DV Mark Little Jazz

[rpjazzguitar]

One other point - it's rear ported, and position makes a big difference. It needs a foot or so from a wall, so the bass reflects off the wall. And flat on the floor, it's not a great sounding amp. It needs to be tilted or elevated. My preference is on the floor, tilted back. I just put something under the front edge to raise it 2 or 3 inches, and that makes a noticeable difference in the sound. Putting it on a chair or something to raise it up brightens it considerably, actually more than I like, but it's subjective. Anything is better than flat on the floor, though. And moving it just a few inches nearer or further away from something solid, like a wall or something else large and solid, can change the sound a lot. Experimentation will give you the best sound for your ears.

Thanks for pointing this out. I just tried it. Even tilting it slightly makes a noticeable difference.

Thus far, though, I like it best flat on the floor. But, I'm trying to tame a bright instrument. Well, that's taste, but the fact is that it makes a difference.

[sgosnell]

Certainly the position you prefer is a matter of taste. I only meant to point out that it makes a difference in the sound. Different can be good or bad. In my somewhat limited experience, the Little Jazz is more sensitive to position than most other amps. And that can be good or bad, depending on one's point of view and hearing.

[Jim Soloway]

Certainly the position you prefer is a matter of taste. I only meant to point out that it makes a difference in the sound. Different can be good or bad. In my somewhat limited experience, the Little Jazz is more sensitive to position than most other amps. And that can be good or bad, depending on one's point of view and hearing.

Position really does make a huge difference with this amp. That's true with ported amps in general but I think it's especially true with the Little Jazz and the Bud/Blue where they're squeezing a large sound out of a small enclosure. I think it's actually good for everyone because it means you have more control over the sound regardless of your taste ... want it big, warm and wooly, put it near the wall. Want it brighter and more articulate, move it away. I've said it over and over, this amp gives me a huge amount of pleasure and however I have it set up, I seem to be able to find a sound that makes me happy.

[rpjazzguitar]

Played a rehearsal today. Keys, drumset, bass, guitar. I used the Comins GCS-1. We worked on some quieter material for the most part. Bassist brought the acoustic today.

Little Jazz flat on a carpeted floor. Bass and Mids around 12. Treble at 11. Reverb around 10. Master at 12.

A/B'ed it with the vintage Reverberocket. ME80 in the signal path for both guitars, adding reverb. The Ampeg Dimension control was around 10. Tone about 10 as well (it only has a treble roll-off).

Both amps sounded great and, to my surprise, they didn't sound all that different. I was sitting to the left of the amps, with the amps facing the same way as I was - meaning neither one was pointing at me. The port of the Little Jazz faced back towards me, but well to my right (that shouldn't matter much, since the port, I assume, emphasizes lower frequencies which are less directional.

Big win for the Little Jazz. It sounded fully warm enough. It was certainly loud enough for the rehearsal. I don't know yet if it will keep up with a horn band. I'll find out next week.

[rpjazzguitar]

Here's a recording from this morning's session.

This is the GCS-1, ME80 and Little Jazz.

[rpjazzguitar]

Played a loud rehearsal this evening. Amplified acoustic bass, grand piano (open with a two fisted player), two guitars, drums and vocals. Probably at a volume that would be appropriate for a good size restaurant or a busy bar. Really a little louder than it needed to be for the room tonight. I had it facing me from about 10 feet away (the semisolid Comins didn't feed back).

The LJ was plenty loud enough and it sounded fine at the higher volume. I forgot about it and played. It sounded loud enough, big enough (not boxy) and maintained good tone.

I ended up thinking that I'd be perfectly happy with it in most, if not all, of the situations I play in. Next month, I'll try it with a 19 piece big band, and I expect it to be fine.

I have a return privilege until Jan 30, but I think this one is a keeper.

[Durban]

The DV Little Jazz is a very good amp, re above comment they DO NOT sound close or anything like a Polytone, not a bad thing they just sound different. Not warm tho.

fantastic price wise,



The Mid control is the key to it, the reverb is crap, but overall light compact clean punchy cheap.

[Gitterbug]

I had the Little Jazz in attendance of the Micro 50. Used in a band with three blowers. It did well.The good thing about a small speaker and a small-faced amp is that the sound spreads much wider than with bigger speakers/cabs. If you're only comping, putting the amp behind the band will enable everybody to hear it. Relative lack of bass is only a blessing, as you probably want to sound acoustic. If you play solos, too, keep the amp next to you and add a second speaker behind the band. The Little Jazz has a jack for an aux speaker.

Sorry if the above sounds elementary or patronizing.

[rpjazzguitar]

I had the Little Jazz in attendance of the Micro 50. Used in a band with three blowers. It did well.The good thing about a small speaker and a small-faced amp is that the sound spreads much wider than with bigger speakers/cabs. If you're only comping, putting the amp behind the band will enable everybody to hear it. Relative lack of bass is only a blessing, as you probably want to sound acoustic. If you play solos, too, keep the amp next to you and add a second speaker behind the band. The Little Jazz has a jack for an aux speaker.

Sorry if the above sounds elementary or patronizing.

The 19 piece band spreads out the horns nicely in the room and the rhythm section squeezes into what's left.

Up to now, I have put a JC55 in front of the drummer who is near stage right. I'm generally extreme stage right, and way in front, facing the reeds. The amp has an open back and the drummer and bassist (who is behind the drummer playing a Phil Jones briefcase that fills the room) can hear me okay. I doubt that the trumpets can hear me on stage left, but they don't complain. I can hear myself and the amp is far enough away that I don't have to blast myself. Drums and keys are loud enough and close enough, and does anybody ever have trouble hearing horns well enough?

[Barnaby]

I've just bought the amp and am playing it with a D'Angelico NYL-2. Personally, I find raising the front about 2-3 inches with the amp about 2 feet from the wall, the controls almost at 12 (bass at 11, mids at 1 and treble at 12) and the reverb at about 10 works very nicely. I'll see how it goes, as I'll probably gig with it a bit next year.

I'm really loving the sound. This is the second version (the one with the fan noise problem fixed) and it's just amazing. Then again, it's my first ever pure jazz amp, so maybe I'd be more jaded if I had a pile of Quilters, Polytones and Hendriksens to compare it to.

[rpjazzguitar]

I've used it in two different rooms so far. Both times flat on the floor.

In one case I had the amp off to the side (my 2 o'clock). In the other case, I had it about 10 feet away, facing right at me.

I got my sound both times and was able to forget about the amp and just play.

[Jim Soloway]

I've just bought the amp and am playing it with a D'Angelico NYL-2. Personally, I find raising the front about 2-3 inches with the amp about 2 feet from the wall, the controls almost at 12 (bass at 11, mids at 1 and treble at 12) and the reverb at about 10 works very nicely. I'll see how it goes, as I'll probably gig with it a bit next year.

I'm really loving the sound. This is the second version (the one with the fan noise problem fixed) and it's just amazing. Then again, it's my first ever pure jazz amp, so maybe I'd be more jaded if I had a pile of Quilters, Polytones and Hendriksens to compare it to.

Maybe not. I've had a massive pile of multiples of all of the above plus a bunch more and I still consider the Little Jazz a pretty special little amp.

[lawson-stone]

Ditto here. I've had a blast over the holiday comparing everything I can get out of my Fender Super Champ X2 head+12" cab, several Polytones of various breeds, the DVMark Micro50 head, and the Little Jazz. My total favorite remains the Micro50 head with a 4 Ohm 10" speaker, but the Little Jazz is right up there as a very, very close second, and maybe in some rooms it would be the better.

[rpjazzguitar]

Yesterday my octet (4 horns, rhythm section and an added vocalist) played a very big room. Maybe 250 people.

I took the Little Jazz. We weren't trying to overpower the room and had talked about needed to control our volume.

There was a wall of glass behind us. I set up the LB about 2 feet in front of it flat on the floor. The back line was drums on my extreme left, then the bassist and then me. Keys to my right. I put my amp between the bassist and drummer. I don't like being right next to my amp. I prefer to hear it more in the context of the group, volume-wise. I use an ME80 pedalboard, so, if I need to adjust something, I do it there, not at the amp, typically.

I was able to get a good sound as loud as I wanted to play. I generally figure that I'm responsible for stage volume. So, if everything sounds balanced to me, that's all I can do. I don't want to guess about how much louder I need to blast the stage so an audience member in the last row can hear the guitar clearly. If that's an issue, there ought to be a PA. There wasn't, partly because we were expecting maybe a fifth the crowd.

A friend in the audience said the guitar was audible but a little too quiet, but I think that was my choice, not the amp's capability.

We've played some sizable rooms, but this was the first time I ever had trouble hearing the horns, especially the flutes (used for a few tunes). It might have been 100 feet to the back wall, over a crowd of people, so I think there wasn't much reflected sound.

Anyway, I was perfectly satisfied with the Little Jazz. I don't think I'd have been any happier if I'd brought my usual JC55. For this type of music, I don't feel the guitar has to be as loud as the piano most of the time -- and the piano was quite loud and arguably a little busy. I feel like I have to stay out of the way. If I was trying to keep up with the piano's volume, I'm not certain the LJ would do it, but, in that case, I'd get it off the floor, turn up the output of the pedal board (the LJ doesn't seem to mind a hotter input signal) and see what happens.

I have a return privilege with GC, but it's not going back. 15 lbs, $350 and can cover most situations I play in.

[entresz]

I think the gain level on the Little Jazz is set quite low so it takes hotter signals pretty well. I wish it was set a fraction higher so I didn't have to crank the master quite so much. Would be handy with hot pickups though.

[rpjazzguitar]

A couple of days ago I used the Little Jazz with a 19 piece big band playing high energy music. The room has brick walls, maybe 40 by 50 (not that big for a band of this size).

I had the LJ cranked about 3/4 of the way up. I had the output volume of my pedalboard to about 2 o'clock. That boosts the signal to some degree but I don't know how much.

I guess I could have gone even louder, but I didn't need to. The guitar was audible in the audience. Tone was fine, to the extent that I could hear it -- I have to wear earplugs with this band and even though I have the custom fitted Etymotics, the sound isn't all that great.

My guess is that some players wouldn't be satisfied with the volume, but it was enough for what I was trying to do. I figure that the keys should be more obvious for this kind of music and the guitar is supportive of that. For soloing, I use a pedalboard patch that has more volume. My solos, so far, have not had to go over horn backgrounds - if I had to do that, I'd have been concerned that the LJ wasn't enough amp -- not sure, but concerned.

Overall, another win for the LJ.

[grahambop]

Just got one today. After playing it for an hour or so I am getting a pretty good sound out of it, very clean and clear tone with my 175. Also I’m surprised how much bass it has for an 8” speaker, I’ve had to dial the bass down a bit. I haven’t been able to crank it up yet, but it seems to have plenty in reserve.

Reverb is so-so as others have said, but it’s ok for me, I only use a touch anyway.

Will try and do a recording when I get a chance.

Definitely liking it so far.

[sgosnell]

If you tilt the amp, the bass is less prominent. I just put something under the front to lift it by a couple or three inches. The tone is a little brighter that way. Some prefer it flat, but I don't, usually. Although I had it in my garage yesterday, on the concrete floor, and it sounded okay flat. It's position sensitive, both in elevation and in proximity to walls or other objects. Enjoy it, I think it's a great amp.

[grahambop]

Just did a video today using my new DV Mark Little Jazz, recorded from the XLR line out. Tone controls were all set about halfway (mid a fraction higher). I had a touch of reverb on the amp, although I added a bit more with a software plug-in when editing the audio.

[lawson-stone]

Just did a video today using my new DV Mark Little Jazz, recorded from the XLR line out. Tone controls were all set about halfway (mid a fraction higher). I had a touch of reverb on the amp, although I added a bit more with a software plug-in when editing the audio.

Sounds great! Is the backing track coming through the Aux. Input of the amp?

[grahambop]

Sounds great! Is the backing track coming through the Aux. Input of the amp?

Thanks! No I didn’t use the aux. I had already loaded the backing track onto my digital recorder, so I just took the guitar sound from the amp to the recorder as an overdub.

I haven’t even tried the aux input yet, I’ll give it a go.

[kris]

Very nice sound and playing...great relaxing right hand picking.I like long lines of the solo.
Best
Kris

[sgosnell]

Is the direct out pre or post eq? I've never tried to record with mine, so I really have no idea. My MB200 has a push-push switch to change between the two, but not the LJ.

[grahambop]

Is the direct out pre or post eq? I've never tried to record with mine, so I really have no idea. My MB200 has a push-push switch to change between the two, but not the LJ.

The online manual says post eq and post reverb.

http://www.dvmark.it/media/filer_pub...v_jazz_212.pdf

[Tom Karol]

I have the Meinl MQW-10 10 inch Professional Cuica Bag, and my DVM LJ fits in it perfectly. Plus it's got an outside zippered pocket for cables and stuff. It's very protective, too, and sells for just under $70 in the US.