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For the first year of owning my Little Jazz, I would set the B M T tone controls at 9, 12 and 12 O'clock approximately. I primarily used an Eastman AR503CE with a Benedetto A6 pickup.
After a friend encouraged me to try her Blackface Fender Deluxe reverb, I found myself thinking about that Fender EQ curve.
As an experiment, I set the Little Jazz B M T tone controls at 12, 6 and 12. (Middle at it's lowest setting). I was actually surprised at how well this worked with what I viewed as an extreme setting. Using an Eastman AR503CE with a SD Seth Lover, I found I the response to be reasonably balanced across all strings. (Reducing the M control seemed to have primarily reduced the warmth.) I used the amp like that at an outdoor event last night and received unsolicited good comments about the sound from friends used to hearing me.
I am now feeling there is a lot of exploration one can do with that amp even though the controls maybe simple compared to a lot of current guitar amp offerings.
I would be interested in hearing how other people use a Little Jazz. Tone settings and guitars used.
Anyone use one with tone shaping before the amp? Not sure if it would work well with a Joyo American Sound, or even how one would set LJ amp tone controls for use with a pedal like that. Not sure I want to go there. Somehow seems to reduce the benefit of a light grab and go amplifier.
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I have 7 good archtops [2 Eastmans 1 a503ce ] They all sound good with eq at 12 2 and 12. Starting there I might cut the bass slightly.to avoid some boominess. This is one of the early Little Jazz with the so called noisy fan. micmac
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With the amp on the floor at home, I set bass at 9 o'clock, mid and high at 12 for my Eastman 810 CE7 with plain E & A, 4 Chromes, and an 0.074 round wound 7th. I cut the highs back to 9 for my Ibanez AF207 with TI flats and an 0.080 7th. For solid bodies (all of which have 'buckers), I leave it as set for the Eastman for flats and the Ibanez with round wounds. I just got my first sets of Stringjoy 10-52 nickels, so I'm still experimenting with them on my Raines Tele 7 with a Pearse .070 in the 7th slot. So far, they're giving me a remarkably woody and arch-y sound, so I'm using the 9-12-9 settings. The little amp is remarkably sensitive to the tone pots on my guitars, and I'm able to get a variety of nice sounds from almost full left to full right with these amp settings.
I use John Pearse round wound 7th strings from 0.070 to 0.080, depending on the guitar (I don't want to cut all my nut slots for huge strings). The sound of the 7th string thru the Little Jazz is pretty consistent from 70 to 80, so I may go back to 70s on all my guitars except the Ibanez when I go through the few larger strings I have left. The laminated top AF207 sounds a lot better with heavier strings on it for rhythm work and without an amp.
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I use it with the bass almost all the way down or, sometimes, all the way down. Mids at noon and treble about 11 (just a little rolled off).
Flat on the floor. Back of the amp not near a wall. Both of these positioning issues make an audble difference.
Guitar is usually a Comins GCS-1. The clips I've posted on the improv forum are mostly done that way.
I'm happy with the lead tone I get that way. I'm not entirely happy with the tone on chords, but I have a feeling the problem isn't the amp or EQ settings.
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I like mids, so I generally set the bass to about 11, mids to ~12:30, and treble to ~11:30, give or take, depending on the location and my taste at the moment, it's always near those settings. I like it tilted back and between 6 and 12 inches from a wall. Different guitars can need slightly different settings, but I seldom vary them by much. The tone controls are very effective, and a little bit of change can make a lot of difference in the sound. I don't care much for the Fender scooped tone, but that's personal preference. I have a Fender Vibrolux Reverb, which I don't use much, but when I do I set the bass and treble almost off, sometimes the treble as high as 3 (where 1 is completely off), seldom putting the bass much above off. That's flat on a Fender, and I tend to start with any amp near flat settings, then adjust if necessary. If you ask 10 people, you'll probably get 10 different settings for any amp, and they're all valid for those people. Whatever you like is fine.
I think the Little Jazz prefers a hotter input, and it takes pedals very well. I've used both the Joyo American Sound and Junior Barnyard pedals with it, and they work fine, but I find that I really prefer just the sound of the amp without any shaping. If you want Fender sound, the Joyo will get you close enough, I think. I do use a reverb pedal set very low sometimes, which I like a little better than the onboard reverb, but if I take the amp out I don't bother with the pedal, because the onboard is good enough at the levels I use, especially with other instruments playing.
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Oops, forgot to mention the guitar I use with those settings is a Gibson 175.
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Hi all, first post here -
Figured I might jump in with a question relevant to the thread - Does anyone know the EQ frequencies of the DV Mark Little Jazz? I can't find this info anywhere.
FYI I actually use this amp with bass and it sounds great. Upright and electric. Had it for 8 years and haven't blown it up yet 
It's the perfect living room amp and something I can bring when I travel, or bring to "acoustic" jam sessions. Very versatile and I can defeat the internal speaker and use with a bigger cabinet if I want- it's good enough for rehearsals, or not-so-loud bands. I have gigged with it but not with a full band/drummer in a rock/r&b setting.
It sounds great in any situation I have put it in though. I even bring to all my practices and gigs for a certain band I'm in, for the guitar player to use, because we both agree it sounds better than his tiny amp and he likes to ride the bus anyway.
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I thought I knew how to use my LJ amp but I am feeling like after staying home hiding from air borne viruses for a lengthy time I need to review things again. I had not played in a bar for over a year. Went to an open mic these past 2 weeks where it's common for people to bring small combo amps. A week ago I brought an AR503CE guitar with the Seth Lover pickups and last night I brought a Benedetto Bravo with the A6 pickups. Felt like I was having trouble both nights getting predictable guitar response with consistent volume, attack, sustain. Not sure if it was me or the settings. It's a tough room with glass windows floor to ceiling along one long wall. For the most part I was playing chord melody pieces solo. I am starting to think maybe I should try a Henriksen Bud 6? In that room it seems like there is a fine line between feedback and people being able to hear me. All of my steel string guitars are hollow body. Wonder if a semi-hollow would have worked better. The recent experience was a strong reminder that playing in a bar is a lot different than playing unplugged at home. For a quite a few years I was playing with the same bass player. Perhaps playing solo I am hearing things I was not hearing before.
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It can be hard to tell how you sound to the audience, depending on where the amp is. If it's not directly behind you, it's harder to tell. The LJ is rear ported, so you get some sound if it's in front of you, but it's mostly bass. I find that the best sound for me is with the amp a foot or maybe a little less from a wall or something else that will reflect the sound, and I like the amp tilted. But that's not what everyone likes, tastes differ. A Bravo should sound pretty good with the LJ. I have a Bambino Deluxe, and it works pretty well with it. It's all subjective, though, so all I know to do is keep on trying different things, which can get expensive. A Bud 6 isn't the cheapest amp in the store, but it's not my money. A good semi isn't cheap either, but again it's not my money. TL;DR, I really can't say. I can say that my tastes change, and some days one amp or one guitar sounds great, and another day it's meh at best. This is in the same room, and different places absolutely sound different.
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I've been doing this with the LJ.
Some observations:
1. The LJ is loud enough for a restaurant/wine bar gig in a place with 25 or so tables. That's gbpd quartet, playing a dinner levels.
2. The LJ sounds best to me flat on the floor and pointing at me. Others like it tilted. I think we all agree that the tilt (or not) matters. The best sound I've been getting lately is in a huge room with the LJ behind me and to the right. Floor is tile. Walls are far away. I haven't liked it against a wall.
3. In one venue the bandstand is very tight and I end up with the LJ in front of me. I'm hoping it sounds better in the audience than it does to me. The EQ leans toward the bass frequencies that way. Sound vaguely reminds me of a cocked wah pedal, which is not a positive.
4, I usually play with bass all the way down, or close. Mids in the middle and treble slightly rolled off. I play a Comins GCS-1 which I think runs a little dark.
5. This weekend I'm going to put the LJ facing me and run an XLR cable to the pianist's elevated speaker. Keep the LJ volume low enough that I can hear it without, hopefully, distorting the sound in the audience towards too much bass. Or maybe turn off the LJ speaker entirely.
6. The Bud/Blu (referring here to the 6" speaker models) come highly recommended by people I trust, so I've thought about them also. In searching on-line comparisons I've found that prevailing opinion is that the LJ isn't as loud. In my experience, the LJ has been loud enough for smaller gigs and, oddly enough, big band rehearsals, but not quite loud enough for some outdoor gigs and noisy bars. My solution has been to bring a second amp. I've been thinking about a small powered speaker, driven from the LJ for those situations.
I think a majority prefer the sound of the Blu/Bud, but not everyone. The Blu/Bud have 5 band EQ, which may make a difference (I EQ from a pedalboard when needed).
The LJ is now about $400 and the Blu is about $1000; Bud about $1300.
Full disclosure: I've played through the Bud in a store, but nowhere else.
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4, I usually play with bass all the way down, or close. Mids in the middle and treble slightly rolled off. I play a Comins GCS-1 which I think runs a little dark.
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This prompted me to plays with the bass setting, at home. The AR503CE with SD Seth Lover pickups worked best for me with the amp bass setting all of the way down. The one with the Benedetto A6 pickups worked best for me with bass at 9 O'clock. I probably have not been spending enough time matching the amp settings to the guitar. Things have changed. When I started my journey I only had one guitar and one amp.
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