jdgm Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 (edited) They are building 350 of these only and they're all numbered...about $2k and probably more in GBP ££. I bought one in...1978? My 1st really good, powerful amp; it was totally clean, incredibly loud and treble-y. Seem to remember it worked as 2 x 60w amps with the stereo chorus...? I had a compressor pedal - no od - at the time, which paired really well with it....did many gigs, even let another member of a band I joined use it for keyboards as I was playing bass in that one. I remember it falling off the back of a stage one night and to my surprise it carried on working as normal! Eventually I put a closed back on it (with a vent, sounded even better IMO) and sold it in the mid 80s, replacing it with a Fender Twin II. Santa - I'd love another JC120 or the one with the 15" speaker. But (sshh) don't really have any room or need for another high-power guitar amp (still have 2 stored under the stairs). My Roland Micro-Cube has a fine 'JC ' simulation which brings back the memories. But one of these is the real deal. These things are loud! Edited December 8, 2022 by jdgm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 (edited) Who the F needs a 120 watt amp? You playing at Madison Square Garden? I had a 40 watt Fender Dlx that people could hear down the street when tuned up, and a 60 watt DeVille which was Motorhead loud. Anything past 3 was painful. Edited December 8, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted December 8, 2022 Author Share Posted December 8, 2022 (edited) That's the trouble innit? Amps of this power - seems to me they are louder 20-30 ft away so there's no way you need it in a typical small gig. But it's like a 5-litre V8 engine or something; you can do the job with far less but what a ride! Though I gig a red-knob Super 60, I've still got a late 70s silverface Dual Showman I fully intend to take out again. Even louder and treblier than a JC120 🎸 Effin' A Edited December 8, 2022 by jdgm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 (edited) I borrowed a 70's Fender Twin Reverb at 85 watts and man it had stupid headroom. With the silver legs that lean the amp back, so the punishing volume goes right into your face. Edited December 8, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 I just sold a pristine 1987 JC120 (made in USA). I think I got $600 for it. Nice amp, just thinning the herd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 Good luck with the Xmas JC120 jdgm I'd be happy enough with some strings (and just as likely to get them). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 Ah, yes. The mighty Roland. I've played alongside many in my day, but I never owned one. What younger, inexperienced players don't understand is back in the early/mid 70's BAR bands didn't have a mixer. I mean, they had a mixer at the Filmore, but most BAR bands were still using those old Shure column p.a.'s. So if you had a large bar seating 200 and up, or even into the 300's, you had a drummer to compete with, other guitars, bass, other noise. You VERY OFTEN needed a 100 watt amp. That's why they made them. When Hartley Peavey built those XR600 series p.a.'s with 6 channels and a graphic eq along with columns with 2;12's, 2;10's and 3 tweeters, man those were the schitt. There was one for every bar in Nashville at one time. He was also instrumental in putting inexpensive mixers, monitors, and cabs on many school and church stages. He built so much p.a. gear in the late 70's/early 80's that it disrupted the plywood business. In a few years it caught up, other companies jumped in, and he got greedy and moved all of his production to China firing the very employees who made him rich and famous. Another very famous Solid State from the 70's that still gets respect today are the Lab Series amps. I played with a guy who uses one exclusively just before I went acoustic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 14 hours ago, ghost_of_fl said: The difference is solid state vs. tube amp. A 15 watt tube amp will sound way louder than a 15 watt solid state amp. Right.. A Tube Amp of the same Wattage as a SS Amp is 2-3 times as loud.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdinaryNimda Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 The word "ICONIC" appear three times in this 1:47 long video. I assume, the Roland JC120 must be an iconic amp! 😎 Personally I know it only from Amplitube5, sounds really clean and spacey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted December 9, 2022 Author Share Posted December 9, 2022 (edited) On 12/9/2022 at 2:02 PM, Murph said: Ah, yes. The mighty Roland. I've played alongside many in my day, but I never owned one. What younger, inexperienced players don't understand is back in the early/mid 70's BAR bands didn't have a mixer. I mean, they had a mixer at the Filmore, but most BAR bands were still using those old Shure column p.a.'s. So if you had a large bar seating 200 and up, or even into the 300's, you had a drummer to compete with, other guitars, bass, other noise. You VERY OFTEN needed a 100 watt amp. That's why they made them. When Hartley Peavey built those XR600 series p.a.'s with 6 channels and a graphic eq along with columns with 2;12's, 2;10's and 3 tweeters, man those were the schitt. There was one for every bar in Nashville at one time. He was also instrumental in putting inexpensive mixers, monitors, and cabs on many school and church stages. He built so much p.a. gear in the late 70's/early 80's that it disrupted the plywood business. In a few years it caught up, other companies jumped in, and he got greedy and moved all of his production to China firing the very employees who made him rich and famous. Another very famous Solid State from the 70's that still gets respect today are the Lab Series amps. I played with a guy who uses one exclusively just before I went acoustic. Yes...that is how it was. And no monitors. My 1st band only existed because I bought a pair of s/h Peavey columns, a basic mixer amp with 6 channels or something - I don't remember the make of it, the whole lot was £200 - and some mic stands. Someone has to if you want a band. After the band broke up I purchased the other guitarists Peavey VT50 Classic 4 x 10 which was one of the best amps I ever had. Edited December 10, 2022 by jdgm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 Just added it as a special special request for you. Hopefully that'll work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 I was just listening to The Cure the other day thinking about what cool amps these are. I wonder how close it actually is to the originals. It’s so easy these days to just slap a class D power amp on everything. Chorus is probably at least Coolaudio but that’s not really a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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