Marshall JCM800 2203 100W Tube Head Amp
Marshall JCM800 2203 100W Tube Head Amp
- Availability
- 5 Stores from $3,149.99 See prices updated 30 days ago
- Artists
- 240
- Rating
- Reviews
- 13
- Type
- Guitar Amplifier Heads Ranked #1
- Setups
- 7 setups using this
- Videos
- 0 demo videos
- Alternatives
- 4
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This article says that James used a modded Marshall JCM800 in conjunction with a Pro Co Rat distortion pedal. more
Marshall JCM800 2203 Vintage 100W Tube Head Amps are used in Green Day guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong's live setup. more
In this picture from early days of Metallica, we can see Kirk and James playing through their Marshall JCM 800 heads. more
Reviews
Trusted musician and artist reviews for Marshall JCM800 2203 100W Tube Head Amp
Based on 13 Reviews and 99 Ratings
My 1st Marshall and 1st BIG British amp. Here comes the boom?
Jim Marshall claimed this was his favorite Marshall model of all time. To this day I cannot understand why.
I remember buying one of these used around '99. I was so excited. Wow what a let down. I really wanted a 2203 and didn't know it yet. This didn't last long. The clean channel is kinda weak until pushed into overdrive, then it gets some Plexi vibe (didn't know how to describe that at the age of 20 either). The 'overdrive' channel? Whoa what a mess. I know Tom Morello gets tones out of this model (or a similar model, he may have the 50 and 50s are typically sweeter in Marshall's line), but I never could. Shorty after I got my 1st and longest serving Plexi and then I got a 50 watt single-channel 800 combo and the scales lifted from my eyes. "Let there be tone," I said... and then I got that 62 candy panel AC30 and the Marshalls sounded a little less sweet. I found it harder to hear the luster, just the fury and the bluster....
but I digress... the channel switching 800s leave a lot to be desired, but if its between this and ANY JCM900, get the 800. You may be thinking that I got a bad unit or something, but I assure you that compared to some 's I've tried in stores since the turn of the century mine sounded downright good. None of them have any feel or touch responsiveness. I guess you don't need that with a footswitch to change sounds. The 80s and 90s were a strange time. We live in a comparative renaissance when it comes to tube tone and really all things guitar. Bask in it.
In closing, you could use one of these early channel switchers to amplify your guitar in blues, classic rock or even certain hard rock and metal situations. I don't recommend it, but you can try it. If you can't afford a serious 800 get yourself a Laney GH50L or 100L. The older the better. While they are almost a dead-rip-off of a single channel 800 with some 'modern' features I choose to ignore, the build quality wasn't a knock on a 2203 and it got worse every year.
Amazing
This is by far the best amp you could possible ever have in my eyes. To think guitar center sold it to me half off, because "Vintage is the same thing as used". I'd prefer it be vintage. So damn loud too. I can't get past 2.25 before my windows start shaking.
when I had a 50 watter from '81 I got it at a guiar center for peanuts because it was used. It was missing a knob so they marked it way down from mrket price at the time. I dunno, it was weird. They also let me lowball them ahrd on the originally reasonable sticker price and just sent her out the door. There was a period for a while that GC was pricing everything older as vintage whether it was a good, popular circuit or not, but they seem t have gone abck to their old policy of cutting good deals on anything used. I should start buying there again... the one enar me never has anything I want though.
Great amp
My main for a while now since I retired my mesa triple rec and sold the mark IIC+ its a JCM800 its nice but I tend to rely on pedal distortion or overdrive (Boss DS-1 / Fulltone PlimSoul) although I love my AC30
honestly the boogie you like isn't that different... the rectos are knocked off of a soldano and soldanos are definitely built around the 800 platform. Kissing cousins
Best rock sounding amp ever!
I really dig into this amp! Real punchy rock n roll tones!
You want 80's/90's metal & grunge rock? Get this amp
It's a classic...nuff said. I only wish I got the 50 watt because I literally never use this thing anymore seeing as I never have the opportunity to crank it which is what it was built to do and it doesn't sound right at low volume.
the 50 waters aren't much less loud but they sound sweeter to my ear for anything but the heaviest music
try pulling 2 tubes (the inside pair) and running at half impedance (eg amp set for 8ohms into a 16ohm cabinet), this should knock you down 2 or 3 dB... also consider using speakers that are mid-to-low efficiency to shave a few more dB... original greenbacks with medium and small magnets were only rated for 96dB or less and really helped tame in the plexis of the era. The speakers you have are pretty efficient and the quad box will project pretty darn well.
It just not an apartment amp, but you could buy a reactive load and take a line out into an impulse response cab sim on computer and use it in your apartment that way via headphones.... when I ahd a 2204 I enver managed to use it anywhere but band practice and gigs.One time I took it to a big jam session and veryone was begging me to turn down, but I was at like 2
I have to try that! I still won't bring it to my apt because it's too big but even on the rare occasions the I do play it back at my parents house I NEVER crank it like I used to in high school. I got a H&K TM18 for my apt. It has the power soak feature which is SO DOPE for sound management purposes. If I put it on 1 it has the same sound as it does at 18, just at a volume that my neighbors won't call the police on me for. Plus it has the red box out which I use too running directly into my Apollo. It actually sounds much different than it does out of my cab because it's modeled to sound like micing a 4/12, which I agree it does and sometimes I want that sound, but I've also come to love the sound of the head through my 110 cab so sometimes I mic the cab with an SM57. I just realized I should probably add my recording equipment to Equipboard too huh? I'm new to this site if it's not already painfully obvious LOL.
I used to have an original red box, never got next to it, very 'metal' 4x12 emualtion
Legendary monster
This amp is a beast. Loud and tone monster, plug and start rocking without any bullshit
Verellen mod
Have this in a custom Verellen mod from 2010, used on a few Pelican records
Those who are about to rock....
Definitive. Classic. Legendary. This is the amp that shaped a generation, and is the sound most think of when they think of rock, hard rock, metal and grunge. With the pre amp on about 2, your clean tone sounds like it is vibrating a metal tray covered in broken glass, just beautiful crisp and a little raw. Turn that dial and you go from a little raw to a big roar. I love turning this amp up to about 5, keeping the pre amp at about 2. The push from the air in front of the cab is far more rewarding and defined than the one coming from the kick drum. At home, bringing the volume up to where it JUST comes through to the speakers, guarantees a very rewarding 30 - 45 seconds of playing before the house and the neighbours get a bit wild.