A/B Test Ampworx JIMS 800 VS Original Amp

Welcome to the second instalment of our Ampworx A/B-testing series, filmed at Antfarm Studios with metal producer legend Tue Madsen.
In this episode, Tue and Christian “Shredder” Trebbien face the ultimate challenge: distinguishing between the legendary amplifier that the JIMS 800 Ampworx pedal has been modelled by. 
Get ready to be amazed as they explore the boundaries of musical perception in pursuit of the ultimate tone.

Ampworx

Tue Madsen’s Antfarm Studios

00:00 Intro & Setup
01:02 Dialing in the amp
02:18 A/B start
03:25 2nd turn
04:00 Shredder’s guess
04:11 Tue’s 2nd turn...
04:57 ...and guess
05:45 Explanation time

[FacFerSch]

I'm a JCM800 2203X user and recently bought the JIMS 800. I LOVE IT. I needed a buckup for my amp, in case something went bad, but now i'm thinking as a replacement on some gigs.

[rustycowbell]

I've had the Jims800 for over a month now - its a great Marshall JCM800 pedal. I no longer need to bring my Marshall DSL50 or DSL40CR amp to band IEM rehearsals and also bring it to all my gigs as an amp backup. The boost is really great sounding.

[MartinvonBargen]

I bought a used 2203 years ago and rehearsed with it for a few hours. Plugged it in to play a gig and maybe 15 seconds into the first song, and a couple of the caps blew. It was pure Spinal Tap.

Never had a pedal go up in smoke before now. :D

[sski]

I owned a 1978 JMP 50 Mk II back in the 90's and WOW! does that pedal sound like that head. I'd like to hear what it does through a cab to hear (and feel) a little more of the effect it would have in that sense. But in a recording environment, that sounds 1 to 1! Well done TC!

Edit: Just bought one from Sweetwater! Great price. Can't wait to check this out!

[tamastoth]

I could correctly tell which one was the amp, and which one was the pedal, but only if I listened to them one after one. If I sat in a room with eyes closed, and listened only one sample, I would have a fair chance to fail. The difference is insanely slim. This video is very convincing.
Dear TC, which of Your ampworx pedals do You consider as the best pedal platform? Not with sterile clean sound, my basic clean tone is somewhere above the breakup point. I like to experiment with OD stacking, fuzzy sounds for heavy/stoner rock. My current solid state amp's modelling preamp is half decent, that's why I'm after a preamp pedal. Thanks for the advice!

[jgmopar]

I have had the Jims 800 for a while now. It is a great pedal. I sold my jcm800 in the 90's and they are to pricey to buy another. The pedal gets the job done for me.

[alejandro]

Hi, a good video but, please, What were the settings for the amp and pedal?

[RiloRox]

What guitar was that I couldnt tell because of the blurred headstock. Damn cool sounding pedal though!

[OrangeMicMusic]

We have 2 legends here
Tue and JCM 🤘🤘🤘🎸🎸🎸

[bm]

In my Jims 800, after connecting to the power source and the click "channel" pedal, the sound appears about half a second after the red power source diode lights up (i.e. first the diode appears, half a second later the sound signal appears), it is happening always in the first time after turning on the power. Is it due to some fault? I also have a V550 and Dual Wreck from the same series, which does not have this event.

[edneyhelenedossantos]

I wish you could do one based on the rockverb from Orange....

[hoosierdaddy]

Very cool guys. I love TC electronics stuff.
I may have to buy this one or the Rectifier model. I play mostly hard rock and blues hard rock, and the jcm 800 version will be about perfect. The nice thing is I can go to FOH because everywhere I play its required usually no amp or silent stage. So, this and a few pedals would be great. I just have to decide which one I want.
Thanks guys. Great video and demo. Very imformative. ❤❤
Best regards from a customer who loves TC. ❤
Regards from South Central Indiana. The heartland. USA
Tim.❤🤘♥️🤘

[eze]

Can this be used like a distortion pedal in front of a combo amp with no fx loop or direct out? Or only direct or in fx loop?

[MrGul]

At the end he said "now we've tried all three" but I can't find the video on the Dual Wreck, only on this one and the 550. Where's the video on the Dual Wreck?

[TheCleaner]

Why are yous blurring the Gibson headstock out?

[auusiebatman]

Does the JIMS 800 have a built in tuner? (hint)

[kaoskult]

Great pedal. Def get my ac/dc jam fix with it!!

[Muppio]

How would this fair if i wanted to create a ampless 'Superbass/JCM 800 Bass series' for bass?

[bm]

Where is Dual Wreck / Mesa comparision?

[The_Ricardo_Sa]

I bought this pedal a few days ago.. and I really, really, really tried to like it.. I plugged it from DI into a FRFR, from OUT into the front and also the effects loop of 3 amps and also into the front of the Bam 200 with a cabinet (like on the other video )..

Here is my experience:
- Into the FRFR with the DI out - it's not bad - I can get good sounds, even if a a bit muffled, and even after the update. My Marshall TSL601 gets better fuller thicker chunkier sounds. I do have to say the clear channel sounds good, especially with the plethoras chorus, reverb, delay afterwards. The distortion channel sounds a bit compressed, bass, boomy sometimes. But overall for DI-out I though it was ok, I would use it if that was my only set-up.There was a little bit of pedal noise on high distortion, but not terrible.  
(btw, on the video above I could guess which one was the amp on all instances, I am quite sure this was recorded by DI as it had that bit compressed feeling like the one at home vs my Marshall TLS601)

From the OUT - this is a completely different story.. and a complete fail:

- From the OUT into an amp - impossible.. the output is so hot that it completely distorts the preamps of the amps. I needed to lower the volume to be at 1-2 and it then it sounds tiny.. I tried 4 different amps -2x valve, 2x SS - no difference.
- From OUT into the BAM 200 and into a cab - the overload was also massive - the noise and hissing from the pedal was so loud that I could hear it over loud distortion. I tried with different guitars too, single coil and Humbucker, properly isolated, etc.. no difference.
- From OUT into the Power amp - through the effects loop - similar - the hissing was very very loud.. some electronic hisses on top of the normal hisses sometimes, and the sound was very trebly almost zingy, it just hurt my ears. It didn't matter where the knobs were, even after cutting all the treble. This is after the firmware update too. I tried as single pedal on the loop, also 4 cable method with the plethora where I could add a noise gate. No good!

I don't really know where all these amazing sounds and comparisons I hear on YouTube come from. This is not my experience. Maybe I have a defective unit.. but this JIMS 800 is going back.

It is a really beautiful pedal, I really wanted to integrate it into my pedalboard to get the marshal sound with another amp.. but it was very disappointing.