JCM 800kk arrived, and I'm 'very' under whelmed.

[Wycked Lester]

i have a question for you sidewinder.... Have you ever played an 800 before this one?

 

[Sidewinder]

No I have not, Wycked Lester.

Update:

Hey, all of a sudden this amp seems to be hitting on all cylinders. Last night I switched a few preamp tubes around as suggested by MartyStrat54. I didn't notice any difference last night, so I'm not sure if I made the mistake of leaving the levels where they were last night.

Anyway I fired it up today, and was messing with the preamp and master. To my surprise, when I cranked it up, it has way more volume, gain, distortion, crunch, punch, fuzz, and sizzle.

I guess the tube swap must have made the difference. I'm not sure why I didn't notice any difference last night, but I am now.

I'm also wondering if the problem could be a bad component that is working intermittently.

The amp was actually making stuff fall over on the shelves, and I didn't have it cranked all the way. No beast, master on 6 preamp on about 10.

When I put it on beast, to me it sounds like it should.

It's very strange how now all of a sudden it seems to be working right, but either way, I've gained some ground on this problem.

So if a tube was bad and all I did was switch the two outside preamp tubes, and if that was indeed the problem, then I guess I still have one bad tube in the preamp stage.

Am I correct to assume that the amp will sound even better when the bad tube is replaced?

At any rate thanks for all the help and comments!

I wish I had a tube tester.

 

[Stringjunkie]

Sounds to me like you found the bad one already

 

[Sidewinder]

Should I get a tube tester? Can anyone recommend one?

 

[Stringjunkie]

The new one from orange looks good

 

[Wycked Lester]

No I have not, Wycked Lester.

the reason i ask is because the 800 has a rep of being the baddest ass most brootlz amp ever made. Alot of people are confused when they plug one in and see how much gain and low end they DONT have. Especially when compared to a 5150, or soldano, or mesa.... In reality these amps only get about as distorted as AC/DC and are voiced more for midrange growl than a heavy mushy low end.... and on their own, could be mistaken as wimpy when compared to said other amps...

The beauty in these amps is their creamy, lush, OVERDRIVE... that has a ton of punch and still retains all of its clarity and defination. An overdrive pedal is a must to push these things into 'metal' teritory.

Just something to think about,... maybe the tone your expecting isn't the tone the amp actually has.

I went thru all the high gain amps in the 90's and.... and after getting used to all the distortion and super low end of many other amps, I actually had to 'make' myself stick with my 800 long enough to learn how to dial it in.... and long enough to make myself realize what actual 'great guitar tone' actually is.

Now i'd never consider using any other amp.... be it country, blues, rock, or metal

 

[Sidewinder]

Sounds to me like you found the bad one already

Yes, but what I was saying is I didn't replace any tubes. I just switched the two outside preamp tubes. So if one of them is indeed bad, then it's still in there, just not in the position as before.

Wycked Lester, great post, and I understand where you're coming from. I was aware of that difference already, though I had not heard it for myself.

Now that I've got the problem sorted out, I've had to time to experiment with the setting more. This amp can do it all. Wow, what great amp. Loving every minute of it!

Big +1 on boosting the signal with a overdrive pedal. The Bad Monkey takes it to the extremes.

 

[Stringjunkie]

Well then it was probably not seated good was all. If its bad it bad no matter where you move it.

 

[Ken]

Yes, but what I was saying is I didn't replace any tubes. I just switched the two outside preamp tubes. .

You have a bad preamp tube most likely, so change all of them as the others may be old and worn too.

Preamp tubes perform different functions in different positions and I'm sure if you moved them back, whatever is wrong with the bad tube would restore your problem. Don't wait until it dies completely; replace them.

Ken

 

[TooPoorForTubes]

I just read this whole thread and really felt for ya. I'm really glad it worked out for you. I was thinking to myself how much it would suck to spend good money on a good amp and them have to fork out hundreds more to a tech just to get it to where it should have been in the first place (hopefully). Not to mention the stress of going to sleep at night without knowing what the heck is wrong and not being able to play the damn thing.

Glad it worked out. Maybe it just had to wake up.

 

[Sidewinder]

The new one from orange looks good

I doesn't appear to have been released yet. 499.00 US is wow dang!
That is a sweet unit though.

Ken the tubes are all brand new, so there might only be one bad tube.

 

[Sidewinder]

I just read this whole thread and really felt for ya. I'm really glad it worked out for you. I was thinking to myself how much it would suck to spend good money on a good amp and them have to fork out hundreds more to a tech just to get it to where it should have been in the first place (hopefully). Not to mention the stress of going to sleep at night without knowing what the heck is wrong and not being able to play the damn thing.

Glad it worked out. Maybe it just had to wake up.

Yep, it was a big old bummer.

 

[JayCM800]

I'm glad your amp is fixed!

Just make sure your tubes are in good working order, well matched(for power), firmly seated on CLEAN sockets and properly biased.

 

[bvoris]

If your running on a brand new 1960 cab. That shit needs to be broken in. They come out of the box a little thin and brittle until you got them nice and broken in.

Took me a good couple of months of solid play to get my 2203 where I wanted it.

JayCM and Lester are right:
A good OD upfront
Clean the tube sockets
New tubes
Bias

 

[Sidewinder]

Hey guys, ya I cleaned the tube sockets very throughly before putting in the new tubes. I cleaned the tube pins also. I used 99% alcohol as I've been told not to use deoxit, by a fender tech. The lube left behind, attracts dust, and can cause problems. Everyone uses deoxit too!

All the sockets looked very tight too. I'll double-check everything when I get some new pre-amp tubes.

What are/did you use for pre-amp tubes in your JCM800 2203KK, Jay?

This amp sounds amazing, and I'm loving the great control I have with the tone controls. They actually have a very big effect on the sound and they work well through the whole range.

 

[Reckless_Life]

Everyone uses deoxit too!

For tubes it is better to use a dry oil-free cleaning spray.

If it's really dirty or oxidised you can use one product to clean, followed by another to remove all residue.

 

[JayCM800]

Hey guys, ya I cleaned the tube sockets very throughly before putting in the new tubes. I cleaned the tube pins also. I used 99% alcohol as I've been told not to use deoxit, by a fender tech. The lube left behind, attracts dust, and can cause problems. Everyone uses deoxit too!

All the sockets looked very tight too. I'll double-check everything when I get some new pre-amp tubes.

What are/did you use for pre-amp tubes in your JCM800 2203KK, Jay?

This amp sounds amazing, and I'm loving the great control I have with the tone controls. They actually have a very big effect on the sound and they work well through the whole range.

This is what i got for my amp:

All the stock tubes were Marshall-labeled Shuguangs (white print), except the v1 preamp, which was a Marshall-labeled JJ (red print -same like the ones i got!)...

Probably an expert on Marshall Valves could confirm or deny if the color of the printing on the glass is indicative of the procedence or brand of a tube?!?

 

[Stringjunkie]

I always thought the red were JJ and white/Shuguang. Yet to know what the gold ones are.

 

[Sidewinder]

Okay, thanks for the information, Jay.