Hello

I was wondering what kind of music people use the DSL/TSL, JVM, VM, JCM 800/900 for?  Could you give me a description of the sound and why you use your amp for that style of music?

I am deciding on a Marshall amp to buy. It will be my first.  I play all kinds of music, stuff like The Cure, Janes Addiction, Sound Garden, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Black Stabbath, etc.
I am looking for a amp to get good distortion and good power.  Don't really know the differences between the amps. I know I do not like the TSL, sounds to thin and hair metal.

Please help, I really want to buy the amp soon. I will use effects and guitars are Jazz Master, Schecter Ultra III, 335, Les Paul and Tele


Help

Vintage Modern for Blues Rock; think Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore, Free and ZZ Top.

I like the VM because it breaks up quite quickly and still sounds good if you can't push it too hard.

Who told you it HAS to be a Marshall amp? Marshall's are great but there are so many amps out there today, you really should go to a forum which is not solely about Marshall amps...

Giving the bands you are covering the VM may not be your best option for your first Marshall. The VM is a true players amp and asumes the player knows how to get the most out of the two ranges with your guitar. This is why experienced players love this amp and less experienced players give it mixed reviews.

If I were a sales man in a store I would recommend the new JMD1 for you or the JVM amp. Look on this forum in the JMD section to see and hear some demos, all the bands you listed would work great with that amp. Also the JVM will give you many different tones using it's three channels.

Not trying to take you away from the VM but simply would have you consider those others first based upon what you wrote.

Excuse me, I am experienced enough and a good player to use this amp. There is no such thing as oh you need to be this level of a player to use this amp. That attitude with music gear went out with the mid nineties.  If I wanted to cover up my playing then I would just use all rack systems with tons of effects and digital distortion. The groups I named have good guitar players and techniques. You should listen more to their music than just the radio stuff you hear. I listen to everyone from Johnny cash to Metallica to BB King to Mozart.

I am attracted to the VM because of what it can do(from what I know of it). I want the 1974x but I wanted to find something that might be better and able to get more volume.
I know how to use my guitar and its tones well. I love guitar tone and I do not like crap sounds, thats why I say away from many amps and certain effects and rack systems.
I am in a area where I really cannot try all of the amps that I am curious about so I am asking people who have played and have the info about the amps so that I can educate myself about them and if one of them might be the one I want.
Yes if I was a beginning guitar player, I think the JMD1 would be cool but I want a true tube real tube amp and sound. This will not be my first tube amp. I have had other ones before. Plus there are always  guitar players out there that know much more than I do so I would like to hear from everyone, beginners or super experienced.
I do not know a lot about Marshalls as many do, thats why I am asking for help.

My apoligies, no offense intended was just trying to help. Based upon what you wrote and the type of questions you asked I made some assumtions based upon your opening sentence of "I was wondering what kind of music people use the DSL/TSL, JVM, VM, JCM 800/900 for"? Didn't sound like someone who knew a lot about Marshalls.

It is my opinion that there is no better Marshall you can buy today or tone you can get than the Vintage Modern.

Seems everyone likes the VM.  So the JVM is not all that good?  So one channel is still pretty cool to have?

I am starting to want the VM.

Keep in mind, you are on the VM forum. Most people here either own, have owned, or want to own a VM.
  If you are looking for a one channel amp that delivers classic (pre- JCM900) tones than the VM might be for you. If you are looking for a lot of versatility and more modern tones then the JVM may be more to your liking. The amps you listed are all very different and which is right for you is really a personal decision. You really should try to give them at least a test drive before you make any definite decision.

Hey yoshiii,

I play blues and a little bit of rock, the VM 2266 is the only tube Marshall I have owned and IMO a fantastic amp for this genre. There are many features to love about the VM but for me the top two are the sensitivity and the tonal versatility. First, the tones range from clean to pushed to lots of gain and all points in-between without the need for pedals. Second, the amp will pick up all the nuances of your fingers and pick attack, intentional and accidental.

Further down my list of great features are: the price; the fantastic tones at lower volumes; the interaction of the Master Volume with the Body and Detail knobs; the Mid Boost switch; the two dynamic ranges; it sounds awesome with all kinds of guitars and pups; it responds really well to guitar volume and tone knob adjustments; it loves all kinds of pedals (if that's your thing); it is simple to explore and find all kinds of great settings (check out the favorite settings thread on the forum); and, mine is purple for the best possible tone. Things I'm not excited about are the reverb which seems a little weak, and the rocker switches for power, I would rather have the toggle type.

So that means the VM is able to get tones and sounds for most of the Marshall amps before the JCM 900?  That includes the JCM 800?

+1 That is the only way to really know, but keep in mind that the speakers you use in the store may not be broken in yet.

As a very basic guide the Vintage Modern has more of the tones up to but not including the JCM800 i.e. the 60s and 70s.

The JVM has the JCM800 as its base tone but offers so much more.

The Vintage Modern is arguably the best sounding amp Marshall has made for low to medium gain rock tones.  If you listen to great seventies guitar tones with Marshall amps, the VM sounds like that.  It's also very usable at reasonable volume levels as well as extremely loud.

Probably the main thing to consider is whether you need a footswitching capability between a heavily distorted tone and a crystal clean tone.  The VM won't do that, it's designed to clean up with your volume knob and not with a footswitch.  If you need that tonal range, try out one of Marshall's excellent channel switching amps.

This amp does require some technical knowledge to use effectively, technical meaning knowing how controls react and respond, how to make tonal variations with technique alone, etc. I am not saying yoshii that you do not have these skills, you may be very good with these types of things, but I just don't totally agree with your statement above, "There is no such thing as oh you need to be this level of a player to use this amp."
I do know guitar players that can play the heck out of a guitar, but can't tune very well, or know how to get certain sounds out of amps, use effects, etc. and would be totally lost using the VM, unless they want one sound only all the time.
As far as the VM goes, if you want tones from the 60's, 70's and even up to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (like Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast, or Scorpions Blackout) then the VM is for you. With the right pedals you can get more modern tones. If you want the Mesa type of tight bottom, the VM is not for you.
I don't think you can go wrong with a JCM800. I tried the JVM series, and it is very versatile, but I found it lacked a little character, maybe from trying to do too much.

I really like my VM but I think it really has a tone of it´s own. I have done recordings with my VM, JVM and Plexi Reissue and I get a closer tone to the Plexi with my JVM than my VM I think. The VM has a more sort of open a little bit more trebly sound. A bit more Fender like I think. The VM also seems to have a less compressed tone than the JVM and Plexi. So you really can make the JVM sound vintage also.