The best amp for jazz guitar is dirt cheap
The ultimate jazz guitar amp for less than $200
#amp #jazz #guitar #dirt #cheap
Originally posted by UCZtpS-pa0bI7m1eABuv127A at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqWaPCrSPh4
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There are the vintage Roland Cubes from the 70s made in Japan and newer ones XL versions. Which one do you recommend of those ?
Your guitar sounds great through that Roland. I'm guessing you're using round wound and not flat wound strings, am I right? I've had a Roland Cube 60 for 20+ years but still I can't get the sound that I wish for. I like Joe Pass' tone. Johnny Smith's and Barney Kessel's tone.
I love jazz tone. However, if George Benson plays a note and uses a guitar pick to pluck the string, the sound is being produced by a string pressing on a metal fret and a guitar pick plucking a string. If the pick, string type, guage and velocity with which the string is being plucked is the same, why should it sound any different in his hands than yours or any other guitarist? I totally appreciate George Benson and you also appear to be a fine musician. Just an observation. I think the whole celebrity thing gets over thought with many people. Just my thoughts. Best wishes.
Roland JC-22 is great, small and loud. Quilter Aviator Cub is also great
Morten, I agree with you about the Henriksen amps, but Polytone is still out there, you can find them used all day long, at any given day you'll find at least 20 in Reverb. I've personally have walked into a few music stores over the years and have seen used Polytone amps for sale. Even though they no longer make them, they made many thousands of them, and they are still out there. I do prefer the Henriksen due to it's modern design and more features….
You should try a Quilter Cub50 which has a fatter softer tone very nice for a SS amp
Which cube amp, there are a few, thanks.
I use the 40 it’s perfect
Too much rambling. Half way into the video before you tell us which amp it is
The Campellone sounds terrific! Mark is a great guy and a fine builder. I spent a nice afternoon in his shop playing guitars and talking music.
I thought it would be the Cube. I bought two of the old ones from the ‘80s for that exact reason—because they’re similar to Polytone or Henriksen.
I so agree. I also discovered this amp to be an excellent and versatile jazz amp. I wondered if I could put an extensive speaker jack in it, to get a little fuller sound.
Got a cube for the same reasons: cheap, durable and sounds great! You have a very nice tone setting for this video. What model (if in that channel) did you use and what is your EQ, please? Thanks!
cowboy hats and jazz guitars…everyone has a rule
6 minutes to find out the big secret is the Roland?
Great Video, Thank you! I like the Cube sound but I also like the slightly rougher Fender sound. Sounds a little more like Montgomery.
Me too. In the late 2000s I was living in Chicago and needed an amp. I wanted a Roland JC-120 though I was living in a city without a car and between that and the price I needed something accessible. I found a guy a few neighborhoods over and took the 95th West bus to Beverly. A sweet man and his wife lived in a McMansion and sold me the Cube 60. He even had an Ibanez archtop that I could test it out with and I took the bus with it back to my Aunts house. I moved shortly after to the North Side of Chicago in the Lakeview/Lincoln Park neighborhood and took that 60 with me for every gig – literally taking it on buses, trains, and it did good. Near the end of my time in Chicago I was playing telecaster and didn't have the headroom. I know now I could have bought a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster and would have been straight… but instead I sold the 60 on my way out of the city. I went down the rabbit hole – buying the Cube 80 (which isn't bad though sounded different than the 60) took a bath on that to buy a Blues Junior, and also a Fender Twin. I also found my beloved JC-120. I sold them all. I actually missed my Cube 60. I found one from a guy online that sold me the amp for about $160 plus some shipping help. Shortly after I found another guy local i the next town over that upgraded and sold me another one for the same price. Now, those are my two guitar amps – two Roland Cube 60 amps that I use for not only Jazz music, though rock metal and heavy things as well as acoustic gigs. I actually think Roland perfected these and hate they don't sell them anymore. One day I wouldn't mind buying the basic Katana head and running it into some kind of 115… though, truth be told, I'm often able to save money on buying gear because, between two 60s, it covers serious ground. Also, I bought the second one in case I ever needed to run "two" together – like a JC-120… though because the cube has a solid line out I run that into a DI and send the signal to FOH. Meaning even on ENORMOUS stages I can run a 112 and things are awesome. Seriously you can still find these everywhere and for near the $150 I paid for mine back in 2008ish and the other two. They are wonderful and I hope that eventually Roland/Boss brings them back – hell, I'd buy it just for kicks and giggles. Also wonderful video.
Fishman’s are good too, and also affordable and durable…
Me too! I KNEW it would be the Roland. A few years back, I was invited to join a jazz combo. I looked around for a Polytone amp, none to be found. I saw that Russell Malone (RIP) was playing a Roland Cube and found a 60 used online. It sounded fantastic. I only lasted in the combo a year and a half. Never worked so hard, musically, in my life! I'm not a true jazz player, but I learned a lot, and discovered the Cube!
I now have two 80s, a 30 and a small one I keep at a rehearsal space. I use the clean channel, and the modeling channel for dirt. A have a couple nice pedal boards but usually just use the on-board effects. My students love the metal tones. Playing everything from jazz to r&b to classic country, I'd be lost without my Roland Cubes!
Thanks Morten!
Is that the Blues Cube ?
Definitely different than the fender, no, you can definitely easily hear the difference, in this video! and yes, the response is flat, even, not peaky upper mids like the Fender
speaker choice has a LOT to do with that, and Roland is definitely a company who knows the amp and the speaker work together, you need to match one to the other to get a big box acoustic jazz tone. Shocking they quit making the larger models!
That’s a great sound.
Tube amps are great if you want some breakup, & if you match the speaker carefully. Good Jazz tones are possible the 1st speaker I ever bought was an EVM 12L which has a flat even response, as a result nothing else sounds right to me. If that fender had an EVM it would move closer to your tone…..
But you wouldn’t want to physically move it! 1×12 EVM in a Vibro verb is Heavier than A JC 120 and it wouldn’t work as well with your guitar & style of play as the cube does.
For the Cube, Roland engineered that speaker to match the amp, easy to hear how good a job they did. The other result of that engineering is the light weight.!
Boss Katana 50 is what I found works for everything and its dirt cheap. Use it for a Bluegrass acoustic band, a loud Grateful dead electric cover band and jazz guitar. even use it for Classical. All you need is a compressor with a blend knob to give it something and it is a very good sounding ultra-light dirt-cheap chameleon. Or sometimes a Fishman loud box mini with a built in Low impedance DI out to the PA is a killer 100 dollar more option. Jazz guitar and upright Bass a horn and a piano works amazing with both.
With my D’Angelico I use a JC40 for smooth dark tones playing solo & a Princeton Reverb if playing with a rhythm section, The sound has a little more bite & a 3D quality that is better with a band.
Nice. I love George Benson's tone. Unmistakable sound once you have listened. The man is a master musician. Love those little Roland amps. Thanks.
I have two 80xl's. Either one has plenty of volume for a medium-sized club. You can get any sound you desire from them. A pedal equalizer buffs them out if needed.
I had a cube 60 and thought it was a little boomy or dark. One concert, I slaved a cube 40 with a cube 60. Loved the sound—an unexpected pairing
$160? Really?