The riff and singing solo that launched Dio's solo career. Vivian Campbell recorded Holy Diver at Sound City Studios in 1983 on a wine-red Gibson Les Paul Deluxe he'd refinished matte black — loaded with a DiMarzio X2N in the bridge — pushed by a Boss SD-1 into a stock, cranked Marshall JCM800. No rack, no scoop: just a hot Les Paul and a Marshall on the edge, which is why the leads sound so vocal. Standard tuning.
The JCM900 was supposed to modernize the JCM800. Here's what actually changed in the circuit, why players have opinions about it, and which one fits your playing.
Exact settings for the Marshall JCM800 across blues, classic rock, hard rock, and metal, on the real amp and on Helix, Quad Cortex, and Katana models.
Two Studio-line heads. Two of the most modified Marshall preamp topologies ever shipped. Which 20-watt version belongs on your board, and which one actually sounds like the amp it claims to copy.