The Best Tube Amp For JAZZ Guitar

[Toddep]

For me, a tube amp with some good headroom is nice... fender twin, or even Fender deluxe is nice if the tubes are in good condition.I usually play A Mesa/boogie lone star, and have good results but I also have a cheap Roland jazz chorus 90 for the go because it's lightweight. I like tubes for its unique color on the sound,slight compression and subtle distortion it has, (or I think it has).....I have a two channel tube preamp for my turntable that I love. I just wish tubes were made with the same quality as back in the day...


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[Thumpalumpacus]

I'd pack my own amp, too -- always have, and if I return to gigging, always will. I'll do the choosing.

Gear is not all the sound -- I carry a bit of that in my fingers, guitar choices, etc -- but the amplifier is the voice-box in my musical body. And yes, rock days long past, I'd rather bring a smaller amp and rely on micing, but, it will by my amp, the one I know inside-out.

[johnzias]

I have a Vintage Sound V20, which sounds fantastic with my archtops. Totally Fender Blackface in circuit, and hand built by Rick Hayes in Florida. 2 6V6's produce 20 watts into a WGS 12. It gets those beautiful Wes Montgomery lows, and is slightly bigger than a Princeton.

I actually use a Quilter Aviator head for most of my Rock oriented gigs now. It sounds good with an archtop, but when paired with a Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box tube buffer it has a great sound with my Strats. The Two Rock I used for 10 years has been sold.

There are so many great choices these days that both mediums can produce any variety of great Jazz tones.

[gggomez]

Love the modern sound of Blackface amps, I think with clean boosts (have been using Xotic RC with my Princeton and 175, gives such clarity) but the tone of these guys is well, music to my ears:

[Encinitastubes]

I've been playing smaller amps, but recently traded into a Twin Reverb from the '60s. I had forgotten what I'd been missing. The notes on my 175 really bounce. To me, there's no comparison. Dang!

[Greentone]

Encinitastubes,

Yeah, the Twin Reverb does sound better.

[Tcaron20]

Another Carr user here. I use a Rambler with a WGS G12c/s speaker and tubes that give it a darker tone. I also have a Polytone Mini Brute but the Rambler is richer and more expressive. Stock, the amp is a bit on the treble side for Jazz and voiced for rock, etc. with the minor changes it is amazing and go for about $1600 used.

another option is the new Boss Katana 100. Although SS it closely emulates a lot of amps but it is not a modeling amp. For $329.00 new it is worth a try. Pretty close to tube sound.

tom

[ThatRhythmMan]

I recently got what has become my favorite amp of all. I had Michael Clark build me a 2x12 version of a 59 Tweed bassman circuit. It has the smoothest most beautiful tone. It can make any guitar sound better. It's an instrument unto itself.

I can't recommend Michael highly enough. He's great not just great at building Fender and Marshall clones, he's great at custom work and repairs too, always top notch.

He also rebuilt my 5c3 Deluxe and modded it to take 12ax7 preamp tubes. That amp is also great with the right guitars, but very unforgiving to a subpar sounding guitar. It will expose weaknesses without hesitation.

[West LA Jazz]

Another Carr user here. I use a Rambler with a WGS G12c/s speaker and tubes that give it a darker tone. I also have a Polytone Mini Brute but the Rambler is richer and more expressive. Stock, the amp is a bit on the treble side for Jazz and voiced for rock, etc. with the minor changes it is amazing and go for about $1600 used.

another option is the new Boss Katana 100. Although SS it closely emulates a lot of amps but it is not a modeling amp. For $329.00 new it is worth a try. Pretty close to tube sound.

tom

Never heard of the Katana till now. Thanks for the tip! I've been a Boss user for eons.

[Greentone]

Clark amps are quite good. He does very nice 50s-Fender-based amps with great care.

The 5f6 Bassman amp circuit is hard to go wrong with. Ask Marshall, et al. I have built this amp several times. Using a different output transformer and loading the amp into a cabinet with two 12" speakers produces a great amplifier.

The 5e3 amp, of course, is a superb amp for playing jazz or blues.

You will _never_ go wrong with a good tweed amp for playing electric guitar.

[Burrellesque]

I use a 5E3 clone with a 12" speaker in a Tweed Super cabinet and a 6G2 clone with a 15" speaker. Both sound great with either a Tele or archtop for jazz.

[Herbie]

(...) You will _never_ go wrong with a good tweed amp for playing electric guitar.

I have played jazz & rock with my 5e3 clone with great enjoyment. Only thing I regret is that I didn't choose this route already 30 years earlier!

I have toyed with an idea of making a tweed amp myself. A tweed super or a tweed pro – but with a DIY 1x12" speaker cabinet.

Would an amp kit (propably TAD cause I live in Europe) be a best option? Or are they overpriced with lower quality parts? Or is f ex 5e5 too big bite for a beginner? (I know how solder, but never build anything bigger.)

Tweed Pro 5E5A Style Amp-Kit - AMP-Kits TWEED Tubeampdoctor Store

[wengr]

I have a Vintage Sound V20, which sounds fantastic with my archtops. Totally Fender Blackface in circuit, and hand built by Rick Hayes in Florida. 2 6V6's produce 20 watts into a WGS 12. It gets those beautiful Wes Montgomery lows, and is slightly bigger than a Princeton.

I have a VS 20 as well. While it loves my tele, I think I would be happier with the archtops if it had more headroom. So I got a vs 40. Now the headroom is there, but the tone is different imo from the 20 with archtops, and less to my liking.

[sgosnell]

I have a Fender Vibrolux Reverb that I bought many years ago, and it mostly lives in the closet. The last time I had it worked on the tech, who only touches tube amps, raved about how good it sounds. But it's more trouble than it's worth to fire it up, and it's so heavy that I no longer even consider carrying it to another room, much less outside. I just won't put up with the hassle, especially when my Little Jazz sounds just about as good, and weighs the same as my guitar in the case, giving me a balanced load, and when I turn it on at home it's ready to go immediately. Everyone has different tastes and preferences, and they're all valid for them. For me, I really should sell the Fender because I just don't use it.

[Greentone]

If you sell it, it will go to someone who will much appreciate having a hand-wired Fender amp. The Vibrolux Reverb is one of the best sounding and most practical gigging Fender amps of all time.

[hans halmackenreuter]

I have played jazz & rock with my 5e3 clone with great enjoyment. Only thing I regret is that I didn't choose this route already 30 years earlier!

I have toyed with an idea of making a tweed amp myself. A tweed super or a tweed pro – but with a DIY 1x12" speaker cabinet.

Would an amp kit (propably TAD cause I live in Europe) be a best option? Or are they overpriced with lower quality parts? Or is f ex 5e5 too big bite for a beginner? (I know how solder, but never build anything bigger.)

Tweed Pro 5E5A Style Amp-Kit - AMP-Kits TWEED Tubeampdoctor Store

A tweed super or a tweed pro is an excellent idea but I wouldn't go with a 1x12" cab. In my opinion the super speaker configuration is hard to beat. I always wonder why so few people play 2x10 cabs.

The other aspect is the pine cabinet which plays a big part for the sound of tweed amps, that is why I would consider similar materials.

My 5e3 is a Tad kit and in general they aren't bad but the transformers are Chinese made and you would want to upgrade at least with Hammond transformers. They are better designed than the Chinese transformers. Than You might want isolated jacks and little upgrades like this.

[Herbie]

A tweed super or a tweed pro is an excellent idea but I wouldn't go with a 1x12" cab. In my opinion the super speaker configuration is hard to beat. I always wonder why so few people play 2x10 cabs.

The other aspect is the pine cabinet which plays a big part for the sound of tweed amps, that is why I would consider similar materials.

My 5e3 is a Tad kit and in general they aren't bad but the transformers are Chinese made and you would want to upgrade at least with Hammond transformers. They are better designed than the Chinese transformers. Than You might want isolated jacks and little upgrades like this.

Thanks for the insight Hans!

In fact the 1x12 idea came from a pine 1x12 DIY cabinet I have around. And thought that 'if every classic amp sounds good with a good 1x12 why would not the 5e5 too'!

But thell me: "isolated jacks" – why? I guess not for the sound, so is it for the security?

[hans halmackenreuter]

Thanks for the insight Hans!

In fact the 1x12 idea came from a pine 1x12 DIY cabinet I have around. And thought that 'if every classic amp sounds good with a good 1x12 why would not the 5e5 too'!

But thell me: "isolated jacks" – why? I guess not for the sound, so is it for the security?

Well if you already have the cab than I wouldn't bother either with something else. Besides I don't think 1x12 are a bad choice but often in band contexts 2x10 cabs sound much better in the mix and players mostly judge the their sound by playing solo and therefore conclude that a 1x12 has a fuller sound.

Anyway - isolated jacks are just a precaution to make sure everything is done to make the amp as quit as possible. Has nothing to do with the sound.

[Dennis D]

"Have you ever used or heard a SS amp that came at all close to mimicing the tone of and old Ampeg?"

Not exactly. In terms of function, the employment of baxandall tone controls, etc., I would suggest that some of the Polytone amps are in that ballpark. However, the closed enclosure speaker cabinet configuration of the Polytones is different and different sounding than the infinite baffle and ported enclosures of the Ampegs. Also, the Polytone amps--which I love and have used for going on 40 years--have reverb sections that are weaksauce compared to Ampeg amps.

Still, when I think of an amp to replace an Ampeg SB-12, the MiniBrute I comes immediately to mind. The MiniBrute IV is a reasonable replacement for the old G-15 Gemini II. (I am speaking principally about the diamond Tolex series of Polytones.)

So, is there a * new * SS amp that gets close ? Somewhere in the $200 - $300. +/- price range ? Just w/ that similar tone stack w/ reverb ? Almost always living room / practice volume

Appreciate the info.

Thx.

[Greentone]

Not sure. The old Orange amps had Baxandall tone stacks, but I don't know if the small solid-state Orange amps do.

Here's the deal: most guitar amps are built and marketed for rockers. They are most familiar with Fender/Marshall tone knobs and find Baxandall tone knobs baffling. If I were building for $bucks$, I don't think I'd be making a jazz amp, i.e., clean, high-fi range, Baxandall tone stack, etc. The rockers would plug in and think, "ugh!."

[Cavalier]

I haven't heard a SS that sounded like one of the old Ampegs. Greentone is also right about the quality of reverb but that also applies to the tremelo circuit, very musical. I'd just save up. I've seen very nice Geminis go in the $600 range and rough ones for a lot less. The good news is they are well supported for parts and tubes.

[Greentone]

The Gemini (I or II, or even VI) is an excellent amplifier.

[Dennis D]

And you're right - the Ampeg spring reverb was / is ' end of story '.

What a concept for tuning & setting: ' On is on, 1/3 is 1/3, 1/2 is 1/2, full is full, for each treble, mid & bass tone '. .....


Sigh.......