JVM205H 50-watt 2-channel Tube Head Review

Supreme Rock and Metal Beast

The Marshall JVM 205H has to be one of the best rock and metal amps ever made. It's simple to use, and does exactly what you need it to.The distorted tones are very powerful, and this amp has more gain than you will probably ever need. Using a Schecter guitar with Seymour Duncan pickups on the Yellow or Red drive channels, you can set the gain to one notch short of halfway and… read more the chords ring out with great power and sustain, yet still have excellent clarity. The overdrive has a compressed feel to it, almost as if there is a Tube Screamer already built into the circuitry and the low end is super tight for an intense palm muting attack with pinch harmonics that will jump out and take far less effort to produce. On the lower drive settings, the drive channels maintain their tightness and clarity as well.While the clean channel won't beat a Fender Deluxe Reverb anytime soon, it definitely works and is highly useable considering the JVM is primarily designed for harder music. Fender or Gretsch vintage style guitars seem to really shine here, and also do quite well on the settings where the clean sound starts to break up. The slightly thinner clean sound can cut through a mix with ease and I find it to blend very well with other instruments.Channel switching is practically silent and I really like the fact that the colored lights (Green, Yellow and Red) are built into the switch itself so you can see quickly see what the button is actually set at. I don't really need to use the footswitch for studio work, but it's very programmable and works great. The built in digital reverb works fine for it's purposes, but if you really want a true spring sound or some other kind of reverb it's best to use a pedal or just add it in the FX loop on a track when recording. For home and recording use, 50 watts should be plenty of volume and I personally cannot see the need for 100 watts or the 4 channel version unless you are really doing a lot of different tones and/or are a Marshall fanatic. This amp is plenty loud and does the job for me perfectly.But probably what I like most is that the tone knobs are all dead simple, and after setting up the JVM I had a highly useable tone very quickly with only having to tweak the Mid knob ONCE after listening back to a couple of recording tests. The JVM tones just seem to blend well with other instruments naturally. As much as I love Mesa Boogie amps (I've had 5), trying to get the 5 Band EQ on the Mark V or the Mark V:25 just right can be extremely difficult - for me, that EQ just got to be an endless black hole of constant tweaking and adjusting with the tone never sounding just right. With the JVM, I set all knobs to middle position at first and just adjusted them to the right place in a matter of seconds.I highly recommend the JVM 205H for any rock and metal application, especially studio work. It's perfectly simple to use and the tone is pure rock and metal heaven. I had one of these before and sold it - but that will never happen again! But the JVM has its own tone, vibe, and powerful sounds that makes it a keeper regardless. NOTE - Extra special thanks goes to my Sweetwater contact Jason for helping me get the amp despite delivery issues I was experiencing. His support and customer service was A+ excellent - Thank you Jason!

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The King of Kings!

I absolutely LOVE this amp. I've always been a huge Marshall fan, but they never were as versatile as I wanted them to be. Many years and MANY amplifiers later, I had the opportunity to buy a JVM and had to get it given it's reputation. This amp does everything, and it sounds awesome doing it! I totally understand the hype.

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Loving this Marshall amp!

I waited way too long to buy this amp. Best sounding amp I've ever owned. Hands down. All the sounds that were trapped inside my head are in this amp. The clarity and and articulation this amp delivers is spectacular. 2 channels, 3 voicings per channel, assignable master volume and a great sounding reverb too. Lord have mercy!! @50 watts, this is definitely more power than… read more I could ever imagine needing. Also a shout out to Stuart Niven and his sales support team. Stuart always hits the mark. An exceptional pro in every way as is each member of his support team. Needed to arrange a FedEx pickup since I not able to be home on the expected delivery date. They guys set that all up as soon as I inquired, the pickup at FedEx went smoothly as well. I'm extremely pleased with this purchase.

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A Great Amp

I don't typically write reviews. However, I felt like I should after picking up this JVM205H. I'm one of those guys who spends more time trying out new gear than actually improving as a guitar player. Consequently, I have tried a host of different amps, new and vintage, American and British, tube and solid state, in a variety of different power ratings from 2 watts to 100. What… read more I look for in an amp is consistently great tone no matter what the setting. Versatility is a must. This amp has it in spades. You can easily move from crystal cleans to the dirtiest of Marshall tones. It's just a spectacular amp. 60's and 70's rock tones come very easily. The reverb is digital. However, it is incredibly complimentary to the tone and doesn't produce the brassy decay (not sure how else to describe it) that you often get with digital reverb, and even some reverb tanks. I was worried that this amp would be too much for my bedroom playing. However, you can get all the dirt you want at dialed back volumes. I just can't recommend it enough.

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Great Amp

complicated but sounds great. worth te money

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