Jazz Amp for Broadway?

[MichaelC]

Once upon a time, I was a professional player. A few decades back, I 'retired' in favor of more remunerative work. Sold off the gear and raised a family. Several months back, I decided to see if any chops would come back. While once I played all sorts of music, I find that nowadays I'm just thinking about jazz. Picked up a Broadway (great guitar if you string it heavy enough) and a Valve Junior. I quickly discovered that the VJ was not the right amp for anything other than a little bit of fill.

 

Since I last took guitar seriously, all of the brands have changed. Old brands have gone or found new owners. There are many new brands that I don't know. So my former expertise is pretty useless. I'm aware that there are some mighty pricey amps out there. Perhaps that day will come, but at the moment I'm thinking in the few hundreds of dollars.

 

So I wonder if any of you might know about moderately-priced amps that will stay clean and will enhance the nice woody tones of the Broadway. Many thanks for any comments.

[Jazzric]

"I quickly discovered that the VJ was not the right amp for anything other than a little bit of fill."

 

 

MichaelC ....I dont know how you got your VJ set-up but, I've got JJ tubes in mine...I put an EQ pedal and a touch of reverb in front when I use my Samick JZ-2 Jazzbox and she drips with honey tone....I hope it all works out for ya....

[InsideMan]

I've had a Roland Jazz Chorus 55 for a few years. It is a great jazz amp. You can find used ones on the Web, and they still make the JC-120. Cheers.

[m-theory]

Since I last took guitar seriously, all of the brands have changed.

Those are still available. Not still produced, but still available.

 

The Roland JC120 is Les Paul's amp of choice these days, as I recall.

 

Welcome back, btw. What the hell took you so long? ;-)

[brianh]

Welcome aboard Michael, I have a similar story.

 

There are so many styles of "jazz" guitar playing that my or anyone's advice here may not apply. When I saw Les Paul live at the Iridium last August, he was playing direct through the PA with a bunch of old MXR pedals that looked like something I would have used to play rock 30 years ago. Pat Martino prefers an Acoustic Image Clarus head into a Mesa/Boogie 2x12 closed-back cabinet. But Pat's sound ain't for everyone, he rolls of all the treble to get that really dark, muted signature sound.

 

Wes Montgomery used a Fender Super Reverb (4 x 10) combo for many years, and then switched to a Standel Super Custom XV. You can buy a modern version of the Fender Super Reverb even now, though they are pricey. John Scofield reportedly uses a rig comprised of a Pro Co RAT through either a Vox AC-30 or Mesa Boogie amplifier with an Ibanez CS9 Analog Chorus, a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler, and a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler. Also sometimes uses a Digitech XP100 Whammy/Wah, a Boss EQ Pedal, a Boss Loop Station, and a Boomerang phrase sampler pedal. That sounds more like a rock or jazz fusion rig to me.

 

The Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 and JC-90 can still be found used for reasonable money ($250 - 600) , and they were (and still are) the defacto standard affordable jazz amp. I had a JC-120 years ago and liked it a lot, but sold it off to play rock. However, those solid-state Rolands aren't as versatile as say, a Fender tube amp w/ reverb.

 

If you're looking for a small, reliable affordable amp with a nice clean sound, decent built-in effects that can also be cranked for blues and rock, checkout a Fender Super Champ XD. Should be able to pick a new one for $279 at Guitar Center, and Ive seen them as low as $200 in like-new condition.

 

Let us know how you make out.

[bluelake07]

Here are some to consider:

 

http://www.jazzguitar.be/jazz_guitar_amps.html

 

I don't own any of these so I can't give you an opinion of them.

[MichaelC]

This thread got kind of old, but I might as well post what I got. It could be of use to someone else. I finally picked up a Roland Cube 80x. I'd been considering a Cube 30x, but the additional power and the 12" speaker swung me toward the larger amp. I've got to say that it's an awfully nice amp for jazz. The clean channel brings out a very 'stringy' sound and underlines the acoustic nature of the Broadway. This is the first time I've heard the pickups in an appropriate situation and it turns out they're quite nice. The effects channel has various distorted settings that I'm unlikely to use very much. I'm sure that tube amp enthusiasts have justifiable reasons for not liking the effects, but it's pretty much a don't-care for me. There's a reverb that alternates between cheesy plate and cheesier spring effects. They're OK if you don't listen too hard, but I've got plenty of Lexicon gear that I'll use when it really matters.

 

There's a tiny bit of hiss in the amp, but it's quite low. Wish it wasn't there, but it's not really noticeable unless the room is very, very quiet. Beats hum. Unlike other Cube amps, there are two direct outs. One of them interrupts the amp and the other doesn't. There's also a looper, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

Thanks for the replies to the post. I'd owned a number of the amps that some of you had mentioned (Fender Twin and Super). Even had a couple of Voxes burn down on me. Some of the new Fenders didn't sound bad at all, but there was a nice bit of presence in the Roland that turned out to be just what I was looking for.

[brianh]

Cool MC, nice to hear from you. Glad you got something you liked, may check an 80x out, although there's a JC-120 on CL around here for $295 that I might pick up...