Ibanez Wholetone WT80

**Greco** · 06-10-2011, 04:07 PM

Thoughts, comments, reviews ?

**Steve Z** · 06-10-2011, 07:43 PM

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

**djelley** · 06-10-2011, 08:52 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.

**The_Dude** · 06-18-2011, 09:21 PM

I just purchased the Ibanez Wholetone WT80 amplifier. This amplifier is definitely colored with a very nice nasal (jazz type) tone and for me sounded best using the neck pickup with the pickup’s tone control half open or lower (somewhat similar to how I would use the control with my Fender Jazz King). You do get an amazing jazz tone with the pickup tone control shut off and the amp volume cranked up. I tested the amp using both hollow and solid body guitars. In both cases the low end was diffuse and my preference was to dial down the amp’s bass control to 9 o’clock leaving all other controls at 12 o’clock. The amplifier’s 80 watts (into a 4 ohm 15 inch speaker) makes’ this amp ideal as a practice amp and/or for small jazz gigging sessions. As a subjective point of view and depending on your tone, it might not be loud enough for large gigs. When connected to the AUX IN, external sound tracks (or music) are untainted by the amp’s tone bias. The music comes out clear and loud. There is lots of volume on the AUX IN. The amp’s overall sound is surprisingly clear, very clean, no clipping or distortion at all even at full-volume, and very-very-very crisp although that may be the integrated limiter or DSP at work. In summary, and in my opinion, this amp is probably ideal for the jazz “soloist” using a neck-mounted pickup guitar with or without tone control. I don’t see this amp being used much for anything else but jazz. For the price, this is very good jazz amp with a really good jazz tone!

**The_Dude** · 06-19-2011, 11:24 PM

Well like you GitarGuy, I too just got this amp. But I did not say "not loud enough for jazz gigs" but rather "might" not be loud enough for "larger gigs" as in really crowded bars. Its highly subjective and IMO depends on your tone. Bottom line though, for the price I like this amp!

**jorgemg1984** · 06-20-2011, 06:39 AM

Hey gitarguy, have of you ever compared it to one of the expensive amps like Polytone, Henriksen, Evans? I have read lots of people comparing Cubes or Mustangs to this amps but I have an Henriksen and I dont think you can even compare a Cube or a Mustang to this amp (not so sure about the Polytones because I dont like them) ! But I am curious about this Ibanez and its price...

**The_Dude** · 06-20-2011, 02:29 PM

Maybe you should buy the Ibanez Wholetone amp and tell us what you think jorgemg. I don't know too many people who could afford buying all those other expensive amps for the type of analysis and comparisons you are looking for. IMO the Ibanez Wholetone is a good and affordable jazz amp with a good jazz tone.

**Gitarguy** · 06-20-2011, 10:06 PM

I don't think the amp is particularly heavy, I weighed mine at 39 pounds. That's pretty much of a medium weight, especially considering the conventional 15 inch speaker. A neo speaker would only have saved 3 to 5 pounds and added $100 or more to the sticker price.

**pingu** · 06-21-2011, 05:51 AM

does anyone reckon ibz will make a 12" version
or a 10" even
I might buy one and put a Neo speaker in it
could be a nice cheap light powerfull amp

**blackwingchai** · 06-30-2011, 05:14 AM

One silly question, have you tried putting an overdrive pedal in front of Wholtone amp, how does it sound, is it a no? Reason I'm asking is i dont want many amps, and just wondering if WT80 good enough for blues tone kind of thing.
Thanks

**The_Dude** · 07-01-2011, 09:48 AM

Sorry, I don't have such a pedal(s) and while I don't know much about it (them), I don't think an overdrive pedal would work very well with this amp. The WT80 is a solid state amp and boosting the input signal is likely add to the breakup of your sound. Maybe what you mean is putting a distortion pedal in front? If so, the Wholetone's inherent nasal tone might actually work very well and give you a sound that resembles Santana's for example. Maybe others can comment here but please do let us know if you try this.

**monkmiles** · 07-15-2011, 11:42 AM

Thanks for the review.

I'm just learning about this amp from the forum here.

I'd be more interested in a lighter weight version, possibly with a 12" speaker. Not wild about the wieght of 38lbs.

**jorgemg1984** · 11-27-2011, 02:59 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** · 11-27-2011, 04:18 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** · 11-27-2011, 04:58 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** · 11-27-2011, 05:02 PM

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** · 11-27-2011, 05:18 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** · 12-02-2011, 08:44 AM

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** · 12-02-2011, 08:50 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** · 12-02-2011, 09:11 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** · 12-02-2011, 10:05 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** · 12-02-2011, 03:20 PM

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** · 12-02-2011, 03:58 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** · 12-02-2011, 05:58 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** · 12-04-2011, 01:50 PM

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?