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J M D : 1 – T i m e L i n e a n d A m p H i s t o r y
As prev iou sly sta ted the JMD :1 Serie s incor por at es the
ton es and char act eri sti cs of a vari ety of Marsh all
amp lif ier s and FX ped als . This sec tio n provi des a bri ef
his tor y of all the se prod uct s.
1. 1959
Ini tia lly man ufa ctu re d fro m the mid to lat e 60 s, this
leg end ary amp lif ier emb odi es the very ess enc e of the
vin tag e Marsh all sou nd.
Nic kna med 'Th e Plexi ' due to the gold ple xig las fro nt
pan el, the 195 9 wa s bo rn when The Who ’s gui tar is t, Pete
T own she nd, app roa che d Ma rsh all in the mid ’60s and
ask ed Jim to bu ild him a ‘we apo n’ th at woul d allow him to
pla y so lou d th at he wou ld n’t be able to he ar what the
mem ber s of the aud ien ce were sayi ng , sh oul d th ey have
the she er auda cit y to tal k wh ils t he was perf orm ing ! Jim
and his tea m ob lig ed, and with in week s of Pet e’ s reque st
one of rock ’s mos t in sta ntl y recog nis abl e icons was born -
the 100 W att Mar sha ll stac k.
Alt hou gh prod uct ion of the 1959 cont inu ed long aft er the
196 0s, the end of the Plexi -er a began in ’69 when gold
ano dis ed alum ini um was intr odu ced for the fron t panel s.
The ori gin al 'Ple xis ' have ther efo re beco me extr eme ly
rar e and highl y pr ize d pi ece s of roc k hi sto ry .
2. 1974
De sp ite Ma rs ha ll s icon ic st at us as the cr ea to r of the sta ck ,
Ma rs hal l has al so pr odu ce d a nu mb er of und en ia bl e ico ns
in th e ampl if ie r com bo wor ld . Ini ti all y cre at ed ba ck in 196 6,
th e 1974 is a com pa ct all -v al ve co mb o. Th e 197 4 was
de si gne d to be an aff or da bl e val ve amp li fi er fo r the
ma ss es and so on ga in ed a heal th y rep uta ti on . Set in a top
lo ad ed cab in et , thi s comp ac t 18 Wa tt co mb o hou sed a
si ng le 12” sp ea ke r , wh ic h mea nt not on ly wa s it
im me nse ly po rt ab le but it al so ha d the pow er an d pun ch.
Ut il isi ng EL 84 va lv es, th e ove ra ll fee l and to ne of the 19 74
is in her en tl y dif fe re nt to an EL 34 amp .
Sep ara ted int o two separ ate cha nne ls, eac h wi th two
inp uts for low and high sen sit ivi ty , the 1974 ori gin all y
cam e in two opt ion s, Reve rb or Tr emo lo. Th e stand ard
cha nne l for the am pli fie r had ju st sing le tone and volu me
con tro ls whil st the othe r ch ann el had addit io nal cont ro ls to
adj ust the ef fec t appli ed. Th e 2004 re-i ssu e of the 1974
fea tur ed only the mor e po pul ar T rem olo opt ion and , as
wit h the origi nal uni t, these add iti ona l contr ol s for thi s
cha nne l adjus t both the speed and int ens ity of the eff ect
to the guit ari sts tas te. Th e re -is sue , like all of Mar sha lls
re- iss ued vin tag e ampli fie rs, was a pa ins tak ing rec rea tio n
of the orig ina l un it and even feat ure s the same valv e
tre mol o circu itr y .
Fea tur ed twic e in the JMD :1, the 1974 pro vid es part of
the new sou nd creat ed for the Crun ch Vin tag e mode
whe re it coupl es the tonal qua lit ies of the 1974 with the
EQ of a monst er 1959 . The 1974 is also used for the
Cru nch Ful l pre-a mp mode , wh ere the 1974 ’ s su sta in and
cla rit y of ind ivi dua l notes is used , de mon str ati ng why the
197 4 is sti ll popu lar wit h gui ta ris ts to th is day in its new
197 4X re-i ssu e forma t.
3. JCM80 0 220 3
The 220 3 is qui te simpl y one the most impo rta nt
amp lif ier s Marsh all has eve r creat ed. Evo lvi ng from the
pre vio usl y menti one d 100 Wat t Plexi hea d, it was th e fi rst
to hous e a Mast er V olu me (MV) con tro l. Thi s groun d-
bre aki ng feat ure all owe d the pr e-a mp to di sto rt full y
wit hou t havin g to tur n th e am p up to ten, prov idi ng thic k
ove rdr ive n tone at a frac tio n of the volu me. Fir st avai lab le
in the mid ’70s, it wasn 't unti l 19 81 that the vers ion of the
220 3 we kno w to day was unle ash ed as part of th e mi ght y
JCM 800 ser ies . This str aig htf orw ard , yet highl y versa til e,
sin gle cha nne l monst er , im med iat ely fou nd favo ur with
the rap idl y growi ng heav y me tal sce ne that domi nat ed
muc h of the ’80 s. The wide ran gin g tonal pal ett e of the
220 3 saw it pro ve just as popul ar in th e Br it Pop and
Gru nge lad en ’90s and rema ins the ben chm ark by whic h
all mod ern roc k am ps are judge d. The 2203 has prov id ed
the mus cle beh ind cou ntl ess roc k an d me tal lege nd s and
has app ear ed twic e as a mod if ied sign atu re mode l. The
220 3 provi des the JMD :1 with two pre- amp opt ion s.
Cru nch Cla ssi c deliv ers a ra w ed gy tone, one tha t
opt imi ses the Mar sha ll crun ch soun d. The Ove rdr ive
Dee p pre-a mp pair s th e 22 03 with Mars hal l Blues bre ak er
ped al topo log y , cr eat ing hot -ro dde d tones the way they
sho uld be.
4. T he Guv'n or Dist ortion Ped al
Lau nch ed in the 19 80’ s, the ori gin al Guv’ nor (so call ed as
thi s is Jim Mar sha ll’ s nick nam e) beca me a cla ssi c
foo tpe dal kno wn for high qual it y di sto rti on tone s. Much
lov ed by pros, semi -p ros and amat eur s alike , the Guv’n or
ear ned its elf a sp eci al plac e in the hear ts of disto rti on
smi tte n guita ris ts the worl d over .
5. JMP-1
Rel eas ed in 1992, the JMP- 1 was Marsh all 's firs t ventu re
int o MIDI cont rol led gui tar pre -am ps and the world s first
sup er hybr id pre- amp . Its no coin ci den ce that the
pri nci ple s held by th e JM P-1 hav e be en carri ed forw ard to
the JMD :1, jus t as the name sug ges ts. Thi s was a
rev olu tio nar y rack unit , utili sin g the best of bot h analo gue
and dig ita l MIDI tech nol ogy . The JM P-1 's succ ess lay in
its inc red ibl e tone, wit h th e di git al cont rol cap abi lit ies
add ing a ne w de gre e of fle xib ili ty and versa ti lit y . Gu ita ris ts
cou ld now stor e an d re cal l th eir fav our ite pre -am p to nes
usi ng the JMP- 1's bui lt- in 100 patch es . Gr eat ly resp ect ed
and hig hly pri zed by those who own the m, the JMP-1
rem ain s one of the most rev ere d rack pre- amp s ever .
6. JCM20 00 DSL1 00
In its day the Dual Supe r Lead conta in ed the large st
amo unt of gain a Mar sha ll amp had ever of fer ed. The
DSL 's 2 cha nne l dual mode desi gn mean t that guit ari sts
cou ld chos e eithe r a clea n or crun ch tone fro m the
Cla ssi c Gain chan nel , whils t also picki ng betw een the
2 lead soun ds provi de d by the Ultr a Gain Chan nel . This
ton al vers ati lit y was aided fur the r by the chan nel
spa nni ng Deep and T one Shi ft feat ure s, prov idi ng adde d
pun ch and dept h or extr a cut and bite resp ect ive ly . This
ena ble d the DSL to deli ver a hug e range of all- val ve tone ,
fro m 'Nash vil le Clea n' to mo der n 's coo ped ' metal . With all
thi s pure valv e ve rsa til ity , its eas y to see why the DSL is
sti ll held in high rega rd by many of the wor ld' s top playe rs.
7. Blues brea k er II FX Ped al
The Blu esb rea ker II take s th e ph ilo sop hy of th e or igi nal
Mar sha ll Blue sbr eak er peda l one step furt her , fe atu ri ng
not one but two mode s, Blue s and Bo ost . This ef fec tiv ely
mak es it two pe dal s in one. Th e Blues bre ake r II's Boos t
mod e was desig ned wit h th e vi nta ge valv e amp or ‘ton e
pur ist ’ ty pe of gui tar pla yer in mind . Id eal if you want to
dri ve the fron t-e nd hard er , pus hi ng the amp furth er into
nat ura l overd riv e and witho ut alte rin g the or igi nal ton e.
8. Mode Fo ur (MF35 0)
Fea tur ing a true 'two -am ps- in- one ' desig n, the Mode Four
was cre ate d to of fer the bes t of both cla ssi c and moder n
Mar sha ll tone . A mp 1 and A mp 2 hou se d se par ate
ECC 83 driv en pre- amp cir cui try , wit h th e sh are d 350 W at t
pow er stag e recon fig uri ng when swi tch ing bet wee n
amp lif ier s. Both Amp 1 and A mp 2 fea tur ed two mode s
eac h, addi ng up to four (he nce the nam e) in to tal – Cle an,
Cru nch , OD1 and OD 2. The eno rmo us head room of the
Mod e Four gave it super ior bot tom -en d clout and als o
ret ain ed the tona l defin iti on at hi gh stage vol ume s,
mak ing it idea l fo r me tal and thra sh styl es.
9. JVM Ser ies
Lau nch ed in Novem ber 200 6, the flags hip JVM Ser ies
cau sed the gui tar wor ld to sit up and take note . Featu rin g
4 all-v alv e chann els wit h 3 modes eac h, the JVM4
ran ge off ers gui tar ist s a poss ibl e 12 uni que ton es,
sop his tic at ed chann el swit chi ng tech nol ogy and MID I
cap abi lit ies , confi rm ing Mars hal l' s pl ace at the foref ron t of
val ve- dri ven gui tar amp lif ica tio n. Th e 2 chann el and
apt ly- nam ed JVM2 ran ge foll owe d in Jan uar y 20 08,
del ive rin g a more str eam lin ed and focu sed ver sio n of the
mul ti- awa rd winn ing JVM Ser ies .
So reve red has the JVM beco me, tha t its mu lti -mo de
top olo gy has crea ted thr ee of the JMD :1' s 16 pre -am p
opt ion s. The JMD :1' s Clean Mod ern pre -am p se tti ng
dem ons tra te s the spa rkl ing ton al clar ity of the JVM' s
Cle an chan nel in its initi al gain sta ge, whe rea s Overd riv e
Mod ern cra nks thi ngs up with a pow erf ul cont emp ora ry
cru nch , deriv ed from the JVM 4's red 'mod ed' Cru nch
cha nne l. Fina lly , the Lea d Mo der n pre-a mp util ise s th e
JVM 4's OD1 cha nne l desig n to unle as h an aggr ess iv e,
ful l-b odi ed lead ton e.
10. Haz e40
The mos t recen t am pli fie r to be inclu de d in thes e pre-a mp
sel ect ion s, the Haze ran ge, was laun ch ed in Mar ch 2009
and fea tur es both a 15 W att min i-s tac k and 40 W att 1x1 2''
com bo. Con tai nin g 2 chan nel s, all- val ve sign al path and
stu dio qua lit y effe cts , the Haze4 0 was de sig ned wit h th e
blu es/ jaz z playe r firml y in min d. The amp resp on ds just
how you wou ld expec t, with pic kin g dynam ics and gui tar
con tro ls play ing a big ro le in ach iev ing you r tone. Th e
amp s desig n allow s th e ef fe cts cir cui try to be to tal ly
byp ass ed, pre ser vin g that trea sur ed all- val ve sign al path .
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