Phil Jones AG-150 vs Henriksen

[Hep To The Jive]

I know this forum is over saturated with gear talk, and I appologize, but I'm in the market for a new amp. Small, light, powerful. I have ZT Lunchbox, and has been gigging with it a lot. I love the sound, no complaints, but I feel it's getting worn out. Plus I need a backup, anyway.

I've been looking at Jazzkat Tomcat, Henriksen The Bud, AER Compact 60, Phil Jones... I've been using my tele a lot lately, so I need an amp that would make it sound decent, even if with a help of a pedal or two.

The tone I'm looking for is cleanish with grit, as less hi-fi as possible. I can use a pedal for grit, though. I'm not a fan of Polytone type sound.

Anyway, Phil Jones AG 150 looks the best to me, but it's an acoustic one, would it be possible to use it with a tele and have a good result? Any input is appreciated!

[Silentwiz]

Any quilter will work great. I have a bud incoming. Little mark seems fun.

[Fidelcaster]

I have an AG100 and I don't recommend it for your exigences.

[jorgemg1984]

Mambo 8 is great.

[nickyboy]

In terms of grit, I love a little bit of breakup on a tube amp. The fender 5e3 circuit sounds great for that sort of thing and doesn't have to be cranked.

[Franz 1997]

agree about the mambo, but it's not a cheap amp. I couldn't recommend the AG100.

[Woody Sound]

I know this forum is over saturated with gear talk, and I appologize, but I'm in the market for a new amp. Small, light, powerful. I have ZT Lunchbox, and has been gigging with it a lot. I love the sound, no complaints, but I feel it's getting worn out. Plus I need a backup, anyway.

I've been looking at Jazzkat Tomcat, Henriksen The Bud, AER Compact 60, Phil Jones... I've been using my tele a lot lately, so I need an amp that would make it sound decent, even if with a help of a pedal or two.

The tone I'm looking for is cleanish with grit, as less hi-fi as possible. I can use a pedal for grit, though. I'm not a fan of Polytone type sound.

Anyway, Phil Jones AG 150 looks the best to me, but it's an acoustic one, would it be possible to use it with a tele and have a good result? Any input is appreciated!

1. No need to apologize, that's the point of this place.
2. What do you mean by "worn out?" Is it not working as well now, or you just outgrowing it?
3. I think the Phil Jones are known as clean amps, without any grit.
4. What's your price ceiling?
5. I have a 1st gen Quilter MP and I love it.

[Hep To The Jive]

1. No need to apologize, that's the point of this place.
2. What do you mean by "worn out?" Is it not working as well now, or you just outgrowing it?
3. I think the Phil Jones are known as clean amps, without any grit.
4. What's your price ceiling?
5. I have a 1st gen Quilter MP and I love it.

I mean I feel like the speaker is getting worn out a bit. Not much, it still very functional, but it made me think I need a backup, and to try something else while I'm at at.

I thought of Phil Jones because I've heard examples of all those amps with acoustic and electric, and I like its better than others. It's clean, but it's different, I feel like I can work with it. As opposite to Henriksen The Bud, many videos I saw on this one, not really liking the sound in any.

Same is with Mambo, I really want to like it, it's portable and light, looks great, but something about its sound is too hi-fi for me maybe? Or people who use it just want to make it sound like this, and it can sound different? The problem is there's no distribution of them in US, which make getting one too much hassle.

The Quilter, I just can't stand its look, the music I play, it really doesn't go along with it. I mean, at all!

[Herbie]

It's time to face the truth: get a tube amp.

Solid state amps can do a hifi-thing but their grit is not grit, it is an imitation.

And do You want to notes You play sound real or imitation?

5e3 is mentioned, that means Fender Tweed Deluxe style amp. Very simple and touch sensitive circuit. Synonyme for the word 'grit'! There is real ones, different kind of clones and then there is kits: You can make it Yourself.

Good luck!

[Hep To The Jive]

I forgot to mention I also play an archtop with P90, archtop with Dearmond RC1100, along with the tele. So I thought that's another reason an acoustic amp might work.

[Hep To The Jive]

It's time to face the truth: get a tube amp.

Solid state amps can do a hifi-thing but their grit is not grit, it is an imitation.

And do You want to notes You play sound real or imitation?

5e3 is mentioned, that means Fender Tweed Deluxe style amp. Very simple and touch sensitive circuit. Synonyme for the word 'grit'! There is real ones, different kind of clones and then there is kits: You can make it Yourself.

Good luck!

Yes of course, I thought of it, but I take public transport, hauling a tube amp from gig to gig is trouble for me. I have to settle with imitation!

The only tube amp I wouldn't mind to sacrifice my back for is octal tube, Vintage47, and the likes. That's the tone to die for haha!

[Stringswinger]

I think the AER compact 60 is a better amp than the Phil Jones. YMMV...

[Herbie]

I forgot to mention I also play an archtop with P90, archtop with Dearmond RC1100, along with the tele. So I thought that's another reason an acoustic amp might work.

Hmm... Someone correct if I am wrong but aren't the acoustic amps mostly for guitars with piezo type of pickups and the guitars with P90's, humbuckers, DeArmods etc are for "normal" guitar amps?

Weight is an issue with tube amps (as Jim Campilongo says: there is no free lunch in making a guitar sound!) but Fender Deluxe 57 Reissue is only 11,5 kg. That is light!

With a sterile SS amp You need a preamp, maybe even tube preamp, power supply etc etc. They add weight too.

Preaching ends here, sorry if I got too exited about this!

[nickyboy]

My 5e3 is probably lighter than the roland cube 80.
I see no reason for buying a transistor amp other than a clean tone...that stays clean with volume.
Obviously a fender twin weighs a great deal, but I've been playing for donkey's years and want to sound as good as I can...after all I've practised long and hard, so lugging an amp around doesn't bother me to much.

For a bit of grit I say go tube low wattage.

[drbhrb]

Have you seen the mach 2 Quilter MicroPros? I agree with you the first gen was hideous but the second time around they've made them look great. The aviators always looked good too.

[Fidelcaster]

Roland Blues Cube Stage?

[Herbie]

My 5e3 is probably lighter than the roland cube 80.

Can You tell who is the manufacturer of Your 5e3?

What kind of a speaker is in it?

[Eddie Lang]

I have a Phil Jones CUB AG-150 that I use with piezo (and para di), single coils and humbucker, and I really love it. But it is not going to give you the tone that you describe, grit and less hi-fi, on the contrary.

Ingeneri mentioned JazzKat and I agree with him (or her). I have one of these too. Light, compact and powerful enough to gig with, it should give you what you are looking for.

Otherwise, well, get a tube amp. Deluxe or Princeton, original or clone. Old Gibson amps are great too (I actually prefer them to Fender, but that is very subjective - looking at how many Fender vs Gibson amps out there, more people must have preferred Frender...). Or an old Valco or Supro.

[sgcim]

If you're happy with a ZT Lunchbox without an external speaker, you could probably go with a Quilter Micro Pro with an 8 and get a similar sound, only much better. Very light also.
I have a JazzKat Acoustikat that would also be good for the same type of thing. I was doing a seven night show, and just out of boredom used my Parker solid body instead of my archtop.
To my surprise, the Parker sounded better than the archtop through the JazzKat!
It's also only about 18lbs.- perfect for the Q21 or the G Train!

[marcwhy]

The Quilter, I just can't stand its look, the music I play, it really doesn't go along with it. I mean, at all!

What style of music does this not look good with? [FWIW, with the transportation and sound qualities you're describing, an Aviator 8 would work.]

[Jonathan0996]

I just tried the RE 300 Evans touring amp for about a week and I was really impressed with it. It's 30 lbs., has a 10" speaker and 150 watts (300 with an extension speaker). It does a nice job with an archtop or a tele and it takes pedals very well. Not a sterile sounding jazz amp by any means. It can do clean, but it's got a little edge to it and you can dial in some grit if that's what you want. You can flip on the bridge pickup of a tele and get plenty of clean twang. It has a lot of headroom and will easily keep up with a loud rhythm section or big band.

It's a few more bucks than the amps you mentioned, but I highly recommend at least giving it a try. Scot at Evans is a nice guy. He'll talk you through the somewhat unconventional controls and help you get the sound you want out of it. He spent a lot of time with me on the phone working with the amp.

Here's the deal: They'll ship you the amp for a few days and you pay to ship it to the next guy on the list. Buy the amp and they'll give you a $100 discount and free shipping. I plan to order one next week.

[Hep To The Jive]

Out of the amps listed, I had a Jazzcat and think it's the closest to what you're looking for. You can add some grit by boosting the kids, and the preamp tube adds some compression. Like you Inplay an Archtop with p-90s and like a little hair of the dog in my tone.

That said, I swapped my Jazzkat for a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight. The Fender has a blackface sound, but also has the high end and tube amp like touch sensitivity the amps you listed lack. As a "Jazz stack" they're the easiest to carry. If you can find one, grab it.

i've played AER 60s, Henricksens, and the Phil Jones, and none of these have what you say you're looking for. Though people say the can get a Fender sound out of the Henricksen with a Barb-EQ. But, why futz with pedals when playing clean(ish)?

Haven't tried one yet, but would be most interested in a Quilter if I needed to replace my amp with something currently in production.

Its funny, because I already have Fender Jazz Ultralight, which I stopped gigging with since I got ZT. I prefer ZT so much better!

i actually dont mind pedals, they can really add to the sound of an amp, and fun to experiment with.

[Hep To The Jive]

I just tried the RE 300 Evans touring amp for about a week and I was really impressed with it. It's 30 lbs., has a 10" speaker and 150 watts (300 with an extension speaker). It does a nice job with an archtop or a tele and it takes pedals very well. Not a sterile sounding jazz amp by any means. It can do clean, but it's got a little edge to it and you can dial in some grit if that's what you want. You can flip on the bridge pickup of a tele and get plenty of clean twang. It has a lot of headroom and will easily keep up with a loud rhythm section or big band.

It's a few more bucks than the amps you mentioned, but I highly recommend at least giving it a try. Scot at Evans is a nice guy. He'll talk you through the somewhat unconventional controls and help you get the sound you want out of it. He spent a lot of time with me on the phone working with the amp.

Here's the deal: They'll ship you the amp for a few days and you pay to ship it to the next guy on the list. Buy the amp and they'll give you a $100 discount and free shipping. I plan to order one next week.

Sounds great! But 30 ibs is still way too much. I know it sounds silly, but if you ever comuted in NYC subway in a rush hour, running up and down the stairs, into a crowded car, you would understand

[Eddie Lang]

Is there a PA in your usual gigging spots? If there is, maybe a mic'ed tweed Champ would give you both tone and portability.

[Hep To The Jive]

Thanks for all the replies guys! One thing I learn from this, there is no amp that would do it all. No amp that would cover any situation and do it great for all.

I play in quiet Gypsy jazz settings, and I play in a raucous swing band, and I could use a couple of different amps for it. I think I will stick with ZT for louder gigs, since its incredibly loud, and I never had a problem with volume, and I like it tone at that. And i will pick one for more acoustic sound from my archtops, for drumless quiet gigs. Phil Jones is still numero uno for that. Why? Because its freaking lightest of them all!