wiht1

First post, be kind!
I have a 1981 jcm800 100w head i'm wanting to sell. I know this is one of the first JCM 800's made as it was produced in the year the inception of the jcm800's. It's in really good condition, no mods and plays like a beast. What kind of offer can I be expecting? Any help greatly appreciated.

gumbilicious

i have seen the 2204 at guitar center for ~1100, so maybe a 2203 may go for 1200 or 1300. that would prob be considered full on retail. if you sell it to a guitar center i wouldn't expect to get more than 500 or 600 bucks for it (maybe less).

if you sell it on CL or ebay you may be able to sell it for around 1000 usd. most savy guitar gear buyers would want it for 800 or less. if you have patience and don't need to get rid of it too quick you may be able to get someone to buy it for like 1200 to 1400.

someone could prob give you better numbers. btw, marshall reissued this amp and it sells for ~2300 bucks O.o

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"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."
-ae

gregs1020

i think gumbi is pretty accurate except the top end. i can't see it ever going for more than $1200, and that would be someone that really wanted it.

$800-1000 would be my guess though.

gumbilicious

thx greg

i was kinda guessing

__________________
"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."
-ae

311ZOSOVHJH

Yeah, I was thinking in that range too. If it was in great condition and had new tubes you might fetch that.

Try using the 'Cool Look Up' link in my sig. too to get an idea.

It works like this:

http://www.adhuntr.com/2012/05/all....qdr=a&sa=Search

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gregs1020

righto gumbi.


2 - 1981 50 watt (2204) heads have sold on the bay recently. one was $1089 and the other $1075.

the 100 watter (2203) may be slightly more or less desirable, i honestly don't know. but that's what heads of the same year went for.

gumbilicious

^^man, i always forget about that lookup tool



i was kinda assuming the 100 watt was more desirable, but that was pure assumption. kinda neglected that fact that used markets don't work like the new markets where the higher wattage version always goes for more cash.

__________________
"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."
-ae

Cathbard

The 100W is more desirable. You can turn a 2203 into a 2204 by just pulling two tubes, you can't turn a 2204 into a 2203 without major surgery.
1981 makes it a vertical, that makes it one of the most sought after amps in history. It's the last true Marshall before the bean counters got control of the company and ****ed everything up.

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Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

gumbilicious

they use the same trannie between the 100 watt and the 50 watt?

__________________
"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."
-ae

Cathbard

Different output tranny of course. You can't run a 2203 with two tubes pulled into a 4 ohm load. Well, you can but it isn't recommended.
Iirc they standardise the power tranny on the 800.

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

311ZOSOVHJH

For sake of continuing the discussion in the hopes it helps the TS can you please elaborate? Plus it will drive me crazy if I don't understand. My amp is a JCM800 clone basically but I don't think Scott uses different trannies. It does have a built in half power switch and can run pentode/triode mode due to all of that.

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gregs1020

not to everyone. plenty of people prefer 50 watters to 100 watters.

to some it absolutely is yes, but not as a blanket statement.

even though you could pull two tubes and run it at 50 watts some people would prefer to just buy the 50 watter.

/inb4thoseguysarepussies

Cathbard

Oh, ok. It's all about the input impedance of the transformer. If you remove two tubes the impedance no longer matches. That why you have to flip the impedance switch. If you were to run a 2203 with two tubes into a 4 ohm load you'd have to switch the amp to 2 ohms - there is no 2 ohm setting.

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

bubb_tubbs

Everything here is true, though it still shouldn't be worth more than about $1100.

I've never paid more than $900 for a JCM 800 in my life, and I've owned 3.

__________________

Cathbard

Well, I purposely didn't enter into the cost issue. Here if you can find a vertical 2203 for under $2k you're a god.

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

311ZOSOVHJH

No, that part I understand. What I didn't understand was when you said 'different output trannys' were used between the 2203 and the 2204. The input impedence of the transformer used on each of those models had to be different because they did not have half power switches?

Similarly, I've been curious as to whether or not the 5153 50w mini uses beefy transformers like the 100w versions or not. Does a 50 watt amp not need as many winds of copper and therefore the resulting size is not as big. That is the part I've always been curious about actually.

Sorry TS - if I've now high-jacked your thread and welcome to UG

Yours must have vertical inputs?

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Cathbard

50W and 100W amps have to have different number of windings for different number of tubes. That's what the impedance switch is doing - changing the number of coils. It does it on the secondary side of the tranny but that is reflected back to the primary.
Your Splawn is different to a Marshall when it comes to half power afaik. On a Marshall it just switches between pentode and triode mode so no change to transformer windings is needed. On your Splawn it actually turns off two tubes. That's correct isn't it?

The size of the iron matters too. More power requires more iron to keep it from saturating magnetically, it's not just about being able to fit a bigger bobbin to take more wire. Not sure what Peavey are doing but I'd guess that they use smaller iron to save money but that's just a guess. You'd have to compare them physically.

Does that answer your question?

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

311ZOSOVHJH

That is one of the best explanations I've ever read

yes, my Splawn's half power switch turns off the two outer tubes when in half power.

PS: the 5153 is made by Fender for the EVH brand - but yes I've been curious if the mini has smaller trannys.

OK TS - you can have your thread back

__________________

Cathbard

Oh yeah, sorry about that. I did know they were made by Fender. That was a slip of the brain.

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification