Julia
Well-known member
I've got one with the JCM800 mod made in the second half of 2008. Yesterday afternoon I played a real JCM800 Lead. The SL+ is a good sounding module and does a decent Marshallish JCM800ish tone, but it is no JCM800.
I used the same brand axe and same pickup. It was an active Duncan Blackout so the tonewood isn't coming into play that much. The real 800 was tighter and had that famous grind especially when cranked a bit.
I got home and played through my SL+. The closest I could get was with my Alexi through it with the bright switch on and the gain at 11:00, mids cranked to 4:00, bass at 1:00 and treble at noon. Also I've got 6550s so that could be part of it, but since I really couldn't get the 800 loud enough to get those EL34s to breakup. The SL+ sounded very good and the tone is something I can live with easily. It's pretty close, but it's no JCM800.
I think you can copy the preamp circuit, but it still won't sound the same because you've got to have it sonically tuned with the power section so you get a tonal match. So do I dare drop that quad of EL34s in the amp? you know if it ain't broke....
The amp was the reissue and on sale for $1200 new. If I had $1200 it would have gone home. I've come to the conclusion that if you want that sound you've got to go for the real deal or a very very good clone. I had a JVM 410H before the Randall and its OD1 was supposed to be the JCM800, but even that wasn't. The circuit was supposed to be the same through that preamp too, but it just didn't sound the same.
Keep in mind I spend most of my time with the KH1 and a Strat with a tubescreamer, or the SL+, or a max gain Brahma with humbuckers. But there's not much difference between the SL+ with those settings and the Brahma tonally.
I used the same brand axe and same pickup. It was an active Duncan Blackout so the tonewood isn't coming into play that much. The real 800 was tighter and had that famous grind especially when cranked a bit.
I got home and played through my SL+. The closest I could get was with my Alexi through it with the bright switch on and the gain at 11:00, mids cranked to 4:00, bass at 1:00 and treble at noon. Also I've got 6550s so that could be part of it, but since I really couldn't get the 800 loud enough to get those EL34s to breakup. The SL+ sounded very good and the tone is something I can live with easily. It's pretty close, but it's no JCM800.
I think you can copy the preamp circuit, but it still won't sound the same because you've got to have it sonically tuned with the power section so you get a tonal match. So do I dare drop that quad of EL34s in the amp? you know if it ain't broke....
The amp was the reissue and on sale for $1200 new. If I had $1200 it would have gone home. I've come to the conclusion that if you want that sound you've got to go for the real deal or a very very good clone. I had a JVM 410H before the Randall and its OD1 was supposed to be the JCM800, but even that wasn't. The circuit was supposed to be the same through that preamp too, but it just didn't sound the same.
Keep in mind I spend most of my time with the KH1 and a Strat with a tubescreamer, or the SL+, or a max gain Brahma with humbuckers. But there's not much difference between the SL+ with those settings and the Brahma tonally.