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Tom K, I'd recommend the Phil Jones Cub. It's about the size of a big briefcase, weighs 11.5 pounds, and is the best sounding jazz/acoustic amp I've ever heard. Ask around enough on this site and you'll find some other very devoted fans of this amp.
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05-12-2009 11:03 AM
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Hi all. New here on the forum after lurking for a little while. I have a Roland Cube from the 80s or early 90s. I just picked up a new ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox. It is small, loud and sounds great. Best of all it is only $260.00 online. 9 lbs with 200 watts through a 6.5" speaker. My 175 sounds surprisingly good through it.
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i agree roland jc120 is flat thin sounding and constipated cube 60 is awful fender break up really to early perhaps a rivera jazz suprema 55 at 40lbs 19kg is worth a demo, why are so many amps so badly designed and way to heavy?
Originally Posted by L4CES
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I agree on the Hot Rod Fender (with exception of the Blues Junior, also in that range). However, I must disagree on the Roland, my L4 CES works quite nicely with my JC 70. Is has more character than the Polytone anytime. I would love to try the Rivera 55 but to my knowledge the are not yet spotted in Europe. Not anywhere near the Netherlands. As for the weight, tubes need a heavy power supply. Sad, but true.
Last edited by JorisFun; 05-30-2009 at 01:14 PM.
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Have to agree with JorisFun - I think the JCs have stood their test of time, and they do what they're supposed to do. And in my opinion that goes for the Cube 60 as well, and the bonus is that it only weighs 14 kgs or so, so I can carry it along to rehearsals and such
Last edited by perfischer; 05-31-2009 at 02:34 PM.
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I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Have only two electric guitars, a Strat and Gibson ES 135 that sound good plugged into the Fender.
Not very experienced regarding amps and would consider swapping amps if I could get a better jazz sound ----- don't feel I have this now. I'm a convert from classical guitars so am still searching. Could be the amp, could be the guitars, probably me. My dream is to get a real jazz box one day.
Enjoy the forum.
Rich
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I've had a Seymour Duncan 84-40 since 1990. Not to slight any other amps - obviously they're all about personal taste - but this has been about the only amp that has ever truly worked for me. The tone is just perfect for my Washburn J9 Hollowbody; never too thick or thin. I pre-amp through a Line 6 Guitar Pod for which adds just enough extra flavour. I like the tone of a Polytone amp, but I'll be damned if I can find one around here.
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I love the DRRI, but I can't justify the cost, simply to add another flavor to the three Fender amps I already have lined up against the wall.
Very likely a lot of the older amps are languishing for the same reason I traded my iconic Ampeg B15N, and my Music Man HD-130 Reverb, and the Carvin X100 (and other, lesser-known models): older tube amps with useful power are heavy! The Ampeg is a case in point (although it's a bass amp, the concept is the same): my 1963 B15N put out 40 watts, enormous amounts of heat, and weighed upwards of 100 lb. I replaced it with a modern solid state Ampeg B100R that had 100 watts and weighed 65 lb. The trade-off was that I gave up the top increment of classic Ampeg bass tone, which, I am convinced, was not apparent to any of the audiences I ever played for.
Another issue was that the aging transformers, custom-made for Ampeg back in the day, are very hard to find in viable condition, and they are priced accordingly. One failed on mine, and I had to jury-rig a replacement that fit inside the speaker cabinet -- it sounded nearly the same, but any "vintage" value was, of course, compromised. And it still cost me several hundred dollars!
Again, Everett Hull was famous, from what I have read, for falling for the tube salesmen's spiels on the latest and greatest tubes (in other words, the ones they were having trouble moving) so that all those wonderful old Ampegs are very expensive to re-tube with the proper ones.
It's rather like driving an early Maserati: yeah, it's gorgeous, and thrilling, and all the rest, but when something breaks (and something always breaks), if you are lucky enough to know a mechanic who can repair one, you'll begin to think that corporate lawyers are cheap.
I would not be surprised to hear that Van Gelder had his own set up for guitar (I'm not sure WHAT would surprise me to hear about him) but for mortals, his way might not be practical.
We are left with sorting through the more available equipment (with warranties) and, truth be told, there is a lot of very toneful gear out there.
What there is not (to address the topic of the thread) is any "ultimate guitar amp." We're all different, and that's a good thing. You don't want Jim Hall to sound like Bonnie Raitt.
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I love my Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. It has that great Fender clean sound. Not sterile like a JC120. It also covers roots music real well. Blues RnR and with some pedals most other styles as well.
Records like a dream is light and portable and loud enough to hang with all but the loudest rock drummer.
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I sold my 67 Blackface Super Reverb last year because I got married in Japan. I loved this amp. I sold it to a buddy of mine who already had one and now he has two. Said if I wanted it back, he would resell it to me... It's big and cool and looks killer on stage next to my guitar leaning back with a mike draped over. Almost makes my guitar sound like a hammond organ! Love the warm tube sound and the 4 speakers just are amazing. I've comped the delux reverb and the fender twin and hands down, the super is just what I'm looking for
Last edited by Scotto; 06-02-2009 at 02:40 AM.
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I have been looking to a new amp can anyone tell me what the difference between a class A and A class AB is in tone ect ?
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06-02-2009, 09:38 PM #162Jazzarian GuestDon't believe what you hear about Class A. Originally Posted by bluemood
Class A means the output doesn't pass through zero volts. That's the definition!!!! A sine wave would remain either on the positive side or the negative side but would never pass through 0 volts. Since the amp is always "on", they give off more heat than Class AB.
When Class AB amps pass though 0 volts (usually symmetrically but not always), there is a slight "cross over distortion", when one half of a push-pull amp turns on the the other turns off. This adds to the Total Harmonic Distortion of the amp.
Given that, a $50,000 handmade Dumble amp is Class AB.
Class A does have an advantage in the HI-FI world, not sure about the guitar world. Guitar amps are not hi-fi critters, usually.
My Boogie Formula Pre(amp) is a hi-fi guitar preamp critter however. Fantastic for recording both archtop and screamin' fusion.
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Man, let me tell you: I am in absolute HEAVEN with regard to my Henriksen Convertible + Duncan TwinTone preamp + Sadowsky Jim Hall. It's like the amp was practically made for this guitar--the tone is so rich, full, bell-toned, and singing, I don't know what else to say.
OK, with a fully-carved L5, the Henriksen does not work as well as the Polytone, but nonetheless...
I understand completely when Jim Hall said, *This is the perfect amp for me* and Roger Sadowsky said, *I was absolutely blown away*.
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Do you think that the duncan twin tone would sound good on a Polytone mini brute IV ?I'm looking for a drive pedal to give me some dirt tone so far as some one said it's been a up hill battle. Originally Posted by NSJ
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06-02-2009, 10:28 PM #165Jazzarian Guest Originally Posted by NSJ
Glad I don't have that problem with my L5. Actually it's a Super V CES. I certainly do prefer the all tube Boogie preamp to my Polytone however.
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You know, I haven't tried it, but I could and should, since I have a Polytone Mini brute IV as well. Originally Posted by bluemood
The Duncan Twin Tone actually has two special tubes in it and can be used to give solid state amps that *tube amp warmth and presence*. The Henriksen is a solid state as well, so no reason the Polytone wouldn't benefit from it as well. I just haven't played the PT or L5 as much since I got the Henriksen, given how well it sounds with the Hall.
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I have a Polytone mini-brute IV that is really great for my Sadowsky "Jim Hall" guitar but I have found another setup I like better. I am giving serious consideration to buying an Acoustic Image Clarus 2R and a Raezer's Edge Stealth 12 ER. I have had my polytone since 1978 with no problems at all but I really like the versatility of the new combination. It would solve my problem for having a single amp that can but used for the guitar and good, clean vocals. My wife (vocalist) and I tried out the new combo and it was really a good sound at both high and low volumes plus we were able to input band in a box for a good duo sound with the guitar and vocals + band in the box for drums and bass. I will probably be selling both of my Polytones (90 watt Teeny Brute and the Mini-Brute IV ("15" spkr model).
wizLast edited by wizard3739; 06-03-2009 at 12:01 AM.
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Hey Wiz, I don't know much about the Acoustic Image, but Jeff Hale of Jeff Hale music I believe sells them and strikes me as a very knowledgeable and honorable vendor. Give him a call and he'll be very happy to tell you all about it. I called him up about something else and he was very honest with his assessment (lost a sale due to said honesty)--I also drove the 100 + miles or so to check out the TwinTube at his place and wound up buying it there. Originally Posted by wizard3739
In any event, he strikes me as an ethical, trained and knowledgeable independent dealer who could give a clear assessment of the Acoustic Image.
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I read this review with interest - and was happy to see the Tech21 TM60 included in his roundup. I started using it last week after my Polytone Mini Brute IV started crackling again. It's from the 70's so no complaints. But the TM60 ended up sounding fine in a jazz setting. Les Paul has been using one lately on his weekly NYNY gig so I figured I'd give it a shot and I was pleased.
My complaint with the review was the "shit" distortion sound comment. I've used that amp for rock stuff for years and love that thing to death. Direct, miked, whatever. All pedals work just like with a tube amp. I don't play heavy metally whatever stuff, but for blues rock, rockabilly, marshally - fender -Vox, whatever it's great.
I've got some low-fi samples with some great VOX sounds, marshall, and fender sounds. Happy to share. All direct XLR into the board, live-ish takes, no heavy mixing (obviously if you hear the demos). The great thing about the TM60 is since I've finally broke down and used it for jazz, now I've really got a lightweight amp, that responds to pedals exactly like a tube amp, and I can use it for ANYTHING. It's never let me down.
Aside from that small disagreement, I thought this was a great article. Thanks for writing it.
Jeff
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I wonder if any of you have had experience with battery operated amps
that don't require electrical outlets? And are there some light enough to
carry around easily?
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I've heared someone play a Strat through a Vox DA5. I wasn't impressed at all, it was harsh, thin and aggressive sounding. Just like a small dogs barking cannot be cool. But of course it's a nice option if you want to play at the campfire. One might even be able to scare off mosquitos with it... And you wouldn't be seriously looking for the real tone in these kind of amps.
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mid 70s twin reverb - clear, great bottom end and loud
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Are there any solid state amps using Field-effect transistor? FET's supposedly sound similar to tubes/valves.
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Ampeg used to use them. I don't know if they still do or not. FETs are much quieter than tubes, and their response is smoother. You don't get any of the microphonics unless there are extra circuits to simulate them.
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Mr. Beaumont. I'm awaiting delivery from Canada (I live in Thailand) of my Blues Junior in tweed. What do make of all this talk of the Bill'M' mods? Have you tried anything like that on your stock tolex version?
also, I would be much obliged if you could advise me on sweet settings that you've managed to coax out of your box. My guitar is an Ephiphone FlameKat and I do have Blues Driver with the Rober Keeley mods and a CS-3 compressor - just for your information.
Many thanks
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