Test Marshall JVM410HJS signature Joe Satriani
Hi folks !
As we promised before, there we have the test of this Marshall JVM410HJS!
We went – Brad and I – at the famous shop l’Ampli à Lampes in Paris, and we plugged-in my JS2400 Custom in the full stack. We also had the chance to play on the JVM410HJSB, the blue and collector version “Flying In A Blue Dream” head, only 500 models only have been produced worldwide!
Index
You will get the most important things on the video, let’s take a look first of all…
The JVM410HJS video test
The preamp setup
This is the way I set up the amp for the whole test. For consistency reasons I never changed the setup and I’ve chosen similar EQ between the channels, in order to have a better idea of how the amp reacts between the different modes.
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The channel :
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Presence, Resonance, and Master :
I’ve chosen a medium tuning for Presence & Resonance in order to have an average sounding and not a specific class of sound, there’s so many!
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Exception :
I’ve changed the setup quite a bit when I played « Flying In A Blue Dream » on OD1 channel. I kept the same EQ but I radically have changed the tuning of the Presence & Resonance in order to be closer of the sound Satch had on the record Flying In A Blue Dream.
Of course we can say good things about this amp versatility, because we easily can change the type of sound and getting someting good and consistent, the way you can change the final sound with all the buttons and pots is well-studied. Nevertheless the JVM410HJS still have this particular Marshall sound so the versatility is relative, an amp could never possibly contain all the sounds that exist, fortunately…
Specifications
- Range : Artist Signature Limited Edition
- Form : Head only
- Technology : Valves (5xECC83, 4xEL34)
- Wattage : 100W
- Channels : 4, w/ 3 modes per channel.
- Channel controls : Gain, Volume, EQ (middle, treble, bass), Noise Gate (apart)
- Shared controls : Master (x2), Presence, Resonance
- Connections : Fx loop, emulated XLR, MIDI
- Dimensions (mm) : 750 x 310 x 215
- Weight : 22 kg (48.5 lbs)
- Accessories : Programmable footswitch 6 buttons
My feeling about the JVM410HJS
In addition to the video where I’ve already explained the specifications, I want to say a few words of how I feel about the JVM410HJS.
And I am going to start with the sound quality that is excellent at low-volume (and at high-volume too!) and that’s a good point, no need to push him to high ranges to have a good texture and dynamics. We have this particular “Marshall” feeling with a very high gain and it feels far away more versatile compared to this little brother the JVM410, we don’t feel the compression that was driven by the gain anymore.
The amp is easy to pick-up and play, the color system is very intuitive and an interesting feature is that the amp keeps in mind the settings, let me explain that: You are on the green mode of the Clean channel. You push the orange button, and then you switch to an other channel, the OD1 and you turn on the mid-shift button. When you come back to the Clean channel you are not coming back to the green mode, you stay on the orange mode and if you switch back to OD1 the mid-shift stays enabled.
The Clean modes are sweet and rounds, feels more comfortable compared to his little brother, are very slappy when you strongly attack strings but not too much. As Joe Satriani wanted it to be, the orange and red mode are the logical evolution of the green, the sound is feed up by the gain and the red is starting to be a bit crunch-ranged.
First thing we can say about the Crunch channel is that this channel sounds a lot vintage. It was inspired by the JMC800 and was updated, the amount of gain is maybe higher that the JCM800’s but it’s not too much. I also forgot to mention that I literally felt in love with the orange mode, it completely blown my mind…
When we play on the OD1 channel, we have the same amount of gain that the JVM410 but as I said upper the sound is not muddled/compressed anymore. This channel has punch, no matter on what mode we are, you really need to try it to understand. It fells warm and we easily can go through guitar rythmic ranges, to a very agressive sound for soloing.
The noise gates really are an asset, a tidy Marshall exists..! And if you think you are going to loose high frequencies or sustain you’re wrong, he technical quality has never been compromised. The noise gates have replaced the reverbs that were featuring on the JVM410, it’s a very good deal we’ve made.
We don’t have so much information about the cab and his speakers, two versions exists, the angled 1960A JSA, an the straight one the 1960B JSB. These cabs are 4×12 and 300W, with Celestion 75′ HP that you can plug on 4Ω/16Ω mono or 8Ω stereo.
If you want to buy the ultimate Marshall amp, there is no doubt that you need this amp, it worths its price.
Clean Channel:
- « Always With Me, Always With You » – Arpeggios
- « Slow Down Blues » – Theme
- « Slow Down Blues » – Theme
Crunch Channel :
- Blues licks – Eb
- Blues licks – Eb
- « Satch Boogie » – Rhythm guitar
- « The Extremist » – Theme
- Improvisation – Eb
- « Flying In A Blue Dream » – Solo
- « Satch Boogie » – Solo
- « Surfing With The Alien » – Theme
- « Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing » – Theme
- « Wango Tango » – Ted Nugent
- « Satch Boogie » – Theme
Thanks
We would like to thank the team of the shop L’ampli à lampes in Paris where we did this test, go on their Facebook Page.
