Roland Jazz Chorus 40 Amp

[montroller]

Just wondering if anyone has had any playing time on the 40 yet. Thoughts?

[Jim Soloway]

I bought one, brought it home and played it side by side with my main rig for 10 minutes and put it up for sale. Sounded cool in the store but compared to my GK MB200 powering a powered 10" cab it sounded puny and thin in the side by side comparison. Not nearly as quiet as my GK rig either.

[Alder Statesman]

I bought one, brought it home and played it side by side with my main rig for 10 minutes and put it up for sale. Sounded cool in the store but compared to my GK MB200 powering a powered 10" cab it sounded puny and thin in the side by side comparison. Not nearly as quiet as my GK rig either.

Jim,

Thanks for posting. I kept getting a nagging feeling to give the JC-40 a go. Nagging feeling gone.

[Thumpalumpacus]

It's a true stereo amp both input and output and even in mono, the 2x10 setup will sound very different than a one speaker amp. It has a place.

I've always preferred two or more speakers for any amplifier. To my ears, it seems to "round out" the sound.

Doesn't hurt that I prefer tens to twelves, either.

[st.bede]

I have a JC40. I love the amp. (I own many good tube amps including some high end boutique amps). The JC40 is loud enough to do most anything. Maybe not some crazy heavy music played at ear destroying levels. I would think that if the JC40 is not cutting through, the drummer must be pounding with a hand made out of concrete. I love the amp because I can run a wet/dry setup using one amp. It is easy to carry. I had to carry it up 2 1/2 flights of stairs just last week. Of course the chorus is that Roland chorus that sounds rich and very deep. I do not use the verb or dirt on the amp. The verb is okay but I prefer my Eventide for verb. I did use the verb when I did not bring my pedal board and it worked well enough.

Bad/Good news, the 10" speakers are way forward. Great for cutting through but setting at home they are a little fatiguing.

Bad news, when running two signals in there is a little notching going on.

[jdaguitar2]

I have an old Jc-77, a cube 30 and a cube 80. All great amps, the Jc-77 has the hissing going on as we all know. The only amp that does the true stereo chorus (of my amps) is he Jc-77, remember it takes 2 amps to produce that output. From what I understand one is a pure clean sound feeding one speaker and the other amps has chorus effected output feeding the other speaker. It is this combination that produces the true stereo chorus.

A fun alternative is to take two lunchbox amps (or any other 2 identical amps) and a stereo chorus pedal feeding the amps set up across the room from each other. That Roland chorus (ce-1 type) is pretty hard to beat. Just enough modulation without being seasick from the wobbliness.


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[montroller]

Thanks for the recent replies. I found a used jc40 and decided to pull the trigger. Haven't received it yet though.

[st.bede]

Every one is different. I own a bunch of amps from super expensive to great working amps.

The JC40 is not perfect but is pretty cool given what it is.

Do I miss running my tube amps sometimes? Yes. (I can always just plug them in). I miss being able to use a boost to thicken up the sound. The forwardness of the JC40 can be fatiguing but then again running Celestion Vintage 30s can also be that way. The reason why I have used Celestion Vintage 30s is to cut through. (I do prefer the Greenbacks in my JTM 45. The Celestion Blue in my JCA Circuits Golden Ratio seems to both cut through and not be too harsh but I do not gig with that amp because it is not replaceable).

Compared to my JC120H, the JC40 seems to more forward but retains a similar sound. (That makes a lot of sense given that I run my JC120H into 12' speakers. The JC40 has the JC sound and the chorus works better then on my JC120H and compared to my memory of JC120s that I have used in the past. Again I am guessing that it has to do with 10" speakers but I am not 100% sure on that one.

I am not digging my VFE Alpha Dog (a rat type pedal) as much as with my other amps. It seems to be either too fizzy or does not have enough bite. My fuzz pedals seem to be working great (Death By Audio: Supersonic Ray Gun and a Apocalypse). My modulation pedals also sound good (Fulltone Deja Vibe and a Strymon Lex). I use my H9s for delay and verb. They also seem to sound pretty good.

There is one serious problem. Running a wet/dry setup I end up with some phase problems. The problems range from okay to really bothersome. Changing out presets and/or guitars changes the amount of the problem. For example when I use my 1996 Parker Fly Deluxe, the phase issues are more noticeable the when I use my Gretsch 6120. (I have yet to plug in all my guitars because I tend to use one until I get really bored by it and then switch out to a different guitar).

I dig the JC40 so much that I am going to invest in a Little Labs IBP and see if I can correct the phase issues. (I love having an easily portable wet/dry rig).

I have yet to do a mic'ed gig so I am not sure how that will work.

Also, I have yet too notice any noise problems except when I was plugged into a "dirty" power source. I am assuming that the JC40 is sensitive to what type of power it gets.

Last and not least, I do think about switching out the speakers. I think it could tame a bit of the forwardness and get a little juicer dirt (with pedals) sound with some Celestion Golds. I am not 100% sure I will do that because the JC sounds awesome with fx and I wonder if I would lose some of that.

If you have any question feel free to ask.

[st.bede]

Thanks for the recent replies. I found a used jc40 and decided to pull the trigger. Haven't received it yet though.

The new speakers need some solid break in time. At first they sound buzzy (even more true at higher volumes) and then they really smooth out. The buzz was bad enough for me to make sure there were not artifacts happening by making sure everything with tighten and not jiggling around.

[mrblues]

I had a JC 70 few years ago, sold it, now I have a Roland Cube 60 Orange (MIJ, made in 198x), it has outstanding tone for jazz guitar.

I really love that amp.

[st.bede]

I have great news. The phase (notching sound) problem was coming from the way I was running my two Eventide H9s. I was going mono into my 1st H9 and running wet dry out (two lines). One of the lines went into my JC and the other went into my second H9. That way I could run more complex fx chains.

I wanted to try using the H9's Sculpt algorithm for my dirt. When I moved my first H9 up in my pedal chain and then used the second H9 as a dual and/or stereo out, the phasing disappeared.

I am very happy now.

Still thinking about celestion golds but I am super happy. "Why mess with a good thing".

[st.bede]

Another update... I have had a chance to play a used JC120 at GC. (I probably have around 3 to 4 hours of playing on it over a few visits).

Good news is that the JC40 does basically have the same tone. (I was pretty sure it would due to having many experiences with JC120 combos in the past and owning a JC120 head).

Bad news is that the JC40 sounds smaller and tighter. I assume the difference is the 12" vrs 10" speakers. I am still happy with the JC40 due to size, weight, line out, and stereo applications. The JC40 is a lot more fatiguing on the ears. (This could be in part due to what and how I am running my fx pedals). The upside is that the chorus effect is better on the JC40.

I wonder how much warmth and depth I can get with replacing the JC speakers with Celestion Golds.

[rpjazzguitar]

I gig with a JC55.

It's a great combination of decent sound, medium size and low weight.

It's 26 1/2 lbs and it fits in my plastic rolling file box.

It's 2x25 watts and 2 ten inch speakers. It will go as loud as I want to play. I don't like playing loud, but I've used it with horn bands and big bands in fairly large rooms. Also, I think the 10s help avoid that low mid mud that a guitar can sometimes produce in a combo with piano. My old tube amp sounds better, but it's fragile. The JC55 allows me to get my sound and I've never had a complaint.

I don't use the chorus. The reverb is okay, but I use a pedal board for all of that.

[snoskier63]

Even with its 40W, the amp seems to be pretty loud:

I have one as well, and it is plenty loud, and perfectly clean to 10. I like it as a standalone amp, but I recently put a Joyo American pedal through it, and I was amazed at how great it sounded. That said, I just got a Fender Cyber Deluxe today (the price was too good to resist), and I have to say this is a great amp. It has that typical Fender sound, as it should, and the effects are excellent. To me it sounds very much like a tube amp.

[Fidelcaster]

Julian makes do with a JC-(120?):

[kerberos]

Hi....I owned a JC-120 back in the late 80's. I've always played through Fender Amps, but needed a dual purpose amp. I had started to take piano lessons, and had a Synth with no built-in speakers. Back in the 80's the JC-120 had "line in" inputs in the rear, so it was perfect for a keyboard. The bonus was, it was a great guitar amp. The Chorus was gorgeous. However the Amp was heavy. Over time, I needed other things, and ended up trading it in for a Precision Bass guitar (Oh How I regret that). Now days I play through a Fender Deluxe Reverb, great Amp....but I still long for that JC. The newer JC-120's don't have the stereo line in's any longer. I was able to try out a JC-40 at a local Sam Ash. I loved it. So looks like I'll be ordering one in the coming week. Try one out, it's lighter than the JC-120, and has a stereo amp...Good Luck

[mr quick]

I just tried a JC-40 today. It's definitely now my #1 subject of desire. Was able to get my sound signature straight into the amp because it's got a nice stageless distortion that actually sounds good, and the chorus sounds old-school as hell... Just the way I like Maybe sell my two DV mark amps to get the JC?

[Bach5G]

I had a chance to try one of these tonight.

Loud - stupidly loud, actually - big band. I was tucked in between the drummer and the trumpet section. Not optimal.

I was very impressed- as in, I wonder how much I can get for one of my other amps. It sounds like a JC120, but without the hiss, even turned up pretty loud.I easily found a setting that suited my Strat. It was cranked up pretty good, but because it has so much headroom, it stayed nice and clean. I didn’t try any of the effects.

i am seriously thinking about buying one.

[Suavocaster]

I wonder how much warmth and depth I can get with replacing the JC speakers with Celestion Golds.

Hi guys.
I'm new here, but i just got a JC40. So far I'm very happy, but -- like some of you -- I do find the sound a bit forward, or "hard", or how should I say it. So I might want to change the speakers some time in the future. Of course I will give them some time to break in, and see if that helps, but if any of you should swap the speakers, I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts.
I bought this JC40 after selling my Yamaha THR100HD, which I played mostly through one single cab, a 1x12 with a Celestion G12-65, and the sound was really excellent. The only problem concerning sound, was that the Yamaha THR100 in clean mode actually has a lot less volume than the JC40, and in some situations it just didn't have enough of it. I haven't tested the JC40 in similar stage situations yet, but I assume it will do better than the THR100.
But, anyway, I really have a soft spot for the Celstion G12-65, so if they have a 10" version of it, I'll probably be very keen on trying them in the JC40 -- unless some of you guys will recommend something else.

[st.bede]

I have used it a lot... I would be hard pressed to think you would need a louder amp. I did a number of rock/pop gigs and it sounded great. I ran my H9 in stereo. I like the JC sound. The 40 does not have the same depth as my vintage JC77 but it is very close. I would use a JC 120 but that is too heavy for me to deal with.

[st.bede]

The speakers really need to break in. Until that point the amp sounds brittle. The one drag is that the speakers are 4ohm ... if I remember right. Been running a different system for about a year now.

[P.J.]

you only need one amp, because it is stereo:

"Now, there’s also a true stereo input for enhanced performance with stereo effects pedals, guitar synths, amp modeling gear, and multi-effects"

You could run it in quad then!