Looking for a combo amp that comes close to Marshall tone

[Desmond Bland]

On Craigslist here in NY there's JTM 30 combo and often JCM 800 & 900 combos for under 500, OR, you can get yourself any number of used clones.

The JTM 30 has a rep for spending more time with your tech than with you.

 

[EpiLP1985]

The JTM 30 has a rep for spending more time with your tech than with you.

Having owned one of these in the past, I can confirm this. It was a direct result of the orinetation of the power tubes coming off the chassis. There was a tremendous amount of heat generated with no where to go but up into the circuit.

 

[EpiLP1985]

If I could present the contrarian's POV here, there is no reason you couldn't build an amplifier with separately voiced channels in the Vintage Marshall style. You could voice one closer to the traditional Marshall Normal/Treble channel, and you could add an extra triode and voice another like a JCM800 ish style. You could do this for less than you could buy an amp for.

The caveat here is you have to have the general know how and the desire.

The new Marshall Origin amps played very nice the last time I was able to really crank one. The Ceriatone 2202 HW could also be worht considering:

British Style 2202 HW | Ceriatone

The Ceriatone British Style 2202 HW is a low wattage, feature-laden champion of tone and value. The 2202 started with the preamp of our 2203HW and 2204HW, but we added some features to make a timeless design even more flexible. In the preamp, we added a 3-way Bright switch, which not only helps...

www.ceriatone.com

 

[Mr. Papa]

If you aren't a builder, consider a used Rivera Chubster, it should fit in your price range if you can find one.

 

[Musicman]

You won't find a Marshall 4010 for $500. Those days are gone!

 

[renderit]

A Fender Blackface Deluxe.

Or really ANYTHING

+ Origin Effects Revival Drive.

 

[jrgtr42]

Considering the original post is 5 years old, |I'm guessing the OP has made his decision. Kinda wondering which direction they went, though.
I have a few smaller combos, each do something well, but it is tough finding one that sounds good clean AND dirty. it usually takes seperate EQs for each channel, and a lot of smaller / more affordable combos (and many bigger / more expensive ones) are single-eqs.

 

[concert410]

used Mesa F-30.....
....or Marshall Origin 50 head plus 1-12 cab with a decent speaker and a few pedals.
I also like the Carvin suggestion.