dex45
Junior Member
Posts: 88
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Post by dex45 on Dec 4, 2021 16:55:09 GMT -7
While getting ready for a recording session in early January I picked up my old friends JCM 800 4010 1x12 combo to use on some tracks. It's familiar and it always delivers my kind of Marshall tone. In my office/gear room I have the 4010 combo sitting right next to my Therapy & 1x12 cab. I plugged into the JCM and I keep getting these familiar sounds, but not sure of what it reminds me of. Then fire up the Therapy and there it is, the tones I just heard from the JCM. The Therapy has a killer master volume on it, but never thought of Marshall tones coming from it. I recently put 6L6's back in it after some EL34's. I'm not one to A/B amps, but what the hell, I went for it.
First off, these 2 amps couldn't be more different, preamp gain from the JCM & PPIMV on the Therapy. Nothing is similar about the tone stack.. The Therapy is a bit louder than the JCM, but with the gain 3/4 of the way up holy crap they were similar. The Therapy didn't have the Marshall high end sizzle, but has better midrange like a Mesa Mk I. I was floored. With the gain all the way up the Therapy had tight overdrive just like the JCM, but sounded open and less compressed. The 4010/2204 JCM 800 isn't a high gain monster. After this little battle the tweed Therapy can do a hell of a lot more than I realized.
Sometimes you stumble on to something pretty cool. I don't think JCM 800 lovers are going to hunt down Dr Z Therapy heads (but maybe they should).
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Post by headshrinker (Marc) on Dec 4, 2021 18:04:04 GMT -7
I've said it before, it's the big bottle Swiss army amp of the Z line. If you have a Therapy and Maz 18, the small bottle Swiss army amp, they will cover just about anything you want to get to.
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Post by nmz on Dec 4, 2021 18:39:12 GMT -7
Everyone should get some Therapy at some point in their life.
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Post by Ridgeback on Dec 5, 2021 7:44:39 GMT -7
I've said it before, it's the big bottle Swiss army amp of the Z line. If you have a Therapy and Maz 18, the small bottle Swiss army amp, they will cover just about anything you want to get to. It gets even better as the Therapy can also be a small bottle (6V6) amp. I've only played mine clean with 6L6\5881 tubes so I know I have not tapped into the Swiss Army Knife potential of this amp.
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Post by Russell B on Dec 5, 2021 9:09:42 GMT -7
It's an incredible amp! This is the first time I've seen folks comparing it to a JCM 800. Where did you have the mid control?
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Post by Don A on Dec 5, 2021 11:24:01 GMT -7
I'd love to try a Therapy, but think I'll stick with my 1982 JCM 800 4010 for now. This is an earlier 4010 with lower plate voltage- about 380V, rather than the later 460V. It has the original G12M-65 speaker in it. It's more of a blues rock than hard rock amp. I bought it from the original owner earlier this year and cleaned it up, cleaned all the sockets, cleaned pots as needed, checked every resistor and coupling cap, measured the voltage everywhere in the circuit, replaced the electrolytics and tubes, and set the bias. I have a set of great old Winged C 6550s in it for now and may convert it to EL34s in the future. I've wanted one forever and would've bought one 40 years ago if I knew how awesome it was going to be!
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Post by Seńor Verde on Dec 5, 2021 11:59:29 GMT -7
I don't know about Marshall tones, but the Therapy with stock tube compliment, Z convertible 1x12 and English Vintage 30 always makes me smile.
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Post by j4gitr (John) on Dec 5, 2021 12:15:23 GMT -7
I couldn’t compare it to my old Plexi (my only Marshall experience) in terms of tone. That amp has been gone since about 81-82. But I know the Therapy makes me smile in so many ways like the old Plexi did. It roars, it finesses, it rocks and it sings so soulfully. I don’t see it ever leaving. I loved the Antidote for which it was traded, but this amp saves my ears and rocks equally for my needs.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Dec 5, 2021 16:22:33 GMT -7
I haven't plugged into my Therapy in a couple of months, and reading this thread got me inspired. I hooked it up to a Z 1x12 cab with an ET-65 speaker and was rewarded with great tone again, but somehow my amp seems brighter than I remember it sounding. Are my 69 year old ears getting better?!? More likely the ET-65 is a great match. It sounds great whether the volume is high or low; sweet cleans and nice fat dirty tweed goodness when it's cranked up around 3:00. What a great amp. I sold my JCM 800 about 7 years ago and I really don't miss it.
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dex45
Junior Member
Posts: 88
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Post by dex45 on Dec 7, 2021 7:09:11 GMT -7
It's an incredible amp! This is the first time I've seen folks comparing it to a JCM 800. Where did you have the mid control? I had the mids at 3 o' clock.
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dex45
Junior Member
Posts: 88
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Post by dex45 on Dec 7, 2021 7:17:21 GMT -7
The Therapy is an amazing amp. I certainly didn't expect it to have similar tones to a JCM 800. JCM's don't really have a typical plexi thing going on, they are their own tone machine in a good way. The Therapy for the win as always, yet to find anything this amp can't do with minimal tweaking.
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Post by adam on Dec 7, 2021 16:28:09 GMT -7
... but somehow my amp seems brighter than I remember it sounding. Are my 69 year old ears getting better?!? I bet they are.
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Dec 7, 2021 17:08:52 GMT -7
I use EL34s in mine and definitely get a Marshall vibe when cranked.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Mar 6, 2022 16:57:19 GMT -7
I'm a creature of habit and I got into the habit of setting my Therapy Volume control low, down around 9:00-12:00.
Today I cranked it all the way up and it sounds great, creamy smooth sweet overdrive, like the OP posted. Very similar to JCM 800 territory, I like it better than any 800 I ever had...what a great amp the Therapy is. I've had it kind of in the corner for quite a while and it's going to get a lot more play time now!
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