Used $100 Jazz Guitar Amp

[docdosco]

Hi all,

I posted on another thread that I scour CL, EBAY and REVERB looking for great little amps suitable for jazz in the tightwad price range. $50 or $75 or perhaps $100. Being an exclusive Peerless guitar endorsee, I can't go for other guitar brands. .....well, I could play other guitars, but I did sign an exclusive 'only play live and record' with Peerless guitars agreement and I have been faithful to it. So, these cheap amps give me the illusion I am collecting something guitar related.

I like old Fender Amps. I have half a dozen from a small 25 watts to 100 watts with wheels, I have tube, solid state and hybrid tube with SS preamp.

So, I am asking the forum folks to join in if they have found any dirt cheap, killer jazz guitar amp, or any guitar amp that can work for jazz guitar that one might not usually consider. Behemoth aging SS or tube amps perhaps. Amps that players would pass on due to size, age, weight, hair color, maybe due to a little known maker, as maybe not thought appropriate (like the following Fender)

We came up with Fender SideKicks, Peavey Bandits, Red Knob Fender Amps..... all being sold off cheap these days.

This following amp might work for jazz guitar. It should have a big, thick tone (maybe) It has 2 channels so a mic could be used in it too. So Fender Amp/PA for $80.

Fender Bass Sidekick 70W Amplifier | eBay

[sbeishline]

I have a Fender Champion 110 from the mid-90s, which is a very portable, 25w amp that can hold it's own, and is suitable for jazz.

[cosmic gumbo]

I think a nice used Crate is exactly what you're looking for.

[docdosco]

I have a Fender Champion 110 from the mid-90s, which is a very portable, 25w amp that can hold it's own, and is suitable for jazz.

I didn't see the actual 110 here, but here are more Fender models on a Champion 110 Google search. Fender have so many different models and many look good for jazz. Thanks, my friend. Now I'll add Champion to my search words when looking.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...+sale&tbm=shop

The Crate amp looks interesting. I'll bet some Crate amps can be found dirt cheap too.


PS....Here is an $80 Champion 110

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac...368681756.html

[GingerMojo]

I have an old mixing board that I plug directly into with a couple of Boss pedals. Have a couple of PA speakers that I bought at a garage sale, sounds brilliant. Its all about what you do with the equipment you have. I have seen guys spend thousands on their amps and they sound like crap because they do not experiment with them and push them to find heir hidden charm.

[entresz]

My mid 80's Peavey Bandit 65 was $50. It sounds very nice, has loads of headroom, nice spring reverb and is relatively compact. The build quality of the old Peavey amps is second to none. It also sounds very good with a Telecaster.

[Longways to Go]

I picked up an old Randall RG-30 1x12 solid state amp with spring reverb that sounds very nice for jazz.

Also, I think the Fender frontman series (Frontman 25, for example) make for OK jazz amps on the cheap.

[Headshot]

I took my Fender 25R to a small gig, and found that I couldn't take the volume past 4 or it was too loud. It is a 2 guitar duo with backing tracks played by a laptop through 2 speakers at a small restaurant. I am hoping Santa brings me a Rumble 100 bass amp for those gigs, as I love a bass amp with a reverb pedal.

[docdosco]

I took my Fender 25R to a small gig, and found that I couldn't take the volume past 4 or it was too loud. It is a 2 guitar duo with backing tracks played by a laptop through 2 speakers at a small restaurant. I am hoping Santa brings me a Rumble 100 bass amp for those gigs, as I love a bass amp with a reverb pedal.

Interesting. Randall amps. Also, the little Fender 25r can be found cheap. I just saw an older one for $50 on CL. I have a student that bought a new red one and put a Weber in it. It sounded good. The Weber speaker cost more than the amp I think.

So, the Fender 25r goes on the cheap jazz amp list. There is an older model with a metal grill too. Not sure of the differences between all these different 25r models.

I saw a Fender Deluxe 90 12" that looked really enticing. Not the newer DSP model but the older model. 33 lbs. Not too heavy. The 90 watts gives it headroom. They sell used for over $100, however I suspect a deal could be had if one watched and waited.....

[coolvinny]

Perplexed as to why the OP needs numerous amps in the tightwad range, vs say one better amp that is like $200 - $300? I read the original post but it just doesn't make sense to me.

Anyway, best giggable amp inexpensive amp I've found is the ZT Lunchbox. Bought mine used for CAD$175 four years ago.

[docdosco]

Perplexed as to why the OP needs numerous amps in the tightwad range, vs say one better amp that is like $200 - $300? I read the original post but it just doesn't make sense to me.

Anyway, best giggable amp inexpensive amp I've found is the ZT Lunchbox. Bought mine used for CAD$175 four years ago.

I already have a 60 watt tube amp I have gigged with for years. Love it. The variety of inexpensive SS amps I have been researching and acquiring is because I don't like the boutique amps I have tried. Especially the expensive ones that don't sound as good to me as the old $50 to $100 Fender SS amps. My 25 watt Fender Sidekick with the vintage D110F JBL kicks ass, and I much prefer it to a Henriksen Jazzamp 110 ($895 MAP) I was loaned for several weeks. The Fender Sidekick cost me $49 at Sam Ash. The charm of these old amps is that hardly anyone cares about them anymore. Therefore, one can find a gem for pennies.

The current spate of underpowered small jazz amps with tiny, weenie speakers and boxy sounds don't do it for me. I am sure there are some amps that kick butt, but $1000 for a small boutique jazz amp doesn't excite me.

I also like to have headroom. I don't like solid state amps at the best of times, but I can't find a small, light powerful, sweet sounding tube amp new that doesn't cost an arm and a leg new. Maybe at NAMM I'll see something. However case in point:

Rivera Jazz Suprema 25 1x10" 25-Watt Tube Combo | Sweetwater.com

There is something obscene about a 25 watt tube amp that carries a price tag of $1399. $399 for the amp and $1000 for the brand name? Really?

I also like to be able to plug a mic in and have enough power to have a mic and guitar both sound good. The $800 to $1000, $1200 specialty jazz amp doesn't make sense to me when I can a spend $50 or $75 on a Fender amp of yesteryear on CL that is light enough, powerful enough and has a sound I like to take on my gigs, especially when I flip out the speaker. (which is really when these old amps sparkle)

And... I get a kick out of finding and buying these funky old amps. It's a collector's dream.... finding killer little jazz amps for $40 or $50. If I don't like an amp after all is said and done, I can always donate it to Goodwill. Let someone else buy it for $40.

I suspect some other people on the list are also where I am at, preferring a vintage Fender, Peavey, Ampeg or whatever for $50 to $100 over the growing number of over-priced tiny boutique amps. Thus other folks are adding to the growing list of names of what can be had on CL. Reverb or CraigsList for next to nothing.

And, it's a personal thing with me.... I really had not acquired a taste to experience any of these aging and vintage amps until last summer, when Sam Ash practically gave away the Sidekick with the JBL. It's fun and habit forming.... but unlike drugs, when I wake up in the morning, the amp is still in my living room, whereas drugs were always gone the night before.....

[Fidelcaster]

Roland GC-408 (clean channel).

[SamBooka]

Yamaha g50 112 II

[GingerMojo]

I took my Fender 25R to a small gig, and found that I couldn't take the volume past 4 or it was too loud. It is a 2 guitar duo with backing tracks played by a laptop through 2 speakers at a small restaurant. I am hoping Santa brings me a Rumble 100 bass amp for those gigs, as I love a bass amp with a reverb pedal.

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?

[lawson-stone]

My mid 80's Peavey Bandit 65 was $50. It sounds very nice, has loads of headroom, nice spring reverb and is relatively compact. The build quality of the old Peavey amps is second to none. It also sounds very good with a Telecaster.

I have a Peavey Bandit "Pre" 65 that, though not my main amp, has never failed me when I've turned to it. Not much love out there for this amp, but it is a solid no-drama amp. No, I don't sound like Jim Hall when I use it.

Then again, I don't sound like Jim Hall… ever…

[KirkP]

I accepted this challenge and found a Fender Front Man FM 65R on Craigslist for $70 this morning.

There's also a Princeton 65 for $100.

I don't know if either is any good, but with 65W RMS and the Fender brand name they should be able to do clean.

[docdosco]

I accepted this challenge and found a Fender Front Man FM 65R on Craigslist for $70 this morning.

There's also a Princeton 65 for $100.

I don't know if either is any good, but with 65W RMS and the Fender brand name they should be able to do clean.

Good finds. Here is one that just makes the cut. I think this is a strat styled amp, but 95 watts is plenty powerful:

Fender deluxe 112 plus amp

I am seeing that because these older Fender amps have no DSP, or amp modeling, just a clean and crunch channel, they have fallen out of favor with the yougens.... Us jazz guys don't usually want all the budget electronic circuitry that adds noise and whose very presence means that the actual amp and speakers are made cheaper and cheaper to get to a price point.

[Stevebol]

I have an old mixing board that I plug directly into with a couple of Boss pedals. Have a couple of PA speakers that I bought at a garage sale, sounds brilliant. Its all about what you do with the equipment you have. I have seen guys spend thousands on their amps and they sound like crap because they do not experiment with them and push them to find heir hidden charm.

I just got a Zoom B1on. $50 new. Bass effects work for guitar so it suits all my needs. I've had it with amps. Like to keep it simple.

[docdosco]

OK Folks,

Bear with my obsession for a sec.

It's brain picker time. (like guitar picker time, only with your brains and about amps)

If anyone bothered to read my loquacious posts, one gets the idea I have been searching for the holy grail of Fender SS amps on the cheap.

I have 3 small Fender SS amps, 25, 35 and 80 Sidekicks. (Sidekick Switcher is the 80, which is the same small size as the others) ....they are all cool in their own way. Until I gig with an amp, I don't know if it will be suitable to spend $$$ upgrading the speaker. The last small body I might look for is the Sidekick 65. Still small, but more watts than the 25/35. Of course as I see more old Fender amps, the list of possibilities grows. Champions, Princetons, Frontman 65r.... yikes.

Ok, I'll cross that bridge later.

One size up:

The Fender Deluxe 90 or the Deluxe 112

Both 1 12", both 33 pounds and look to be the same dimensions. Close in watts. These are still 11 pounds less than my 'light for tube', 60 watt valve tube amp and probably the same size.

My aim? Besides being snickered at by all the people happy with their one and only amp, I want to try one Fender SS in the next size up. Maybe it will have more ommf due to the slightly larger cabinet. However getting that sweet Fender clean tone is what I am after. Without tubes, I may be chasing my tail somewhat, but, perhaps one of the following (which I suspect can be found in the $100 range (or slightly more for a good clean one) might work as a killer jazz amp - speaker switch mandatory, I think....

So, any comments or experiences would be appreciated. Manuals here: Deluxe 90 and 112 plus

http://support.fender.com/manuals/gu..._90_manual.pdf

http://support.fender.com/manuals/gu...lus_manual.pdf

Plus all the old Fender manuals... weeeeee
Fender® Guitar Amplifiers Owner's Manuals (Archived) | Fender Support

[KirkP]

The main things to watch out for with 10-20 year old cheap SS amps is probably condition and quality of the potentiometers and jacks. Speakers and reverb pans can go, but they're easy to replace.

If I owned one of those amps, the first thing I'd do is try to determine what tone control settings get the frequency response nearly flat (with no midrange scoop) since that's where I like to start when I'm dialing in my tone. If no settings will get there, I doubt I'd like the amp.

[docdosco]

The main things to watch out for with 10-20 year old cheap SS amps is probably condition and quality of the potentiometers and jacks. Speakers and reverb pans can go, but they're easy to replace.

If I owned one of those amps, the first thing I'd do is try to determine what tone control settings get the frequency response nearly flat (with no midrange scoop) since that's where I like to start when I'm dialing in my tone. If no settings will get there, I doubt I'd like the amp.

Good advice. My tube amp sounds great flat. Which is good, because the cheap Chinese pots are noisy.

However, with SS, one has to dial in the tone AND volume on some.

The parts failing is a concern. The guy who abandoned the fuzzy sounding red knob 60 watt Fender tube amp at my place must have had a feeling about the fix-it cost. The Wiki page about red knob Fenders says the tube amps were notoriously hard to work on. Maybe the red knob fenders were fixable only by the long nose greys. Ok, a reference to aliens falls OT in here, but when only an alien lifeform could possibly fix your tube amp, you might think twice about buying it...

[medblues]

The Vox Pathfinder is a very popular (used to be) one which should go for about $100 used nowadays.

[PaulHintz]

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.

[goldenwave77]

RE: The Fender Deluxe 112

I had one of these for a while. OK clean tones, but not spectacular....slightly harsh and sterile. Gets louder than an old Roland "orange" 40WCube I have that is better (a $75 purchase). Had a Roland JC-77 ($225) which sounded better, to my ears, than either of them...but that persistent hiss....had to say goodbye to the Jazz Chorus. Gave it away to my nephews who may take up guitar. For tube amps, have an old Gibson RVT35 (Lancer), 1965-ish, kind of a "poor man's Fender Deluxe" which I had Dennis Kager mod for me to give me more headroom...a $200 purchase and Dennis' work and retubes...another $150 or so. Great clean tones and reverb-y soak. Very Wes-like with my L4-CES.

Also have a Reverend Hellhound, 1 x 12" 10/40 tube amp that weighs 37 lbs. Does great cleans and decent Marshall-y and Vox sounds...nifty design that does away with re-biasing tubes....swapped out the preamp tube for an AT7, I think it was, and gives great headroom. Bought it 2nd hand for $350 five years ago, and still on the tube set that was in it.

My uber-amp, an original Sundown Artist, 150 watts, 4 power tubes, serial no. 840517, (1984, May, the 17th one built of about 50 overall...) built by Dennis Kager. Later production models had the design cut back on him by the Japanese but this is one of his original babies...built in attenuator and an EV-12L....sucker weighs 68 lbs, and is Mega Boogie sized, but what glorious clean sounds....found this for $125 in a NYC recording studio on 30th St. that was going out of business. It didn't even work, but it is hand-wired quality....took it to Dennis and his eyes lit up. Amazing clean tones, rich and big sounding....even a solid body gtr. sounds like an archtop w/ this amp, and it is the most touch-sensitive amp I've ever played. 2nd channel dirty channel is NOT good...but I'm not a dirty guy...in fact I pretty much dislike dirty distorted gtr. sounds. Very active tone controls, and without the "control manual" of suggested dial settings, it is non-intuitive...but it does warm, rich, clean and loud so so well. Scofield used one for a while.

I know everyone new to jazz hears "humbuckers and clean (probably SS amps)" but to me...a good warm, clean tube sound can't be beat...much more musical and touch-sensitive. The Reverend is 37 lbs. so not different than the Fender 112 and the cabinet is more compact....more versatility....better basic sounds, and the price differential is not huge. I even like P90 sounds for jazz but I think they sound better through a tube amp.

Apart from the Hellhound, there are old Peaveys and other slightly off-brand tube amps. A little tweaking will get good sounds out of many of these.

To me, SS amps lack touch sensitivity and dynamic response...they're just kind of "flat-sounding" to me....I've never played a Polytone but maybe that is different, but I think they are more "one of a kind" SS beasts.

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

[va3ux]

I actually like those SS Deluxe series amps. The SS Princeton series are OK too; 65, 90, 112. These may not be in your tightwad range though

Peavey Studio Pro - 65 watts

Peavy Audition