First review JTM45...

[Jimi75]

Saturday the parcel with the amph arrived. I was excited like hell and couldn't concentrate on anything but the JTM45. The amp is in top condition and it looks like brand new. What a beautiful amp. Man was I nervous before checking it for the first time. I gave the tubes 15-20 minutes to warm up and then started playing on house level = volume on 1. Later that day I rode to our rehearsal location and checked it for 2 hours in a row on gig volume.

OH MY GOD, what a sound.

The amp has 30 watt. Are they loud?
I'd say they are perfect for playing blues and rock and for rehearsing and gigging smaller clubs. It's loudness is very controllable. I have played it around volume 5 and it was plenty loud, but it was another loudness as with other amps. The tones were brilliant and very defined. You cut through the mix like a knife through warm butter. I have never experienced this before with another amph. You feel the power of this amp, but it knows how to behave. It's definitely a working musician's amph, you hear every mistake but the amp rewards you with great tone and a sweetness that let you play licks with a certain coolness and easiness. Everything sounds so smooth with this amp. The responsivness is great, I feel that it makes sense that there is no big features because this contributes a lot to the sound and directness.

Does this amph deliver magical Hendrix tones?
Just plug in, play The Wind Cries Mary or Freedom and see how a big grin appears on your face.

Does the amph like pedals?
Yes it does very much! I was about to sell my Ibanez TS9. The JTM45 sound is of such high quality that I didn't recognize my TS9 and my Fender 4x12 box when I played them with this amph (they sounded so good...). It really brings pedals to life.

Channels/Jumping Channels
The amph has 2/4 channels. don't wanna get to detailled. Channel 1 is "Fenderland". Very clean. Channel two has more mids, not as fenderish, here you enter vintage Marshall territory. How else could it be - I like the jumped channel version the best. Patching 1/2 with 2/1 and plugging into 1 is the greatest sound. Here you get the perfect breed of both worlds. You use both volumes to mix the channels. I would describe the sound as a mixture of "Lenny" "Little Wing" "Manhattan" somewhere there. Very mature sound. The great thing is that you have so much impact on the sound with your dynamics. My colleague said it is as if the amph knows the difference between high and low strings. It spotlights the characteristics very accurate.
The sound of the reissue has absolutely nothing in common with modern Marshall amphs! It is a totally different breed!

STRAT / PAUL
Getting a distorted sound with a Strat is not that easy also if you crank this amp. In bridge position the Strat gets somewhere near classic rock. With a pedal it sings and every chord breathes. You can cover SRV, Hendrix territory - no prob at all. Lots of clean headroom.
The Paula makes this amp a killer rock amp. Think Gary Moore, Led Zeppelin, Skynyrd, Randy Rhodes., Peter Green, Clapton Beano sound.

Is it bass heavy. like some people say?
Yes it is. Bass on 2 is enough. If you want a further range you can change the capacitor. I will for first not mod anything. The sound is great with this healthy bass. Don't get confused by my review - you would love the bass bottom around your chiming pling pling chords and licks.


Is this an "everybody's darling" amph?
No it is not. You can experiment to get some different sounds, but it is better to look for one good sound that set the basis for good pedals. You have to learn how to use your guitar's vol poti and how to work with dynamics in your playing. 85% of the players I know are better of with something more modern.


Did I miss the reverb?
So far not, but I know that a little tiny bit of reverb or delay would improve the sound even more!

When do you get to listen to clips?
I can not record this monster at home. Give me some rehearsals with this amp and then I make a nice video review for you. I don't want to post something that let the amph not appear as good as it really is. There is so many bad videos on utube for JTM45 and only few that really show the qualitly of this amp. (check Katarzis27 video with a 50 Master built Strat, that is exactly the clean tone. Check his "Can't explain" 1 minute take and you get a very good impression of the distorted sound. I was blown away by his sound and was even more blown away when I found out that my amph sounds exactly like that!)

Here are two pix of the beast in my house.

[oldguy]

Nice review, Jimi, well done!
I liked those pics as well. Man, you must be in tonal heaven right now!

[Blaze]

Well this is a short & sweet review just like it should be.
What brand of tubes are in there?
I guess the more you ll play it the more you ll love it..

Enjoy it ,protect your ears , i know you will..

Blazes

[bigoldron]

Most excellent, my friend! It sounds like you've found that "magical amph" you've been looking for! I hope you enjoy her for many years to come. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

BTW, can't wait to see your video of this baby!

[Robert****]

Thanks for the review, Jimi! I'd love to try this amph. I feel in a similar way with my Heatseeker, but I don't get a lot of bottom end with it.

[Jimi75]

Thanks for the review, Jimi! I'd love to try this amph. I feel in a similar way with my Heatseeker, but I don't get a lot of bottom end with it.

Thanks Rob!
I have watched your Heatseeker video so many times and yes the Heatseeker goes in the same direction but one size smaller as the JTM45 from what I can judge through your clips. I think they guys at Mack had a vintage Marshall in mind creating this 18w Powerpack.