Comparative Analysis

[HarleyMan]

I viewed the Monkey Lord video and had a big 'wow' moment. And then, a cooler head prevailed. What about Amplitube, what about Guitar Solo and both companies interface modalities? Stomp I/O looks to be very very cool. You can download Guitar Solo free for a year, I haven't because my mac's a G4 and I can't upgrade to the newer Waves plug ins. Didn't Roland start adding modules? Yes, I do this for a meager living, that is, I record live for a symphony as well as other projects. However, the very fact that all these modalities exist has taken much of 'business' away. So.......

For the sake of an open discussion on usage, and not do prove, disprove, hack on, decide upon, over-philosophize, as referenced above, we all know there are other options out there if one is going to go the modeling rout. Marshall has entered the fray. It seems that, aside from staying viable as a company, they've offered a a way to deliver your favorite newspaper with your favorite columnists and news sources to the door and you read it on your computer. In other words, delivering digital in a way old schoolers or simply people that want something familiar, something to tweek hands on, can adapt to, EL 34's aside. I mean, if you simply want to use the JMD for record out, there are alot of other ways to do that as well. I really was stunned the first time I saw the Stomp I/O. I never went after it because it was just too much, I already have too much 'gear'. But if I was 30 years back in age, with the plethora of effects and combinations available, and a laptop and a QVC, or, with the proper stage monitoring set up, and now there's the floor pedal available from Amplitube. If I were going new school, I'd sure look at it hard. Especially with where music is and isn't going these days.

Let's face it, if you're over the age of...I don't know, who's buying and downloading these days? That's your market to 'sell' music. Who's making the music anymore? What are 'they' listening to it through? Over what medium/file source? Boy, the slice of the pie will continue to get cut further. I'll stop now so I don't over philosophize. I'd welcome a kind discussion on the subject.

[surfnorthwest]

You cannot make this comparison for many reasons. First programs like Amplitude or Guitar Rig (which I have) do not push threw a El34 power section. Also all digital is not created equal, All have made huge strides over what used to be but none have done what SoftTube has. Again go to their website and understand how they capture the harmonic signiture of the original amp. Simply stated you have a tube amp with highly engineered preamps.

Better yet take your favorite guitar and try the amp to see for yourself. The JMD blows out if the water anything else digital out on the market. This amp will prove to be the future, give it time to catch on.

[HarleyMan]

I'm very well aware of the EL34 power section, which is why I mentioned 'EL34's aside' in my post. I'm also aware that all digital is not digital, but you have to put a frame of reference around it, I don't have a frame of reference for the JMD. Unfortunately, the market's not too good here, hasn't been since mid nineties, the last main stay store liquidated and quit, the Guitar Center doesn't carry anything of real value. Like Mety I'd have to unload some gear first. I'm wondering about the effects, that seems to be a lag, if there is one. Can the noise suppressor/gait be used in tandam with the other effects? It looks like the only combination is reverb with one whatever else.....

[surfnorthwest]

I'm wondering about the effects, that seems to be a lag, if there is one. Can the noise suppressor/gait be used in tandam with the other effects? It looks like the only combination is reverb with one whatever else.....

Well I am just a stupid player and the only way I can frame it for you is by saying I have tried many digital processors and the response and sound quality coming from this amp is different in that it plays and responds just like a all tube amp.

I wrote a opinion on the effects in a previous post which I quoted below.

The reverb and delays are top shelf, seriously I can't imagine anything more there. The noise gate is good but perhaps more sensitive than the ISP, it will do the job but the ISP is better.

The chorus is very good and for my tastes I will use it. The tremolo is also very strong so no need for a pedal there either. The two effects I would rate as average in this amp are the phase and the flange, diffenitly better pedals for those two effects but by no means are they unusable.

You can operate reverb and delay all the time, both of those effects are as good as any pedal I have used. The modulation selector consits of noise gate, chorus, phase, flange, tremelo. You can only selct one of the five here at a time but then you can run that one with the delay and reverb at the same time giving you a total of three.

This is actually pretty clever because I would only use those modulation effects with cleaner tones where a noise gate would not be nessasary. When getting into the high gain preamps on the amp you would want the verb and delay but for my I want no modulation on high gain, but I would then want the noise gate.

A work around I have tried and it works is to go ahead and select a modulation effect and then I run the ISP decemator in front of the amp and that works also.

[HarleyMan]

How about trying that decimator in the effects loop? I'm using the G String, and you have to use both the input and loop....it tracks both.

[surfnorthwest]

How about trying that decimator in the effects loop?

It worked well in front, don't know what I would gain by using the loop. I am one of those if it ain't broke don't mess with it guys.

[HarleyMan]

You may know this, however, as a for instance, for whatever reason, if you had to or wanted to, you could use the send of the loop into, let's say, your Metro. I often run a send out of my Kustom Double Cross into whatever stereo effect, run one side back into the return and run the other side into another amp's front end. I happen to love full shred stereo chorus chording. All kinds of choices without breaking anything. Of course, the loop in my Double Cross is tube buffered and it is indeed F I N E. I know there's a headphone out, there's the XLR out, but, the beauty of a flexible amp is you can really move things around. This amp provides some options. Heck surf, you have some amp options there.....use those different tubes to come up with something new or your own. Better than going deaf with that metro alone.

[surfnorthwest]

you could use the send of the loop into, let's say, your Metro

Great point, yes I am aware of this although I have not experimented yet. I can use the FX Send into the Metro return loop and the VM return Loop and fire all three amps...... I am not ready to try this yet.

I would suspect that it might not sound so good through the VM but I could be totally wrong about that. Through the Metro I would expect very cool results. My other JMD I bought will be here tommorow, I will give it a go and try this over the upcoming weekend.

[HarleyMan]

Don't forget about that lower right input now......it'll help ya in a pinch......

[SteveD]

The external FX loop status is storable too (even the serial or parallel mix level) so you can take your choice of putting a favourite chorus pedal in the loop and using the JMD1 gate or an external gate pedal in the loop and using the JMD1 chorus.

[HarleyMan]

Highest Grandfather,

I supposed it is a matter of semantics, but essentially a completely wet setting would elicit a 'parallel' type layered sound and a 'dry' setting would lend itself to a serial effect set up, right? I say this because I think some of the Bogner Amps actually had a switching mechanism for this.

Steve, can you shed some light on tube buffering in relation to effects loops in relation to not using any tube buffering in the JMD:1? Would that have taken away the amp's ability to store level settings for the loop? Seems folks tend to get caught up in the whole 'tone sucking' paradigm, as opposed to, for me, I see it as a wonderful creative opportunity.

[SteveD]

There is little point in using a valve buffered FX loop for a digital preamp. It's a bit like using a gold plated mains lead from the wall socket to your HiFi.

Also it would be very expensive as the signal from the return is converted to balanced going back into the codecs. The circuit in the JMD is of very high spec and performs perfectly well.

[surfnorthwest]

The circuit in the JMD is of very high spec and performs perfectly well.

It certainly does.

FedEx just brought me #2 today and I found a new 425A cabinet for $849 to go along with it.