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Introduction
The all-valve 2203 is one of the most highly respected and revered 100 Watt Marshall heads in the company’s
long and illustrious history. Evolving from the legendary 100 Watt ‘Plexi’ head, it was also our first amplifier to
house a Master Volume (MV) control. This simple but groundbreaking feature allowed the user to overdrive the
preamp valves into desirable distortion without having to turn the amp full up. This proved to be incredibly popular
and practical because, as you probably know, a 100 Watt Marshall is extremely loud when on full volume!
Furthermore, thanks to its cascaded preamp design, the 2203 was capable of producing a level of distortion never
heard from a guitar amp before.
The very first 2203 was actually introduced to the world in 1975. The JCM800 version that surfaced some six
years later, in 1981, was merely a cosmetic redesign of the original. The circuitry remained exactly the same (as
the saying goes, "if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!"), but the amp’s appearance got much bolder with a full-width
control panel (the 2203 of 1975-1981 had a shorter front panel like a 1959SLP), grille cloth over the front baffle
(the original 2203’s baffle was covered with vinyl), white piping, and ‘JCM800’ written in bold letters on the front
panel, together with Jim’s signature. If you’re wondering about the origin of the JCM800 name, it’s an interesting
tale – it came from the registration/license plate of Mr. Marshall’s car which was, wait for it, JCM800! The ‘JCM’
part of it referred to Jim’s initials (James Charles Marshall), the ‘800’ was merely the number on the plate – no
more, no less!
As guitar amplifiers go, the 2203 is the very essence of simplicity – it’s a one channel amp with no reverb or
built-in effects and its all-valve design produces a sound that, as Mike Doyle so aptly describes in his excellent ‘The
History of Marshall’ book, is "crunchier than a lorry running over a hedgehog!" As a result of its idiot-proof
interface, distinctive roar and larger-than-life ‘edge’, the 2203 immediately set the standard by which all other rock
amps were judged and it remained the ‘industry benchmark’ throughout the entire 16 years of its production life.
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The unparalleled new tones the 2203 generated immediately became the sonic impetus that helped drive forward
the veritable explosion of hard rock acts in the late seventies and early eighties. The JCM 800 incarnation of the amp
(along with the other models in the JCM800 range, most of which were derivatives of the 2203) quickly became the
mainstay of the burgeoning heavy metal scene that dominated the ‘80s and was the amp responsible for many of the
seminal thrash metal recordings of this period. In fact, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman of Slayer, a hugely influential
band that helped pioneer the thrash genre, still use their Marshall 2203s to this very day.
The late eighties and early nineties saw a shift towards the ‘alternative/Brit pop’ movement in the UK, while the US
was dominated by the ‘grunge’ scene. The wide-ranging use of 2203s in these extremely varied musical genres is a
true reflection of this amplifier’s extremely versatile tonal range.
With the launch of Marshall’s hugely popular JCM 900 Series in 1991, the JCM800 2203 was deservedly, but
somewhat reluctantly, put out to pasture after 16 years of sonic supremacy. Despite its retirement though, the 2203
continued to be a much sought after amp and scores of players, including that brilliant fretburner Zakk Wylde (of
Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society fame), would relentlessly hunt down old 2203s for use in the studio and on
stage.
Owing to the seemingly never-ending barrage of requests we receive on a daily basis for the 2203, we’ve decided
that it is time for us to relaunch this great amp in its most popular guise – the JCM 800. Furthermore, by popular
demand, we’ve also given it a Series Effects Loop that features a true Bypass switch that takes the loop completely
out of the circuit, thus ensuring the original tone isn’t compromised in any shape or form.
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