Best Guitar Center Amp for Jazz

[HighSpeedSpoon]

Yes. Thank you Sharon. I'd like to know how well the sound is dispersed throughout the room versus being focused in front of the amp (especially the highs). Some amps are better than others about this. The Quilter folks say that part of the reason for the 8" speaker is that it gives "a cleaner top end and a wider dispersion than larger speakers" - a statement which surprised me, especially as the cabinet is closed.

If you do get additional feedback on this, it would of course be much appreciated.

[chrisparks]

Howdy, Chris from Quilter here to answer the question...
(Hope no-one minds...)

There is an important relationship between woofer size and coverage pattern but it is frequently overlooked. It's known that all woofers have very wide coverage at lower frequencies and narrowing coverage as frequency increases. (Just think about a bass amp. The sound travels in every direction from the amp. You can often even hear it through walls, across long distance, and well... when the guy pulls up next to you in his car thumping rap music you can often feel it!) What you may not know however is that the smaller the woofer, the wider its forward coverage will be at a given frequency inside a cabinet.

Most guitarists in their quest for maximum punchiness and bottom end do not realize that they are actually trading off frequency control at the same time. Most 12" speakers will project at about 75 degrees. An average 8" speaker actually projects at 105 degrees. This means that when you set the average rectangular box on the ground and turn it up you almost need to get right in front of it to actually hear the full range of sound. When you use a smaller speaker all the fullness of the frequency response is delivered in a wider dispersion meaning that you can hear it even if you are standing a few feet from it much more cleanly. With a 12" speaker, the sound blows past your knees like a flashlight. Great if you are sitting at home in front of your amp practicing. Not so great if you are playing in a combo. This incidentally is one of the reasons people often like open back designs on their 12" cabinets. They and their bandmates can simply hear better since the back of the speaker is in fact bouncing audio right out the back and off the walls. One may think this could be advantageous but in reality they often struggle from venue to venue as they get comb filtering, various surfaces to bounce off of and generally bad stage volume. Ever felt like your sound was great in one place and bad in another? This may be the reason. Now closed cabs sometimes have a bad reputation. This is because if you consider that a 12" is already more narrow in it's coverage and then there is no sound to bounce off the walls... Marshall used closed back designs and speaker coupling (4 way cab) for creating mass power and the low end was great for rock music. In our case we get the broader dispersion of an 8 and by closing the cab, we get extended low frequency. All in all, we feel it is the best balance for most players. The clean headroom is great, the frequency response is pretty well balanced and the power is enough that the active EQ's can dial in whatever you want. More importantly, you have total control over the direction and dispersion of your amp and with the ten degree slantback, you can hear it even a step or two in front of the cabinet.

In developing the MicroPro the intention was to maximize portability, power and tone without sacrificing weight or size. By using an 8 inch cone we realize that some people will immediately balk thinking that only a 12 can deliver a full range of tone that they are used to. It's only natural given that most 8" speakers they have experienced were in practice amps and were very low power 5-15 watt speakers. We are using a speaker that was qualified at a full 200 Watt pink noise torture test for several hours. It is simply not the same animal. The closed back design helps to tighten up the transient response and gives a more full range tone to the cabinet. We use a much broader frequency 8" speaker that was actually designed for pro audio use so we get some pretty awesome highs and lows. I can safely say "don't underestimate that little 8 in the MicroPro."

Anyways, hope this didn't bore you to death. You can always email me if you have any more questions. I didn't cover the entire realm of thought that went into the development of the product but this is hopefully enough to help get a flavor for what we were thinking. I am not here to advertise but to try to help you understand what we were thinking. We are a very open company and try to really listen and respond to the community of guitarists we serve.



-chris parks

[Section Player]

Mr. Parks' discussion about modern speaker/power combinations is extremely relevant, and worthy of consideration. We are all carrying around archaic notions of what amplifiers and their speakers should be, when in fact modern technology and engineering have come a very long way. You don't really have to carry around tubes and a heavy 12 inch speaker. I'm grateful there are modern products around, like the Quilter, to consider and maybe purchase.

[HighSpeedSpoon]

Wow yes, and thank you Chris. That's a very clear explanation. (FWIW, I understand it better than the one on your home page.)

[J. Murrieta]

I'm another happy Mesa Boogie Customer - TA-30 head and cab. I use the "Vox" channel for great cleans w plenty of headroom, and it works. BTW, as time goes on and I have tried various cabs, I am also more and more impressed with the TA-23 cab and its Black Shadow 12".

I'm not sure how many watts of clean headroom you need, but the Boogie Mini Recto 25 and the H&K Tubemeister 18 are two cheaper options than the TA30. I don't know much about these amps, but if it were me, I would play them if they are in stock.

hi spoon. i'm currently eyeing the TA30 combo version. i own a Vox AC15C1 modded and love it but i'm looking for a little more headroom. could you tell me more about the TA30? what kind of guitars do you use it with? can it be played quietly as well? thanks.

[Timo]

Try a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe- great amp for the money- and like Stevedenvver said, swap out the 12AX7 tube in the V1 spot for a 12AY7- it gives you way more head room and less gain.

[tuxtux]

Hi Tux,

Does it matter what year for the amp? Are the new ones from Guitar Center good? Are they loud enough?

Thx so much for any information!

Sharon

Mine is from 1977 the old ones sounds fine ;-)
Loud enough for me.

Gr.
Tux

[Bushwackbob]

I join with the others who have mentioned that they have appreciated Mr. Park's explanation of the differences betwee the 8" and 12" speakers. I do not mind -- and here do appreciate -- a manufacturer stepping in and helping educate the forum.

[J. Murrieta]

i went back and re-read Mr. Park's explanation and am now completely enthralled. i actually own a ZT Lunchbox and do love it's overall sound. i'm sure the MicroPro is also a great amp.

however, like all romantic obsessions, it's hard to let the idea and love affair of tubes and a 12" speaker go...

Timo - i actually owned a HR Deluxe for many years...it was my first tube amp. it was great but a few years ago i found the Vox AC15 sound was better suited for my ears. i've actually got a new retube kit from Eurotubes in the mail. i also ordered a 12at7 and a5751 to play with as well. thanks.

[BEACHBUM]

If you're playing fairly large venues and want lots of clean headroom my advice is to buy some wattage. I'm 65 and still lug my Twin around when I have to which thankfully is no longer that often. For the most part these days I'm relying on this. Relatively cheap, a lot more headroom than a DR, lite, and with the 12" speaker it will do most everything I need to do as far as pushing air. Lots of very nice Fender tones as well.

[eddy b.]

Rivera Clubster!

[HighSpeedSpoon]

hi spoon. i'm currently eyeing the TA30 combo version. i own a Vox AC15C1 modded and love it but i'm looking for a little more headroom. could you tell me more about the TA30? what kind of guitars do you use it with? can it be played quietly as well? thanks.

I wrote a review here that may help you, but as I mentioned in the review, I am an amateur. That said, I play the TA30 with a Fender D'aquisto Archtop and a PRS Artist model. In addition to the 15 watt class A mode, the TA-30 has 30 watt class A and 40 watt class A-B modes. I don't notice a big difference in volume between the modes, but I do notice more clean headroom in the 30 and 40 watt modes. I can open the windows and the double doors and still get all the clean headroom my ears can take (and more than my archtop can take without feeding back!). The TA30 can definitely be played quietly too. You can put pedals for grit, which seems to work well for me. Also, depending on what you want, some of the modes are master volume, so you can for example turn up the preamp gain and turn down the master volume.

Check out the review. I will add only this: The key factors favoring the TA30 IMO are light weight, flexibility, and tone. But I seem to have settled on two modes, clean on channel 1 and gritty on channel 2, so I am not sure I would rebuy the Boogie versus say, a good two channel amp. Frankly though, and despite the tone, I am not sure I would rebuy any tube amp again (please hold the e-bricks; I'm just sayin' for me personally, and obviously YMMV.)


-- Good luck, and I hope that helps.

[J. Murrieta]

I wrote a review here that may help you, but as I mentioned in the review, I am an amateur. That said, I play the TA30 with a Fender D'aquisto Archtop and a PRS Artist model. In addition to the 15 watt class A mode, the TA-30 has 30 watt class A and 40 watt class A-B modes. I don't notice a big difference in volume between the modes, but I do notice more clean headroom in the 30 and 40 watt modes. I can open the windows and the double doors and still get all the clean headroom my ears can take (and more than my archtop can take without feeding back!). The TA30 can definitely be played quietly too. You can put pedals for grit, which seems to work well for me. Also, depending on what you want, some of the modes are master volume, so you can for example turn up the preamp gain and turn down the master volume.

Check out the review. I will add only this: The key factors favoring the TA30 IMO are light weight, flexibility, and tone. But I seem to have settled on two modes, clean on channel 1 and gritty on channel 2, so I am not sure I would rebuy the Boogie versus say, a good two channel amp. Frankly though, and despite the tone, I am not sure I would rebuy any tube amp again (please hold the e-bricks; I'm just sayin' for me personally, and obviously YMMV.)


-- Good luck, and I hope that helps.

thanks! i read the review. it reads/sounds like a very cool versatile amp. i just don't like the pricetag. interestingly, yesterday i received my gold pin retube kit from eurotubes for my AC15 and wowzers!!!

my amp repairman had liked the sound of tung sols better so i've been rolling with those for about a year, for both power and preamp. now though, it's all JJ. i put 2 gold pin12ax7s in V2 and V3 and a JJ gold pin 12at7 in V1. i now get warm silky smooth tone and can push the amp much harder, volume wise, before it breaks up...i may just stay right where i'm at. thanks again spoon.