Marshall JMD100 review part 2
By MNJ
| Posted in Guitar
The Marshall JMD100 amplifier head is the flagship model of the recently launched JMD:1 Series of hybrid digital pre-amp/valve power stage guitar amplifiers, designed in partnership with Swedish guitar software gurus SoftTube. In part one of this review we outlined the extensive features on offer on the JMD, so to follow up, and with the usual Strat and Les Paul to hand, we set about giving the amp a thorough workout to discover if Marshall’s latest concept is a flyer or whether the idea should have been left on the drawing board.
It’s worth taking a few minutes to download the owner’s manual or at least read through it so that the user has a grasp of exactly how the JMD works and where to start with it. In fact, it’s all fairly straightforward so just plugging in and turning the 16-way selectable pre-amp to the No.1 setting – which is the clean channel of the Marshall JVM410H – and dialling in a small amount of reverb, I was immediately impressed with just how clean the tone was. Clean sounds and Marshall amps have always been strangers but this amp just might swing them the other way. There are three more clean options: a JCM2000, a JMP-1 and the new JMD clean.
Setting up the effects is simple too, just press the Modulation button and select either Chorus, Phaser, Flanger or Tremelo and adjust the modulation and depth. All the effects sound good, there is no digital noise, background glitching or any of the murky undefined characteristics that are so often present in amplifiers that try to do everything. A compromise usually has to be reached somewhere, but if it has on the JMD100, then this reviewer can’ t hear it. The delays can be added to the sound and here there’s a choice of Hi-Fi, Analogue, Tape or Multi, and again the sounds are all pleasing and don’t drench the original signal even if the effect is set high. Once your sound is set up, simply press one of the four memory buttons and there it is saved for instant recall. Both guitars sound good with this as a basic clean, and the JMD responds to adjustments in the guitar volume well.
Next up is the Crunch section, starting with a sound that’s a combination of a Marshall 1974 18-Watt and a 1959 Superlead. This produces a vintage style rhythm tone that would sit nicely in a seventies type rock band. Setting number six turned out to be this reviewer’s favourite – the JCM800 2203 model. As there was an actual JCM800 sitting a few feet away, it was too tempting not to compare the two sounds. It’s hard not to be impressed by a JCM, it’s a bona fide rock classic and the JMD version does not spoil the party. The Crunch section also includes the Haze 40 normal channel, which is great for blues leads, and the return of the 1974, this time on its own. Both are great, usable Marshall guitar sounds and owners will be putting in long hours tweaking the combinations of preamp, gains, effects and EQ to find the sweet spots.
The Overdrive section starts with preamp number nine, which is a Marshall JMP-1/OD2 setting. The JMD starts to get aggressive here and the tone thickens out nicely, as does the next one on the dial – the JVM410 crunch channel. More mids on these settings are going to push other instruments out of the way in a mix, so let battle commence. The Overdrive section is completed by a Deep setting, which is a JCM800 and a Marshall Bluesbreaker II stompox set to max plus a Marshall Mode Four OD2 channel. The results are a hi-gain ‘scooped’ tone which this reviewer found the least usable of all the options but will doubtless prove popular with the metal guys to whom they are squarely aimed.
Needless to say, the four options on the Lead section are all classic hi-gain Marshall, the first three utilising either the Bluesbreaker or Marshall Guv’nor pedals as pre-gain devices. The last option is simply another JVM410H OD1channel in orange mode. The sounds in this last section are powerful, aggressive, and loaded with Marshall attitude. Again, the characteristics of both the Strat and Les Paul were not overcome just because of the huge amounts of gain and distortion on offer.
In conclusion, there is not a bad sound to be found on the JMD. The effects are impressively controlled and there are great clean sounds to be had. If Marshall does not market the preamp as a standalone unit by the close of the year I will be very surprised. There’s a great future for the Marshall JMD100.
Tags: marshall haze, marshall jcm800, marshall jmd100, marshall jvm410, marshall mode four