Solid state jazz amp under 300$/€

[georgez]

Hi fellows! Any proposals for amps with decent jazz sound under 300$ (or about 270€)??
I have a Peerless Monarch for my jazz stuff, and a Fender Stratocaster for pretty much everything else.
I live in Greece, so USA market is not an option.
Thanks in advance!

[lawson-stone]

Roland Cube 80GX can handle just about anything. My Monarch sounds great through it.

[neatomic]

yep..was just looking for roland @thomann

Roland Cube-80GX - Thomann UK\

fits your criteria

cheers

[lawson-stone]

yep..was just looking for roland @thomann

Roland Cube-80GX - Thomann UK\

fits your criteria

cheers

I am repeatedly surprised and delighted at what that Roland Cube 80GX can do. Seriously, I have a Polytone Minibrute that I love, but the Cube is just as much amp for the money, plus it is more versatile.

[QAman]

Georgez,
After reading many reviews I purchased a Fender Champion 100 for just under $300 last year . This amp has 2 12" inch speakers and an array of modeling features and sounds amazing. Go read some reviews. It replicates blackface , twin reverb etc quite accurately and I love it. Plus is has input for looping affects and headphones. Good luck.

[boatheelmusic]

Fender Mustang III is in your range.

[roegtr]

Hi fellows! Any proposals for amps with decent jazz sound under 300$ (or about 270€)??
I have a Peerless Monarch for my jazz stuff, and a Fender Stratocaster for pretty much everything else.
I live in Greece, so USA market is not an option.
Thanks in advance!

I use the Roland cube 60. It is within your price range
Here´s a video

[georgez]

Wow! Thank you all guys!!!

In fact, I have made lots of research (and thoughts) for the Cube, however the middle solution of 60w is probably discontinued.
So.. why Cube 80 GX and not 40GX??
Is it live performance amp vs room practise amp?
Or something even further?And is it possible to get that sweet warm sound with a Monarch-Cube combo, like high budget Gibson-Fender Reverb combos?

[georgez]

Georgez,
After reading many reviews I purchased a Fender Champion 100 for just under $300 last year . This amp has 2 12" inch speakers and an array of modeling features and sounds amazing. Go read some reviews. It replicates blackface , twin reverb etc quite accurately and I love it. Plus is has input for looping affects and headphones. Good luck.

I haven't found any video of jazz guitar or jazz style played through this amp, which looks great by the way. Maybe you could post some links(?)

[QAman]

This amp is a new release and most of the demos on You Tube are rock examples. I have owned a vintage Fender Super reverb , Roland cube, Polytone etc and this amp replicates them beautifully - even the hum. I made a quick recording of white Xmas recently just using my iPhone voice memo. If your interested in hearing it send me a PM with an email and I will send it to you.

[thpm]

So.. why Cube 80 GX and not 40GX??
Is it live performance amp vs room practise amp?
Or something even further?

The GX Series has a Master Volume now so you can dial them down… Both 40GX and 80GX are performance amps I'd say. Anything below not so much. The features and sound is pretty much identical. I think feature wise only the 80 has an extra “Presence” knob, but that's the only difference. However, consider that the 40GX has a 10 inch speaker, whereas the 80GX has a 12 inch one… So depending on your preferences that can make a difference in sound. Some people like 10's more, some like 12's more… But these are closed back, and quite punchy, and both more on the directional side, so I don't know how much it really matters.

I don't own a 40 to A/B with my 80 so I don't know if the 40 sounds better at bedroom volumes vs. an 80 turned down with the master vol, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.

So, depends mostly where and how you gonna play this thing. Mostly bedroom or small venues and small volumes? Get the 40. Not enough headroom? Get the 80. I'd say the 40 has enough headroom for many situations, but if you want to make sure, get the 80 and never worry about it again.

[Stanford J17]

We have an "old" Roland Cube 60 and a Roland Cube 40GX in our music school. I like them both and don't take my amp to school-concerts any more. But as I've heard them next to each other, the Cube 60 sounded much better!

For sound examples check out Daniel Olsen. I don't know which model he uses, but he's a member on the forum, so you may PM him.
https://solojazzguitar.wordpress.com/music/

[georgez]

We have an "old" Roland Cube 60 and a Roland Cube 40GX in our music school. I like them both and don't take my amp to school-concerts any more. But as I've heard them next to each other, the Cube 60 sounded much better!

For sound examples check out Daniel Olsen. I don't know which model he uses, but he's a member on the forum, so you may PM him.
https://solojazzguitar.wordpress.com/music/

Thanks Stanford! I will check out Daniel Olsen on youtube.
As far as I know, the Cube 60 is discontinued, so probably only used ones could be available.

[thpm]

I think Stanford is referring to the Cube before they switched it from being a solid state to a modeling amplifier, which was some years ago. There was also a “modeling” Cube 60, the GX series is sort of the newest iteration of that amp (there were “X” and “XL” ones before that), though at some point they dropped the 60w version and introduced the 80w as its successor. I think getting the “modeling” cube 60 wouldn't give you a better sound than the newer ones, because their modeling tech improved quite a bit from back then.

So if you look for an “old” Cube 60 like Stanford mentioned, make sure it's not a modeling one! They can be found fairly cheap usually. That being said you can definitely great tones from the GX cubes too…

[Alder Statesman]

Fender Mustang III is in your range.

The Champion 100 may serve your needs, but the Mustang III is more flexible and tad lighter.

[Stanford J17]

I think Stanford is referring to the Cube before they switched it from being a solid state to a modeling amplifier, which was some years ago.

Actually I was referring to the modeling one. That's why I put those "" marks around the old. But if you don't need all the effects and the distortion-stuff, I would go with the older ones. The modeling-amps always seem to have this slight hiss going on.

If you consider to buy a used amp, you could look for Roland JC's. There were many different versions (JC 50, Jc 70 etc) that were not as huge and as heavy as the well known JC 120. I've bought a used JC 50 for 300 € in 2010.

Also used Polytone's can be available in your price range.

And I've heard good stuff about old Peavey amps, too.

[Jabberwocky]

I like open-back combos so for me, it was the Fender Mustang 3 V2. I found the Roland 80GX nice but boxy. I don't require so many amp models or effects. I use mainly the Basic 65 Deluxe Reverb, 65 Twin Reverb or Studio Pre. I like Fender Blackface amps and although these do not really cop the tone they are mostly inoffensive.

The Fender Mustang 3 V2 does not have the best construction; I don't think it will hold up under hard gigging. But for practice, it sounds as good as what I require of it.

I think you should check out the Fender Mustang 3 V2 and compare it against the Roland 80GX; one of them will appeal to you.

[boatheelmusic]

The Champion 100 may serve your needs, but the Mustang III is more flexible and tad lighter.

Just be sure to look at the V2 of this amp - the V1 had some players reporting "fizz" issues.

[dhd]

I wasn't sure if you were looking for a new amp or if you would consider a used amp,
but I noticed someone else suggest a used amp so I thought I'd offer my recommendation too.
Tech 21 Trademark 60 here in the USA street price for a new TM60 is about 600$,
used they can be found for 250$ -400$.
Here's a link, to an old thread on this forum with more info about the TM60

Tech 21 Trademark 60

Here is another link of a review
Tech 21 NYC Trademark 60 Amplifier Review

[eddy b.]

Randall RG80 if they're available where you live.

[georgez]

I finally decided to go for the CUBE 80GX.
However, I didn't realize that the built-in looper is not available for this model as it was for CUBE 80 XL.
That's kind of disappointing..