Three Classic Jazz Amps

[jags]

So, I think it's a bit more than the poly simply having become known by default as ''jazz sound''; the design "works", in the sense of giving the guitar a distinctive solo voice in a trad jazz combo setting, even if that voice is a slightly ''flat'' voice in isolation.

Ideally of course, one should have one of each.. .

Exactly!!

[jorgemg1984]

Been playing the different amps with different guitars and found another interesting quirk about the Polytone. It seems to sound best with instruments that lean more acoustic than electric. I actually bought the Polytone for my upright bass player to use on gigs. All he has is a little Fender Rumble that sounds really bad. The Polytone sounds great with the upright acoustic bass. It also sounds great with my Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin. The Godin really has a great acoustic sound and is a lot more open and live sounding compared to any of my other archtops. The guitars that sound the worst through the Polytone are my Strat and other solid body electrics.

Something about the Polytone that makes it work really well with the more acoustic type instruments. This seems somewhat illogical because it's common practice that an acoustic amp is extremely clean and flat with an extended frequency range.

I think what is happening with the Polytone that makes it so unique is that it IS actually very clean and flat. But it is different compared to an acoustic amp in that it does NOT have an extended low or high end. This makes this amp seem midrangey when compared to other amps but in reality it IS flat but simply lacks top and bottom end. This characteristic would make it work well for a jazz tone. A lot of players like to use an acoustic amp for jazz because they are clean and flat. But they do often roll off the bass and treble. The Polytone has this built in! No wonder the Polytone seems to sound the worst when A/Bing against other amps but actual may work the best for a great jazz tone!

The Kingpin has a P90 which means extended highs and a much more open sound.. which is good if you don't like the closed sound of the Polytone which a PAF only accentuates.

Funny you mention lack of bass and treble - I honestly think most amps for example have too much bass, even for rock playing. A lot of producers on records just put a low cut on 100hz on the guitar because below that it makes your sound very hard to work on a band mix... I have always found the stock blackface sound with a PAF to be extremely hard to use on a band setting for example.

My solution has been 1) using a balckface sound with less bass and more mids 2) when using a polytone sound (mambo) I am using EV speakers which have a tight bass and extended treble. This makes the sound much more alive and with just a few tweaks I can get a balanced sound across the spectrum that works in a mix. So trying a speaker in the line of EV / JBL / Altec on the Polytone might open the sound considerably and you get the balanced classic jazz sound with the extended treble open sound of blakcfaces. To my ears at least

[medblues]

If I remember correctly, you were going to use a Barber EQ pedal with your Polytone, how did that experiment go ? Are you able to duplicate the Barber EQ+ Polytone (all tone controls at mid) sound with Polytone alone (mid control turned down, bass and treble adjusted to match) ?

The Kingpin has a P90 which means extended highs and a much more open sound.. which is good if you don't like the closed sound of the Polytone which a PAF only accentuates.

Funny you mention lack of bass and treble - I honestly think most amps for example have too much bass, even for rock playing. A lot of producers on records just put a low cut on 100hz on the guitar because below that it makes your sound very hard to work on a band mix... I have always found the stock blackface sound with a PAF to be extremely hard to use on a band setting for example.

My solution has been 1) using a balckface sound with less bass and more mids 2) when using a polytone sound (mambo) I am using EV speakers which have a tight bass and extended treble. This makes the sound much more alive and with just a few tweaks I can get a balanced sound across the spectrum that works in a mix. So trying a speaker in the line of EV / JBL / Altec on the Polytone might open the sound considerably and you get the balanced classic jazz sound with the extended treble open sound of blakcfaces. To my ears at least

[jorgemg1984]

I use it with an Henriksen, not a Polytone - which in a way is the same, a flat frequency amp. The difference is it has a graphic eq instead of a baxandall one... I love the sound!! I use it with a Mambo 10 cab with an EV or a DrZ 112 cab with an EV (closed) and sounds glorious... witht he Henriksen at noon and the mids on 0 on the Barb EQ you get the classic blackface sound... it would be hard for me to tell the difference (but I have a very good reverb on the Henriksen).

I usually like to add more mids and use the 100hz knob on the Henriksen to cut the extreme bass. Some days I like it more than the Mambo, and believe me that's hard!! I like this setup more than the actual blackface I play sometimes (a Vibrolux).

[Boston Joe]

Something about the Polytone that makes it work really well with the more acoustic type instruments.

This is definitely true. My Joe Pass Emperor sounds a lot better through the Polytone than my Strat does.

[makam]

I think you'll have to make a short review with the three amps, using the same guitar, the same song- phrases and post it here (blindfolded) so as to help us have a clearer view...

[GuyBoden]

Does the Roland Jazz Chorus amps still constantly produce a hissing sound, because many years ago I had a Roland JC120, they hissed all the time, good amp, but I just couldn't live with the constant hiss.

[jags]

Does the Roland Jazz Chorus amps still constantly produce a hissing sound, because many years ago I had a Roland JC120, they hissed all the time, good amp, but I just couldn't live with the constant hiss.

Yes it is a 1985 Roland Jazz Chorus JC-55 and it is a bit hissy. From what I've read they are all like that. Not sure about the current production ones however.