Sorry but I have to say it... JC120

yek said:
You must be the very first person who likes the onboard distortion of the JC 120. :)
It's among the most terrible overdrives I've ever heard.
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It's an acquired taste :)

I actually like it for some things. It has a knarly splat that is useful for me.
 
yek said:
You must be the very first person who likes the onboard distortion of the JC 120. :)
It's among the most terrible overdrives I've ever heard.[/QUOTEBecause it doesn't sound like other od's doesn't make it bad. & FWIW Roland is still makin that amp today. Also thanx for the compliment, I like what "I" like...........
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yek said:
You must be the very first person who likes the onboard distortion of the JC 120. :)
It's among the most terrible overdrives I've ever heard.
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:lol I must admit, every year or so I re-audition the onboard distortion on my actual JC-120 just to hear if my tastes have changed or whether it was as terrible as I remember. I cringe every time! :lol

That being said - all is not lost - you can run a tube preamp and delay into the low impedance input to the lead/chorus channel (with the Roland's distortion off mind you) and get the most incredible and full sounding lead tone that is split into stereo thanks to the chorus effect. Even when you dial back the depth of the chorus its still sounds great.

I used a Mesa Boogie Coliseum Series 300 preamp with my JC-120 for 30 years with great results. But, the Axe FX II has now opened up a whole new world for this kind of mix and match experimentation.

Thanks to Cliff and his Legion of Extraordinary Fractalites! :encouragement:
 
This reminds me of when I was gigging with a peavey bandit 112 in the late 80's. so many "Guitar Players" did nothing else except make a point in telling me how terrible the distortion sounded, yet I was the one rebooking and gigging every weekend while these "know it alls," were paying $5 to hear my crappy distortion and I always found it the most amusing.... If it was so terrible why did you endure 4 hours of 3 full sets of it?
 
Thank you to the OP for expressing my shared frustration regarding the previous incarnation of the Jazz 120 model (although, perhaps, in a slightly different manner :) ) and to Cliff for taking another look and fixing the Jazz 120 model. With FW 11.03, the Jazz 120 model sounds just as it should! (I have a '00s JC-120 and a "way back" JC-120H for comparison) I just spent an hour or so lost in mid/late '80s Marillion and late '70s Hackett (JC-160)! As a bonus, I am also delighted to find FW 11 bring a jumpered Hi-Watt, which was my other major amp wish for the Axe-FX! Thanks again.
 
Swedish Chef said:
The real one sucks, so tell me why the modelled one shouldn't suck? Plus, I think you're making the classic assumption that it supposed to sound like the amp in the room. It wont... Put a couple of mic's infront of your 120 and sit in a control room and listen to it miked up. Chances are the Axe will sound much better.
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+1 - That amp BLOWS in 'real life'. Never understood for the life of me why someone would want to play one. All that ear candy and you want a JC? Must be a masochist (or a sadist, as far as audience is concerned). :D
 
One important thing to know about the JC120s is that they can sound very different from each other depending on the year. Ive read there have been 8 or 9 different versions over the years. Check the post a third of the way down by Rocket Roll Roland JC-120 - any differences in sound between o... - Harmony Central I can personally attest to this as i recently played an older and newer one side by side at a music store. They sounded completely different. The older one was also quite different than any of the other 5-6 jcs ive played.It was clear but also very warm and smooth, and one of the more liquid tones ive experiend. It was a heavenly sounding amp and i wanted to take it home. In comparison i didnt like the tone of the newer one very much. It was really missing the warmth, had a more grainy sound, and was kind of shrill. Also the chorus sound was nowhere near as good. Im not saying all the newer models sound like this, just this one. I dont know the date of this old JC120 but i suspect it may be one of the late 70s models. I think It would be awesome to get one of these late 70s JCs to Cliff for MIMICing. Wish i had one to send him. Hears an idea of the tone of the older JCs Orchestra Baobab - Coumba - YouTube and Orchestra Baobab ~ Doumoo Baaye - YouTube, solo starts a little after 225.
 
I never understood other people's need to belittle something with derogatory insults...masochist... Really?

PS ... Metallica's James Hetfield not only uses this amp exclusively live for his signature clean tone, but has also recorded the biggest selling metal songs in history using this amp. And that's just one example.

Pretty much completely debunks your "This Amp Blows," opinion right there.
 
Severed said:
recorded the biggest selling metal songs in history using this amp. And that's just one example.
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Forget heavy metal... James used it extensively on an album that is the biggest selling album of the soundscan history- a record which at this point with record sales might not even get beaten.

It's been a hugely successful amp since the late 70s.

40 years from now we'll be on the Axe Fx 14.
but there's still 1 jazz chorus...FOR A REASON
(it's damn good)
 
I went for a 'Ship of Fools' thing on it, and found I could get that tone. JJ is right on the turn down sag, and 'crisp' it up.

I'll say that its a very 'acquired' taste. It has it's place, but not sure it's anything I'd use on a regular basis...cleans okay, but any distortion I found horrid (IMO, YMMV, etc.)

It was also my impression that the speakers in these things flat out were crap. It worked out that they could get nice tones, but for the most part, they were tinny sounding metal dung. In other words...check your IR.

R
 
Lapo said:
... i recently played an older and newer one side by side at a music store. They sounded completely different. The older one was also quite different than any of the other 5-6 jcs ive played.It was clear but also very warm and smooth, and one of the more liquid tones ive experiend.
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Maybe the first one needed a recap... it's sad, but older cap sometimes introduces compression and bias shift that make amps sound better form a guitarist point of view... :devilish:
 
its the worst distortion in the world- but if i could only have one clean sound- this is it.

about the old vs new comparison...

In one weekend I bought two- one from the last year or two and one from the late 70s

The 70s one wasn't orig- it had speakers from a fender twin- BUT the 70s one sounded a little better...

the newer one a bit noisy- i sold the old one and kept the new one because it has a true stereo effects loop- so i could use the axe with it and get a true stereo power amp signal (which i've yet to do- but if i wanted to i could)

also the new one had garbage plastic jacks that were already broken- for $70 i had my amp guy replace every jack with metal ones
 
yek said:
You must be the very first person who likes the onboard distortion of the JC 120. :)
It's among the most terrible overdrives I've ever heard.
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Nope. I like it too and have for years. For hard rock or metal tones, no. For a lo-fi clean, BINGO! I play mostly jazz with a tone that uses a very, very slight blues grit.
 
Not really: I think Hetfield's tone blows too. Never touched me. Sterile-yet-gritty i.e. worst of both worlds. :lol

And of course it's a matter of taste. But if I didn't have my Axe II and I had to trade my Twin or Princeton for the JC for my clean tone... well, I'd give up playing first.

Severed said:
I never understood other people's need to belittle something with derogatory insults...masochist... Really?

PS ... Metallica's James Hetfield not only uses this amp exclusively live for his signature clean tone, but has also recorded the biggest selling metal songs in history using this amp. And that's just one example.

Pretty much completely debunks your "This Amp Blows," opinion right there.
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funny_polymath said:
Not really: I think Hetfield's tone blows too. Never touched me. Sterile-yet-gritty i.e. worst of both worlds. :lol

And of course it's a matter of taste. But if I didn't have my Axe II and I had to trade my Twin or Princeton for the JC for my clean tone... well, I'd give up playing first.
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Well that's your opinion. It's working great and sounds great to me and millions of others so not sure what to tell ya?
 
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