Marshall JVM410H 100 watt 4 channel amplifier head

by Gig Stig

The Marshall JVM410H is loaded with features, and sometimes, having all the bells and whistles in an amp can be a bit overwhelming when the layout is cluttered. Fortunately, the JVM410H is laid out extremely well, grouping each Channel, Reverb, and Master control in a clearly identifiable manner.

At first glance, I noticed the arrangement of the controls, reading from left to right: Master control section, Reverb section, Channel OD1 and OD2 and lastly Channel Clean and Crunch – the order struck us as being backwards. On the JVM410C combo amp version of the JVM, the controls were set up in reverse, which actually makes more sense when taking into consideration the additional gain stages and the order in which you would usually build your sound.

I suspect that the more-intuitive-but-reversed layout in the combo has to do with orienting the logic board upside down within the combo’s cabinet for space considerations, but either way, we got used to the arrangement quickly.

The Marshall JVM410H was extremely easy to use and intuitive, leaving more time to play the amp rather than having to resort to the owner’s manual every time we needed to make a change. Taking into account the number of push-buttons and digital programming available per each channel and mode setting (twelve options in all,) the JVM really was simple to use, mainly due to its automatic memory function.

Making a setting selection change via any of the On/Off or Mode selection buttons was automatically remembered for recall at any time. There isn’t any Save button to push nor none of that “push that button while holding this button” nonsense — one button/one function with automatic recall memory. Simple!

Operation of each channel section is quite simple and straightforward using standard controls including Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Gain. The only slight difference was that on Channel 1 (Clean Channel), the Volume knob was only engaged with the Orange and Red modes allowing for overdrive. In the Green mode, only the Gain control knob is engaged to eliminate the ability to overdrive the clean channel.

The Master control section of the JVM410H provides two separate Master Volume controls and global Presence and Resonance controls. The Master Volume controls 1 and 2 are assignable to any of the twelve available modes within the four channels. This gave us the ability to program specific volume requirements between our rhythm and lead settings.

The Resonance and Presence control features are only applicable when using an actual speaker cabinet and had no effect when using the Emulated Line Out for recording. Using the Resonance control gave us the ability to adjust the amount of bass response resonated by the speaker.

The Presence control allowed us to emphasize the speaker’s high frequency response which adds presence to the sound. In using both of the controls, the Resonance control enabled us to obtain just the right amount of Marshall low-end punch while the Presence control enabled us to dial in enough high end to provide a cutting edge without becoming too brittle.

Another great feature was the ability to make connections between our favorite MIDI foot-controller. We connected a Lexicon MPX R1 MIDI foot controller to the JVM for testing and things worked perfectly without any complex configuration — Marshall couldn’t have made connection of this device any easier.

Pressing the MIDI Program button twice on the front of the JVM410H put the amplifier in a learning mode, causing indicated by a flashing LED. Once the MIDI program change command was received, the current settings (including Channel, FX, Reverb and Master) were stored at the current MIDI program number. The JVM410H provides storage and instant recall for 128 presets when used with a foot controller — in the words of Terry Thomas .... splendid!