Super Bass vs JCM 800

Marshall amplifiers. The sound of Rock n’ Roll? At the very least, we can certainly say that Marshall has played an important role in defining the sound of the electric guitar, and especially rock guitar.

In this episode, we are looking at two of Marshall’s most classic amplifiers, from about a decade apart. The first captured the sound of classic rock in the late 60’s and 70’s. The second helped spawn the next generation of 80’s hard rock, metal, and beyond.

The first is the towering titan that is the “plexi” amp. In this case, it’s a Metal Panel Super Bass 100 from 1973. Generally, a “plexi” Marshall is considered to be Non-Master Volume amp with 4 bridgeable inputs.

The second amp is the venerable JCM 800. This one is the Single Channel 50 Watt Model from 1984. In head form it is called the Model 2204. This one is a combo Model 4010.

The general understanding is that the earlier amps were lower gain and were a bit more versatile, while the later JCM800’s were higher gain and a bit of a one-trick pony. We put these notions, and others to the test, sampling everything from clean tones, to crunch, to cranked up devastation. We think you will find the results interesting.

Gear Used:

1973 Marshall Superbass 100
1984 Marshall JCM800 4010
Late 70’s Marshall 4x12 Cabinet with original Celestion G12H30 Blackback Speakers
Custom Built “Tele”
Smitty Custom Classic “Strat”
Gibson SG
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