JMD:1 or H&K Switchblade in a band situation?

[rpurdue]

Hey all. My main amp is a Fryette Sig:X which i LOVE!! I'm playing a lot more now so I'm thinking of getting a backup head in case something in my chain goes down. I like the idea of the all in one as it would be easy to set up in a jiff if need be. Has anyone had any real world experience with the switchblade or JMD in a band setting? Obviously this forum will be biased but i would love an honest opinion. I've always heard that modeling amps etc don't cut or sit well in a mix. Where i live it's impossible to try either amp. Or, any other suggestions? Thanks.

[guitarest]

I have used mine in a band situation since I purchased it (about 6 months now) and its a great amp (JMD) for exactly that. Now I don't go over board with effects or even outboard devices I use the amp similar to a regular amp with 4 channels. ! is very clean and a little swirl of chorus; 2 is a 70's type distortion with the noise gate, 3 is a heavy distortion again with only the noise gate and finally 4 is my lead channel with a little delay, verb and nosie gate.

I find the JMD to be a very good amp and well worth the cash. Many will say negitive things about this amp but those are people who do not own it or have never played one in real life. I am a solid tubes all the way guy and the JMD sold me.

[rpurdue]

Thanks! i borrowed one from a local music store and i think i'm going to take the plunge! It's a used 100 watt head for 699 Canadian. The tones i'm getting so far are very usable and that's just in 10 minutes. I was just leery in a band situation as i briefly had an axe-fx into a mesa 2:90 that sounded great in my basement but it was eaten alive by the other guitarists JVM. So basically you having other marshals to compare it to guitarest think it should hold it's own no prob? I don't care if it sounds exactly like the model it's emulating, i just want a nice full crunchy tone that cuts in the mix without being harsh or fuzzy.

[surfnorthwest]

The JMD1 is ideal for a band situation since you can save 28 presets to go along with the songs your playing. There are no amps that are going to eat the JMD1 100 watt for lunch, it can more then hold its own. The trick is to understand the preamp volume and how it works with the master volume and gain. Personally it is still my go to amp in the studio.

Also since it is used I would perform the procedure that sets the JMD1 back to stock thus erasing any saved presets with the footswitch. Once you reset it to the factory settings go through all 28 presets and when you find one you really like tweak it from there and then save it.

Try this setting and eat your friends JVM

Preamp: Lead 16. Modern Pre-Amp: JVM410H

Gain: 8
Bass: 8
Middle: 3
Treble: 6
Pre Volume: 5
Modulation Adjust: Gate (all the way to 0)
Modulation Depth: 4.5
Delay Adjust: Analog (set tap tempo medium)
Delay Level: 7
Reverb: 2.5
Presence: 0
Master 6

[guitarest]

I took the plunge a few months ago and this was not my first modeling amp; although its the best I have ever heard. The first modeling amp I purchased was a Line6 Spider3 and in the bed room it sounded great also but up against a Laney it sucked arz also. I have a 5150 half stack (block evh) and one of the first once sold in Ct when they were released and its a beast but I am bored with it. I refuse to sell it because its a great amp. So since I live in Hill Billy He11 I had to purchase my JMD vie internet and and I was like a new born daddy waiting for it to show up. Plugged in and it sounded great; reprogrammed 1-4 and off to practice I went. The other guitar player has a older crate tube and a Marshall head (unsure what model, tube pre and SS power amp) and the JMD sounded so much better. I am such a lover of this amp and somewhat known in my area that others have purchased the JMD because of hearing mine. The local Marshall dealer even started carrying JMD's and has sold a few also.

You better watch out though; you might love that Fx head of yours although its not going to get allot play time once you really get to know the JMD. I have few different amps at my place, the 5150 (half stack), a few Tech21 Trademark 60's, a Fender Twin and Deluxe, a older Epi Combo, a Vox Combo, and finally a Roland Cube (SS) and since the JMD arrived they rarely get turned on.

[SteveD]

Welcome to the forum rpurdue.

[rpurdue]

Ok, i bought it :) I had band practice tonight and the other player brought his Randall RM50. All i can say is WOW!! I'm very pleasantly surprised at the tones i was getting in such a short amount of time. It easily stood with the Randall. I was worried with all the negative reviews on this amp but now i'm not sure what they were listening to? I find that i really like the overdrive 10 preamp. It's nice and tight but still full! I also liked the crunch 8 but i'm not sure how to tighten it up as the low end is a little flubby. Now, this may be the same as the amp it's modeled on as i'm not sure too much about the original marshalls. I'm going to sort through the posts to scope some other presets as well. Thanks all :)

[guitarest]

Yeah I was confused also as to what those reviewers heard also; although I think Guitar World gave it their best buy award; or choice award. Its a great amp and glad you liked it. So now starts the process of your favorite amp soon becoming the number 2 amp........ lol

[rpurdue]

We should start a preset page or something like the digidesign folks do with the eleven rack etc. That might be a huge help to some folks. Although, after having an axe-fx this is WAYYYY easier to use. And, maybe i was doing something wrong with the axefx but I'm already a million times more satisfied with the tones i have on the JMD t in one day that 6 months with the axefx. Now i just need to figure out how to organize my presets with the foot controller.

[guitarest]

We have a few posts that cover what your talking about but nothing actually centralized yet. I did a post a few weeks back and came up on this really cool AC/DC sounding patch on my JMD. I run mine through a pre-JCM 800 1960A cab with greenbacks loads in the cab. I primarily use passive humbucker equipped guitars. This patch sounds really sweet with both my LP and my SG's; also its surprising but my Schecter Tempest Custom sounds really frigging great with this patch.

I can't wait till early next year I will be purchasing another Schecter but with active pups; I bet the JMD really likes active pups...

Presence..........7
Reverb.............3
Delay............Off
Mod.................5
Mod Type....Gate
Vol..................5
Treb..............7.5
Mid..................6
Bass................6
Gain................7
Preamp............8 Full

-- Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:31 pm --

Although, after having an axe-fx this is WAYYYY easier to use. And, maybe i was doing something wrong with the axefx but I'm already a million times more satisfied with the tones i have on the JMD t in one day that 6 months with the axefx.

Like I said earlier, that amp will soon be Number 2 with the JMD being Number 1. You can down load a pdf of the manual at Marshalls website

http://www.marshallamps.com/downloads/f ... %20hbk.pdf

Also you might consider a mod I did with my JMD; it was really inexpensive and made the amp look loads better (IMO)

[rpurdue]

Wow! I love the mod! Where did you get the rocker switch and was it troublesome to install?

[guitarest]

Very easy to install and its a marshall part so swapping out was very simple. Its a 4 wire connector and very simple ot install, Marshall part number SWTM00002 and the piping was a little more difficult since I did it by myself that part has no part number per see.... I got both at http://partsisparts.net/ it was under $25.00 with shipping included.

[rpurdue]

I tried your preset and it sounds great :) With my guitar though the bass was very flubby and i had to roll the bass back to 3 or 4 but i think it's a guitar with a lot of bottom end. does the amp that preamp 8 models sound a little flabby? I'm not to familiar with vintage marshalls?

[guitarest]

I personally do not think so but it could be so many different things like your cab, guitar, amp head or a combination of all three or none of the above.

Glad you liked it, there are many here that have had their amp longer than I have like Surfnorthwest who is a master of this amp and Steve D actually is the designer of this head at Marshall.