Help me to choose one!!!
Miketec
following ones: Polytone Minibrute IV (1295 €), Roland JC-120 (999 €)
and Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue (1285 €). The prices in brackets are
in euros in Spain or Germany shops. What are your opinions? What is
the difference in tone and sound? American friends, is the polytone
price in Spain too much high? What model of Polytone does Joe Pass
usually play trough?
Thank you for your help.
sbgt...@yahoo.com
tin can pieces of junk I've ever heard - I have it on my travel rider
to never have a Roland Jazz Chorus -- so what would be the confusion
between a Polytone and a 65 Twin Reverb? Go for the Fender ---better
yet do a little more research or save a little more money and getting
something better than any of those....
good luck:
sheryl bailey
Mark Guest
combo. *That's* a good jazz amp. The others are not, IMHO. Joe Pass
has not played through Polytones for a while. Towards the end of his
career he was travelling with a direct box only.
holdgaj
peoples did too. The Hendrickson is getting good reviews & with the Dollar
Euro rate the way it is they are reasonable. Supposed to be an "Early
Polytone" sound whatever that is.
--
Holdgaj
"Mark Guest" <Mark.C...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1170516830.2...@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
A Euro-based poster to this group recently offered up a Clarus/RE
combo. *That's* a good jazz amp. The others are not, IMHO. Joe Pass
has not played through Polytones for a while. Towards the end of his
career he was travelling with a direct box only.
On Feb 3, 9:04 am, "Miketec" <malan...@yahoo.es> wrote:
> I'm going to buy my first good jazz amp and I doubt between the
> following ones: Polytone Minibrute IV (1295 ?), Roland JC-120 (999 ?)
> and Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue (1285 ?). The prices in brackets are
Rick Ross
and ship it to you and I'm guessing it would still be cheaper than that..
"Miketec" <mala...@yahoo.es> wrote in message
news:1170511440....@q2g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I'm going to buy my first good jazz amp and I doubt between the
following ones: Polytone Minibrute IV (1295 ?), Roland JC-120 (999 ?)
and Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue (1285 ?). The prices in brackets are
Jeremey Poparad
I use a '65 RI Deluxe Reverb (not a Twin) for jazz and it's great. I
was originally going to buy the Twin, but I didn't have enough cash at
the time and "settled" for a Deluxe, and I'm glad I did. It's much
lighter, and thus easier to transport, and it's also more than enough
in the volume department for playing jazz. I feel the Twin would
overkill in most situations. I personally love the sound of mine, so
if you're interested in the Twin, you might consider a Deluxe instead
and save some money.
richard...@yahoo.com
I play jazz in some relatively loud settings, and I've never needed
anything as loud as a Fender Twin.
And, depending on the speakers, they can weigh more than 60 pounds
(going by memory here).
Everyone's situation is different, but my solution is
1. for quiet things to bring one or two small amps.
2. for slightly louder, bring two small amps, play them in stereo and
get them as high off the floor as I can.
(I have played jazz quintet gigs for 100 people with drums and keys
using a 12 watt solid state amp about 6 feet off the floor -- leaving
a much bigger amp in the car because I simply didn't need it).
3. for louder still either mic an amp, go into the board or,
4. if there's no PA and I have to be loud bring my Mesa Boogie, left
over from my rock days. I only do that for outdoor gigs.
To sum up, my contribution to this thread is to raise the issue of
possible overkill in weight and volume.
Miketec
> A Euro-based poster to this group recently offered up a Clarus/RE
> combo. *That's* a good jazz amp. The others are not, IMHO. Joe Pass
> has not played through Polytones for a while. Towards the end of his
> career he was travelling with a direct box only.
>
What is a direct box?
What amp do you think Joe Pass play through in the theme 'Song for
Ellen'?
Willie K. Yee, MD
Clean, lots and lots of power.
Bright, almost sharp high end. Even with its treble turned all the way
down, maybe too bright for a classic electric jazz guitar tone. Good
for a fusion sound.
Very good sounding chorus, although not very adjustable.
A noticable hiss. Not heard during recording, but in a rehearsal room
or small room everybody can hear it.
Heavy. Has wheels because it needs them. Movable by two people or one
person with young health back, otherwise needs a dolly.
Mine is for sale.
On 3 Feb 2007 06:04:00 -0800, "Miketec" <mala...@yahoo.es> wrote:
>I'm going to buy my first good jazz amp and I doubt between the
>following ones: Polytone Minibrute IV (1295 =E2=82=AC), Roland JC-120 (999 =
>=E2=82=AC)
>and Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue (1285 =E2=82=AC). The prices in brackets =
invisaman75
What are playing situations do you have? What kind of guitar are
playing? The Polytone work great for Joe Pass (when did carry an amp)
but most of his gigs were solo or very small group. It was probably
miked when played most concerts. For instance the Twin would be a
better choice if you were playing with an organ trio or with an
electric bass player.
Mark Guest
Hi,
A direct box is a device that allows a guitar to plug directly into a
PA system.
dancesWithPickerel
I depends on what you want. I have a Minibrute II. I've never had a
problem with it. I've had it for 4 years or so, and have gigged with
it a lot. I like it because it's light, it's loud enough by a wide
margin for any situation I play in, and it gets a good "straight
ahead" sound. Dan Adler sometimes posts here. He used to always play
through polytones, and I think he still has a lot of live recordings
on his web site of him playing through them.
If portability is an issue for you you might think seriously about
weight. There's a big range in the amps you metioned. The Jazzkat is a
new one that is similarly portable to the Polytone. I've gotten to
hear one close up, and I liked it. The Clarus is also small, and it
definitely has a clearer tone than the Polytones. The Clarus head
costs more than the Polytone combo. If I were looking today, I would
consider the Jazzkat as well as the Henriksen.
Yes, your price for the Polytone is more than twice what I would
expect to pay.
Carl
dancesWithPickerel
Sheryl,
What would you recommend?
Carl
sbgt...@yahoo.com
it's been great for everything from organ trio to R and B/fusion stuff
- I think it deals with modified signal better than the Clarus, that
is if you're going to use stomp boxes, etc - it also converts to
european current, so I'm taking it to Italy with me in March, it fits
in the overhead. If you get a really old polytone, I think they sound
nice - probably the ones you would hear Joe Pass play, but the new
ones leave me cold, and I had one that was in the shop more than it
was at work with me, so I'm not a big polytone fan.
That's my 2 cents....
peace:
sheryl bailey
Chip L
will you also have a PA? If so, get a smaller amp and mike it.
Carrying those tanks around will get old quickly....
Chip L
Joey Goldstein
> I'm going to buy my first good jazz amp and I doubt between the
> following ones: Polytone Minibrute IV (1295 €),
IMO Polytones sound 'boxy', mostly because they use cheap speakers and
their cabinets are poorly designed. The electronics aren't too bad
though, so if you ran a PT MiniBrain into a good speaker inside good
cabinet it'd sound OK.
Lots of guys use the MiniBrain into a Raezer's Edge cabinet. The RE cabs
sound really good for jazz (I'd recommend the Stealth 12). They're not
so hot for other styles though. Closed back cabs give a nice thump on
the bottom end but they're uni-directional so only people sitting in
front of your cabinet can hear you well. I much prefer open backed
cabinets, mostly so the other musicians on stage with me can hear me better.
> Roland JC-120 (999 €)
JC-120's are a little bit sterile/cold sounding. And they're very very
heavy. One way to make them sound better is to put better speakers in
them. But better speakers are usually heavier than the stock speakers,
making the entire amp even heavier.
> and Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue (1285 €).
Twins sound real good for jazz and all sorts of other styles. For jazz,
at 80 watts RMS, they've got just enough power for clean headroom, but
not really much to spare. They are also very heavy amps. They can also
benefit from a speaker upgrade but it may increase the weight of the amp.
> The prices in brackets are
> in euros in Spain or Germany shops. What are your opinions?
My opinion is that you should look into the Peavey Transtube Bandit
amps. They sound great for jazz and can handle pop/rock/R&B/metal as well.
Or the Fender Devilles (Blues or Hot Rod). 60 watts RMS is just enough
for jazz in most rooms with most drummers.
The HR Deluxes sound real good too but are a little skimpy on headroom @
40 watts.
The 3 amps mentioned above could all also benefit from better speakers.
The 2 X 12" Devilles are almost as heavy as a Twin.
My own favorite amp right now, especially for jazz (but is' got great
rock sounds too), is a used Pearce G2r (long ago discontinued and out of
business) I bought about a year ago. See if you can find one on eBay.
Run it into an EVM-12L with an open backed cabinet and the sound is
perfect. The G2r combos came with a great cabinet that can be used open
or closed back. Sometimes he used an EVM-12S speaker which sucks
compared to the 12L. The G2r has a stereo mosfet power amp so you can
run 2 cabs in stereo with stereo effects too.
> What is
> the difference in tone and sound? American friends, is the polytone
> price in Spain too much high? What model of Polytone does Joe Pass
> usually play trough?
Joe Pass probably used a Polytone Mini Brute amp when he was using
Polytones. The new Mini Brutes don't sound as good IMO.
> Thank you for your help.
>
--
Joey Goldstein
http://www.joeygoldstein.com
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/joeygoldstein
joegold AT sympatico DOT ca
Matt at unixkaiser dot com
> To start with the JC-120 (because I own one)
>
> Clean, lots and lots of power.
>
> Bright, almost sharp high end. Even with its treble turned all the way
> down, maybe too bright for a classic electric jazz guitar tone. Good
> for a fusion sound.
>
> Very good sounding chorus, although not very adjustable.
>
> A noticable hiss. Not heard during recording, but in a rehearsal room
> or small room everybody can hear it.
>
> Heavy. Has wheels because it needs them. Movable by two people or one
> person with young health back, otherwise needs a dolly.
>
> Mine is for sale.
>
I have a JC-77 and I've always gotten lots of complements on my tone.
I bought it in the 80's and it was really nice at making Pat Metheny,
John Scofield, Mike Stern sorts of sounds. If you're patient, you can
get a reasonably good classic jazz sound. I play lam tops, routed
humbuckers, and roundwounds. I shy away from the "tubby" jazz sound
and go for a brighter "growl" and "shimmer" kinda thing.
Other Roland notes:
- loud as hell
- good if you have to play fusion/pop/rock here and there
- heavy as it is loud (I'm not 40 and I'm getting too old to carry
it.)
Other amps:
Polytones sound tubby to me. Pete Bernstein was playing through a
Fender in the 90's and it sounded amazing! I'd say you couldn't go
wrong with the Fender. The Roland might sound a bit dated... like I
probably do. ;-)
Matt
papao...@yahoo.com
Bandit. It's reasonably light, reasonably priced, has good headroom,
and is very controllable for a variety of styles including jazz. I've
used the "red stripe" version (most recent but one) but I haven't
tried the latest version. Does it sound as good as an amp costing 5
times as much? Probably not, but I think it sounds 90% as good for a
lot less money than the boutique amps (I also have an Evans, which
cost about 3 times as much). And audiences don't care that much
anyway.
BTW I tried swapping out the stock speaker for an Eminence Delta Pro
12L and put the original back in - better high end.
Danielle E
amps in the Transtube series?
Danielle
<papao...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1170637001....@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
Norm K
> I see frequent references to the Peavey Transtube Bandit. Do you like other
> amps in the Transtube series?
>
> Danielle
I have used a Peavey TT Studio Pro (1x12"; 65 W) for several years and
like it a lot for archtop jazz (which is all I play of late). I
bought it because my local shop had just sold their last Bandit. The
Studio is a little smaller/ligher and still has plenty of clean
headroom.
Norm
Joey Goldstein
I owned a Delta Pro 12 for a while too. It was sort of EVM-like, but not
quite.
How hard was it to change the speaker on the Bandit?
They're rear loaded aren't they?
glen
that's put a smile on face this morning. They don't care *that*
much.
I always thought the expression was "the audience don't give a flying
fu...."
;)
g
Chip L
> " And audiences don't care that much."
>
> that's put a smile on face this morning. They don't care *that*
> much.
>
Its true. The audience could not care less about our guitars and amps.
They just want to be entertained and have a nice evening.
Chip L
E7sus9
I've owned a polytone and the Roland Jazz Chorus, and they're
extremely different. The Polytone is subtle and mellow with no attack
and almost no high end, the JC120 is so much high end it sometimes
hurts. The polytone is good for solo jazz gigs and small groups but
can be easily lost in large groups or large venues. The Roland has so
much high end and attack that it'll cut through a crowd of noisey
people in a heartbeat (but it is heavy!). Both have a purpose, but if
you're looking for Joe Pass style sound I wouldn't go with the Roland.
That might be better suited for Jazz Fusion. I liked the polytone, but
nowadays prefer going direct into either a accoustic style amp or a
PA. The accoustic style amps basically act like small PA's, they're
(supposedly) designed to not add any coloring to the instruments sound
(like a PA). But I like a pretty clean sound that I can really control
to the environment. That's where a small accoustic or (better still)
small PA gets you. If there's an equalizer you can really tweak
things, but at a minimum it should have three band (hi, mid, lo)
control knobs, two (hi, lo) just don't cut it for me. I have a PA as
well as a Fender Acoustisonic 30, which is incredibly loud for a 30
watt amp, especially off the ground or on it's tilts. But there's a
lot of decent accoustic amps out there as well.
Good luck in the hunt for the right sound!
RB
sbgt...@yahoo.com
whose names I won't mention: "When you know the audience doesn't care
that much play E%($# amplifiers" - that sounds great :-)
sheryl bailey
papao...@yahoo.com
> Maybe that could be in the ad for one of those above mentioned amps,
> whose names I won't mention: "When you know the audience doesn't care
> that much play E%($# amplifiers" - that sounds great :-)
Mostly I grow tired of the relentless obsessing of wannabe guitar
players (like me, not like Sheryl Bailey) over gear. I notice I sound
pretty much the same regardless of what I play through. But Sheryl's
right, it wasn't much of an endorsement.
The problem I'd like to have is to play regularly in a bar that was
noisy enough that the tone of my amp didn't matter much. But alas ...
I'm a star in my own mind. My kids think I'm great, though. Puff the
Magic Dragon with 9th chords, anyone?
D. O'Neill
Miketec
> My opinion is that you should look into the Peavey Transtube Bandit
> amps. They sound great for jazz and can handle pop/rock/R&B/metal as well.
> Or the Fender Devilles (Blues or Hot Rod). 60 watts RMS is just enough
> for jazz in most rooms with most drummers.
> The HR Deluxes sound real good too but are a little skimpy on headroom @
> 40 watts.
> The 3 amps mentioned above could all also benefit from better speakers.
> The 2 X 12" Devilles are almost as heavy as a Twin.
Is the Peavey Transtube Bandit a real solid state amp, or is a DSP
amp?
What is your opinion about the Peavey ValveKing Series?
Joey Goldstein
They make one with digi FX too, but the non-FX Bandit is all analog
solid state. No DA or AD converters if that's what you're concerned about.
> What is your opinion about the Peavey ValveKing Series?
I don't know them very well. But their tube amps have always been pretty
good.
Keith Freeman
exceptional value for money.
-Keith
Portable Changes, tips etc. at http://home.wanadoo.nl/keith.freeman/
e-mail only to keith DOT freeman AT orange DOT nl
Miketec
guitar amp! It sounds very warm, with a lot of clean headroom. The low
notes sounds amazing. The amp doesn't need reverb, it has his own
natural one. I play my Telecaster with a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover
humbucker in the neck position through it and sounds like Ed Bickert.
This is the tone I was looking for. I have bought directly from
Henriksen. They give you an excellent service. The amp has arrived
fast and in perfect conditions. The shipping cost was only $135, from
US to Spain.