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Marshall JVM205C Review – Excellent & Versatile British Amp!

Hello there, back again with another article for you! This time, we will be looking at an excellent, versatile and high-value/money guitar amp by Marshall Amps! In this Marshall JVM205C review, you will find some insights from a very long-time user (that is me!).

Somehow I noticed that I haven’t featured this amp yet on my blog which is a shame! What I also recalled is that during my service in the MI industry, while shooting guitar review videos, I extensively used this amp.

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To be exact, in almost 3 years of time, I used this amp in around 150-200 guitar videos. Each recording session would take me about 2 hours depending on how much I sucked on guitar on that day!

This real-world experience actually helped me to understand its capabilities and I always enjoyed its company! That’s why I wanted to give honours to this beautiful guitar amp here finally!

Marshall JVM205C is a 2 channel, all-valve amp featuring classic Marshall sounds from crystal cleans and nice crunchy tones to creamy hi-gain British sounds.

Marshall JVM205C Front Panel
Marshall JVM205C Front Panel

On the front panel of Marshall JVM205C, you will see dual identical controls for clean/crunch and overdrive channels.

Next, you have your “Reverb” section where you can adjust the effect level individually for each channel. Last but not least, you have also your Master section which allows you to adjust “Presence“, “Resonance” and individual “Master Volume” settings for each channel.

Pressing channel buttons on the left-hand side gives you dual functions. On the same channel, when you press the channel button, it will cycle the gain modes from Green (lowest gain) to Orange to Red (highest gain) and on top of that, each mode will recall the previous FX, Reverb and Master settings.

If you are, for instance, on the Overdrive channel and press the channel buttons on the Clean/Crunch channel, the last setting on this channel will be recalled.

Marshall JVM205C – Clean/Crunch Channel

This channel was always featured in our unbiased guitar videos, especially in the opening section. I would use it to show some crunchy tones of the guitars usually featuring in-between pickup positions.

I believe using in-between pickup positions with crunchy tones or pushed valve amp settings often shows the potential of the pickups. Really tough to explain in words but when you really dig in the strings and really push the amp with dynamics. 🙂

On this channel, you have a Green mode which is the cleanest mode. In this mode, volume control is taken out of the circuit and it’s the only JVM mode where this happens.

Next, you have your Orange mode which resembles Marshall JTM45/1959 Plexi models with an added gain. It is perfect for just in between gain settings while retaining fuller sound without getting too thin!

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Lastly, you have the Red mode which features more gain than the Orange mode. This mode will give your JCM800 2203 amp characteristics which is a standard characteristic in the hard rock genre.

I played Marshall JVM205C in almost every video here, so please check out!

Marshall JVM205C – Overdrive Channel

I was also a big fan of the Overdrive channel on this amp and used it mostly on solos, and rhythm parts in the unbiased review videos. You still have 3 modes here just like in the clean channel.

On Green mode, it is similar to a hot-rodded JCM800 (clean/crunch channel, red model). So actually, with the above Red mode and the Green mode on this channel, you are able to dial in two different but similar crunchy guitar tones.

On the Orange mode, there’s extra gain added to this base tone and it’s ideal for lead playing with a nice amount of compression.

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Lastly, you have your Red mode which will give you the highest amount of gain among any options on this amp.

In our unbiased guitar review videos, I always use the clean channel on the Green mode as a starter to show our visitors clean tones that you can get from any guitar with all settings at 12 o’clock.

I would usually switch to the Orange mode on the same channel to play some single-line riffs to show how pickups respond with some extra push.

And finally, I would switch to the Overdrive channel on Orange mode and play mostly leads, guitar solos and riffs that we picked up for the video.

Let’s have a look at the tech specs briefly here below.

Marshall JVM205C Tech Specs

Channels2 Channels with 3 different modes
Output wattage50W
OutputsSpeaker outputs: 5 x 1/4" jack sockets (16Ω load / 8Ω load / 4Ω load), Emulated Line Out (XLR), MIDI Thru
Inputs1 x 1/4" jack instrument input, MIDI In, Footswitch
ControlsChannel and mode select (button), gain, treble, middle, bass, reverb , presence, resonance,
master volume select, master volume (switchable for each channel)
EffectsDigital reverb
Effects loop2, 1 x series parallel, 1 x series
Speaker configuration2x12"
Speaker model1 x Celestion Heritage G12H (8Ω, 80w), 1 x Celestion Vintage (8Ω, 70w)
Unit impedance16Ω
Preamp valves4 x ECC83, 1 x ECC83 (phase splitter)
Power amp valves2 x EL34
FootswitchPEDL-91006 included
CableDetachable power cable included
Weight29.5 kg / 65 lbs
Width690 mm / 27.2"
Height510 mm / 20.1"
Depth265 mm / 10.4"

As you can see, this amp gives you a total of 50W output power. If you are already familiar with valve amps, you will know that this is an insanely huge power level for an amp!

You can actually gig with this in big avenues without microphones as it has the power to project.

Believe me, I used to play this amp in a small room with acoustic treatment and could hardly increase the volume of each channel as it would get really loud.

It also features 4 x ECC83, 1 x ECC83 (phase splitter) preamp valves and 2 x EL34.

ECC83 are the same type of valves with 12AX7

Marshall JVM205C Rear Panel
Marshall JVM205C Rear Panel

On the back, you have MIDI IN/OUT, Line Out for silent recording, power amp in/return or preamp out/send inputs, and serial/parallel fx loop with level control.

Also, you have 4 different speaker outputs with different Ohm levels.

There are countless options, variations and flexibility possibilities in using Marshall JVM205C and to be honest, I don’t really want to make this article too long. So if you want to know more in-depth functionalities of this amp, I highly suggest you check out the official manual.

Marshall JVM205C manual

This amp also features a dual speaker system that consists of a Celestion Heritage G12H (8Ω, 80w) and a Celestion Vintage (8Ω, 70w). Top-notch, industry-standard brands and models for guitar speakers! All made in the UK!

Conclusion

If you are into electric guitars, I’m sure you are aware of the importance of Marshall amps. Along with Fender amp sounds, Marshall is also considered a pillar in the guitar amp world. When British sounds are wanted, it’s the Marshall amps that will deliver!

When I first started playing the guitar, I wasn’t really aware of these foundations but later on, discovered that Marshall sound is my all-time favourite guitar amp brand.

Regardless of what guitar I have at the moment, be it a Strat, LP type, 7 string…etc, I always look for Marshall sounds as my base guitar tones.

Having played with Marshall JVM205C as well as many other models in the studios, I can easily say that if I were to buy a guitar amp today, it would be a Marshall model.

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Unfortunately, I can not invest in guitar amps as I have to live in a small space.

Marshall JVM205C is an extremely flexible amp that offers almost classic and modern Marshall vibes in a single box! If you have the chance to play loud, I would definitely recommend you check this model. You have more than enough channels and modes to cover an entire gig consisting of many different genres.

As a last note, Marshall JVM205C is a single member of the whole JVM family. I highly suggest you check out other JVM models in head format or differently configured combo models.

I hope you have enjoyed this content as I wanted to provide you with a real-life experience with this wonderful guitar amp. Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!

Osman Cenan Çiğil – cigilovic.com


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