Two lovely new Marshalls arrived this week - a pair of JCM900 Mk III’s. I have had the model 2501 for a while (50w Mk III 1x12 combo), and love it, but I’ve been trying to get away from combo amps and keep the heads instead. I spotted a Mk III for a good price on Guitar Center’s listings, so I pulled the trigger. Then the very next day, another one, this time even cheaper! I figured I could return the other one if necessary, so I ordered that one too.
The first one arrived and ended up being a 2500 model, 50 watter. It’s in pretty rough shape both externally and has a loose tube socket rivet, which makes it a big question mark even at the price I got it for… I have some time in the return period to decide. I’ve already spent some time cleaning it up and it does sound great, however.
The second arrived a day later, a 2100 model, 100 watter. I have no preference between 50w and 100w, but since I have the SL-X and a 100w JCM800 2203, I think it’d be cool to have all three of them in 100w form, even if just for the sake of comparison. This one is much cleaner condition wise - hardly any rust at all. On a closer inspection, this head shell has been recovered - a few spots lifting on the back but overall a quality tolex job though it doesn’t match the factory Marshall material. The main pause on this unit is the grid resistors for the power tubes clearly burned out internally - there are some burn marks on the PCB and it has had a professional repair internally - the resistors are now mounted directly to the power tubes like a vintage Marshall would have done. A fuse was also moved to a holder for easier replacement - overall good modifications though I wish the scarring inside weren’t so visible, just for the sake of possibly selling it on later.
After some extensive A/B testing, the 50w is brighter but punchier, but overall I think the 100w has a slight edge on the tone - but that might also be related to the replaced/new components internally (it also has several new caps - I checked the values and they are the same as the factory schematic) which warm it up a bit more. The jury is still out on these two but I’m leaning towards keeping the 100w and sending back the 50w, and someone who appreciates these will get a good deal on it.