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50 marshall tube watts - Loud enough?

S

Sletnern

Jan 10, 2012
16
0
#1
Hi I'm looking to buy a Marshall JMP 1986 MKII. Is 50 tube watts loud enough for practice/club gigs with a hard rock/blues band? I know that it will break up a bit if I turn it up to max, but that doesn't matter, I like that kind of sound.

And one more puzzle. It is a Marshall JMP 1986 MKII, but according to the serial it is made in 1983(serial is xxx25R) I didn't know that marshall made JMP's that late, didn't they switch to JCM 800 in '80 or '81?
 
#2
In my opinion, not a chance. Not by a mile. And I'm assuming you're not running through the house PAs at the clubs, otherwise you wouldn't have asked, nor have had to, because in a room where you will run through the PA, 50 watts would be fine as a personal monitor. And rehearsals often require more power than stage work where you go through house PAs, unless you use carrier-class monitors at rehearsals, in which case it would be best (at rehearsals) to forgo the amp altogether.
 
#3
I used a Marshall SLP 100 off and on for years as my gigging amp. It always worked fine if you can deal with the break up. I love the Marshall sound on guitar and bass. Having said that, I have a Mesa 400+ if I need it for really loud gigs, if one were to ever come up. It seems like the days of playing loudly are gone forever. :(
You may want to consider having another amp though. 50 watts may not get it for you.
 
#6
1986 is just a Marshall model number, not a date.

I owned a 50 watt (model 1986) JMP head for quite awhile. I gigged mine a few times but only with lower volume-level bands. Even if you like an overdriven bass tone, I think you'll discover your lower notes loose all definition at louder volume levels, even with a big cab.
 
#10
It will really depend on the cab(s) you use. I'd suggest very high efficiency, and lots of speakers! I used my 1977 1986 head in my old band for about 3 years before buying my first Super Bass, and never had any problems keeping up with a heavy hitting drummer and guitarist running a 100W full Marshall stack. However, my sound was very unconventional for bass (think Lemmy, but with MORE distortion!). I was running 2 Marshall 4x12 cabs, and used a Shredmaster pedal for distortion (this also compressed the signal).

These days, in Exciter, I require a more "traditional" bass tone, so I'm playing a VBA 400 through Marshall 4x12 and 2x15 bass cabs.

Cheers!
:bassist::bassist::bassist:
 
#12
So the VBA is good? I had one for some years ago, but I didn't think it sounded good, therefor I traded it with somebody. Did the worst trade in my life if we count the money. But since I was young and incredibly stupid, I only ran the VBA head through a Ashdown 1x15. I really regret this now, but I have since then had a bad feeling about VBA. But after reading your response, I guess I've been wrong.

How 'bout a Carlsbro TC-100? Would that be loud and good enough?
 
#14
Sletnern said:
So the VBA is good? I had one for some years ago, but I didn't think it sounded good, therefor I traded it with somebody. Did the worst trade in my life if we count the money. But since I was young and incredibly stupid, I only ran the VBA head through a Ashdown 1x15. I really regret this now, but I have since then had a bad feeling about VBA. But after reading your response, I guess I've been wrong.

How 'bout a Carlsbro TC-100? Would that be loud and good enough?
Click to expand...


I love the VBA 400. It's a real monster! :D I wouldn't want to run it through a single 15, though!

Cheers!
:bassist::bassist::bassist:
 

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