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Another interesting amp, the Fuchs Jazz Classic:
Jazz ClassicTM - Fuchs Audio
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01-04-2014 08:36 PM
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Yeah but the price and weight is in line with plenty other nice "regular amps" that sound great for jazz...
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no, it's much lighter than a similarly power tube amp. lighter than the 22 watt deluxe reverb but it's got way more power. And he's got the tone controls voiced like fender and with a tube preamp this thing will smoke just about any other jazz amp in terms of getting that benson/wes tone.
I agree price is high but the evans amps are close to $1500 and there are plenty of high dollar SS amps out there. If you get it and keep it for 5-10 years, the price isn't so much an issue.
He's also a player too and not just an engineer. For some reason, so many of the jazz amp manufacturers are just lazy about voicing their preamps for guitar and just use a standard PA style EQ circuit. You won't have that issue with Fuchs.
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Oh I bet it sounds great... I was just thinking something like a Gries 35 is the same weight and costs 1k less- But you're right, 35w vs 75w.
Sounds nice here but I would like to hear clips with a pick.
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Andy makes great ams and I'm betting this one sounds great but the Evans RE200 is 27 lbs and almost $1000 less so it's not much of a comparison. (Plus the latest incarnation sounds fabulous). And you're right: if you buy it and keep it for 5-10 years the price is much less of an issue. The only problem I have with that is the the last amp that I kept for that long was from 1963 to 1971
Originally Posted by jzucker
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Last edited by Jim Soloway; 01-04-2014 at 10:19 PM.
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i'd like to hear one that is revoiced. All of the ones that I owned were muddy and mid-rangey sounding. The AI Corus head is much more clear than any of the evans amps I've owned or heard but unfortunately, the still don't have a proper tone control, it's still at 10k. I've begged them to address this, lol. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
Andy makes great ams and I'm betting this one sounds great but the Evans RE200 is 27 lbs and almost $1000 less so it's not much of a comparison. (Plus the latest incarnation sounds fabulous). And you're right: if you buy it and keep it for 5-10 years the price is much less of an issue. The only problem I have with that is the the last amp that I kept for that long was from 1963 to 1971.
Still my fave although I have high hopes for the quilter. If this doesn't work out, I may try an evans. What makes the new ones different?
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looked at the specs for the Evans amps and the speakers they are using drop off sharply at 3.8k. That's a tad dark IMO. In my experience, even if you like a dark tone you're better off having a speaker drop off at 4.5k - 5k and adjust the tone from the amplifier. This what i experienced on my previous forays into evans territory. It seems that most players who buy them want a tone that sounds like '70s pat martino with super heavy strings and the tone control down. I prefer a more wes/benson fender amp tone and then I can turn the tone control down ala metheny if I want darker.
The last evans I had, I ran it through a wider range speaker but found that the treble control just wasn't in the right place. If fuchs puts his tone controls where fender does, that would go a long way towards making a usable jazz amp vehicle.
Although You can always use a barb eq in front of the amp...
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Jazz amps problems are not just the preamp - a smal cubic cosed ported cab and a bass speaker don't help... The Evans has a much more guitaristic EQ (even if the treble is not perfect) and an open-back cab but still a Beta Speaker... My two cabs are loaded with EVs (10 and 12) which have much more treble and a much guitar-friendly sound although they still have a hint of neutral / pa sound (that I like).
Quilter or Fuchs seem to have the advantage of being "just" 100w / 75w which means you have a big range of guitar speakers available. If I remember correctly an Henriksen with a Tonker speaker, a Barb EQ and a WET reverb gave you an excellent fender sound I got the Barber idea from you and for the price is just much easier than finding the right amp... I modded my Henriksen with a good reverb, a 9v out to feed the BarbEQ and an fx loop and I have an all-in-one package that is loud, light, cheap and sounds better than may Fenders I have played. No need to get a 2.5K Fuchs
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Very intriguing amp.... but out of my price range
Info on the Jazz Classic starts around 3:48 mark..
Last edited by Steve Z; 01-05-2014 at 10:47 AM.
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Cool amp, as are all of Andy's amps (this looks like an Engel solidbody guitar, BTW). I would struggle (philosophically) spending over $2K on an amp, although I'm sure it would be worth it. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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Same with me here... My Henriksens / BYOC Reverb 2 / Mambo Cab / EV 10 total cost was around 1000€ - and it's a much smaller and lighter setup and sounds just as good (comparing to the clips of course). This Fuchs do seem excellent amps but I can't seem to justify the price tag... Originally Posted by marcwhy
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i'd have to play through it. The clips don't sound that good frankly but I have to believe - knowing andy's other offerings - that this amp will be fantastic. If I could get a true fender amp tone out of a 100w, 30lb combo amp without having to use pedals and preamps that would be worth it. When I grab the amp and guitar, I don't want to have to set up a pedal board and a bunch of wall warts to plug in a bunch of pedals. I'd rather the amp just sound good by itself. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
Again - Amp manufacturers, spend a few bucks and get the preamp right. Sigh...
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So buy it and tell us
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i would but it's too expensive for my tastes, lol.
I'm just saying if money is no object or you are out there traveling and gigging all over the place, it might be a good choice.
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Fuchs just put this clip on fb.
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Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
I don't think you can get that sound without the socks!
Actually, it's very hard to tell what an amp like that will really do from a clip like that. So many amps sound really good at bedroom volumes, which is how he appears to be playing.
What's that sucka gonna sound like with a loud rhythm section? That's what I want to know. Unless you know someone who has one, it's very hard to tell how an amp will perform in the real world of gigs. It's usually a crap shoot.
That said, the Fuchs might be a good bet, albeit a very high stakes bet.
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I've just joined the forum to be a little more involved in the jazz community. I'm happy to inform that the Jazz Classic will be reviewed in the next issue of Just Jazz Guitar quite favorably I might add. It's available as a head as well as a combo.
I find it fascinating that a professional jazz player will spend thousands on a Borys, Commings, Unger, Benedetto$, Engel's, D'Angelico's etc. and yet an amp for $ 2.4-K is considered "too expensive" ! lol. I've spoke with other professional guitarists who don't quite understand it either.
Nope, this amp isn't "cheap". We're a small boutique company in the US, and our products are built in limited volume in small batches, mostly by hand and honestly if a Peavey or Fender made it, it might be much more affordable just based on volume and production efficiency you get from that. Would it be as good, well, that's anyone's guess. I was told Fender has 28 Engineers on staff. When I asked how many played guitar, nobody knew....this product was designed by a player for a player, with the utmost respect for a classic jazz player's tone.
No, it's not the be-all and end-all of amps, but so-far every single player who has purchased one has had nothing but favorable comments about the tone, weight, and the warm smooth sound of the digital reverb as well. Given the chance, some of these ideas may find their way into less expensive perhaps solid state or more affordable Polytone or 'ZT' style designs in the future.
Having grown up listening to the likes of Johnny Smith, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Roberts, as well as modern players like Howard Alden, Dave Stryler, Bob DeVos and Vic Juris (the Jazz Classic amps first 'official' endorser btw), my goal was an amp that not only sounded great to the player and listener. It would be operationally simple (no 50 band equalizers, no multi-effects, or bells and whistles needed or wanted). Beyond the sound, I wanted it to also feel good to play. Many solid state designs are not. They can be stiff, dry, lifeless and sound harsh and non-musical when cranked. Using tubes in the preamp helped, as did the power supply and power amp design.
The choice of speaker, the choice of cabinet wood, and key aspects of the electronic design were all done as a unit to work in concert with one another, not unlike a formula racing car where every element is judged as to how it fits the overall platform. The tube preamp uses two 12AX7's, which is by far the most popular preamp tube on earth, and is currently very available and should be for most of our lives going forward. The amp should require minimal maintenance and be no less reliable than any other amp. It certainly has less opportunities to fail like an amp with power tubes could.
The filament and DC plate voltages are regulated to lessen the critical nature of the tube choices, and extend tube life. So far the only tweak we've made was a slight reduction in input gain, as the volume control was a tad touchy in the lower regions. The design has 150 watts into 4-ohms, which a few players thought "sounded like a lot of power". The idea is that it assures you'll likely not run into clipping easily. On the rare occasion you might bump into clipping, the tube preamp stage which drives the power amp is intentionally designed to clip precisely before the power amp would, so you would actually hear tube distortion (smoother and more pleasant than solid state distortion) not solid state distortion.
Dave Stryker recently test drove it (see link), and commented that "it's much louder and cleaner than my Twin, and weighs a little more than my Polytone". Here's a video:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...45813907154572
Thanks for letting me in this fine forum, and discussing my amps.
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Yeah Vic swears by these amps, for sure. Perhaps the most smokin' performance I saw in the past few years was by Mr Juris when he played with the Lieb at the Green mill. His tone was rich, full and emphatic, not a bit of the dreaded muddiness.
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and it's not really that expensive. The AI chorus and Ten/2 are about $1500 and don't copy any tube vibe
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Andy,
Welcome to Jazz Guitar Geek Central!
Great to have you here. My first "Fuchs Experience" was listening to Joe Jewell in So Cal; his sound was clean, clear, gritty, nasty, and funky throughout the night, so I asked him, "How are you getting all those sounds, man?! You don't have pedals or anything ..!" He just smiled and pointed, "Fuchs," and apparently was controlling things simply with the guitar volume knob (and yes, his hands and "touch"). Awesome night of music.
Peace,
Marc
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Hi Andy, sounds great in the clip. Sorry for the expensive comments, for some reason it's hard for me to spend so much on amp - I did not intend in any way to say it's not worth the price.
Hope you stick around here, not so many good builders pay attention to us!
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jorgemg1984, nothing directed specifically at you. It's a "guitarist thing" in general. Even some of the guys who play solid body electrics and would spend 6-K on a PRS Dragon or Private Stock guitar, seem to feel our amps are "expensive". I think you get what you pay for, and there is a double standard between what constitutes "expensive" when it comes to guitar prices and amp prices. Jazz players seem to be the same way. We introduced a low end line called the Casino line over the last year or two ($ 1195.00 through $ 2295.00). They were well received, and many people who would not pay the 3-K or more for an ODS or TDS amp finally could get a similar tone at a savings. The Jazz amp is part of that series and does share some parts with the Casino series (mainly chassis and cabinets). The Jazz amp (at least right now) is one of the smallest production pieces we make, as I expected it might be. I've always wanted to make an amp for this market, but like anything, it has to be something special, and it has to make money and be worth manufacturing. I'll certainly stick around here. I love jazz guitar !
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Hi Andy. It's good to see you here (or anywhere for that matter). It's a nice little community and I suspect you'll feel comfortable with this group. Say hello to your wife for me. I won't be coming to NAMM this year and one of the things I'll miss is a chance to catch up with the two of you.
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Guitar players are a funny bunch Originally Posted by fuchsaudio
I find it weird that someone would have a high dollar guitar and then play it through some cheap entry level digital amp. Course, I do understand not wanting to haul a 65lb amp to play the local coffee house 
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I'd love to have one and I don't think it's too expensive. It is what it is and it is worth it if you've got the dough. Unfortunately, it is too much money for me. But hey, I also can't afford a Benedetto or a Borys, or... Geez I wish some of this stuff was cheaper. :-)
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