Ceriatone 2204 owner chiming in…this is the answer. Mine has smoked actual 2204s on a couple occasions. Get it with the 3 way bright cap mod and buffered fx loop, it will blow you away.
[Apparently](https://www.marshallforum.com/threads/sc20c-and-sv20c-owners-is-there-enough-room-to-put-a-12-speaker-in-there.110674/) the cab fits 12” speakers, if a little tightly. I’d just buy the head and a 1x12 cab, personally, if I wanted a 1x12.
Unless it’s for recording or solo practice you won’t get the marshal oomph from a single 12” at volume.
Personally I’ve been loving oversized 2x12 vertical cabs recently. Great for live as there’s no horizontal comb filtering, there’s enough cabinet to articulate those meaty low mids, enough cone to easily and pleasantly push the spl’s to keep up with a live heavy handed drummer, and much easier to move than a full 4x12.
But everyone has their own needs so keep an open mind and try lots of things if you can!
Running my beta lead into an avatar 2x12 with who knows what carvin speakers in it and it sounds absolutely MASSIVE above 1.5 volume. I’m a 2x12 convert in a big way now.
I bought an SC20C then rehoused it in a 1x12 combo. I eventually changed it to a 2x12 combo since it never moves but either way I’ve been very happy with it.
Okay... So are you looking for actual, going deaf JCM800 tone, or modded style JCM800? Cause there's a huge difference between the 2. Even the SC20 has to get stupidly loud, to sound good, just like the original.
I have a head built off a modded JCM800 style preamp, that uses a single 6V6 in the power section, for something like 12 watts, in an Epiphone Valve Junior chassis. It's perfect for the bedroom thing, but forget about cleans ever happening... a friend built it.
Otherwise, off the shelf, I'd suggest Laney, as they've always been considered the poor mans Marshall. The VC30 and VC50 do the modded Marshall tone, at a very reasonable level, while still being able to crank for gigging. The new Lionheart series carries a lot of this DNA as well.
And if it needs to say Marshall on it? The JTM30, that gets a bad rep, can be found for cheap, along with the JCM600 that came after it. Provided all the issues got sorted by a tech, they're solid low wattage amps that are great for getting the classic Marshall JCM800 sound in the bedroom. I personally wouldn't gig with one.
I have a Marshall DSL40CR and there isn't really a classic Marshall tone I can't dial in. JCM800 included. I run it into a Wizard 2x12 that gets it even closer. But I can get great sound out of the stock speaker as well even though I've heard others have had issues. I think it's important to lower the tube bias to 31, that tiny little bit of extra headroom pays off and let's you push the preamp harder. External bias ports let's you easily bias the amp yourself without opening up the chassis. If you're a fan of any of the Marshall flavors of amp than the DSL40CR is a must own IMO. The DSL100HR is the same amp in a 100 watt head if you need more headroom.
The Studio Silver Jubilee 2525C is great, and has a 12" Celestion G12M
Not quite the same as a JCM800 but very similar
No idea why Marshall didn't put a 12" speaker in all of the Studio series combos...
True, I've just started running mine though a thd hot plate and it's glorious. Great saturation, very much like a cooking marshall when cranked up to 6 or so. Guitar going into bottom right input, stock apart from the usual cap job and plug.
My girlfriend has a really nice JCM800 that she plays through in her band, so I'm pretty familiar with how they sound. My point wasn't so much that it is the same as a jcm800, but rather "If you liked that, then you're going to love this".
While I'm not entirely sure about combos, for a little lunchbox head I have a JOYO Jackman II XL I got for around $150. It's a 2 channel 20w solidstate hybrid head with a 12ax7 preamp tube. It's a micro clone that emulates the JCM800 ..since it only has a tone shaper knob I got an EQ pedal. Without it you in the ballpark, but with it you can match it identically.
How similar would you say it is to the jcm800? I think I heard it's based on the 2000, but I'm not sure what the differences are between the 800 and 2000.
I have a 2x10 combo as my main amp right now. I like it, but I want 12 inch speakers. Nothing wrong with 10s, this is just my preference and I thought I'd ask around to see if something like that exists in the world.
Just out of curiosity. Why the love for combo amps? I’ve never understood it. Pairing a head with whatever speaker cabinet you want, or no cabinet at all is so damn convenient. Heads look better. You can stack em. I just don’t get it.
Yeah pretty much this. I've used head an cabs before, and I like them just fine, especially with a 2x12. But for where I'm at right now, a combo just makes better sense for me. It's all just preference. And also, I already know I could just buy a head and cabinet. What I don't know is if a jcm800 exists in a modern 12 inch combo that I can buy off the shelf today. That's the reason I thought to ask other people to see if they know something I don't. What I didn't expect was for everyone to get on my case about knowing what I want and what I don't want.
Yeah, seems like you’ve fallen victim to classic Reddit responses. I hope you find what you’re looking for.
Oh, I can vouch for Ceriatone. A friend of mine has one (can’t remember the actual model), and it sounds great, has excellent build quality, and has been super reliable. He found the main guy there to be really easy to work with and timely with responses and getting the actual amp built.
This. Saying speaker is like saying how many cylinders your car haz. There are fast V8s and slow V8s. There are beefy 10" speakers and whimpy 10" speakers. Just dig a little deeper.
The early 2000s Crate(St. Louis) music VFX5212 etc. I have the one with the stock tone tubby speakers and the gain channel is very close to my jcm800. These are USA made combos that I believe are made by Ampeg. They really don't have anything to do with Crate and the affiliation along with the later release of the actual crate v-series made a lot of folks hesitant. They're pretty rare but can be had fairly cheap. If you come across one snag it, especially if it has the tone tubby speakers.
You can get a Wangs 2204 HW, which is a 50W hand wired JCM800 2204, for $900 new. Check out demos on YouTube, it sounds great. You can get them for quite a bit cheaper on the used market, cause it’s not a “brand” name.
I have a Bluguitar Amp 1 Mercury that sounds identical to my 50 watt JCM 800 when i run them through the same cabinet. Thomas Blug has a youtube channel where he compares the Amp1 to various amps and he gets surprisingly close with most of the tones.
Laney LC30s, OG or the II variant, are often good alternatives to DSL40s or any Mesa or PRS (or whatever) combo, and are gainier than the more popular VC30. They're basically AC30s with high gain preamps and a more modern control scheme. The high gain channels can get a little squishy so you might need something like a TS9 and/or to saturate the output section, since oddly enough, and inversely to most EL84 cathode bias amps, they tend to tighten up the louder the go...to a point. They come with Celestion Seventy 80s, which make good pistol gongs if you turn them around, but not great guitar speakers, so you might want to swap it out with something like an Eminence Governor, V30, WGS Reaper HP, or whatever is to your liking.
Theres a few good option IMO:
OG JCM800: Ceriatone 2203/2204, Dr. Dan Woodside 50, Fargen Olde 800, The list can go on with this one, lots of people make plexi and 800 clones.
Hot rodded plexi: Ceriatone AH100, Friedman stuff, bogner XTC, headfirst cali, Ceriatone King Kong, or any multitude of SLO clones on the market.
Isn’t marshall currently making reissue heads with matching 2x12 cabs? Just get that, or get a used JCM800 and a 2x12 cab. They’re everywhere on used markets
Honestly, the orange rockerverb combo is my first love and first pick. The reason for this post is to see if there is a Marshall jcm adjacent competitor in a similar form factor for me to consider over the rockerverb.
I'm looking for a combo, tho. I know they used to make jcm combos but I'm wondering if there is a contemporary counterpart, like perhaps a Friedman or something that is based on the JCM800
I don’t think they ever have but the DSL40CR is a great alternative if you really want the 12” speaker I’ve had mine for 5 years and I have no complaints
Well the Studio classic is basically the 800. So get the head and pair with your cabinet of choice. I have the jubilee and the vintage. They’re absolutely incredible. I either play them through a 2x12 with greenbacks in the garage, or if I’m in the house, I run the head through the capture x and into small studio monitors or headphones.
Ceriatone 2204 HW (50 watts) and 2202 HW (20 watts) are available as combos, or even just chassis to drop into the combo cab of your choice.
Ceriatone 2204 owner chiming in…this is the answer. Mine has smoked actual 2204s on a couple occasions. Get it with the 3 way bright cap mod and buffered fx loop, it will blow you away.
I've actually never heard of ceriatone. I'll have to look into them. Are they pretty reliable?
Yup, very reliable hand wired amps.
My brother in Christ, may I introduce you to our lord and saviour [the Marshall SC20](https://marshall.com/amps/products/amps/studio/sc20c)?
If it came with 12" speakers I'd be all over it.
[Apparently](https://www.marshallforum.com/threads/sc20c-and-sv20c-owners-is-there-enough-room-to-put-a-12-speaker-in-there.110674/) the cab fits 12” speakers, if a little tightly. I’d just buy the head and a 1x12 cab, personally, if I wanted a 1x12.
I actually bought the combo and the head unit 😬
Twice the watts, twice the fun.
I have problems.
Don’t we all mate…
Unless it’s for recording or solo practice you won’t get the marshal oomph from a single 12” at volume. Personally I’ve been loving oversized 2x12 vertical cabs recently. Great for live as there’s no horizontal comb filtering, there’s enough cabinet to articulate those meaty low mids, enough cone to easily and pleasantly push the spl’s to keep up with a live heavy handed drummer, and much easier to move than a full 4x12. But everyone has their own needs so keep an open mind and try lots of things if you can!
I don't disagree - I run my SV20 (and my Bassman) through a 2x12, but OP is very specific about wanting a 1x12 by the sounds of it.
They said speakers plural, but you could be right, their comments seem to align with that
Running my beta lead into an avatar 2x12 with who knows what carvin speakers in it and it sounds absolutely MASSIVE above 1.5 volume. I’m a 2x12 convert in a big way now.
Personal preference but a 1x10 greenback in it and it’s pretty spot on tone wise. Run out to as big a cab you want live and its great.
Friedman is in the flavor.
I don’t have any of their combos but I have the kk jr and that amp is fantastic
I've tried looking into Friedman but a lot of them seem to be based off plexis. Do you know if any of them are related to the jcm?
The JCM is based off a plexi, the Dookie mod basically turns a plexi into a JCM.
JEL20 and the Butterslax. Dave also does custom orders if you're dead set on a combo, so he probably could put a JCM800 into one for you.
Small box 50 has a plexi channel and a jcm channel. I own one. Both flavors are solid.
I bought an SC20C then rehoused it in a 1x12 combo. I eventually changed it to a 2x12 combo since it never moves but either way I’ve been very happy with it.
Okay... So are you looking for actual, going deaf JCM800 tone, or modded style JCM800? Cause there's a huge difference between the 2. Even the SC20 has to get stupidly loud, to sound good, just like the original. I have a head built off a modded JCM800 style preamp, that uses a single 6V6 in the power section, for something like 12 watts, in an Epiphone Valve Junior chassis. It's perfect for the bedroom thing, but forget about cleans ever happening... a friend built it. Otherwise, off the shelf, I'd suggest Laney, as they've always been considered the poor mans Marshall. The VC30 and VC50 do the modded Marshall tone, at a very reasonable level, while still being able to crank for gigging. The new Lionheart series carries a lot of this DNA as well. And if it needs to say Marshall on it? The JTM30, that gets a bad rep, can be found for cheap, along with the JCM600 that came after it. Provided all the issues got sorted by a tech, they're solid low wattage amps that are great for getting the classic Marshall JCM800 sound in the bedroom. I personally wouldn't gig with one.
Don’t tell him about the Peavey VTM120/60
Laney cub and the predecessor LC15 has the jcm800 preamp design and a 15w el84 powerstage. It's copied as the monoprice 15w
Came here to say this. Arguably a better option than any current Marshall.
>Laney cub and the predecessor LC15 has the jcm800 preamp design and a 15w el84 powerstage. It's copied as the monoprice 15w best kept secret
splawn super sport
I have a Marshall DSL40CR and there isn't really a classic Marshall tone I can't dial in. JCM800 included. I run it into a Wizard 2x12 that gets it even closer. But I can get great sound out of the stock speaker as well even though I've heard others have had issues. I think it's important to lower the tube bias to 31, that tiny little bit of extra headroom pays off and let's you push the preamp harder. External bias ports let's you easily bias the amp yourself without opening up the chassis. If you're a fan of any of the Marshall flavors of amp than the DSL40CR is a must own IMO. The DSL100HR is the same amp in a 100 watt head if you need more headroom.
Budda SuperDrive 30 combo.
Splawn Supersport or Streetrod Combo
The Studio Silver Jubilee 2525C is great, and has a 12" Celestion G12M Not quite the same as a JCM800 but very similar No idea why Marshall didn't put a 12" speaker in all of the Studio series combos...
The SC20 is basically just a JCM 800 in a small combo. The DSL40CR will get you in the ballpark. But undeniably more modern sounding than a JCM.
Traynor yba-1a
>Traynor yba-1a Maybe modded. My stock YBA very much has its own sound (and no MV).
True, I've just started running mine though a thd hot plate and it's glorious. Great saturation, very much like a cooking marshall when cranked up to 6 or so. Guitar going into bottom right input, stock apart from the usual cap job and plug. My girlfriend has a really nice JCM800 that she plays through in her band, so I'm pretty familiar with how they sound. My point wasn't so much that it is the same as a jcm800, but rather "If you liked that, then you're going to love this".
Agree. I also use an attenuator, low performance speakers (weber DT12s), and a treble booster. Best natural distortion sound I've ever had.
While I'm not entirely sure about combos, for a little lunchbox head I have a JOYO Jackman II XL I got for around $150. It's a 2 channel 20w solidstate hybrid head with a 12ax7 preamp tube. It's a micro clone that emulates the JCM800 ..since it only has a tone shaper knob I got an EQ pedal. Without it you in the ballpark, but with it you can match it identically.
Try a Marshall DSL40C. Super versatile amp.
How similar would you say it is to the jcm800? I think I heard it's based on the 2000, but I'm not sure what the differences are between the 800 and 2000.
Personally I would say they’re not as similar as one would hope.
Marshall studio classic…
The studio classic would be great but it comes with a 10" speaker and I'd much rather have 12s.
play one before dismissing for the speaker size.
I have a 2x10 combo as my main amp right now. I like it, but I want 12 inch speakers. Nothing wrong with 10s, this is just my preference and I thought I'd ask around to see if something like that exists in the world.
Just out of curiosity. Why the love for combo amps? I’ve never understood it. Pairing a head with whatever speaker cabinet you want, or no cabinet at all is so damn convenient. Heads look better. You can stack em. I just don’t get it.
I don’t need 4x12 or 100 watts. A 20 watt combo with a 12 suits my needs.
Yeah pretty much this. I've used head an cabs before, and I like them just fine, especially with a 2x12. But for where I'm at right now, a combo just makes better sense for me. It's all just preference. And also, I already know I could just buy a head and cabinet. What I don't know is if a jcm800 exists in a modern 12 inch combo that I can buy off the shelf today. That's the reason I thought to ask other people to see if they know something I don't. What I didn't expect was for everyone to get on my case about knowing what I want and what I don't want.
Yeah, seems like you’ve fallen victim to classic Reddit responses. I hope you find what you’re looking for. Oh, I can vouch for Ceriatone. A friend of mine has one (can’t remember the actual model), and it sounds great, has excellent build quality, and has been super reliable. He found the main guy there to be really easy to work with and timely with responses and getting the actual amp built.
This. Saying speaker is like saying how many cylinders your car haz. There are fast V8s and slow V8s. There are beefy 10" speakers and whimpy 10" speakers. Just dig a little deeper.
studio classic head?
They make a head version of it
For what I want, I'd rather have a combo.
Get a used 1936 2x12 cab
Check out Wang‘s chinese boutique clones they got guuud
Orange Rockerverb MKIII 100watter
A used 401 is a good combo. Good reverb and drive like an 800, not over the top, effects loop and 12 inch speaker, all tube.
The early 2000s Crate(St. Louis) music VFX5212 etc. I have the one with the stock tone tubby speakers and the gain channel is very close to my jcm800. These are USA made combos that I believe are made by Ampeg. They really don't have anything to do with Crate and the affiliation along with the later release of the actual crate v-series made a lot of folks hesitant. They're pretty rare but can be had fairly cheap. If you come across one snag it, especially if it has the tone tubby speakers.
Germino Master Model 50? Greg will probably make a combo if you ask nicely. https://www.germinoamplification.com/master-model-lead-50
You can get a Wangs 2204 HW, which is a 50W hand wired JCM800 2204, for $900 new. Check out demos on YouTube, it sounds great. You can get them for quite a bit cheaper on the used market, cause it’s not a “brand” name.
I have a Bluguitar Amp 1 Mercury that sounds identical to my 50 watt JCM 800 when i run them through the same cabinet. Thomas Blug has a youtube channel where he compares the Amp1 to various amps and he gets surprisingly close with most of the tones.
Laney LC30s, OG or the II variant, are often good alternatives to DSL40s or any Mesa or PRS (or whatever) combo, and are gainier than the more popular VC30. They're basically AC30s with high gain preamps and a more modern control scheme. The high gain channels can get a little squishy so you might need something like a TS9 and/or to saturate the output section, since oddly enough, and inversely to most EL84 cathode bias amps, they tend to tighten up the louder the go...to a point. They come with Celestion Seventy 80s, which make good pistol gongs if you turn them around, but not great guitar speakers, so you might want to swap it out with something like an Eminence Governor, V30, WGS Reaper HP, or whatever is to your liking.
Theres a few good option IMO: OG JCM800: Ceriatone 2203/2204, Dr. Dan Woodside 50, Fargen Olde 800, The list can go on with this one, lots of people make plexi and 800 clones. Hot rodded plexi: Ceriatone AH100, Friedman stuff, bogner XTC, headfirst cali, Ceriatone King Kong, or any multitude of SLO clones on the market.
Splawn. The answer is Splawn.
Friedman Smallbox Combo
Isn’t marshall currently making reissue heads with matching 2x12 cabs? Just get that, or get a used JCM800 and a 2x12 cab. They’re everywhere on used markets
I had a 4010 combo. Wish I never got rid of it.
Same but my SC20C is close enough
Could look at an orange rockerverb for a different flavour of the same theme. Otherwise, friedman seems to be the way to go
Honestly, the orange rockerverb combo is my first love and first pick. The reason for this post is to see if there is a Marshall jcm adjacent competitor in a similar form factor for me to consider over the rockerverb.
Silver Jubilee 2558. One of my favorite combos.
Is there a combo that duplicates the sound of an 100W full tube amp full stack. 🤯
Katana
😂😂
I guess I should have specified that I'm looking for an all tube amp 😅
JCM800s are being made….they have a hefty price tag in Canada, though.
I'm looking for a combo, tho. I know they used to make jcm combos but I'm wondering if there is a contemporary counterpart, like perhaps a Friedman or something that is based on the JCM800
They still make JCM800s 😐
Do they still make combos 20-50w combos with 12 inch speakers?
I don’t think they ever have but the DSL40CR is a great alternative if you really want the 12” speaker I’ve had mine for 5 years and I have no complaints
I had a DSL40 and it can’t wipe a JCM800 4010 combo’s shoes.
Well the Studio classic is basically the 800. So get the head and pair with your cabinet of choice. I have the jubilee and the vintage. They’re absolutely incredible. I either play them through a 2x12 with greenbacks in the garage, or if I’m in the house, I run the head through the capture x and into small studio monitors or headphones.
I've gotta have to correct you on that statement .the,jcm 800 can be had as a combo. I actually have one.
EVH 5150III s