Marshall Kerry King Signature Head 2203KK

PRODUCT: MARSHALL 2203KK (KERRY KING) HEAD
REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI

Jim Marshall is a man who has given the world some of the greatest amps in history. Growing up I dreamed of owning a Marshall stack. It became a reality when I purchased a JCM 2000 and two Marshall quad boxes after working a couple of crappy jobs in order to facilitate my ‘loud’ fetish.
JCM 800s hit the scene in the early 80s and were responsible for that massive stadium rock tone we all know and love. It was the 2203 model in particular that seemed to shine amongst its peers, and a refined gentleman known as Kerry King discovered this potential, using 2203s throughout his entire career.
So what’s the difference between a standard 2203 and the 2203KK you ask? Like all 800s, overdrive is adjusted by increasing preamp gain and master volume is altered by tweaking power amp gain. This is where the similarities end. I equate the KK to a 2203 on steroids, with more gain, body and balls than any 800 will ever know. Standard 800s employ the use of EL-34 valves in their power section which have long been associated with classic British crunch, but the KK model does away with tradition, going straight for the jugular by slamming four fat KT-88 power valves into the heart of this ‘beast’.
For years, Kerry has also used a 10-band graphic equalizer and noise gate to drive his amp even harder and kill excess noise when shred ceases. Consequently, the guys at Marshall decided to incorporate this circuitry directly into the amp. There is a little push button, on the front panel entitled, “The Beast” which engages both the noise gate and preset mid-boosting EQ used to drive this amp even harder. The threshold of the gate can be adjusted by rotating the assigned knob and the EQ boost can be tweaked by rotating the “Assault Intensity” knob
The gate works as more of an expander. It is really responsive to your playing, engaging instantly when you mute your guitar strings and opening at the same rate, allowing notes to feedback into perfection. The gate is more musical and user friendly than any other gate, expander or noise supressor on the market, and it comes in-built with the KK. If you like, you can now throw away your beloved Boss NS-2 or ISP decimator if you’re going to use this amp exclusively.
Increasing “Assault Intensity” adds a wonderful mid-biased distortion to existing drive, pushing gain into areas of extreme distortion especially when used in conjunction with a hot humbucker like an EMG-81. I preferred to run the preamp and assault knobs flat out so I could run the amp at an almost bearable volume, and even then I had the neighbours ready to kick my door down when running the amp at just 4!
Tone-wise the KK still retains traditional Marshall flavour, but it’s easily the best Marshall I’ve ever used for metal. JCM 2000s sound fuzzy and thin in comparison and seem to compensate by adding too much drive and over-sculpting the mids. The KK may only be a single channel amp, but it gives you one channel of the most brutal chunk imaginable. Turning down the preamp gain and disengaging “The Beast” switch, results in a lovely chiming British clean tone. The amp is intended to be used solely for distortion, and anything else would be like buying a monster truck to drive to church on Sundays.
Visually the amp looks really cool, with tribal tattoo graphics printed on the black basket-weave cloth and the gold panel on the front. Also an evil looking font adorns the front adding to he already devilish character of this monster.
I recommend plugging into “The Beast”, with a mahogany bodied EMG equipped guitar, as I couldn’t quite get the tone I was after using my Fender Strat. An EMG-81 in the bridge will give you that ripping Slayer tone and drive the amp the way it’s intended to. I also recommend going for an oversized 4 x 12, like the Marshall Mode 4 cabinet so the massive bottom end of the KK translates properly.
There is more volume and gain in this amp than any guitarist could ever need. The only catch is you need to crank the amp past 4 in order to get it to achieve its maximum potential, making it unreasonably loud for home use (unless you happen to live on a deserted island or out in the sticks like our editor).
The Marshall JCM 800 2203 KK is the perfect amp for guitarists chasing a blistering grind-metal or hardcore tone that is beautifully ugly, simple in design, with all the right features to get a brilliant, snarling guitar sound.

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Marshall Kerry King Signature Head 2203KK

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