Hey All,
As I mentioned in a previous post, I quit my band a while back. I was using a Carvin V3 head with a 212 cab back then. To get to the sound I wanted, I was blasting my wife all throughout the house when practicing! I decided that it was time to downsize...so I sold my 212 cab and v3 head. This is a great amp head (especially used) for someone wanting a little of everything on a tighter budget though
Anyways, I just got a Jet City JCA20H 1 channel head as well as an Avatar 112 open back Contemporary Cab with a Vintage 30 speaker. This thing rocks. It's definitely not a modern rock/metal amp, but it does blues and classic rock sounds really well. There's plenty of gain available, but I generally keep it around 6 when using my strat. It responds very well to my bad monkey for adding some more treble and/or gain.
I plugged it into a peavey 412 cab with Sheffield speakers when jamming with the guys I meet with regularly now. While I wasn't a fan of the sound coming from the cab itself, the 20 watt head certainly had no problem keeping up with a peavey windsor and marshall tsl100. I would love to hear it from a 412 cab with Greenbacks or V30s.
Having a one channel amp has forced me to do a better job of utilizing my guitar too. When I want overdriven sounds, I mainly use my bridge HB pickup now. When wanting clean, I'll switch to the neck and roll of the volume a little and it will give a great clean sound. If I pick a little harder, it will breakup slightly.
My only complaint is the lack of an effects loop. I'm not a fan of Chorus before the amp.
if you see one of these amps, you should give it a try
Isn't this a Soldano backed entry into the small, affordable market? I think I saw that about a year after getting my small travel amp and was again mad at myself for buying too early. Too many new, cool amps coming out in that range.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
it is (soldano)! I've played a valve junior, ht-5, and little giant amps. I thought this got the best sound at the lowest volumes
I played it last night in an audition for a band. It sounded great! Looking back, the Vintage 30 might not have been the best choice for the amp when I'm playing by myself, but it definitely helps me cut through the band to be heard.
The one I saw was a 20W on MF. I'm going to sit and try one out at the local GC some day if they ever get one in and set it up. Well, maybe I had better not......
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
The JCA20H looks very good, I've been eying it myself... I'm glad Soldano decided to go more 'local' - smart move. Kind of back to the basics amp (very basic with just one channel).
Nice review here for those who don't know Jet City (I didn't until just recently...):
http://en.audiofanzine.com/guitar-amp-head/jet-city-amplification/jca20h/editorial/reviews/Suffra-Jet-City.html
yeah. It's a great amp. I was wrong when I said it didn't do modern rock. I've been putting my Bad Monkey OD in front of it (or just turning up the gain all the way on the amp) and it does great. I just wish that I had a clean channel on it
I rambled on and on about the guitar portion of this week's splrugges, but didn't come back and say a whole lot about the amp.
First off, it's got tube reverb. I really do not know if this is good or not. Can someone enlighten me?
On with the amp. I thought it would be interesting to get a once channel amp and force myself how to use it properly. It does work like so many other one channel amps. If you want clean-esque, gain way dow2n, master volume up a little but. It's not Fender Twin clean or JC-120 chimey sparkle clean, but it does the job so far. I'll bring it out onto the deck this weekend and open her up a bit.
The real neat feature of this amp is that you can get some really strong, driven tones. Classic Rock type of strong. I also dialed in a Mark Knopfler-esque tone. It's a dial up your favorite tone kind of thing for sure. I'll have to keep a list of desired settings. Hopefully narrow it down to a few that I can easily get in and out of depending on song.
The Eminence Speaker sounds alright. Mainly though, you just gotta find the tone. It's in there somewhere and probably different for each person.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
First off, it's got tube reverb. I really do not know if this is good or not. Can someone enlighten me?
I think anything involving tubes is good! :D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I think anything involving tubes is good!
That was my un-educated approach. Other than to leave it up at about 3 or so for all around playing, I've not messed with it much ..... YET. I've been downstairs trying to dial in that perfect clean tone with a very slight bite. It is amazing how quickly I get tone burnout. :evil: :x :evil:
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
I've not messed with a Jet City amp. But the highest praise for them that I've seen and heard has been from young rockers, more so than old blues-rock oriented guys, so I'm suspicious that playing in that edge of crunch regime I like so well may not be their forte. I'll be interested to hear how yours works out.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
