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Apologies in advance for long post!
Like the title says, I’m looking for a jazz amp that will sound good and clean with my current solid body (strat style) and an archtop when I eventually upgrade to one. My needs are that it be suitable for gigging (mostly jazz but versatility is a plus) volume wise as well as portability. City gigs via public transportation mean my big tubey Traynor won’t be feasible.
I have a line on a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight for only $500 which I think is a steal, and folks say it’s a great amp, but they’re out of production and the head is only 2 ohms, and some say there are reliability issues. The cab is only 2 ohms as well meaning 99% of heads would blow it up so that’s less utility I’m getting out of it if I ever get more heads - I’d need to get another cab with a higher impedance.
The quilter heads are incredibly small and I hear great things but there are none in my area to try and it’s hard to find demo videos with solid bodies but playing jazz style. It’s typically videos of jazz on an archtop or contemporary music on a solid body. I have the freedom to choose any cab I want but I don’t know much about them and can’t seem to find any as light as the Fender Ultralight cab. Are there any? Of course for gigging I can just bring a head and plug into their back line so I guess an Uber portable cab isn’t a necessity but I’m not sure. I’ve always gigged in the burbs where I can drive my whole rig but I’m trying to break into jazz gigs in the city. In new to this so if any of you have experience with this I’d love to hear it.
Other options are a Henriksen but my teacher says they are very boxy sounding due to the small closed combo size. But I’ve seen the jazz amp convertible online and that looks promising, but again, can’t try it anywhere nearby and I can’t find any videos of solid body demos.
I’m open to any and all suggestions. My budget caps out around $1000, ideally way less though.
Thanks in advance for the advice!
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12-29-2018 01:20 AM
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My Henriksen JazzAmp 110 isn’t boxy sounding at all , but it also is only versatile with a pedal board. If by versatility you mean with different styles of guitars all playing clean, my JazzAmp is fantastic as I mostly use archtops, but also have a Les Paul and a strat that sound wonderful through this amp. Alternatively, a 24 pound Fender Super Champ XD may work for you, or a Roland Cube 60/80 at about 28 - 32 pounds. Many love what Quilter has, which are very light. The Fender Pro Junior (28 pounds) is a great amp as well and stays clean or mostly clean to about 6 (1:00), which is loud enough for small gigs. If you mic it volume is not a concern at all.
Last edited by snoskier63; 12-30-2018 at 03:10 PM.
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Hi -- welcome to the Forum!
Search around -- always several posts on "good amps for jazz," etc., including a recent one.
Enjoy!
Marc
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Thanks both for the replies!
Marc, thank you for the welcome! And yes I’ve read most of the recent threads on amps in the past week! I’m just a pro at indecision hahaha
Funnily enough, I was reading one post about the Ultralight and it sounded very familiar, and then realized it was MY post from reddit that I’d written. Some other account created 12/24 copy and pasted it here for some reason. Had better answers than what I’d gotten on my reddit post though!!
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Given your criteria of versatility and size I think you have a few reasonable solutions that cover a variety of price points. In combos there are two obvious choices: the DV Mark Little Jazz and the Henriksen Blue (or Bud if you want two channels). You would probably need some pedals for rock applications with any of these amps but they can handle most jazz applications with no outboard gear and they are both shockingly loud given their size.
The Henriksen Bud and Blue are slightly smaller than the Little Jazz but similar in weight. The Henriksens have cases whereas the Little Jazz requires some improvisation for a case (although some people on this forum have found something suitable). All three are really good sounding amps with excellent sound dispersal. The Henriksen is substantially more expensive, primarily because is is built in the US while the DV Mark amps are built in Indonesia. I have owned both and liked both.
Another alternative would be a quality 1x8 cab with a micro amp for power. Choices include the DV Mark 50 watt micro head (available in slightly different versions), the Gallien Kreuger MB200 (actually a bass amp but I had two and liked them for guitar), and the micro amps from Vox (available in a variety of falvors). All of these are small enough to carry in a gig bag.
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Him, thanks for the thorough reply. As I’ve been hemming and hawing I’ve swung back around to favoring Quilter (either 101 reverb or the Pro Block) and am wondering what your thoughts are on these amps? The weight and versatility is exactly what I’m looking for, and they sound great with solid bodies and archtops, from demos I’ve seen.
Is there any reason you would recommend the amps you suggested over a Quilter?
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I've owned three Quilters and test driven a fourth. Lots of people like them but I was unable to bond with them and I know I'm not alone. Most of them have very quirky tone controls and they have a characteristic mid-range hump. If that sound works for you and you can manage the odd tone controls then you're off to the races but it seems to be a very binary situation that either works for you or not.
Originally Posted by whitebeltzen
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Understood. That seems to accurately reflect the spread of opinions I’ve seen for them here and elsewhere. Im buying from a reliable retailer so I might just have to pull the trigger and see if I like it, and if not I’ll return it for something else I guess! Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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I'd stay away from the Fender Ultralight, no matter how attractive it's on paper. There's a reason (or a few) it was discontinued years ago. If you want to look that far back, grab a first-generation Henriksen if you can find one. In an early jazz guitar.be evaluation, the Roland Cube 60 emerged as a winner. Fender's Super Champs are fine, especially if the original speaker has been replaced. Today, I'd try a Jensen Tornado 10" in them. The Quilter amps exude quality and reliability, with the 101R and the new Interblock 45 high on the list, thanks to their less than eccentric tone adjustments. Finally, DV Mark's contemporary offering of lightweight amps, cabs and combos should appeal to any jazz guitarist. My favorite remains the Micro 50, a great match to my TOOB ultra-light speakers.
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Ive seen your speakers! They look wonderful, but is there any way to buy them in the US? Originally Posted by Gitterbug
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I agree the Henriksens can sound boxy - I find Polytones or Mambos less boxy, despite having a similar cab design (small ported closed back). Never tried a Quilter, but the JMUL was the most versatile small amp I ever had. It didn't sound as good as a Poly or a Mambo for jazz, but sounded great for pop rock stuff. Really great. But I agree, reliability can be an issue... I modded a few things on mine, the schematich is available, which is a good thing - but some parts, like SMDs or the class d power amp module, are almost impossible to replace.
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The amps I have heard include the DV Mark Little Jazz, Fender Jazz Master Ultralight and the AER Compact 60.
They all sound fine. Of these, I just bought the Little Jazz and I like it.
A player whose opinion I respect loves the Bud. But, it's much more money than the LJ.
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Just a note, I assume you are referring to the small Quilter heads(?), and not the MicroPro or Aviators. The MicroPro controls are very standard and predictable to use. Conversely, the DV Mark 250 head I tried has crazy controls, where you change one control, and it will change how another control works. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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Quilter 101R (with a suitable speaker) is very flexible amp. I put it in a small diy enclosure with a WGS G10C/S speaker and it makes every guitar sound good.
I had a DV Mark Micro 50 head for awhile. It did not sound bad but it was a bit weird to dial: when I got everything right and increased/decreased the mids, the volume was all over the map and I had to start tweaking again.
The ”reverb” of the DV was the deal breaker for me. When You hit the strings dampened You don’t hear reverbed hit but a series of sharp robust delayed hits. After that experience I couldn’t use it. Comparing it to Quilter 101 Reverb’s reverb is like night and day – I don’t say it is as good as Fender tube unit but it IS a reverb, not a digital delay.
And last: after playing less than hour with the DV I experienced something that people call the ’ear fatigue’. I know that it is very personal thing and depends on many variables, mostly the speaker. It was the same WGS cab as with the Quilter, which has not gave me ear fatigue ever. It feels very dynamic and has very open headroom.
These are experiences in home, never ended to a gig with the DV.
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Originally Posted by Herbie
Awesome! I’m definitely leaning towards he 101R and think I will pull the trigger in the coming week. Can you recommend a good speaker for it for someone who isn’t so savvy with DIYing gear?
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There is so many cab makers today. But if I were looking for a cab for Quilter I would check their own offering, the Block Dock system. I have not played it (the Quilter is very rare here in northern Europe) but they have designed it for the 101 system and it ain’t too pricey. Originally Posted by whitebeltzen
BLOCKDOCK 10TC | Quilter Performance Amplification
And the TOOB would be ideal for extra lightweight system. Sounds good too!
TOOB
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This was meant for whitebelzen, but many messages piled up in between. Sorry for the late reply, just spotted your message. There's a dozen TOOBs in the U.S. already, six on the NY jazz scene alone. We sell direct through our website TOOB. The Finnish retailer Custom Sounds (Custom Sounds - Kitaristin karkkikauppa) also does international web commerce. The tax-free prices to the US are quite attractive. A TOOB 12R - our most popular model, also among jazz guitarists - will be on display at the upcoming NAMM on the SICA/Jensen booth, with noted NY guitarist Joe Berger demonstrating it. While our cost structure does not allow for a multiple-tier trading structure, a US retailer with with web trading capabilities would be welcome. The NAMM exposure may well result in such a relationship.
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