NAD: JTM30

[Pepe Silvia]

I haven't owned an amp for a few years, I have a Fender head phones amp but feel like I would play more if I had a real amp. I've been trying to find something, I was thinking another Orange Tiny Terror or a Quilter Aviator Cub bur decided to check out my local Sam Ash as it's closing. Their "liquidation" is only 5-10% off but I found this listed for $359, which seems like a good deal.



Sounds good. Made in the UK. No foot switch but it seems in good shape.

[Pepe Silvia]

Digging into this amp this morning, it looks brand new. Hard to believe it is around 30 years old. Preamp tubes look like original Marshall branded tubes while the power tubes are Russian Sovtek 5881/6L6WGBs. From what I understand, these are the tubes I want if I don't want to overheat the amp.

Does anyone have experience with these amps? I know they get a bad rap.

[MrShake]

Sorry, no experience myself, but congrats on finding yourself what must surely be a killer combo to get back into the amp game! I have an old Fender that's had Sovtek 5881's for at least 15 years and it sounds great. Enjoy!

[andy_tchp]

I had a relative from the same series, the JTM60 with 3x10 combo. Sounded pretty dull but was comparatively cheap at the time.

I should say I had two of them; the first failed in warranty and I traded the second one in on a much better amp at my local store. It sold off the floor quite quickly, I saw it back for repairs about 6 weeks later.

They all overheat, a design issue; nothing to do with the choice of valves. They get a bad rap for good reason.

[Pepe Silvia]

There seems to be plenty not overheating. From the Marshall forum:

"Some of the biggest "overheating" issues have been exacerbated by A) Running different power tubes than they were specifically designed for (5881/6L6WGC) , without an adjustable bias mod and B) Not understanding the way the speaker out jacks work! The ONLY way to access the 8 ohm tap of the OT is when both jacks have a plug in them. If you want to run one 8 ohm cabinet, you need to plug a dummy plug into the other jack! Couple that with marginal transformers and any deviance from proper/designed usage causes problems!

My JTM30 has been well (but properly) used/abused, still has all original tubes and does not overheat!"

Les Paul forum:

"Jan 23, 2009
#2
All I've heard problem-wise is overheating with the 5881s & cleaning of the fx loop jacks. The 6L6WGBs should take care of the o/h issue. Cool how you can get the Marshall sound with 6L6s."

The amp has Fender like clean which I like, not dull sounding at all. I guess I'll see how reliable it is. I can't think of a bigger bang for the buck bedroom amp.

[andy_tchp]

I think the JTM60 was dull due to the stock speakers moreso than the amp itself (which from memory was the same as those little ‘JCM600’ heads).

I never used an external cab and the valves were whatever Marshall put in them ex-factory; I owned mine long enough ago that they were still new/current models (hence being able to get a warranty replacement).

Now I feel old.

Just no good in warmer non-English conditions I think. I read about folks retrofitting a PC case fan around the metal cage but the premature failure already left a sour taste.

[Fozzie Guillen]

Digging into this amp this morning, it looks brand new. Hard to believe it is around 30 years old. Preamp tubes look like original Marshall branded tubes while the power tubes are Russian Sovtek 5881/6L6WGBs. From what I understand, these are the tubes I want if I don't want to overheat the amp.

Does anyone have experience with these amps? I know they get a bad rap.

I've had a JTM60 since the late 90s. Never had any problems with it overheating when I used it regularly, though now *something* or other is shot, one way or another, and I've been using an Iridium at home and a '68 custom Vibrolux at jams...which is all to say: (a) cool to see someone picking one of these up! and (b) maybe I should grab some of those Sovtek 5881/6L6WGBs and see if retubing does the trick.

[hulakatt]

The other guitar played in one of my old bands used to run a Ric 360 through a JTM30 and it sounded really damn good! I remember the rep for overheating but we never experienced any issues with it.

[Pepe Silvia]

I just retubed it with new Sovtek 5881s and JJ 12AX7s and it sounds better, less hum, overall a really nice amp.

I also just cut a hole in the top of it and installed a vent. The heat really pours out of it. Hopefully it is all sorted now.

[RockStarNick]

I owned one of these, and sold it to a buddy of mine.

Decent sounding amp. HEAVY for what it was (particle board cab). After a few years, like most, it started getting funky and eventually bit the dust. It's such a quirky layout, that the cost of a proper repair didn't make sense. It now collects dust.

[stevejamsecono]

Oh whoa, flashback!

One of the gigs my old band played had one of these backlined and I thought it sounded pretty good! Kind of a low-gain 70s rock sound, from my memory. Probably could have stood more speakers, but I think it came off ok.

https://youtu.be/iJQi0vWmqgc?si=PzRwoW53ceU27F2H

[LVC]

I have a JCM600 2x12 combo ― as andy_tchp pointed out, it's the same circuit and layout as the JTM60 that Marshall equipped with a Vox-style top vent to prevent overheating and repackaged to market them in the JCM series.

I've never had a problem with mine, even though I drive it pretty hard through a power attenuator ― I guess that vent does its job.

These amps get a lot of criticism online, quite often from people who have never played them... We all know what guitar players are like
One reason is they have clipping diodes on the overdrive channel, which tube purists turn their nose up at. Removing the diodes is very easy in any case if you don't like them.
Another is that, under the JCM600 series, they were marketed as the "budget" JCM (no frills, no white piping and so on), and some people took that to mean they had to sound crappy... and so, retrospectively, the JTM30/60 as well.

I like mine. It's definitely not the most desirable, or most hyped Marshall out there, but it's good enough that I've kept mine after all these years, and still enjoy playing it a lot.