A friend stopped by last night with his latest acquisition, a Roland Jazz Chorus JC120 he picked up used but in like new condition for $400.00. This is without a doubt one of the best sounding amps I have ever heard. It is just SO CLEAN and the chorus is incredibly lush. I have owned many different amps over the years and I'd seen the JC120s but never bothered to try one. BIG MISTAKE on my part. Have any of you played your Gretsch through a JC120? If not, you need to. You won't believe your ears.
Roland Jazz Chorus JC120
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- Rated: 59 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 9:57 a.m. Bear:
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- Rated: 50 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 11:26 a.m. Richard Hudson:
Bear, that JC120 is what Ray Cummins uses as a road amp. He loves it.
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- Rated: 7 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 11:55 a.m. fauves:
Yeah the JC120 is a "staple" amp for a reason. I have had nothin but good luck with them. Only got rid of it cause I moved out of state and didn't want to lug it. I would get another in a heart beat! It takes effects really well also. Drop a pedal in front of one and you can make it sound like anything.
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- Rated: 19 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 12:06 p.m. cielski:
It's a favorite amp with jazz players. It seems like every one I've ever seen has had a huge crack in the case.
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- Rated: 35 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 12:11 p.m. crowbone:
I use my JC-120(I got it in 1983) alone, or in conjunction with my Mesa-Boogie V-Twin clean or blues channel, and I get amazing tone.
I've played all kinds of music with it, and it is the best solid state amp ever.
And yeah, Gretsches sound great through them.
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- Rated: 29 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 12:41 p.m. Shuie:
It's the vibrato that does it for me. And the feel of the toggle switch for engaging the chorus/vib. Very tactile action. Freak that I am, these sorts of sensations are a pleasant diversion.
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- Rated: 8 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 12:51 p.m. wpgjazzman:
Bear:
You are so right. The Jazz Chorus 120 is an absolutely wonderful amp for those of us who want a full clean sound at any volume.
I tried one a few months ago but couldn't justify the $700.00 for another new amp just to add it to my collection.
I really liked how it performed at low volumes without losing any tone from the spectrum. I auditioned it with a MIM Telecaster and was very impressed so I can only imagine how good it would sound with a Gretsch.
Your friend got a great amp for a great price.
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- Rated: 59 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 1:03 p.m. Bear:
I was absolutely knocked out by the tone of the amp. The bass notes were so round and the high notes were crystal clear without any harshness or brittleness. I could nail Duane's 'Rebel Rouser' tone with my 5125. It made what little hair I have stand up.
Are the smaller Rolands like the cube 30 as nice as the JC120? If so, I might add one to my Christmas list to Santa. I wish I could get out and visit music stores again. I hate being cooped up in the house.
As an aside, my friend who owns the JC120 is a Gibson man. He has a couple of very nice ES175s. One of them has just one humbucker in the neck position, I think it is a '59 and the other, my favorite is a '53 with two P90s and a factory Bigsby. Anyway, after he heard my 5125 through the JC120 he said he was going to look into a Gretsch with Dynas. The tone really impressed him. He played my 5125 for most of the night and really dug it.
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- Rated: 29 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 1:23 p.m. Shuie:
Bear, I've only ever got the goodies from the big JC. The smaller single speaker models have neither the sonic spread nor the stovepipe hat headroom which makes the JC120 such a mighty fine clean amp.
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- Rated: 7 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 2:08 p.m. fauves:
The small rolands are cool but thay ain't no JC120!
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- Rated: 8 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 2:12 p.m. Whofan:
The JC120s from the 70s seem to have the best sound. The newer ones are great, but if you compare to a vintage model there is a difference.
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- Rated: 115 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 2:32 p.m. wenzel:
Johnny Marr from the Smiths used to use one with his Gretsch didn't he? Excellent sound he got...
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- Rated: 35 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 3:29 p.m. crowbone:
wpgjazzman: I tried one a few months ago but couldn't justify the $700.00 for another new amp just to add it to my collection.
Try trolling craigslist. I frequently see them for $300-$500 in great shape.
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- Rated: 115 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 3:38 p.m. wenzel:
My brother had one of these amps that he used his 68' Tenny with and it sounded great!!!
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- Rated: 41 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 6:46 p.m. dubkitty:
JC120s were popular in the 80s and early 90s as half of a 2-amp setup, with the other amp a tube amp, typically a AC30 (The Edge in U2) or a Fender (Neil Halstead of Slowdive used a Twin Reverb).
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- Rated: 7 ↑
Nov 19, 2008 9:25 p.m. fauves:
Ya know what sounds like a jc120 that isnt as big? A polytone. I have a older 100 with a 15in speaker and its very similar. Reverb only, no vib/ chorus. I think I got it for about 150 bucks. The nice thing about it its one of the rare amps that sounds good electric/ acoustic/ or upright bass. much smaller than the 120.
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- Rated: 35 ↑
Nov 20, 2008 10:01 p.m. crowbone:
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- Rated: 40 ↑
Nov 20, 2008 10:29 p.m. Pseudo Man:
Let's not forget the JC160 as well. Lush, clean, rich, chorus... So loud it made me fall over.
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- Rated: 8 ↑
Nov 20, 2008 11:31 p.m. wpgjazzman:
Crowbone:
Thanks for the link to the JC120. I saw a brand new one at a music store in Winnipeg this afternoon for $729.00
I'd rather pay a few dollars more a get a new one.
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- Rated: 35 ↑
Nov 20, 2008 11:46 p.m. crowbone:
wpgjazzman
Hey no problem, but the used ones I've seen have all really held up well. I'm not sure if that's because no one has gone up into the chassis, or they've been played by "amp pamperers", but they are great amps used or new.
Enjoy it, whatever you decide!
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- Rated: 25 ↑
Nov 21, 2008 4:49 a.m. billydlight:
I had one. It was so heavy it carried ME into the gigs!
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- Rated: 7 ↑
Nov 21, 2008 10:31 a.m. fauves:
I had a drunk singer "ride" my jc kinda like a skateboard about half a block into a parked car. didn't seem to hurt th' amp. The singer was a little worse for wear once I caught him at the bottom of the hill!
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- Rated: 3 ↑
Nov 22, 2008 7:05 a.m. Mike_Martin:
Another great SS amp is the Yamaha G100. Phil Keaggy loves them! You see them on ebay often, and cheap too! Cheers!
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- Rated: 9 ↑
Nov 22, 2008 10:14 a.m. hellbilly:
Speaking of Johnny Marr - a lot of that great chorus tone he had was coming straight from a JC120 - damn, forgot about that guy - amazing guitarist!
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- Rated: 5 ↑
Nov 22, 2008 10:23 a.m. lizardville:
yeah, I agree about johnny marr (probably my all time favourite guitarrist), but I have to state that he used the roland amp on the first album and the guitar sound on that particulary LP is not his best, even he quoted sometimes that he hated the production on "the smiths" , specially due to the user of the roland jazz chorus. His tone beefed up as soon as he started using fender amps. ta!
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