Which modeler can get me the best goosed JCM 800?

Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 1487 Location: Atlanta, GA

Can anyone record me a clip of some over the top power metal on a modeler? The HD 500 is appealing but I haven't found any good boosted clips on the tube so I know we have a few users here so I figured I would ask. Also, if we have any mustang 3 or 4 users, could you record a "British 80's" clip with boost via USB? I am looking for a new silent practice/ recording rig and am getting close to my sound on my XT live but would love to find a better model that reacts better and potentially without the high end fizz of the XT.

Any takers? Playing some Hammerfall , Dio, or Priest would be great.

Thanks!

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

What kind of computer are you using? Do you have an iPad or iPhone? The best sounds I have heard for under 2k is AmpKit from Agile and JamUp Pro XT.... You'll need an iDevice for those though.

Other than that I would say the best is the Kemper modelling amp followed by the Axe Fx... The older Standard can be bought for a good price now that it's discontinued. I didn't like the one on the HD500 which I used a lot for about 6 months. I didn't like the model on the 11Rack either because it had some weird frequencies in it that couldn't be taken out.

If you have an iPhone, iPad or Mac though then you can get set up for pretty cheap and they sound amazing.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12253 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

kemper and axe fx. everything else has wierd mids and scratchy digital highs.

Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 1487 Location: Atlanta, GA

I do have an iPad but would like something to stand alone as well.

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 10593 Location: Canada

BLOODROOT wrote:

...scratchy digital highs.

You can get a cream for that.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

RenegadeDave wrote:

I do have an iPad but would like something to stand alone as well.

If you have the iPad get JamUpPro XT... It's like an Axe Fx on iPad. It's amazing, and totally beyond most anything else out there. It's cheap because you already own the hardware...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n196r771LF8

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:42 am

Totally juiced JCM800? I use the 5150 model on my Roland Cube...

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 4:17 am

Aceman wrote:

Totally juiced JCM800? I use the 5150 model on my Roland Cube...

The voicings are different. 800s are EL-34 based and the 5150 is 6L6. They are two very different sounding amps. The 5150 is far from a 800 clone, that is a misconception. The 5134 on the other hand is EL-34 based and sounds quite British. There is nothing I can do to my 6505 controls to make it sound like a 800

EDIT: I have owned a few 800s, they still sound like a Marshall boosted or not, far from the 5150/6505. There is a few clips on Youtube of modded/boosted 800s, they sound awesome

Joined: 06 Jul 2011 Posts: 122

I have always enjoyed the Simulanalog series of plug-ins. http://www.simulanalog.org/
They are free!
I have run the tube screamer before the marshall....it is pretty nice.
Play with a cab simulator on top of this and alot o options open up.
Good luck!

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

Northwinds wrote:

Aceman wrote:

Totally juiced JCM800? I use the 5150 model on my Roland Cube...

The voicings are different. 800s are EL-34 based and the 5150 is 6L6. They are two very different sounding amps. The 5150 is far from a 800 clone, that is a misconception. The 5134 on the other hand is EL-34 based and sounds quite British. There is nothing I can do to my 6505 controls to make it sound like a 800

My 800 has 6550s... All of the older ones were 6550 based before they had EL34s.

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:03 am

^^^^^ I agree on that point but the 6550 tube has way more crunch and headroom which is why it stands head and shoulders above a 6L6. I suppose a loose comparison could be applied if your talking about 6550 vs EL-34 equipped Marshalls. I guess it's all in the ears when comparing the two

I can tell you for a fact that my 6505 does not sound like an 800. I never liked the 5150/6505 being called a poor man's Marshall because I can't relate the two. This is just my opinion

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

Northwinds wrote:

^^^^^ I agree on that point but the 6550 tube has way more crunch and headroom which is why it stands head and shoulders above a 6L6. I suppose a loose comparison could be applied if your talking about 6550 vs EL-34 equipped Marshalls. I guess it's all in the ears when comparing the two

I can tell you for a fact that my 6505 does not sound like an 800. I never liked the 5150/6505 being called a poor man's Marshall because I can't relate the two. This is just my opinion

I have owned a 5150 212, a 6505 212, a 6505+ 112, (2) 6505 heads and a 6505+ head. NONE of them have ever sounded like a JCM800 to me. I used to have a 50 watt JCM800 MKII and I currently own a 2203ZW JCM800 so I can speak on that (The ZW is just a 6550 based original JCM800 that was made before Marshall actually re-issued the JCM800 because Zakk wanted his sig amp to be based off of an original JCM800, not some new incarnation).

The original JCM800s and the JMP2203 which is the predecessor to the JCM800 had 6550s in N America because at the time there was a lower supply of EL34s for N America. That and the 6550 is a much more reliable tube and has more low end and higher clean headroom where as the EL-34 breaks up sooner. In the UK and other places they came with EL-34 so you will find versions with both tube sets out on the market, and both amps can be biased to take either tube with a little tech work and some value changes internally.

The 5150/6505 has more of a SLO100 kinda tone if anything but even then it's still it's own thing. When James designed the 5150 for Ed it wasn't to mimic the sound of his Marshalls. They started from scratch and made something completely different.

Back to the modeller thing though. If you don't want to use the iPad for JamUp Pro then I would suggest the Kemper if your pockets are deep enough. Also you can get an original Axe Fx Standard for about a grand now and an Ultra for about $1400. The Kemper, brand new though is cheaper then the Axe Fx II and to me sounds better. That said, for $20 you can get JamUp Pro and have amazing tone on the iPad, so it's kind of a no brainer.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

just buy a marshall.I have a jmp-1 rack preamp and its got every marshall tone in it u could ever need I love mine I use an ada microcab with mine. kills any modeler ive heard.its got great attack and isnt muddy.But hey thats my opinion but i do know marshall tone very well.Why play something that trys to copy or reproduce the sound your looking for?It will always be second rate to the real thing!

Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 1091

I can't recommend the Kemper enough... Best gear purchase I've made in YEARS. Absolutely LOVE mine.