backwater Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Hi Folks, I'm looking to get a new amp (as I've sold mine and am amp-less!). Looking at getting a Marshall amp - preferably a silver jubilee bass head or a JCM800 bass head. Both of these seem to be thin on the ground currently but I managed to find a cheap JCM900 Mk1 head (i.e. the one before the Dual Reverb and SLX) and I was considering getting this to use with a bass cab as a rig. Has anyone tried using the JCM900s as a bass amp - any thoughts? Thanks Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Used it as a guitar amp for years amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 its not gonna do a clean sound as per say but it'll do the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegarcia Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 [quote name='waynepunkdude' post='288708' date='Sep 21 2008, 07:55 PM']Used it as a guitar amp for years amazing[/quote] Used the JCM900 50w version for a couple of days and hated it. Sold it and got a JCM800 bass series 100w which is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 (edited) [quote name='joegarcia' post='288718' date='Sep 21 2008, 08:08 PM']Used the JCM900 50w version for a couple of days and hated it. Sold it and got a JCM800 bass series 100w which is great.[/quote] It really is a matter of opinion between those 2. I have heard a JCM650 that sounded pretty good. Edited September 21, 2008 by waynepunkdude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Marshall guitar heads have a built in low end roll off so the distortion doesn't sound mushy with guitars. Whether or not that is a sound you are after on bass is preference, but I prfer to *feel* my low end, especially anything around or below a 5 string. That said, Lemmy's bass sound is gnarly as... and there doesn't appear to be much low end girth there.. as I say, it's down to preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 [quote name='dood' post='288973' date='Sep 22 2008, 09:45 AM']Marshall guitar heads have a built in low end roll off so the distortion doesn't sound mushy with guitars. Whether or not that is a sound you are after on bass is preference, but I prfer to *feel* my low end, especially anything around or below a 5 string. That said, Lemmy's bass sound is gnarly as... and there doesn't appear to be much low end girth there.. as I say, it's down to preference.[/quote] aye would be going for a jcm600 or one of the jtm series that don't have the roll off, i think lemmys bass still has the epic amount of low end he needs with his 4X15s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegarcia Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Yup, Mr Foxen has a jcm600 he [i]might[/i] be persuaded to part with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Depending on transport, the JCM600 will be being tested as the high end side of my biamp plan. However, if someone were to come to pBristol with a sum of cash to offer me for it, I'd have a hard time refusing, as I have my eye on other toys. It's 60w and I'm suspicious that the reverb might not work. Since the reverb isn't useful to me I haven't bothered trying to fix it, but will if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kemra Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Hmmmm it's certainly an interesting idea. I have Marshall JCM900 100watt half stack in my bedroom but have yet to test it out on my bass...... If it sounds any good I may just keep it instead of selling it like I was planning to. Hopefully I'll get chance to see how it sounds this weekend and I'll report back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Years ago I used a Marshall 100 watt guitar head into a bass cab. That was in the days when Marshall had the shop in Ealing Broadway. I tried all the 100 watt amps they had and that particular one sounded the best to me. I suppose it was punchier and might have had a bit less bass but as the regular bass sound of the day was very woolly and indistinct, I guess that was a good thing. I never had less bass than the other players at that time. I also got even more punch out of the amp by linking the 2 input channels together. It can be done but I don't know how the new amps compare to the old amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 I've used a JCM2000 [i]as well as[/i] my bass amp when recording, it sounds immense. Why not try that. You just need to budget for a bigger van to shift it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashevans09 Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 It might be worth giving alkaline trio's album (Agony and Irony) a listen because their bassist played a P through marshall geetar heads IIRC. Sounds good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegarcia Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Can't lump all Marshall heads together though. I have played through older guitar ones which were awesome but honestly, the JCM900 was horrible. From experience I'd suggest either an old 70's one or a Bass Series one, or using it alongside a bass specific amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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