Fender Jazz King User?

**Wardnc** · 12-22-2007, 09:11 PM

My luthier suggested that the Fender Jazz King (SS, 15" speaker,
voiced for jazz)would be worth considering at about $700 for use with
my Eastman 805SE archtop.

This model has only been out for a year or two. The reviews I found on
the web were very positive. Have any of you tried one?

Thanks for any input you may have.

Ward in NC

chitlinsonrye · 12-31-2007, 02:22 AM

I too have my eye on this amp...any opinions/experiences?

**Wardnc** · 12-31-2007, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by chitlinsonrye

I too have my eye on this amp...any opinions/experiences?

From input on the Yahoo Jazz Guitar Group, some suggested that you would be better off with the Jazz Master - an ultra-light head weighing 7 ½ pounds plus the 112 Enclosure (12” instead of 15”) weighing only 17 pounds (versus 50 pounds for Jazz King). The Ultralight head and Enclosure prices at $1,000. This combination has gotten great reviews on the web, emphasizing the light weight and two-channel setup. No one claimed to have played them.

Chordon Bleu · 01-21-2008, 11:32 PM

Well I saw one of the big net music stores had them on for 699 and now theyve come down to 589? or close to that-and I think free shipping in the states-

I had to pay more here in CANADA though. Who cares? Its a great deal. Ive lost my tube enthusiasm. If I want a class A amp for some spank I can always get a new Peavy royal 8 for less than 2oo.

-but I bought one, you cant go wrong, it has nice caster wheels and it is very simple with no fancy digital gagets or anything. Pedal switching, fx loop, line out and a slick cover. I may stick some of those tilt bacl legs on it though.

A plus here is that as digital technology moves forward you still have a good basic powerful clean amp to use.

I haven't tried any multifx or anything but I bet they'd be great.
It has a warm tone. I thinkit will be better once the speaker breaks in a little too, although that will take a bit of loud playing.

One thing Ive noticed if you dont play that good you're gonna know it right off the top, very touchy, plus you gotta have your guitar tuned up real good it is clean of clean and very dynamic for a SS amp.

Imagine a 59 bassman cranked to 8 and staying clean like it was still around 3.5. That loud it does get a little bit rocky but remains clear plus I couldnt stand it for no more than 5 seconds it was so loud. The preamp allows for a lot of tweaking so you can really get some great classic fender amp tone.

Unlike my old class A 6 watt or 60w tube heads. I guess I gotta practice a lot more now.
I like it a lot. Especially the simplicity, one input and a spring reverb with a great preamp EQ. What more could one ask for.

And it is quiet you have to be careful or you'll scare yourself. At full with a strat plugged in there was only the tiny bit of hiss. Awesome, hope it stays that way, but with a 5 year warranty Im not too worried.

Chordon Bleu · 01-22-2008, 08:32 PM

I just put in severel hours practicing at room volume to get to know this amp any I can safely say I like it better than any amp Ive ever owned.
I think its becasue I can shape the tone to something that seems familiar. Very Inspiring to say the least!

The reveiws are true.

Chordon Bleu · 01-25-2008, 08:33 PM

I dont know if anyones interested but for Overdrive I tried both the boss fenders, the bassman, and the 65 deluxe. The bassman pedal could be made nearly totally transparent when used clean. The over drive was a bit to digital grainey with the King.
The deluxe pedal is a perfect match, I mean perfect, you can call up just about any thing worth anything by doing a little tweaking. You have to try and make it sound like crap and thats a chore no matter what the pedals gain level.
Best results were obtained by the King having the master 3/4 and the gain wherever for volume only- Pedal level 1/2 to 3/4, and eq to taste..
Im keeping the Deluxe pedal for single note stuff.

**ed@edbarrettjazzguitar.co** · 02-08-2008, 02:39 PM

Hello I have owned a first generation Jazz King with the 15" speaker since the fall of 2005. The amp has it plusses and minuses. First the bad news, I must have got one that was made on a Friday with about 30 minutes to go before the end of the week the day before a long vacation. On two seperate gigs the amp just quit producing any sound.I was a lot frustrated- my repair guy who is a fender approved technician told me the problem with the amp is that the used a very light weight solder that would allow the components in the amp to drift from their correct location. The problem was made worse in his estimation by rolling the amp on it's casters after a gig while the amp was still warm. The second minus to this amp is that it is very big and very heavy so if you gig alot or even enough to hate schlepping gear there are definitely better alternatives. fender wouldnt replace my Jazz King and since I really can't rely on it and since I can't sell it in good faith I use it as my at home practice amp($700) practice amp. The plus side of the amp is that it sounds absolutely incredible it makes a tele sound like an archtop, it has so much bass response with my Heritage 575 that I have to dial it back and I can't say it enough the thing sounds awesome ,full,detailed chords tight focused single notes. It is just too bigand too unreliable to gig with. Try a Roland Cube 60 for gigging it really works. Light reliable inexpensive and very flexible with the cosm amp modeling. Good Luck!!!!

**TieDyedDevil** · 03-30-2008, 05:30 PM

I played one in a shop quite a while ago and really liked it, but didn't spring for it because I was in the process of "thinning the herd"... The shop never restocked.

Last month I bought one with a good BIN price from a seller on EBay. So far I'm really happy with this amp.

Yes, it is large and heavy. I haven't gigged with it yet. (I play mostly at open mics, and limit myself to carrying either a modeler or a practice amp. I put in more of an effort to bring the "good" amp to a couple of well-paying gigs every year; those haven't come up yet.)

The JK sounds warm and full with all the EQ centered. The tilt control is handy to tune out boominess or brightness caused by the room. For fitting in with other instruments, the sweepable mid control is a godsend.

I've heard others complain about the long dwell time on the reverb, but I love it. To my ears it sounds like a combination of a classic spring reverb and a good digital hall reverb.

This amp has plenty of power. I can't imagine running out of headroom before the JK starts to clip. I might think differently if I was playing with a full band, but for my solo gigs this'll be more than enough amp.

I have played the Jazzmaster Ultralight several times and have always walked away unsatisfied. It has very limited headroom and sounds "pinched". I wish I liked the way it sounds, because the weight and the size are very attractive.

**derek** · 03-30-2008, 08:41 PM

Yeah, too heavy for me. If you try to like the ultralight, TyeDye, check out the Acoustic Image amps. They are considered the best ultra light, powerful, ss jazz amps. Not cheap, but incredible.

**TieDyedDevil** · 03-30-2008, 09:26 PM

Thanks, Derek. I do intend to try out the AI Coda and Corus combos. I'm waiting for the local shops to get their deliveries.

**endthebeguine!** · 03-31-2008, 12:33 PM

I have a Clarus 1R that I have on craigslist right now. They are great amps, I don't have a cab for it though and I have a little polytone that suits me better for school. What are anyones thoughts on the henriksen jazzamp 10? I havent searched through the forum to see if this thread has come up.

**Drifter** · 08-19-2009, 05:12 PM

Today I've received my Jazz King, found one for a killer price at ebay and couldn't resist. I was actually saving for a Henriksen but it would have cost more than twice as much. Haven't tried the Henriksen or another dedicated Jazz amp, so I cannot compare. I even haven't tried a Cube but - as good as everyone says they sound - I prefer an amp not made in China and without all those digital effects. Plain amp, sweet clean sound, that's what I was always looking for.

And the Jazz King delivers. I use it with my Ibanez AK105SM just in my living room, no gigs, no shlepping. Of course 140 watts are true overkill for that purpose but since I don't play elsewhere, I wanted a real amp to get the tone, a small practice amp would not have been satisfactory.

I don't even need the -10 db switch, the volume / gain pots can easily be fine adjusted for low volume. The sound is great but not overly biased to the Jazz tone. It's just pure and clean amplification of the sound of your guitar. The EQ settings are very versatile, so you can get nearly every sound you're after, as long as your fingers can play it and your guitar delivers. Just don't look for distortion, this amp is about the clean sound and nothing more. Therefore I love the fact that it has an FX loop, that makes the amp much more versatile than the Henriksens. An EHX TubeEQ in the FX loop adds a little character but takes away the perfect clean precision. It depends on what I play if use it or not. I haven't tried other pedals yet but I'm sure the amp can handle them all.

No complaints about the reverb, it does what a spring reverb is supposed to do.

I also own a Princeton Chorus from the early 90ies that's made in USA, the Jazz King is made in Mexico with a US made Eminence Legend speaker. Built quality is about equally good, however the cab wood of the JK seems a little thinner. The Princeton Chorus seems a little more robust. Soundwise, the difference isn't as big as I expected, but the JK is cleaner and more natural sounding. But I'm sure that the JKs 15" speaker will open up more and more in the next few days what should be an audible improvement, I hope the sound gets even more voluminous.

I love that amp. If you can get your hands on one, especially for a good price, you can't go wrong with it.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 08-19-2009, 05:39 PM

I'm jealous! There's a Jazz King sitting all forlorn in my local music store. I've played it several times and I love the sound. (I'm old school -- I can't buy an amp over EBay -- I have to try it out first.) The store is very rock'n'roll, so I can't imagine anyone else buying it, but I can't pull the trigger. (They probably call me the crazy guy who shows up with an archtop!) Like you, I'd use it in my living room, and as you know a JK is overkill for that. I think what I'm going to do is buy a much smaller amp, like the Phil Jones CUB AG-100 (once I can try one out!), then if I ever need a louder amp I'll be forced (

) to go out and check out some big iron.

**Drifter** · 08-19-2009, 06:30 PM

I think the JK is just overkill on the paper. It sounds sweet at bedroom volume levels like no small amp does. And I don't think it's really that big or heavy, could be much worse. I had tried an Epiphone Valve Jr head + cab some time ago but rejected it because I thought it was thin sounding. The tubes were fun, no question about it, but they also needed a certain minimum volume to develop their sound. The JK sounds much better at even lower volumes. From the experience with the VJr I figured that you need to spend a lot more for a decent tube amp. I'd love to have a Matchless but I just cannot afford one. The Cubes excluded, the JK was the cheapest way to go big in tone. In the end I couldn't care less if its tube or ss, as long as the tone is right.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 08-19-2009, 06:46 PM

Part of the tone is because of the 15" speaker. For Jazz, some 15"ers that come to mind are:

* the Jazz King
* Polytone Minibrute
* Evans SE200
* Fender '65 "Twin" Custom 15

then some steel guitar amps, like the

* Fender Steel King (200W of giddyup)
* Peavey Nashville 100 (300W of giddyup)

And then some old school bass amps.

On this list, the Polytone is a classic, but not everyone likes its muffled tone. The JK's tone is more flexible. The Evans is very nice but expensive, and I haven't come across the Fender Custom 15, but if you wanted to combine tubes with a 15"...

The steel guitar amps are getting probably too high wattage, and I believe both have a more "PA"-like speaker, rather than warmer, lighter weight guitar speaker.

**lpdeluxe** · 08-19-2009, 06:57 PM

Here's something from a review of the Steel-King at Harmony Central:

"In my opinion, this is a higher-output Jazz King with a much better speaker. The main feature is the sound: BEAUTIFUL CLEAN."

I may have to find one to check out. I have a Band-Master VM head that I had hoped to mate to a Weber 15 cabinet (and I may yet, if someone continues his business). I've been playing it through a Hartke 115TP with a sealed cab, and it's almost satisfactory. The Twin/15 and the Steel-King are both in my radar, although I don't need that much power and I'd prefer to use the BM head, which has a great sound with my 335.

=sigh= Maybe I'll just get the BM 212 cabinet.

**Drifter** · 08-19-2009, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by lpdeluxe

"In my opinion, this is a higher-output Jazz King with a much better speaker. The main feature is the sound: BEAUTIFUL CLEAN."

The main feature is the same with the JK. The Steel King should have an even better speaker because its more expensive. If it doesn't, it's a rip off. The JKs amp section has lower output but is also designed slightly different soundwise - it's more after the Jazz tone. At least that's what I've read somewhere.

Anyway, I couldn't be happier with the Jazz King. Finally the amp quest has come to an end. For now.

**TieDyedDevil** · 08-19-2009, 08:09 PM

I was curious about that when I bought my JK. I looked at the schematics and specs for both. As far as I can tell, the only differences are:

1. The SK includes a filter to roll off the lowest frequencies.

2. The SK delivers 200 watts to the Jazz King's 140 watts. I'm pretty sure that this is because the speaker in the SK is 4 ohms rather than 8.

I don't remember whether the SK has a larger power transformer to accommodate the higher rated output.

**jmac** · 09-19-2011, 09:44 PM

I just picked up a used Jazz King tonight. I play a Guild X-160 Rockabilly with DeArmond 2000 single coil pickups. The tone variation allows me to get a beautiful jazz tone, or roll off the lower frequencies to play jump jive. Its got more power than I'll probably ever need, but its clean and sound great loud or soft. Its no heavier than any other amp of its power class, (but its heavy).

I agree with all who say their amp quest is over. This amp stands up next to anything I've heard.

**lpdeluxe** · 09-19-2011, 10:23 PM

Cool. I'll take comfort in the fact that my Jazzmaster Ultralight weighs 25.6 lb....

Seriously, I'm glad that the JKs are getting into the right hands.

**lpdeluxe** · 09-19-2011, 10:31 PM

Oh yeah, and I ended up with a Weber California Ceramic 15 cab for my Bandmaster VM. It kills.

**blackwingchai** · 09-20-2011, 05:55 AM

Pardon if my question is a bit stupid, but how is it compare with ibanez Wholetone?

**lpdeluxe** · 09-20-2011, 07:52 AM

I've never seen an Ibanez Wholetone. Perhaps one of the Jazz King owners can respond.

**jmac** · 09-21-2011, 09:48 PM

All things being equal, lighter is better, no doubt. The ultra light looks like a very cool amp. But is it as versatile as the jazz king? For the next year or so I might not be playing any jazz, just jump jive, and swing rock and roll.

**lpdeluxe** · 09-21-2011, 10:13 PM

I find it very versatile, but I don't play a lot of cover material on guitar. Perhaps someone who does would find it wanting -- I simply don't know. I do know that I can get a jazz tone out of it, and something resembling rock, and that my wah pedal seems to work well with it. The Jazzmaster doesn't really have a "signature" sound: you have to figure out what you want and how to get it. From that perspective, it's a hell of a guitar amp.