Marshall JTM615 [1995-1997]

I am an Amp service tech

Pretty nice thick distorted tone for a single 12. The amp is a dual channel with Passive EQ for each ch. The tone is due in large part to the sweet Celestion G12 Heritage speaker. I love the tolex and grille cloth color, brown and tan.

The Clean channel while extremely loud is terrible,as is the boingy spring reverb. Both channels produced a fair amount of 60 cycle hum even at low gain settings. I was suprised due to the attention given to placing the tube layout perpendicular to the magnetic flux of the transformers. a design patented by Peavey Electronics, I was suprised that no mention of Peavey's patent on the chassis. This amp was made for US use.

The Speaker rattled on it's baffel board as it is held in place with only 4 machine screws and Tee clips mounted to the board, lock washers would be a big improvment, apparently the speaker had vibrated loose. The Tolex was applied very nice. Cabinet is made of 1/2 particle board. Baltic birch would be a better tone wood for the cabinet. The Standby Switch makes a loud snap, in the audio when turned off

If you can purchase one of these amps for $300 or under used you would get a good value. The nice low end on distorted sounds makes the amp desirable. Everyone knows Marshall wrote the book on distorted tone,since The "F" company from California makes the absolute standard of all clean tones, while the JTM60s clean channel is very loud if you are used to Fender you won't be happy here. Overall I would rate the amp average to about average for a tube amp. If you are stepping up from solid state this will seem like heaven to you

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I store I worked at had one come in on trade. I picked it up for $750.00 CDN with the extention cab (1 x 12")!!!!!

Everything...but the tone especially...oh baby the tone!! Typical Marshall stuff really. I like the series and parallel effect loops and the D.I. in the back. I find that the extention cab is too airy for my liking.

As with all Marshalls I find that the actual construction feels a bit cheap. Other than that, I can find no problem with it.

See above.

I've owned a few amps in my day and anything short of a Matchless, this is the best sounding and relieable amp I've played through!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

In terms of true Valve Amps, it is extremelty difficult to find one for less than $1000.00 (Australian Dolllars). I managed to finally find the JTM 60 second hand at a local guitar shop for $900 and had no hesitation in scooping it up. I was using a 60W Valvestate before hand but needed my sound to bring out more clarity in the high end where I was losing my fills in a whur of muffled tinny distortion. Although its the same wattage, the JTM has smoothed and rounded my sound to a more professional quality with absolute clarity at any volume.

Not only do I love the classic tweed coloured speaker cover and dark grey speckled cabinet, (This amp is a re-issue from the 60's and is a nice alternative to the typical completely black marshalls) I can get enough variety in the tone to suit any mood of song. Above all, as the only guitar in my band, I was super impressed by the clarity of lead fills that come out in front of the sound instead of getting lost in the rythmn as the valvestate did. The gain channel is diverse enough for heavy chunky songs and light soft rock tones. I use the footswitch which in conjunction with my Boss MT-2 pedal provides me a perfect clean, mild and super heavy combination.

The tubes on this amp do tend to get super-hot after 20 minutes of playing. Although I havn't had any problems even in 2 hour sets, I do intend to get a small clip-on fan for cooling as prevention is far better than the cure when it comes to overworked/overheated tubes.
The clean channel tends to start distorting a little at higher volumes which if anything would be my only small gripe.

The JTM 60 has a very sturdy construction as a 1 x 12 inch combo amp. There is an external speaker jack for those bigger venues where a 4 x 12 box can be driven

Overall, I think the JTM-60 is a flexible high quality amp perfect for bluesy rock and modern rock as well. It will thump as loud as you want it without sacrificing the clarity of individual notes which is a high priority for me in my sound.
Suitable for bedroom guitarists and working bands. A great affordable alternative to large rigs with a noticably higher quality sound in warmth and richness than the valvestates.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This is a puzzling option to have in a guitar cabinet. You usually don't see or hear a 15 inch speaker coming out a of a guitar amp like you would a bass amp. yet the clean tone of this amp is much better in my opinion to most Marshall amps. Sounds more in the ball park of a nice Fender clean tone.

Back in the day when Marshall made amps that sounded good and took the time needed to build high quality amps not just fast quantity amps they build this little combo. This amp is a big surprise to me because I generally don't like the combos that Marshall has come out with. The sounds very sterile and boxy to my eras. However this amp sounds just as good if not better than many boutique amps out there today.

It boggles the mind why they decide to stop making amps like this and think that the MG series is much more worth the time and effect. Well the real reason is they make more money off the trash amps that fit to more people's budgets rather than sticking with quality amps and keeping their integrity.

UTILIZATION

JTM 60 615 Valve Combos Features

Twin Channel
Reverb
Speakers 1 x 15 inch
Reverb/Normal and Boost Channel
EQ for Normal and Boost Channel Common Separate
Emulated D.I. Output
D.I. Pre or Post Option
Parallel Effects Loop
Series Effects Loop
Effects Mix Control
Speaker Outputs
Foot Pedal
Pre-amp Valves (Tubes) 4 x ECC83 (12AX7A)
Power Amp Valves 1 x ECC83, 2 x EL34

SOUNDS

I love the way this amp sounds with a nice Gibson Les Paul or Gibson SG guitars. It fits the rock tone and compliments my playing very well. This amp sounds amazing with a solid classic rock tone that can get anything from the 60's and 70's rock tones.

The tone is warm and rich full of great harmonics. I like the tone especially playing songs from AC/DC or Led Zeppelin. This amp nails those tones without any problem what so ever.

OVERALL OPINION

Marshall has seriously got down he tubes in recent years...no pun intended. Their amps has a bland cold tone that sound harsh and flat whether its in your bedroom playing or even on stage. I have played most Marshall amps that are currently in production and only a few amps sound anything like the old ones.

These are not new amps so you'd have to find them on the used market. I have no idea what the going rate for one of these amps are used, but I highly recommend picking one up.