Used $100 Jazz Guitar Amp

[KirkP]

There's nice looking Peavey Studio pro 110 on CL for $95.

[Headshot]

I have a Fender Rumble 100 bass amp, never thought to play jazz guitar with it. Have you tried it? Is it not bad for the amp?

Ginger, I played a gig with a borrowed 100w Rumble, the new version, and it weighs 20lbs with a 12" speaker, has ability to give you a lot of sound options with the Vintage button being one of my go-to sounds with a solid body guitar. If you like a little bluesy grunt, the Gain can be dialed in just enough to sound throaty. I took the amp and my HOF reverb pedal, and played through 2 guitars. An SG and an Epiphone Dot...regulars to this restaurant said I sounded better than usual...obviously not my talent...lol.

[docdosco]

Don't want to re-ignite ss v. tube amp. debate...just my 2 cents....and YMMV as they say.

Nothing to ignite as far as I'm concerned. Tubes sound better than solid state to me. Warmer, with no brittle nasty edge in most cases. Minimizing the ice-picky, annoying, unpleasant character of some stock SS amps is what I am after. This unappealing tonal aspect of SS is what turns me off about some expensive boutique SS amps.

Putting the right speaker in these older Fenders makes a world of difference. They still won't sound quite like a tube amp, but they can sound good, as evidenced by my Fender 25 with the JBL. Night and day between that amp and my other small Fenders with the crap speakers.

You are lucky to have Dennis Kager local to you. Like I have mentioned, his Pignose designed tube amp is still my main gigging tube amp. I also have a Fender Concert 1 12" tube amp that sounds brilliant, creamy, warm, luscious.... but it weighs a friggin ton, especially as the previous owner had put in a Celestion with a big honkin' magnet. It is just too damn heavy for me to lug around.

So, the search continues. Cheap small SS amps and cheap tube amps too (tightwad tubes not so easy to find)

[docdosco]

Have owned heavy amps (Fender Twin, Fender Hot Rod Deville, Roland JC55, Evans JE model). No more.
FWIW, I'd second the recommendation for the Fender Deluxe 90. I owned one for awhile and wish I'd kept it. I did find the highs a trifle-ice-picky, but I think I didn't fuss with it enough. It really really liked the chambered-body tele-style guitar I have. It's definitely over 30 lbs, though, and that's become my new upper limit (I'm 64 yrs old...). Currently, I have a Fender Harvard Reverb II. Cost $150. Pristine condition except for a crackle in the reverb when I got it. I had to get a cover for it and get the reverb fixed (one connection was corroded). Completely worth it. Weighs 20 lbs, loves my archtop, loves my acoustic guitars. I'm done searching. Probably.

There is a Fender Yale, the Harvard's big brother. Not your everyday model of Fender amp, methinks.

The icepick SS sound. Yep. That is the main factor that I want to get out of these SS amps...

[wzpgsr]

I'll second the Yamaha G50- or G100-112 ii. I didn't pay much more than $100 for either.

[Fidelcaster]

The icepick SS sound. Yep. That is the main factor that I want to get out of these SS amps...

I have a Roland GC-405X (actually a GC-405X, where the "X" stands for the external cabinet), the "little brother" of the GC-408 I suggested above. It employs Roland's Tube Logic technology (the analogue of other brands' technologies that reproduce the characteristics of tube amps with transistors, e.g. Peavey's Transtube), like the old and new Blues Cubes (which I think you won't find for about 100$). The clean channel sounds fendery and definitely tubey to my ears.

[PaulHintz]

There is a Fender Yale, the Harvard's big brother. Not your everyday model of Fender amp, methinks.

The icepick SS sound. Yep. That is the main factor that I want to get out of these SS amps...

Yes, I've seen pics of the Yale (in fact, I have a PDF of the owner's manual for the Harvard/Yale models). A little pricier used, because of the usual general preference for 12 rather than 10 in speakers. But if I ever come across a Yale in this area ...

[docdosco]

Yes, I've seen pics of the Yale (in fact, I have a PDF of the owner's manual for the Harvard/Yale models). A little pricier used, because of the usual general preference for 12 rather than 10 in speakers. But if I ever come across a Yale in this area ...

If you ever come across a Yale in your area..... you'll call me?

Ha!

[PaulHintz]

Sure, to tell you how much I like it
After I posted the previous message, I googled Yale amp (of course) and found one for sale at a Music Go Round, in Georgia... Looked a bit beat but ya never know. The Harvard Reverb II I bought (locally, thru CL) was pristine, no corrosion on anything but that one reverb tank connection. Handles, corners. There was some story (by the seller) of it having been in a self-storage locker for a looonng time before he bought it.

[docdosco]

Sure, to tell you how much I like it
After I posted the previous message, I googled Yale amp (of course) and found one for sale at a Music Go Round, in Georgia... Looked a bit beat but ya never know. The Harvard Reverb II I bought (locally, thru CL) was pristine, no corrosion on anything but that one reverb tank connection. Handles, corners. There was some story (by the seller) of it having been in a self-storage locker for a looonng time before he bought it.

Hey Paul,

The Yale looks good to me. I too googled it. Perhaps one will come up locally. There was a nice one on Reverb.com for $239 but the listing ended

I am glad I know about it. There is some discussion on it online as a Princeton substitute. Hmmmmm.

I took a new carved spruce top out to a gig last night and ran it through my G60-VR Pignose tube amp. Holy F&@#. Man, it just sang. Even the upright player commented how rich and and sweet it sounded. I am happy to have this smokin 60 watt 12". It breaks up brilliantly. Not that I want break up, but SS break up really bites. I can handle SS at low volumes OK, but when it gets loud, the break up on most SS amps gives me the willies. The tubes however.... well, as a tube guy, you get it. I would like another tube amp with reasonable weight. A 100 watt would be interesting (but heavy methinks)

At this gig, we played mostly jazz/standards, and we got wild with the solos and drum trades. Then came some jazz flavored Christmas tunes. We cranked a bit at the end and did a couple old 50's rock tunes with Leslie slapping the bass for the crowd as they were getting toasted with Christmas cheer. Wow! Filthy rich Chinese folks in a big mansion by the beach. Hardly spoke English but they loved us. Loved jazz. Loved Christmas. They all had santa hats. Jolly bunch, I must say. The patriarch gave us a big tip and kept shaking our hands over and over with a gigantic grin. "No Engrish" he kept saying over and over but his appreciation did show........

Getting back to point, tubes rock. I don't know if I'll ever find a SS that I can love but I'll keep looking.

And this guitar ain't for sale no more. I will have another at NAMM though:

https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/sale/...ebony-etc.html

[docdosco]

So, I found a local Deluxe 90 at $75 and a Deluxe 112 at $100.

I am inclined to look at the Deluxe 90 first. It has a Celestion G12T-100 12" Speaker. (still sells for $100 new) The other one has the stock Fender 'special design' speaker.

I would probably replace the speaker if I really wanted to use the amp, but the maybe the Celestion is Ok. Dunno.

The specs on both amps are very similar. Dimensions and weight the same. One is 90 watts, the other 94. Can't find the years of manufacture yet. I think the Deluxe 90 is older. Both have the useless overdrive channel, but so it goes.....

There is a Deluxe 112 at $80, however in Santa Barbara. Ouch. Both of these amps are still a bit of a haul, but the freeways should be clear this weekend.

So, should I or shouldn't I? 33 pounds for 90 watts. Hmmmmmmm