Hannu Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 I currently have a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 and a Fender Champ 12, but I don't seem to get quite the desired sound out of my Super 400-CES through either one. Many Years ago I had a Fender Twin Reverb and the CES sounded much fuller with that. The Jazz Chorus sophisticated, plays a nice variety of tones, but tends to be too bright and chimey (cold as compared to warm, it is a solid state amp). It is also broken, one speaker buzzes, and there is quite a hum at all volumes. My Fender Champ 12 is a tube amp, thus warmer sounding, easily overdriven, great for blues and rock, but dull, sounds almost the same regardless what guitar you play. I got it for a home amp when I quit playing gigs, clubs, etc. Nowadays I just play at home, do little home recordings etc. Instead of having the Jazz Chorus repaired, I am thinking if I should just buy a new amp. Any recommendations? A small amp with strong lower register, clean but warm sound. Thank you, Hannu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 I play my L-5CES through a Roland Cube 30X, and it gives me exactly the sound I was looking for (your results may vary). I spent a few years experimenting with small tube amps to no avail, and the Cube 30 fit my needs perfectly. If money is no object, there are a few amps designed specifically for jazz work such as Polytone and Jazzkat, but they are pretty hard on the pocketbook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Get the JC120 repaired if possible as it would make it easier to sell - they are becoming quite rare and sought-after now. I still have my old Fender valve amps and though they're probably not as versatile as modern designs, the tone is peerless - to me anyway. But the 'industry standard' for what you are describing is Polytone amps. http://www.polytoneamps.com/catalog.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trelf Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Consider a modeling amp? Line 6 Flextone has some great clean tones and can probably be picked up fairly cheaply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Larry... How do you set the Roland? I just Googled the amp and it looks as if it has lots of "stuff." I've actually had decent luck with my little "AE" Kustom amp at 30 watts... but... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 WOW! A Super 400?!? Do you NEED an amp? Seriously, NICE guitar there, to be sure. As for the Jazz Chorus, I had one, and I loved it. The thing is, while it is extreme in the clean, AND a SS amp, It does have a little bit of a signature to the sound as you decribe. But it can be set and used to give a GREAT tone and a beutiful sound that fills the room with bliss. Having said that, about the time I was playing "Jazz" with my L-7, I found I most often used other amps. Often a Twin Reverb. Fender amps with good power give good, clear, and dare I say, little "sonic signature" used with a Jazz box. I also found, OFTEN I would use a 70's silverfaced Deluxe Reverb, or a Music Man 210-65. Same results, as when not played loud, they are clean and sounded just how I wanted. As for the CUBE: I AM a certified tube nut and tone snob. I have never owned one, but when shopping for small amps one time (for another), or even trying amps, more often than not, the little Cube sounds a whole lot better than a lot of the tube offerings. It sounds a lot better than a lot of things. That's about all I can offer for experience. Although I will say, that QUALITY will matter quite a bit, because the guitar is quality. Distortion hides a lot of sins regarding the actual quality of the amp, or amps with "sonic flavor" and such. But when getting the quality of that guitar amplified, clarity and fidelity will be king, and "sonic signatures" and tone and such, "tube vs SS" will take a back seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Larry... How do you set the Roland? With the jazzbox I mainly use the "clean" channel (of course): bass @ 11:00 (clock settings), mid @ 1:00, Treble @ 1:00, with just a tad bit of reverb dialed up. If the song calls for it, I will use the "chorus" on the fx knob. It's got plenty of power and even with the 20-piece Big Band the volume knob is around 11 o'clock, about 9 o'clock is good for practice and noodling. Since our Big Band plays some pretty progressive stuff, I do sometimes use the "Lead" channel, and found the "Brit Combo" setting suits my taste best. These little amps are very versatile and pack a ton of features into a small box. The on-board tuner is very useful (and accurate), the fx settings (chorus, phaser, flanger) sound like they should, as does the reverb and delay, and the "modelling" settings are all very unique from one another. It's a very nice little amp, and at $200-$250 new ($100 used), it doesn't break the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny W. Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 For the past ten years I've been doing most of my gigs with an Acoustic Image combo, which for the past five years has been the Corus model. Weighs twenty pounds, loud enough for almost any gig I would choose to do and sounds great with an L-5 CES. Lots of features and flexibility too. For even more volume it has enough power to drive a matching extension speaker, or I sometimes switch to the larger Acoustic Image Ten2. Mostly I just use the Corus by itself. Although it's strictly a jazz amp, it makes a fine powered speaker for use with a modeler--I've done a number of gigs that way with great results. At home I use A-I Clarus amps driving Raezer's Edge cabinets These amps are expensive, but have been completely reliable and A-I's customer service has been outstanding. Here's my complete stage rig: Danny W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannu Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 I play my L-5CES through a Roland Cube 30X, and it gives me exactly the sound I was looking for (your results may vary). I spent a few years experimenting with small tube amps to no avail, and the Cube 30 fit my needs perfectly. If money is no object, there are a few amps designed specifically for jazz work such as Polytone and Jazzkat, but they are pretty hard on the pocketbook. Thank you for all your replies, lots of great things to checked out, I have played Polytones before, but was not aware of Acoustic Image. And yes, it is most likely a good idea to have the JC 120 fixed. Larry, thank you for reminding me of the CUBE, I played one somewhere some time ago, and it was amazing for a small affordable amp. Question: The CUBE amps have an output "RECORDING OUT/PHONES". Does "PHONES" mean stereo headphones (cutting off the spreakers)? This is important for practicing at home, my wife has limited appreciation and tolerance for my playing. :-) Hannu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Larry, ...Question: The CUBE amps have an output "RECORDING OUT/PHONES". Does "PHONES" mean stereo headphones (cutting off the spreakers)?This is important for practicing at home, my wife has limited appreciation and tolerance for my playing. :-) Hannu I don't know, I'll go check Edit: I just checked. The headphone/recording out is a standard 1/4" TRS (stereo) jack, and yes, it does mute the speaker when you plug in the phones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannu Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 I currently have a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 and a Fender Champ 12, but I don't seem to get quite the desired sound out of my Super 400-CES through either one. Many Years ago I had a Fender Twin Reverb and the CES sounded much fuller with that. The Jazz Chorus sophisticated, plays a nice variety of tones, but tends to be too bright and chimey (cold as compared to warm, it is a solid state amp). It is also broken, one speaker buzzes, and there is quite a hum at all volumes. I think I figured out a solution, inspired by the talk about the CUBE. I got a Roland/BOSS ME-25 Amp Modeler, which has essentially the same COSM Amp Modeling software as in the CUBE. Now, I plug the guitar in the ME-25, ME-25 to the Jazz Chorus 120, setup the ME-25 to CLEAN "Fender Twin" or "Tweed", and suddenly there is this big sound, warmer and rounder than the original clean JC 120. There are a lot of jazzy tones in the ME-25, in the CLEAN and CRUNCH modes. I was worried that the modeler would change the instrument natural sounds and all guitars would sound the same. but no, the 400-CES sounds just like you here it in jazz recordings. As a matter of fact, comparing the sounds of my 400-CES and my other favourite guitar Ibanez AK95, they have distinct sounds of their own, more so than before. However, the Fender guitars don't seem to benefit out of this setup as much as the humbucker guitars. Now, I am going to have the JC 120 repaired, the pots cleaned, wires reconnected and life should be good. Thank you all for your insights. Hannu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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