Cheap jazz amplifier

[rosario]

Hi, I recently bought a semi-acoustic guitar, I play using a sound card, I would like to buy a cheap jazz amplifier, taking into account that I paid 300 euros for the guitar I bought new, what do you recommend? thank you all

[dconeill]

What's "cheap" mean to you? Does it matter how it sounds? If you play using a sound card (I think you might mean that you have an interface that you use to plug into your computer and play through that? If that's not what you mean, please clarify.) why do you need a "cheap jazz" amp? Buying cheap, unsatisfactory gear can just be a path to abandoning the effort - is that what you have in mind?

Anyway, working under the severe lack of information, probably the best low-cost more-or-less generic answer to your request is the Boss Katana 50, 50 watts, 1x12" speaker, US$230. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr-mTHlFlUE


An alternative might be the Positive Grid Spark, 40 watts, about US$270. See

[pingu]

fender champion 20 or 40
nice clean fender sound , fx ,
and very cheap

[Jimmy blue note]

You CAN even get the luxury of tubes (or solid state) at very amazingly low prices from Monoprice.

Just a moment...

[EvansDrD]

DV Mark Jazz/Little Jazz

[frabarmus]

I have both: a Fender Champion 40 and a DV Mark Little Jazz and they're both very nice. The Champion 40 also has modelled amps and effects whereas the DV Mark LJ is very basic but for a clean jazz-tone I like it better... I've managed to get a sound on it that's amazingly close to that of my 100W Yamaha/Soldano T100C tube amp!

[frabarmus]

P.S. there's also a new Vox out, the Clubman 60, I think it's called, made with jazz-guitar in mind. I have not tried one but I've heard good reports about it here on the forum.

VOX Clubman 60 | Strumenti Musicali .net

[Gladders]

The Katana 50 is certainly cheap, but with some fiddling around you can get some very usable tones. It replaced a Fender Champion 30 in my house and is, to my ears, a big improvement

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[rosario]

thank you all for the interesting answers. I'm not very young and I approached the guitar as a hobby, you will have understood that I know little about this world. If I have difficulty I will still take advantage of your kindness, please excuse my ignorance on the matter.
The sound card is a presenus, I installed the software version 6 on the PC, but the standard amplifier in the free version doesn't allow me much. I bought a pair of monitor speakers also from Presonus, 90 euros to try to have a better sound, given that I had connected PC speakers. Thank you all.

[starjasmine]

Try to find some local brick-and-mortar stores that sell used gear. Your money goes twice as far when you buy used, plus you get to try out lots of different amps and maybe even make some new friends :-)

[rosario]

given that my budget for music is low, sound card 100 euros, free software, speakers 90 euros, semi-acoustic guitar 300 euros, buying a good product used is definitely worth more than what I have spent so far to have fun. I think I'll opt for the Fender amplifier which is in line with how much I spent. I would be tempted to get the vox, but being a tube fan reading they say they are delicate.

[bloos66]

Hi Rosario,

out of curiosity, when you say you have an Presonus audio card, do you really mean an old fashioned audio card that sits inside the PC, or do you mean to say that you have Presonus USB audio interface, something like the AudioBox?

If you happen to have a USB audio interface and monitor speakers, you shouldn't need anything else to get a great guitar sound other than perhaps some guitar plugins/software and a DAW (the DAW should have come with the interface anyway). It's initially a bit of steep learning curve. There are free VSTs out there that have great sounds - if you are interested, let me know and I can give you more info.

<edit> My favourite guitar modeller for Windows is S-Gear - https://www.scuffhamamps.com/product/s-gear ... you can download a 10 day trial to see how you like it. One of the best guitar sounds and easy to use. If you get it to work with the audio interface and monitor speakers, you won't need an amplifier. <end>


In regards to amplifiers, I would recommend a used Roland Cube (or CubeX) 10/20/30, they are no longer made. I've had my CubeX 30 for 20 years and still use it daily, it has a few amp models and effects, one of the default amp is a Roland Jazz Chorus type sound, perfect for Jazz with some reverb.... They should be relatively cheap used...

All the best..

[rosario]

I bought an ittwo audiobox when I bought an EKO one acoustic guitar, today I received the speakers
PreSonus Eris 3.5 Gen 2
the software is Presonus 6 and I'm trying to tinker around to optimize the sound of the guitar.
I play at an amateur level, very amateur, half an hour a day, I have read some of your posts, you are expert musicians, this is why I ask you for advice, thank you always

[chris32895]

I previously had a Quilter 101R that I liked for some time but sold off to fund some other gear. This left me with no amp for a bit and when I just wanted something cheap to get the job done I took a chance on the Fender Champ 20 which cost me $120 new. For this level of amplifier you can't go wrong in fact I like this better than my Quilter when it comes to straight ahead practice

[rosario]

Interesting ...
I wanted to ask you about some problems I'm having when playing semi-acoustic, which I repeat is cheap.


0) Can the Fender Champ 20 be connected to my Itwo Presonus Audiobox sound card to record?
1) The D string sounds bad on the first frets (1,2,3), beyond these the guitar responds quite well. If I take an E minor chord, it sounds bad. I have to play halfway through the neck to avoid hearing the annoying sound.
2) when I play I hear the noise of the strings I have to raise the volume to cover it, I play with my thumb, I don't use the plectrum.


thank you for the technical support you are giving me?

[Little Jay]

P.S. there's also a new Vox out, the Clubman 60, I think it's called, made with jazz-guitar in mind. I have not tried one but I've heard good reports about it here on the forum.

VOX Clubman 60 | Strumenti Musicali .net

This looks very interesting!

[bloos66]

Hi Rosario,

here is a YT video to help you with the guitar setup into the Presonus audio interface using the Studio One 6 software -

... you should be able to get a pretty good guitar sound through the monitors...

<< 0) Can the Fender Champ 20 be connected to my Itwo Presonus Audiobox sound card to record? >>
You are not really meant to do this, just connect the guitar to the Audiobox and record on the computer, see video link above.
The amplifier does have a headphone out so you could potentially use that to connect back into Audiobox but I wouldn't recommend it.
The other way to record the amplifier direct is via a microphone in front of the amp then into the Audiobox - best look at some YouTube videos if you are interested.

<< 2) when I play I hear the noise of the strings I have to raise the volume to cover it, I play with my thumb, I don't use the plectrum. >>
I suggest that this is because of the nature of the semi-acoustic guitar which can fairly loud (close up) and also somewhat trebly. Not much you can do about this, you'll get used to it, perhaps adjust your picking technique and turn up your speaker volume. More of a problem for quiet home use, not so much an issue when you play loud or in a group.

<< 1) The D string sounds bad on the first frets (1,2,3), beyond these the guitar responds quite well. If I take an E minor chord, it sounds bad. I have to play halfway through the neck to avoid hearing the annoying sound. >>
Sorry, can't help much - other than to say that your guitar may need a proper setup. Cheap guitars are generally not set up very well out of the factory/shop, so you may want to have it looked at and a few things adjusted.

Cheers...

[rosario]

thanks for the comprehensive answer

[StefanoGhirardo]

Welcome Rosario!
Regarding using the Champion 20 to record directly into the sound card: it is not designed for that and you definitely get more quality by going directly into the sound card. I have a Champion 20 and have tried both options.
Regarding the Vox Clubman 60: it offers an output specifically designed for use with the sound card. I can't help you with the sound quality obtained in this way because I don't have this amplifier. However, in this community there are people who have the amplifier and can say what they think about it.
Regarding the delicacy of the Vox valves instead: I don't have the knowledge to help you, but I seem to have understood that they are not real valves, but rather electronic components that mimic their behavior. According to the manufacturer, it is maintenance-free and durable. Even on this, there are certainly people in this community who can say much more.

[rosario]

grazie lo terrò presente

[pingu]

out of interest I believe the
Vox uses one of these in the preamp design
KORG Nutube | A new vacuum tube which puts vacuum fluorescent display technology to practical use

I don’t have any experience
playing through one

[gggguitar]

For an affordable amp, keep an eye out for a used Peavey Backstage.

I see them around from time to time for super cheap. I think a Guitar Center had one for $60 the last time I was there. Should have bought it even though I already have two of them (one is for parts).

It's a great sounding, nearly indestructible little solid state amp.

[rosario]

Interesting Peavey Backstage around 120 euros, accessible.


Requests


1 Can it be set up to play jazz?
Can 2 be connected directly to the sound card?


I'm as tone deaf as a bell. When I sing I don't realize it, then if I listen to myself I understand how terrible my voice is.
Recording when I play helps me to hear this after a while and understand how bad I play and where I can improve.

[bloos66]

1 Can it be set up to play jazz?
Can 2 be connected directly to the sound card?

1 - it's just an amp, as long as it has enough headroom to produce a decent clean sound, it'll be ok. If it's a 'jazz' sound will be up to your ears and your idea of such sound, your guitar and the amp. Personally I would not get that amp, it's very very basic and - without playing and hearing it first - it may not be what you want. If you consider getting an amp, get one with a few more options, at least reverb and perhaps a couple of different amplifier types.

Have a look at this list - Solid-State Guitar Combos – Thomann United States lots of good amps out there. As mentioned before, I have a Roland Cube 30X and it's great for home use, it's got Clean/Jazz/Crunch/High-Gain/Acoustic sounds and a few effects. I really like it for Jazz on the clean and blues on the Tweed channel. The Roland Cube 10X will be similar, a bit smaller though.

2 - as mentioned before, this is not recommended. You can try to connect a cable from the amplifier headphone out to the Presonus input, then use the DAW (Studio One) to set it up in such a way that it records without overloading the input.

Something else, and apologies for being pedantic - the PreSonus® AudioBox iTwo is technically NOT a sound card, it's a Bus-powered USB 2.0/iPad audio interface - or USB audio interface for short. It can be used as a soundcard but its main purpose is to record from instruments and/or microphones.
Also, you already have a great system to record your guitar. The AudioBox interface is fine and the StudioOne DAW gives you quite a few guitar amplifier and effect options to get a decent sound, plus you have monitor speakers. Make sure you select the ASIO drivers for the interface and you should have absolutely no problem to record your guitar. Sure, there is a bit of a learning curve involved with setting up Windows/Mac, the drivers, etc - the manual is pretty good, I just had a look at it. Give it a try.....

Another amp I used to have and quite liked is the Yamaha THR10II - Yamaha THR10II – Thomann United States this amp, and there are others like it, can be used as a recording interface as well as stand-alone amp. It comes with Cubase so you can go straight into your computer via USB and record it, plus monitor/hear what you are playing. You might find one 2nd hand.

<EDIT> feel free to send me a private message if you need help with Presonus recording setup, it'd be somewhat unfortunate if you weren't to able to take full advantage of the money you have already spent...

[rosario]

Thank you always for the time you dedicate to me