Ibanez Wholetone amplifier (model WT80)

Greco · #1 06-10-2011, 03:07 PM

I suggested starting a specific thread (in another thread) for this amp...then decided that I would just go ahead and get it done.

Ibanez.com | Electronics, Tuners, Pedals, Accessories | WT80

Thoughts, comments, reviews, etc.

Thanks

Dave

FatJeff · #2 06-10-2011, 04:40 PM

Well, it's handsome, I'll give it that...very clean.

BigDaddyLoveHandles · #3 06-10-2011, 04:54 PM

The sound clip they have is nice. Bassy, but that works for solo guitar. Since it has bass, midrange and treble controls, I have hopes that they're voiced well for guitar and that you can dial up the mids for group playing.

Steve Z · #4 06-10-2011, 06:43 PM

Definitely worth taking a look at... especially for around $380 street price (per various online retailers).

djelley · #5 06-10-2011, 07:52 PM

I just pulled the trigger.

I was on the fence, but GAS is terminal. Musicians Friend has two "used" (ie. customer returns) that look decent and are selling for $303. I was about to go that route when I remembered that they are running a promotion right now. The are ALWAYS running a promotion!

So I ordered a new one for $380 and I'm getting a $50 gift certificate in return. Free shipping.

Net $330 is a very good deal considering that I will definitely spend the $50 in no time.

I'll keep you all posted.

Greco · #6 06-10-2011, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djelley

I just pulled the trigger.

I'll keep you all posted.

Congratulations !!

Please let us know what you think...especially after the honeymoon...LOL

Cheers

Dave

FatJeff · #7 06-10-2011, 08:53 PM

Yes, I'm curious too! My affair with my lunchbox is over.

spiral · #8 06-10-2011, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

The sound clip they have is nice. Bassy, but that works for solo guitar. Since it has bass, midrange and treble controls, I have hopes that they're voiced well for guitar and that you can dial up the mids for group playing.

No. For that you have to upgrade to the Midtone.

djelley · #9 06-13-2011, 08:49 PM

The Big Brown Truck is due to arrive Thursday. Review to follow!

ah.clem · #10 11-27-2011, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djelley

The Big Brown Truck is due to arrive Thursday. Review to follow!

So, what do you think of this amp? I am considering purchasing one.

Thanks.

jorgemg1984 · #11 11-27-2011, 12:59 PM

When I tried it I thought it was nice for the price and that was it... it has a Polytone vibe. You can do better at a much higher cost.

bborzell · #12 11-27-2011, 02:18 PM

I meant to ask this question 6 months ago when people first started talking about this amp but then promptly forgot to do it. So here goes.

The Ibanez site lists the speaker as a 15" which everybody already knows. It also describes it as a "coaxial" speaker. Now, coaxial typically means another higher range speaker mounted somewhere in front of the center of the bass speaker with a crossover to distribute frequencies.

The photos I have seen don't shed much light as the grill is dark as is the driver so I can't say whether there is another smaller driver anywhere in there.

Or, maybe Ibanez just let a brain fart when it included "coaxial" in the description.

Anyone with a Wholetone willing to search for another driver and crossover?

ah.clem · #13 11-27-2011, 02:58 PM

In the pics of the front of the amp, it seems that there are 2 (3"?) horns in the lower corners of the box. I assumed these were the hi-freq.

Edit: looking again, one could be a horn and the other could be a port, or they could both be ports. I really only know about bass amps.

ah.clem · #14 11-27-2011, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

When I tried it I thought it was nice for the price and that was it... it has a Polytone vibe. You can do better at a much higher cost.

Thanks for this info. This will be my first guitar amp and it's pretty much near the top of my budget.

jorgemg1984 · #15 11-27-2011, 03:18 PM

I don't think it's near the Henriksen or my Jazzmaster Ultralight but it gives you a "jazz sound" at a good price. It's less versatile than the Cubes but it's better suited form someone who is looking for the jazz sound. But I have only tried it for an hour in a store (with my archtop which I know how it sounds trough most amps). There are other threads on the forum do a search - and most important of all try it yourself or buy it in a place you have some trial period so you can send it back if you don't like it.

When i tried it the amp it reacted very badly to overdrive pedals, so beware of that. And it didn't seemed very loud but that test can only be made at a gig.

Vlad · #16 12-02-2011, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

When i tried it the amp it reacted very badly to overdrive pedals, so beware of that.

I'm glad you mentioned this since it's what many people are wondering about on Internet forums.
I was hoping I could use this amp as a backup for my tube amp on other non-jazz gigs. And since my local Ibanez dealer doesn't have it, I'd have to buy it online.
So how bad did it sound?

jorgemg1984 · #17 12-02-2011, 06:50 AM

Basically the Sparkle Drive didn't work with it. With the gain on max the amp was still completely clean. I tried it on a fender amp with the exact same settings and got a lot of overdrive... Just imagine a Tube Screamer with the gain on 12 and getting a clean sound from the amp!

(This was my personal experience with the Sparkle Drive and the Wholetone, maybe some guys who own the amp can give a better idea of how it works with OD pedals)

Vlad · #18 12-02-2011, 07:11 AM

As I understood, the WT80 has some kind of clipping limiter that keeps the signal clean at high volumes. It seems that it also cleans up the input signal.
That's a shame 'cause I know guys like Rosenwinkel used Polytones with their Rat pedals quite succesfully.
This makes the Roland Cube 80XL a more versatile alternative in this price range.

jorgemg1984 · #19 12-02-2011, 08:05 AM

I love Kurts's Rat / Polytone sound. I have four solid sate amps: jazzmaster ultralight, fender M80, peavey bandit 65 (on my vacation house) and henriksen ja112 (on sale). They stay clean all the way, I can''t get any distortion from them... BUT when I trough a distortion pedal before them they obviously distort!

I agree with you, the Cube 80 is more versatile in that price range althogh you could get an old 80s solid state and a good speaker for that money. But the WT80 gives you what many think as a "jazz sound" at a very reasonable price. A lot of guys don't use dirt pedals.

Sphere · #20 12-02-2011, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vlad

As I understood, the WT80 has some kind of clipping limiter that keeps the signal clean at high volumes. It seems that it also cleans up the input signal.
That's a shame 'cause I know guys like Rosenwinkel used Polytones with their Rat pedals quite succesfully.
This makes the Roland Cube 80XL a more versatile alternative in this price range.

There is no way a limiter will clean up a distorted signal. Even if the limiter was on the input stage (although I suspect it's post pre-amp), it would only bring down the output level of a pedal. If you use a distortion box, the signal is already clipped, regardless of the output level.

burchyk · #21 12-02-2011, 01:58 PM

Agree with what Sphere said. I remember trying WT80 and it was a smooth and warm kind of sound, that may be the reason for some of the perceived ability to clean up an overdriven signal since our ears may rely on high pitched artifacts to detect clipping

jorgemg1984 · #22 12-02-2011, 03:58 PM

I am sure you know much more than I do about tech stuff but I can swear that OD pedal was useless before the amp. It has nothing to do with the "smooth and warm" sound of the amp (that I was not able to find actually), I have amps with lovely clean tones but if I put an OD before the amp it distorts (as it supposed to do).

The WT 80 must have something going on in the circuit because I had zero distortion even with the gain at 12.

Sphere · #23 12-04-2011, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

I am sure you know much more than I do about tech stuff but I can swear that OD pedal was useless before the amp. It has nothing to do with the "smooth and warm" sound of the amp (that I was not able to find actually), I have amps with lovely clean tones but if I put an OD before the amp it distorts (as it supposed to do).

The WT 80 must have something going on in the circuit because I had zero distortion even with the gain at 12.

Again, this is basically impossible. If you max out the gain on your pedal, and set it's volume at unity gain or below, the settings on the amp will have no effect on the amount of overdrive generated by the pedal. Maybe there is something wrong with the pedal? Or are we talking clean boost kinda pedal?

jorgemg1984 · #24 12-04-2011, 11:55 AM

It's OD and clean boost pedal. I was only using the gain side. EXACTLY SAME SETTINGS on a twin reverb gave a lot of gain. Same pedal, same guitar, just changed the amp. Tried several times. WT zero distortion. Twin lots of distortion (gain at 12 using only the gain side!) Sorry man it happened.... I have no idea why but it did happened.

cjm · #25 12-04-2011, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

It's OD and clean boost pedal. I was only using the gain side. EXACTLY SAME SETTINGS on a twin reverb gave a lot of gain. Same pedal, same guitar, just changed the amp. Tried several times. WT zero distortion. Twin lots of distortion (gain at 12 using only the gain side!) Sorry man it happened.... I have no idea why but it did happened.

Possibly some freak ground loop condition that prevented the pedal from functioning properly while connected to the Ibanez amp? And this perhaps due to a wiring fault in the shop where you tried the amp?

I mean personally, I would be tickled pink if amplifier design has indeed evolved to render all distortion effects inoperable, but...

jorgemg1984 · #26 12-04-2011, 12:58 PM

I also thought it was really weird! But if it gave me distortion with the Twin in the same place... Maybe it was a one-time event. Anyone here has the amp and an OD / distortion pedal to try it with?

Treading Water · #27 12-07-2011, 10:04 AM

Yes, I bought one to try out. My initial impressions are that this is quite different from the tube amps that I am used too.
I am using it with a Heritage Sweet 16, and find that the flat position on all controls seems optimal in my living room.
The main advantage that I think I discern is more of a hi-fi sound, as I believe the 15inch speaker is able to put out a "flatter"response in the low end, resulting in more bass.
My ears have not adjusted to all the characteristics of the amp as I have done limited testing for optimum performance, - I think the amp has dispersion characteristics that I am not used too, and I wonder if the speaker needs time to break in, - my gut tells me so.

It seems to be better about not feeding back when compared to one of my other amps, but when I adjust tone controls on the other tube amp to approximate the wholetone the tendency for feedback lessens on the tube amp (I think).

I can and will try various stomp boxes to see if they work as expected, but my hope for this amp is that it puts out a flat clean signal, for accuracy thereby exploiting the sonic characteristics of my archtop.

eriks · #28 12-07-2011, 11:28 AM

On the OD subject. Our big band leader for some reason - I think his wife likes the song - has us playing "still got the blues". I'm using either the Ibanez TS 10 or Blackstar OD. In both cases the sound is distorted. Not at the same level I'm used hearing on my Fender Vibrolux, but for sure not "cleaned up".

Treading Water · #29 12-08-2011, 11:01 AM

I plugged in an OCD distortion box last night. It worked but sounded terrible. I was using an archtop as a source guitar, and the OCD caused lots of feedback. Perhaps I should have hooked up a strat or tele but I don't think this amp is designed for rock tones.

peterpanico · #30 12-08-2011, 12:40 PM

It's because of the tone stacks,circuitry, and the kind of speakers used in these "clean", almost Hi fi sounding,solid state amps; distortion is not taken in account :-) There are some ss guitar amps on the market,wich can do,for gain rich tones,but they have a different layout (circuit project) and classic speakers,I mean those set for the standard frequency range in wich guitars really breath...