Jazz amp

[Jesse James]

I play in a "big band" type jazz band, as well as some smaller combos, I was wondering what a good solid state jazz amp would be. Right now, I'm using a Fender Hot Rod Deville, but I'm tired of lugging it around and worrying about the tubes. I've been looking at some Roland amps. What do you guys think? Preferably, I'd like something in the 30 watt range and not too pricey. Any input will be much appreciated. Thanks!

J

[Dana]

Polytone amps are great for jazz, just ask Jim Hall.

They're small enough, and not too expensive. Good luck.

[Rick Towne]

They appear often on ebay; small and very powerful. Thier specialties are jazz and steel guitar solid state amps.

[BB]

Originally Posted by Jesse James

I play in a "big band" type jazz band, as well as some smaller combos, I was wondering what a good solid state jazz amp would be. Right now, I'm using a Fender Hot Rod Deville, but I'm tired of lugging it around and worrying about the tubes. I've been looking at some Roland amps. What do you guys think? Preferably, I'd like something in the 30 watt range and not too pricey. Any input will be much appreciated. Thanks!

J

Jesse, check out the Roland Blues Cube 60. I t may have more feature than you need, but I can dial in a beautiful jazz tone on the blackface channel with plenty of clean headroom. The Roland Cube 30 and Cube 60's are also exclennt choices. Again, they have a few settings you won't use or need, but hte JC-120 patch is very good. Some other lightweight ss otions are the Dean Markley RM and RD series from the mid 80's. I have an old RM-40 that I gigged with for years during the 80's and its still going strong. Also, don't forget the Peavey Backstage, Bandit or Special series for cheap, light yet toneful amps. Oh...one more, ran across a Yamaha SS amp fro mthe 80's in a local pawn shop. The clean tone was excellent.

[Joe-Bob]

I do big band stuff too, and I'm using a Fender Princeton Chorus DSP. Non DSP models can be found used very reasonably. I think the stereo amp with a slight bit of reverb gives a nice depth to the sound. It's clean enough, and is about 15 pounds lighter than your Deville.

Since what you want is a full, clean sound, there are lots of choices.

[ne4tt]

Peavey, Polytone, Evans, Webb.

Sorta least to most expensive.

[mark norwine]

right now the jazz rig to have is the claris head plugged into a raezors edge cabinet. i never new transistors could sound so good.

this is *NOT* a distortion rock rig....but for jazz, it's the brass ring!

[WrapAround]

Have Polytone amps improved in sound over the last 10~15 years? The always sounded dry, sterile, cardboard like, etc., to me. I always thought Jazz boxes sounded great through Twins and such. But They are much heavier than a lot of other amps.

[Joe-Bob]

Originally Posted by WrapAround

I always thought Jazz boxes sounded great through Twins and such. But They are much heavier than a lot of other amps.

Yeah that might sound great, but he's trying to go to a more easily portable rig, like alot of us. For me, around 45 pounds is all the amp I'm willing to carry. So, something like a DRRI is still in, but a Super or a Twin is totally out of the question. It doesn't matter how good a Twin might sound.

[lenny]

wes used to use either fender or standel amps.
polytones do sound dull and sort of dead, but as lot of people love that for jazz
/shrug

[WrapAround]

Originally Posted by Joe-Bob

Yeah that might sound great, but he's trying to go to a more easily portable rig, like alot of us. For me, around 45 pounds is all the amp I'm willing to carry. So, something like a DRRI is still in, but a Super or a Twin is totally out of the question. It doesn't matter how good a Twin might sound.

Yes, yes, I know. :) A good alternative may be a SF Vibrolux Reverb (2x10s). It is lighter than a Twin and still sounds loads better than Polytones.

[Anonymous]

Mark mentioned the Clarus amps above. I admit I haven't actually heard this one but I keep hearing about them from some fairly knowledgeable folks.



This one is 300w (!), the whole rig weighs just 25 lbs., and features a down-firing (pointed at the floor) 10" woofer, along with a 5" midrange speaker and a 1" tweeter you can switch on/off. That little "leg" on the front tilts the whole thing back so that the inner speaker reflects off the floor. You have to give them points for innovative design, at least.

At nearly $1200, they're not cheap – but what "coolest, newest" thing ever seems to be? ;-) The adjectives I'm hearing to describe them are things like natural, transparent, musical, etc., so I have to admit I'm intrigued. Anybody else have any experience with these? Thx, CS :-)

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Chris S.

This one is 300w (!), the whole rig weighs just 25 lbs., and features a down-firing (pointed at the floor) 10" woofer, along with a 5" midrange speaker and a 1" tweeter you can switch on/off. That little "leg" on the front tilts the whole thing back so that the inner speaker reflects off the floor. You have to give them points for innovative design, at least.

Looks like an interesting concept, as long as it's all you need to get yourself heard. If, on the other hand, it's a big gig and you're going through the PA, where do you mic this thing?

[teletwangler]

Originally Posted by Jesse James

I play in a "big band" type jazz band, as well as some smaller combos, I was wondering what a good solid state jazz amp would be. Right now, I'm using a Fender Hot Rod Deville, but I'm tired of lugging it around and worrying about the tubes. I've been looking at some Roland amps. What do you guys think? Preferably, I'd like something in the 30 watt range and not too pricey. Any input will be much appreciated. Thanks!

J

I get a variety of great jazz (and other) tones with my Roland Bluescube 30, Visual Sound H2O chorus/echo and a Barber Direct Drive. You probably wouldn't need the overdrive but some kind of reverb or delay pedal would be needed - the Bluescube 30 doesn't have reverb but it's inexpensive at $200.

[stantheman]

Hey, Ya OWE it to Yourself if You play a Box to check out a used Peavey Studio Pro (the old one) with a 12" and
a "line out". I actually bought this for My Boy as a "First
Amp" and have grown to LOVE IT.
Just because something is inexpensive don't think it sucks....Peavey keeps on amazing me....how does he
do it ???

[Joe-Bob]

Anybody use tube amps for jazz. Is a DRRI a good choice. What tube amps do you guys use for jazz?

[Vladimir]

Stantheman,

I hear a lot of mention of old Peaveys, but what about the new ones?

I had my mind set on a new Studio 112 (65W) also for playing Jazz, and I wondering if it's as good and robust. My other consideration would be a new Cube 60 as it's about the same price as the Peavey

[stantheman]

what's up with Peavey's more "current" offerings. All my Peavey gear is at least 15 years old - just starting to "break in". The one sorta-kinda new one I have played through and loved was the 2X12 Classic - what
a nice sounding Amp. My favorite Peavey is the one I'm playing through at any given moment. If You ever need the "Bluesbreaker Beano Tone" a late 70's Classic and a
Tech 21 GT-2 is IMHO superior to the "Real Thing" (which
has to be really pumped to get Clapton's "sound"),
that's "the rig" that got me away from Reverb. Peavey's solid state stuff just floors me - it's that good especially with my Epiphone Joe Pass. I too have to try out the "new ones" just to find out; I love playing my
Joe Pass through that little Studio Pro - I'm so addicted it's ridiculous....me....a solid state Amp....it sounds like I can almost play some censored. 8)
The "Clean Side" is serious euphoria.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Joe-Bob

Anybody use tube amps for jazz... What tube amps do you guys use for jazz?

Yes, lots of folks. Over the last 7 or 8 years I've gotten quite fond of EL84-powered amps especially. Some of the ones I've tried and liked have been the Trace Elliott Velocettes (both the 1x10 and 1x12 combos), the new Crate V1512 (my current fave), the Peavey Classic 30 (excellent), and the Dr. Z Maz 38 Sr. 2x10 (very nice, but a little big and heavy to be hauling around to low-volume jazz gigs – for me, anyway).

Besides their inherent warmth, I find I can dial in just a tiny bit of mid-range "hair" with the EL84s, yet I can still make out the all the individual voices within the chords. To my ears it seems to add a little excitement and edge to the sound, similar to some of the early Charlie Christian recordings.

Is a DRRI a good choice.

I haven't tried one specifically for jazz, but I would think it would work just fine, especially if the amp is biased correctly. Or let me put it this way, I can't see any reason it wouldn't work well. A lot of the "harshness" some folks complain about with the DRRIs usually occurs when the amps are cranked, and my jazz playing definitely stays in the quiet range of things. YMMV, of course. ;-)

Hope it helps, CS :-)

[Endr'u]

Although I consider it a little bit of a compromise, I'm happy to use the 'new' Roland Cube 60 just now.

[Joe-Bob]

Originally Posted by Chris S.

the new Crate V1512 (my current fave)....

I've played one of those, but was wondering about the headroom, so I was thinking about the V3112 also. How is the headroom on the 15 watt version?

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Joe-Bob

I've played one of those, but was wondering about the headroom, so I was thinking about the V3112 also. How is the headroom on the 15 watt version?

Not bad. I guess I'd put it somewhere between a Tweed Deluxe and a Deluxe Reverb, i.e. you can get some volume before breakup, but you probably couldn't keep up with a loud drummer – at least not with clean tones.

But the really cool thing about the V Series V15 is the level (master) and gain (vol) controls. They both have a point somewhere around 1:00 o'clock or so where they start to overdrive nicely, so you can dial in just the right amount of <u>either</u> pre-amp or power amp break-up. And when you open BOTH controls past that point, the amp just rips. It's a very sweet little combo. :-)

If you're really concerned about headroom, though, I think something like a Peavey Classic 30 or Delta Blues would probably be a better choice. All IMO of course, YMMV, etc. Hope it helps, CS

[Wild Rice Chris]

I have the Acoustic Image Contra (One Channel, no reverb).

I bought it to play upright bass through a year and a half ago, and it excells at that, as well as with fretless electric bass.

I've only used it for electric guitar at very low-level practice volume, so can't comment on that, never even plugged my L-48 w/Dearmond into it.

It does sound great with piezo-equipped acoustics. My dad's Gretsch with Fishman and my singer's Taylor with Fishman both sounded great.

I use a Blues Junior most of the time, and find that it is enough. It works real well for me in a quiet jazz group (guitar, bass, drums, flute), and if I need more, I borrow my dad's Delta Blues with EVM-15L speaker.

[pc]

When I was in the Conservatory in college, the real serious jazz guys (including my guitar prof) used Pearce amps. I think they were mainly heads and cabs, although my prof had one that had been deliberately combined into a combo amp of sorts.

Sounded absolutely great for solid state, way better than the Polytones I'd heard, but I don't know if they're even around anymore.

[WrapAround]

Originally Posted by Joe-Bob

Anybody use tube amps for jazz. Is a DRRI a good choice. What tube amps do you guys use for jazz?

I can do traditional Jazz with Mazerati pretty well.