Rebuild power section of JCM800 to FRFR?

Y

ynor

Member
I have an old Marshall JCM800 2205 that's been gathering dust for 10 years, and I fired it up last night to try it as a power amp on my Axe-FX II. Clearly the old Marshall needs a complete overhaul as it sounded really bad, so I got to thinking it would be nice if I could modify the power section of it to FRFR so it can become of use as a power amp with amp sims on. I think the original Marshall character doesn't fit well with many amps in the Axe-FX, at least that wasn't the case when I tried it in the return of the FX-loop of a Marshall AFD100.

I guess I need a new trafo (used to run it as a preamp without a load in my youth not knowing better), new potmeters and some capacitors anyway beside new tubes to get the Marshall back to sounding good, but does anyone have recommendations of rebuilding the power section to something like the Atomic Monoblock? I do have some practial experience in modifing amps, but not when it comes to design.
 
Tube guitar amps will never power flat systems properly. Your time/ money would be better spent selling it and buying a Matrix.
 
I wouldn't dare to sell the old Marshall, as it was a gift from my parents :)

Yes, I'm planning on getting a Matrix for our rehearsal studio, but I need yet another power amp at home and could use this old Marshall for that. I though the Atomic Monoblocks were well suited as a FRFR power amp?
 
I would get the JCM800 refurbished back to its original glory and add an efx loop mod.

Then you can use it normally or just the power section only if you plug into just the efx return.
 
barhrecords said:
I would get the JCM800 refurbished back to its original glory and add an efx loop mod.

Then you can use it normally or just the power section only if you plug into just the efx return.
Click to expand...

^ this , you'll probably be surprised at how good it would sound if used this way.
 
kmanick said:
^ this , you'll probably be surprised at how good it would sound if used this way.
Click to expand...

The 2205 has an unbuffered FX-loop, and I did try it but didn't sound good due to it lacking service. I did try it on the Marshall AFD100, which has a simular power section. It did sound amazingly good on Marshall type amps, but not so much on many other amps which is the reason I'm looking for a FRFR solution.
 
...and probably the most important reason: The looks of a Marshall stack is unbeatable! I'm not a fan of racks. But I wouldn't fake it and put it empty on top of the cab just for looks ;) I might eventually use it live...
 
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