henryjames's Reviews

Have you ever played a Peavey 6505+ ? I've been comparing them against each other this week and would like your impression if you have.

@boom762... those 2 amps are not even similar. The Peavey is based on a Soldano SLO100 more or less. The 2 channel JCM800 amps are not even truly 2 channels. They are like the classic 2203 and 2204 single channel 800s only they have switching between the high and low gain inputs. The low gain input/channel skips the 1st tube stage giving you a 4 input marshall JMP topology that will be clean at anything less than ear-splitting levels. On the 2205's the high gain section is like the non-switching JCM's in all but 1 regard; it uses clipping diodes to add more apparent distortion at lower master volume levels. Marshall's idea was to make it so you could get a good crunch tone on the gain channel while still keeping the level well-matched with the clean channel. Its not a great sound, though Tom Morello of RATM and audioslave seems to make it work. Who knows if his 2205 is stock though. I recommend everyone looking for 80s marshall tones get a non-switching JCM800. My 50 watt early 80s 2x12 combo murdered the 100 watt channel switching 800 I owned prior. I did not miss the clean 'channel'.

also, this amp is not a high gain amp by modern standards... Mike Soldano changed the rules when he released the SLO100 and every channel switcher since owes his design a huge debt.

Can't comment on your Peavey question @boom762. Have played a number of other high gain amps such as the Peavy XXX, and Mesa Single and Dual Rectifiers though and for what I play they come no where close. As I'm sure @jimmarchi1 will agree - There's a certain 'roar' that comes from the 800's, a sound that's so famous for perfectly nailing that rock tone.

I was thinking of building a tele like this to bridge the gap in my collection between my gibbies and fenders and then I saw Shiflett with one on Sonic Highways and was knocked out by how good it sounded through his Friedman and Vox ac30. What kinda pickups are in it? Is it an alder or ash body? I could do a google search, but you own one...

It DOES sit incredibly well. My bandmate/roomate of many years picked it up and began laughing. He told me it felt great, but that it was particularly "me", meaning that the guitar sat incredibly well in both a horizontal fashion as well as tilted and was weighted in a very balanced way. He prefers an instrument with lots of weight in the tail end so that the guitar "sags" down as well as against him. I prefer a guitar that allows me to comfortably wear the strap with the guitar seated up quite high but also flexible enough that I can tilt it as needed for angular precision.

It sits amazingly well.

@jimmarchi1 - it's an alder body with "New" CS1 & CS2 humbucking pickups.