The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I restarted playing guitar recently. I bought a hollowbody (ibanez ak95 with Gibson '57 PU's) because of the sound and shape.
    In the past i owned lots of amps. I think i liked my Rivera R55 best. Great amp.
    But not for home-use ofcourse. And the budget changed. I'm not going to spent over a €1.000 on an amp.

    Right now i temporary use an Orange Crush 20. It does the job, but is in no way an amp that sounds good (although i was pleasantly surprised how it sounded considering it costs €125 new!). I know what my guitar sounds like on a good amp and i want a bit (more) of that in the future.

    My list of 'demands':
    - not to big and certainly not to heavy.
    - low wattage. or at least a good sound on lower volumes
    - i don't need a screaming overdrive but it's allways fun to have one.
    - i don't mind mids
    - not to many knobs. Although i understand the concept of modeling, i just need the one good sound.
    - budget €200 to €300, used is no problem.


    So far, my shortlist is very short:
    - Roland Bluescube Hot (because i remember bluescubes sound good and it has that neat option to choose wattage!)
    - Laney cub (super) 10

    Any other suggestions?
    Last edited by Marcel_A; 06-24-2020 at 06:29 AM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Other amps that fit your criteria and you might wish to consider:
    - Boss Katana 50
    - Yamaha THR10

  4. #3

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    I found that even a low-wattage tube amp - think Princeton etc. - only sounds best a little above 'room-temperature ' whereas a Polytone or my Henriksen BUD gives me a round and satisfyingly warm sound at almost a whisper.
    But still, any speaker has to move some air in order to produce sound so there is a threshold under which it doesn't really work. Another aspect to consider is the type of guitar you're using : a solidbody guitar has almost no acoustic volume so we easily hear it's electric sound coming from the speaker at a very low
    level whereas an archtop is usually much louder (being an acoustic guitar to begin with) so the desired electric tone will have to be louder still in order to 'surpass' the initial acoustic volume of the instrument.
    The choices are many today and if I were looking for a small-footprint amp for practice at home I'd go for a used Bud (or one of the other Henriksen amps, which are often even cheaper than the Bud), Polytone Baby Brute/Teeny Brute, ZT Lunchbox, along those lines.

  5. #4

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    Fender Champion 40 1x12
    Fender Champion 50XL 1x12
    Last edited by cosmic gumbo; 06-14-2020 at 08:03 AM.

  6. #5

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    A used DV Mark Little Jazz?

  7. #6

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    Yes, I really like my Little Jazz. Sounds good at bedroom levels, or at full volume, and anywhere in between. No overdrive, though.

  8. #7

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    +1 for DVMLJ or THR10. The LJ doesn’t have any overdrive but will take pedals nicely. The Yamaha is just a great practice amp and even works for low volume jams. Plus it’s really portable (as is the LJ). And Yamaha has crunch and overdrive on tap - modeled rather than actual tubes, but really fine models.

  9. #8

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    The little jazz is an option. I looked at some reviews and prices second hand. Seems like a straighforward amp for little money.
    An OD-pedal is an option. Preferably on the amp, but if the little jazz sounds really great i could live with that.

    Nobody is mentioning the fender blues junior or the pro junior? How do they hold up on the fenderish clean department?

  10. #9

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    Blues Jr is a great low wattage tube amp. Won’t do screamin’ high gain without a pedal. Great crunch tone. My son has one. Not sure about getting a clean jazz tone out of it but I’m sure others here can comment (and probably already have).

    For example here.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marcel_A
    Nobody is mentioning the fender blues junior or the pro junior? How do they hold up on the fenderish clean department?
    I have one of those as well as the two I mentioned before, ruled it out due to the “certainly not too heavy” requirement :-)
    It can easily produce a good clean jazz tone (at least with a humbucker equipped hollow-body), in fact, I keep mine in the practice space where I get together with a few friends to play jazz standards each week.

  12. #11

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    I don't think that is too heavy. Although 14 kg's is not light. I don't intend to move it around that much, so maybe that requirement is not that important.

  13. #12

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    Award-Session BluesBaby 22 review | Guitar.com | All Things Guitar





    I put a Jensen NEO 12-100 speaker in mine and made a pine cab. It weights just under 8.5 kg!
    Last edited by Little Jay; 06-13-2020 at 01:04 PM.

  14. #13

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    i played over a sessionette 75 a few times . I remember them being loud. And crunchy.

    this 22 seems like a really nice amp. I'm not sure they are on the market in Holland though.

  15. #14

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    The Octal tube Harmony 8418 is fantastic for low volumes - octal preamp tube gives it an interesting clean sound and a bit of drive when cranked up, all hand wired, plus the Jensen speaker in there sounds great

    it is really quiet and nice sounding, I’m not sure what exactly it is about it, but I can crank it up and not bother my wife in The next room

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marcel_A
    i played over a sessionette 75 a few times . I remember them being loud. And crunchy.

    this 22 seems like a really nice amp. I'm not sure they are on the market in Holland though.
    You can order them directly from Award Session! The cost are very reasonable (now that the Brexit is not yet a fact).

    Award-Session website, BluesBaby 22, BluesBaby 45, Guitar Amp, Session
    Last edited by Little Jay; 06-13-2020 at 05:28 PM.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by tfling
    The Octal tube Harmony 8418 is fantastic for low volumes - octal preamp tube gives it an interesting clean sound and a bit of drive when cranked up, all hand wired, plus the Jensen speaker in there sounds great

    it is really quiet and nice sounding, I’m not sure what exactly it is about it, but I can crank it up and not bother my wife in The next room
    Agreed... it's like that was it's specific design parameters.

  18. #17

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    Egnater Tweaker 15. Great Fendery cleans, very versatile (though only one channel) and though they sound best past 1 o'clock on the volume (which at 15w is damned loud), they get really good tones -- especially cleans -- below that threshold too. No reverb either, so that could factor into your decision.

  19. #18

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    I use either my Fender Vibro Champ, or my new favorite:

  20. #19

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    Oke, that's an interesting amp. Any experience with the tsa 15 perhaps?

  21. #20

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    Looks like the DV Mark Little Jazz sometimes sells new within your budget.

    Great amp. Sounds good to me at low volumes and I've played big band gigs with it.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
    Looks like the DV Mark Little Jazz sometimes sells new within your budget.

    Great amp. Sounds good to me at low volumes and I've played big band gigs with it.
    probably prefer the 12 inch one.

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    I use either my Fender Vibro Champ, or my new favorite:

    citizenk74, Ya better call Saul.............................................. .............................. Cool Citizen

  24. #23

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    Cheapest Route or Most Expensive?

    Boss Cube or Katana is unbelievable in price and options.
    Quilter Aviator amps especially 1x8" combo fantastic cleans!

    Tube Wise: Fender Princeton or Blues Jr
    Older Gibson GA series from the 1950's my favorite!


    Tons of Boutique offerings from Carr, Bartell, Dr Z, Hand Wired Fender C S, etc....

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marcel_A
    probably prefer the 12 inch one.
    I haven't played thru a 12". I heard an online comparison somewhere. It sounds a little fuller than the 8".

    That said, the 8" sounds great for all the things I do: practice, recording, quartet, octet and big band. The big band is a stretch, but nobody is mic'ed in that band. I play mostly as a kind of shadow behind the piano, although some tunes require more, and the amp handles it. Solos cut thru fine.

    15 lbs, 10 inch or so, cube. Usually sells for $350 to $399 and I've seen it on sale for $299.

    Negatives, if you can call them that: Doesn't come with a case. Can't back it up to a wall, because there's a rear port. I wouldn't mind if I could turn the bass down even further than zero (odd, considering the small speaker). Can't use the reverb too wet' although my son likes it turned up high, I don't.

    Positives: Sounds great. Seems to have a wide dispersal pattern, maybe because of the rear port. Weight. Size. Price. Seems well made. I've dropped it badly twice and it is still fine. You can buy a cuica case that fits it perfectly for about $70 -- I haven't bothered. I carry it in a canvas shopping style bag.

  26. #25

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    Yamaha THR all the way.