The Marshal JMD 501 is a solid state guitar combo modeling amp. It has a 1/4 inch input and has a ton of parameters for effects and tone control of all types. It has a digital screen that you can save sounds in addition to the vast array of parameters. There is a nice amount of control over your tone, with a lot of effects, making the Line 6 Flextone 3 a versatile guitar amp. UTILIZATION The configuration of the Marshal JMD 501 is pretty easy to follow and it won't take too long to understand what everything does. It does take a little bit of time to figure out how to navigate through the screen, but it is done smartly enough that it won't take too long. It is pretty easy to get a good sound from this amp, but it really depends on what type of sound you are going for, as some of the effects are better than other on this amp. The manual for the Marshal JMD 501 is pretty complete and easy to understand, and it is a good idea to have it around while learning this amp. SOUNDS Marshal JMD 501 is great for rock music, but will work in almost any setting. The effects range from delays and reverbs to modulation effects, but none of the effects are that impressive to me. This being said, they are usable and it is nice to have so many different types of effects within one amp. It has a great clean tone, but the distortion comes off a bit tinny sounding and I would recommend using a pedal for your overdrive when using this amp. OVERALL OPINION I've been using Marshal JMD 501 for about a year and I have found it to be a good guitar amp. It isn't the best by any stretch, but it is a reasonably priced option for the intermediate player looking for an amp with effects. It is versatile and is perfect for the player looking to figure out what effects they like to use best. Overall, the Marshal JMD 501 is a nice amplifier, but I wouldn't recommend it for professionals in any situation.
I have heard two of my favorite guitar player play through this amp, Paul Gilbert and Doug Aldrich. I actually heard Doug from about 5 feet away at NAMM a couple years ago when this amp came out. Of course he can make just about anything sound decent but I also heard one of Marshall's demo guys play through it and it sounded equally as impressive. Marshall JDM102 Digital/Tube Guitar Combo Amp Features at a Glance: Power: 100-watts 2x12" 16 digital preamps Power Amp: 4 x EL34 Four modulation FX Four delay FX Reverb Noise Gate Series/Parallel FX Loop Footcontroller included MIDI In and Thru Emulated Line Out Headphone Out MP3/CD Line In UTILIZATION Details Type Hybrid Number of Channels 4 Power 100W Speakers 2 x 12" Effects Reverb EQ Bass, Middle, Treble Amp Modeling Number of Models 16 Preamp Tubes 1 x ECC83 Power Tubes 4 x EL34 Inputs 1 x Instrument, 1 x Line (1/4") Outputs 1 x Headphone (1/4"), 1 x XLR (Emulated Line), 3 x Speaker Footswitch I/O Effects Loop Height 20.87" Width 27" Depth 10" Weight 68.34 lbs. Notes MIDI I/O SOUNDS So basically it is a digital preamp and a tube driven power section. The preamps cover just about ever Marshall amp that they have done and it does a surprisingly good job. I have never been a fan of amp modeling as most of my experience has been with Line 6 and those things sound terrible. So when I first heard this amp, my ears immediately perked up. The amp covers a lot of Marshall ground and the price is nice as well. If you can't find a decent tone out of 16 amp models then this isn't the amp for you. OVERALL OPINION At new these amp come in at around $1199, which isn't a bad price for the features and tone that you get. There are plenty of hot-rodded Marshall tones available in this amp and it doesn't take too long to find them either. I would recommend this amp to anyone who loves the Marshall tone and can't decide which series they would like to have. The tone come as close as you can get for a modeler and sounds fairly organic.
