Fargen Jazz Custom SE combo

**jads57** · 01-16-2014, 12:53 PM

I guess I'm old enough to remember the old Walter Woods amps and how expensive they were in the early 80's. I would imagine it to be expensive to produce any product on a limited production basis. Not only the cost of labor but the actual parts themselves. Just like the availability of cheap food at a super market, we're pretty spoiled when it comes to gear as well.

**fuchsaudio** · 01-16-2014, 01:08 PM

Chris Morrison told me he "finally" sold his Walter Woods after 20 years of using to purchase our amp. I was truly humbled. Always thought Woods amps were pretty cool.

Walter was truly an innovator (dare I say a "dumble" of bass amp makers), who had an advanced (switch mode ?) power supply technology (for its time) that made his amps light, small and powerful. He chose to keep it to himself, and built a cult business of people willing to pay high prices and wait considerable time for his products. They are pretty reliable, and still heavily used these days by many pros.

I saw Will Lee a year ago in NYC. Showed up at the bitter end 5 minutes before the gig, took his Sadowsky bass and the amp head from his gig bag, plugged into the house Hartke cabinet, and sounded excellent. No muss, no fuss. Some jazz guitarists added reverb pedals or overdrives and built guitar rigs around the Woods amps too. Still apparently making them or at-least supporting them for service.

**3625** · 01-16-2014, 05:23 PM

Jim Hall for years used a Harry Kolbe tube pre-amp with a Walter Woods - I think he bypassed the WW pre.

**Soco** · 01-16-2014, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by marcwhy

I'll be at NAMM next week, and I heard about the Fargen, so I'll be sure to hunt it down (not that NAMM is a great place to really demo stuff -- way too loud!). I have a 2x8 cab by Jeff (J Design Cabs), and he was telling me about this new Fargen Jazz. I bet it'll be nice.

Hope to meet you, I am going to NAMM too!

**marcwhy** · 01-17-2014, 01:53 AM

Originally Posted by Soco

Hope to meet you, I am going to NAMM too!

Awesome!! I'll be at the Novax Guitars booth, hanging with Ralph Novak and Don Latarski. Please stop by!

**Soco** · 01-17-2014, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by marcwhy

Awesome!! I'll be at the Novax Guitars booth, hanging with Ralph Novak and Don Latarski. Please stop by!

Cool, I will arrive on Wednesday and leave late Friday night.
I will be around the Collings booth a lot, might do some playing for them also.

**fuchsaudio** · 01-17-2014, 01:36 PM

I'll be at NAMM with a Jazz Classic head in the booth. Please DO stop by....

**Soco** · 01-17-2014, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by fuchsaudio

I'll be at NAMM with a Jazz Classic head in the booth. Please DO stop by....

Will do!

**marcwhy** · 01-17-2014, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by Soco

Will do!

Yep, me, too!

**pingu** · 01-18-2014, 03:45 PM

Chris Morrison told me he "finally" sold his Walter Woods after 20 years of using to purchase our amp. I was truly humbled. Always thought Woods amps were pretty cool.

That is praise indeed !

**marcwhy** · 02-01-2014, 02:53 PM

I was able to meet Ben and Jeff, and played the Fargen combo at NAMM last week. [We also used my 2x8 cab from Jeff to demo guitars at the Novax booth, and people really liked the sounds, BTW]

First, both were great guys and answered all my questions; and second, NAMM is NOT the place to really demo stuff, since the ambient noise is probably 100dB. That being said, the new Fargen Jazz amp was pretty cool, had a great "touch" (likely from the tube pre-amp) and sound, and seemed to have plenty of power behind it. Definitely worth consideration.

**Soco** · 02-03-2014, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by fuchsaudio

I'll be at NAMM with a Jazz Classic head in the booth. Please DO stop by....

Really enjoyed that head Andy!
Would love to check out the combo version too.

**coolvinny** · 02-03-2014, 01:01 PM

I'd love to hear more about the Fargen from marchwhy. I know NAMM was loud and all that, but can marcwhy maybe tell us a bit more about the amp if possible, and specifically what information you may have about the power rating? I think a lot of people consider 50w of non-tube to be insufficient for jazz. I mean, my Mambo 8 is 180w RMS! But Fargen obviously isn't the sort of company that would make an amp that is clearly not appropriate for its purpose...so perhaps the 50w rating is more of a "tube" rating? I'm not a techie...

Maybe Mr. Fargen himself can weigh in. With two 8" speakers and at 22lbs, this amp is definitely on my radar.

**marcwhy** · 02-04-2014, 12:45 AM

Hey Vinny -- welcome back!

Here's their site: http://www.fargenamps.com/fargen-amps-9/jazz-custom-se and I'd definitely recommend emailing/calling Ben for specific tech questions [I don't think he posts here].

[I'm not a techie, either, and I'm often confused by the discussions/arguments online about "tube vs. SS watts;" what I do know is that my 20 or 40 watt tube amps can be ridiculously loud and sound great, so 300W SS amps seem outrageous. And again, I'm not a techie.]

Subjectively, though, the sound was very clear at a couple different volume levels, and had a nice "jazz" sound [I was even playing a "non-jazz" guitar, and it sounded great]. The tone knobs were simply set straight up, and I didn't need to mess with them. I like the way tube amps "breathe" and are responsive to right hand touch, and this amp could definitely do both. The 2x8's were very even sounding across the guitar, and the bass notes were strong and clear. The floor model did not have an extension speaker out (which I would like), but Ben said that was an easy option. I didn't ask about reverb, but some of Fargen's other amps have 'verb, so it's worth asking; not a deal breaker for me, since there are quite a few nice reverb pedals on the market.

I'd certainly love to spend more demo time in a better environment, but at first glance -- thumbs up!

Marc