Hell.. yeah.. I just purchased a 1983 Marshall JCM 800 50w lead 4104 2X12 Combo on Reverb.. inspired by your videos. Hope it is as clean as this one when I take the chassis out, fingers crossed… However this won’t be the first time Iv’e owed one of these amps, back in the 1990s I had one and loved it finally got my hands on one again 🎸💜🎸
@@HeadfirstAmps Oh thanks... Man... and what you said about finding a tech that gets Marshall! I've been to lots of those guy's and you're right, they just don't get it!! and they never make the amp sound good??? it's not that they don't know electronics, but they just don't get Marshall sound!!! and what that means to us old timers, that grew up with it. Tracking says preparing for delivery, so I'm supposed to get it today, and will send pictures... It's a little beat from gigging on the outside but hoping the inside is clean, fingers crossed.. I'm psyched...
Headfirst Amplification, well, it didn’t turn out to be totally stock lol.. the seller didn’t share pictures of circuitboard, my bad though, however I got it for a super good price🙂 So can’t complain.. found an extra / 4th 12AX7 and not a good Designed extra circuit either… Way too much gain.. The seller said he had the amp checked by a tech before he put it up for sale, I highly doubt it though because the bias was way off! so I changed the bias resistors to correct the bias, disconnected the extra gain stage 12AX7, got pretty much everything back to stock now, except I’ve gotta order some parts. Like a 1000pf Bright cap, but I’m finding that I like ceramic capacitors better than the silver Mica capacitors for the bright caps. They actually sound smoother to me, in a way, That’s why I’m not changing any of the stock ceramic capacitors that have anything to do with the high end in the amp. It seems to keep that Marshall crunchiness I love so much💪 wouldn’t mind finding some original ceramic bright caps for it, if you know where I could find some. Thanks…
Beautiful Amp!!…..it’s got that 800 KLANK in spades…Sounds great..especially with that Les Paul…My 87 Jubilee,has that round mains selector switch…I am assuming Marshall doesn’t do that anymore to save a couple of bucks?
@@HeadfirstAmps Hi Jason, I really like your channel - fantastic information, great sounds and playing. I used to own a 1981 JCM 800 (one of the first ever made: March 1981). I loved it, but still let it go because the volumes that it requires to deliver it's best sound are not practical. Now I've got a 1996 JCM Slash that sounds great even at lower volumes. Dare I say that I recently bought a 1997 JCM 900? And I have to say that it doesn't compare to an 800, but I can't understand why so many people hate it so bad (perhaps without having played one). Cheers from Europe
One of the best sounding 2203 I ever heard. I thought you were going to say 332 vdc was too low after the second dropper, but you said it was good. I was expecting more like 350 vdc. Either way, the voltages must have quite a bit to do with the great tone of this amp. The stars have aligned with this one.
I have the same switch in my 82' JCM 800 Superbass. It came from Japan, as indicated in the sticker at the back. When I opened the amp, everything looked dead stock. The switch at the back is only connected to the 110v tap and theres a vintage .02uf cap to ground, kinda like the death cap in Fenders. I'll look for the pictures when I opened it up last yr.
I have been in...a thousand amps. This is the first time seeing a Marshall like you said with the crosshairs and that weird switch!! Yeah, it's obviously been disconnected. The terminals are tinned on the left side, but untouched on the right, so whatever it was doing was switching on the left side. The voltages are exactly where you want them. You can tell this is a healthy amp and yes, I said the same thing when you played...Classic Rock and Roll tone!! Hit that with an OD or Tube Screamer and play all night long!! :)
I think what makes it sound so great is it wasn’t molested by some “tech” who thought he knew better than Marshall as to how it should sound. Way too many “techs” out there that can’t even flow a proper solder joint let alone decipher how to properly mod an amp. There are only 3 techs and or builders I’ve seen on RU-vid that I would let touch my amp. And our fine young chap here would be at the top of my list!
Have the same switch not connected on mine early 84 vertical input brought in from Japan otherwise the same beening all original a guy here in Perth brings them in and does it that I got mine from, great and informative vid as always, thanks Skip.
I got that stealth mod done with the hybrid approach post eq master with 220k to ground when zeners are out of circuit....I put a 4700pf on the second gain pot and a 100 of on the first pot that I can put in and out with a plug into a cliff jack....I also have a jack that takes out the first gain control and starts at the second gain stage
I picked up a 4-input JCM 800 in Japan. Has the same Mains switch. The amp came with the Brown face, which is what I think the Canadian Marshalls had. Somehow it ended up in Japan, and I got it for a song. Maybe its a Canadian oddity....
Looks like a Scandinavian model or Japan possibly? The CSA Canadian amps have the metal bat switches and no 16 ohm tap, but have the mains voltage select. The tubes *could* be original, those ITT’s I’ve seen before in early 80’s 2203’s here in the US, anyway. May have been rebranded Siemens tubes.
Yeah, I am not sure about it being a Canadian one Jase. The Canadian ones didn't have the OT with a 16ohm tap. Also, IIRC they also had extra fusing in them, which I can't see here. I wonder if it's a Japanese market one?
I reckon Angus was probably using 2203s around the time of Live At The Apollo. I watched the video and it was mix of two and four hole heads. My eyes have seen better days, but that's how it looked to me. Definitely more gain as they got closer to the Hell's Bells era, e,g., if You Want Blood live album has way more than Dirty Deeds.
Great sounding 800 amp! Jason what year is the amp? How good are the JCM 800 2203X amps coming from Marshall far are still build good and what about there tone? Thanks man!
That one was a 1983. The 2203x’s are excellent, except for the fx loop is not the best. Bypass the loop, or throw one of our Marshall reissue upgrade loops in!
@@HeadfirstAmps Thank you Jason. Also whow a 100 watt amp that you just came with now in i live in the usa so is building that amp over now! I really love the sound of your new amp. Thanks man
Dang!! What a specimen! I bet it is a joy to play. Being in the room jamming on an amp like this instantly raises testosterone levels higher than Joe Biden’s vote count at 1:00 am! Cheers from the U.S.A
I don’t think it’s Canadian, it doesn’t have the metal JMP style power/standby switches with the separate Jewel light, any of the extra internal fuses and unless they swapped out the Output Select rotary dial, the Canadian ones only came with a 4ohm and 8ohm taps on the OT. This is a weird one.
Hi, very strange 2203, I can confirm this is not a canadien model. I'm from Canada and the early ones have metal toggle swtiches and regular mains switch and IEC.
I used 20 volt zeners on a post eq master with the 10k resistor and .22 cap....the volume drop when engaging the zeners doesn't seem as big when your through a cabinet. .at least mine doesn't ...I can tell they are working ...it just doesn't seem like as big a volume drop as it is listening on you tube
Awesome jase 🤘 I should look at shipping my soldano hot rod 100 plus to you next year sometime for a full inspection / service re tube 🤔. And possible mod to make the crunch channel more clean.. Is that even possible to do man?
If I buy a 2203x and it’s ac voltage says 230 by the plug what would I have to do to use it in us just select the voltage? Or would I need a rebias and fuses? 😅
Just select the US voltage and yes, you can change your mains fuse only. The fuse spec will be written on the chassis. Normally T4A for a 100w amp in the US.
