Marshall JVM — The Watering Hole

5 posts

Johnny #1 · May 11, 2009 04:42 UTC

Saw a band last Thursday evening called Big Bad Bubba. 3 Big bald dudes that played classic rock . The guitarist was playing through a JVM410H and 1960A cab.
I've seen these amps at GC, but haven't tried one out because the JCM2000 series just completely turned me off to Marshall amps. My mistake.

That JVM had the most amazing Marshall tone I have ever heard. There was a depth to the tone I can't put into words. It was rich, deep, and very warm. None of the 2000 series harshness whatsoever. And he was playing at a very modest stage volume to boot. Only pedals he had were delay, tuner, and chorus.

I perused through Youtube to try to find a clip that sounded close to what this dude was getting, and couldn't. People on Youtube that own JVM's either don't know how to capture tone, or they just set their amps to shitty settings....or both (lol!!). I was sitting about 30 ft right in front of the amp, he was playing through a Gibson Les Paul, and it sounded incredible.

Gonna go by GC and check it out now...

dearthian #2 · May 11, 2009 15:22 UTC

I have 2 caveats about the JVM's. One, the higher the gain structure goes, the noisier these bastards get. It sounds like you have a booster on (the combo is far worse). Second, the construction on these is cheap for the money. Plastic corners, the knobs are all mounted to a PCB board behind the front panel. You can actually get this things to wiggle up and down. Sad. We picked Marshall up a couple years ago at the store and both JVM's (head and combo) have sat here. Almost zero interest.

I agree it sounds good, but you have to deal with a hiss that isn't there with with the JSX or the Roadster. It's a deal-breaker for me.

desertbluesman #3 · May 11, 2009 15:51 UTC

I did play the JSX at GC one day, I was totally impressed for such an affordable amp.

Max #4 · Aug 13, 2009 12:54 UTC

Ive been playing through a JVM 410H and a 2X12 box for 2 years. Great amp!

charger #5 · Aug 15, 2009 20:26 UTC

Johnny — May 11, 2009I perused through Youtube to try to find a clip that sounded close to what this dude was getting, and couldn't. People on Youtube that own JVM's either don't know how to capture tone, or they just set their amps to shitty settings....or both (lol!!). I was sitting about 30 ft right in front of the amp, he was playing through a Gibson Les Paul, and it sounded incredible.

Probably not many people on Youtube recording videos from 30 feet away... ')