Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Charlie: Can you comment on the Roland 60 and the JC120. I know very little about these amplifiers, but from limited reading it would seem that the Roland 60 is the Roland JC120 circuit cut in two.

As far as I know, the Roland Jazz Chorus was not manufactured until 1975. Does this fit with what others know about this line of Roland amplifiers?

There is some interesting discussion here.

Very interesting indeed, Peter. I'm still trying to contact the guy who did the chorus control modification on mine.

I'm sort of regretting buying the one I have - a shipment has just arrived and they have dropped in price by $400 - only $400 more for a 'newie' than I paid for my 'vintage' one!

Oh well..............

Aitch that's $400.00 you can put to good use somewhere else. Like another piece of gear or another Ric or ?

That just presents another opportunity in my mind. LOL

Those are solid state amps. The chorus sounds nice on both, but for me, the sound overall is too stiff and lifeless. They are in the higher echelon of solid state amps.

Hmmmm... I do need to stock up on beer and Guinness, Brian!!

Roland Jazz Chorus amps are for clean, archtop jazz playing or for keyboards. They do not have any soul, typical and are not responsive like a tube amp. I would guess that the big difference is just twice as many output transistors in the 120 over the 60.

So I'm a bit late coming to this conversation.

I must take a contrary position to the 'stiff and lifeless' and 'do not have any soul' comments.

I LOVE my Roland JC120. They occupy their own space in the amplifier world and are anything but sterile sounding. As far as A-list players who use them (and there are many), Les Paul, Roger McGuinn, and Marty Willson-Piper immediately come to mind.

My Class A/15W tube combo is a different beast all-together, but both do what they do with aplomb.

My closing statement:

IF you're guitar sounds good, it will sound good through a JC120.

I think these are good amps probably the top transistor amp of all time on record anyway!

A bit hissy sometimes though, although mine a JC77 2x10 is nearly 20 years old. The distortion is OK for volume boost/solos etc, the chorus is fantastic though!

Some have upgraded the speakers with Weber Michigans. I would like to maybe upgrade the signal caps , also the reverb tank can be replaced with a better model?

Good versatile amp, if used with a few pedals & reliable as well

PS This is a tube forum section?

When I said the sound was too stiff and lifeless, if you'll notice I said it was that way for me. Others like yourself may like the amps. I don't mind them terribly if there is no tube amp around to play, but in my experience almost any tube amp will have more touch response. As I said the Roland JC-120 is in the upper ecehlon of solid state guitar amps. Their Cube 60 amps are decent too.

I prefer a Kustom 200 or RIC Transsonic transistor amp from the late 60's to these Rolands if I have to play a solid state amp. The chorus IS very nice on the JC-120 as I said above.

This isn't a tube amp forum section...you'll just find that most guitar players prefer tube amps to solid state for serious playing. But since everyone hears differently, each to his own.

I think most decent quality tube amps probably would sound better IF properly maintained with decent valves & parts, this requires more cash for maintainence though!

If obtained for a cheap price the JC's are still a good deal I used mine in the past with a Sansamp GT2 Tube emulation recording pedal & got some good sounds.

Maybe a good top quality overdrive pedal would warm up the Jazz Chorus?

As I have 4 tube amps I don't use it much nowadays, but am keeping it for a bit of variety in recordings, perhaps using it in a multi amp configuration?

Guitarists who have used the JC's include Andy Summers, The Edge, Johnny Marr & Marty Wilson Piper, Will Seargant & many others, these guys had the choice of other amps & picked the JC's for certain recordings, that says they are good amps IMO!

Its not a question of warming up the JC...its just that it isn't as touch responsive as a good tube amp is. Thats just in the nature of transistor amps. I personally like lots of touch response when I play most styles of music, so a tube amp usually fits the bill for me. That said, I'm sure a JC has many applications for lots of people and could work well for those who are budget lomited, and as I said, it is one of the best transistor amps around if that is what you're looking for.

From my experience, the JCs are great for the thing they do best, that clean chorus thing. The built in distortion is god awful, but you can get that processed distorted tone with a pedal in front of it, although that isn't my favorite. I don't think it is a budget amp, but is on the short list of pieces to include in a rounded amp collection.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, Jeff. Few amps are up there with the JC-120 in regard to chorus - at least as far as some performers are concerned. The JC-120 is John McNally's (Searchers) amp of choice for both his Tele and 620/12. He uses pedals with the Tele but not with the Rick.

Perhaps not surprisingly, JCs are often found in recording studios - in Australia, anyway.

If I want chorus I use my JC-120. If I want a warm tube sound I use my AC-30. If I want something else I use pedals with either. As I've said on this forum before - horses for courses!

Interesting -- I have a couple of experiences with the JC-77. It was the borrowed amp I used in my college band in the late 80s. Great with no pedals with my 66 335. Fast forward to a few years ago when I saw one cheap. I bought it and used it with my new 360 and didn't like it at all. Traded it in eventually.

Overall, it's a great, great amp. But I think you've got to be looking for a specific sound. It's the best at what it does.