Rich Severson does some good demo YouTubes of the Quilter Micropro. This one is from 2012 and uses the same guitar and amp that I own. He has newer demos with newer Quilter models.

I love everything about the original Micropro 8, except for the tremolo which is decent but doesn't match that found in a good Fender tube amp to my ears.

Never tried vocals through my amp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOjXBLlFn38

I use the Quilter Tone Block/Block Dock 10

https://youtu.be/ZWjLd3BAGpw

It’s a real 50w output too! Plenty for me in an 18 piece jazz orchestra and with its compactness I can fit in beside the 4th trombone chair easily.

BTW fourth trombonists are often very entertaining cats!

Long time Acoustic Image Clarus 2R Series III user with a Raezer's Edge Twin 8 speaker cab. Great portability and plenty of clean, warm head room.

Also own and like the following (not in any particular order):

Fender 68 Custom Princeton Reverb
Polytone Megabyte
Polytone Minibrute II
Roland JC22
Henriksen Bud 6

And multiple speaker cabinets to go with the AI Clarus:

Raezer's Edge Stealth 12
Redstone Audio RS12
Redstone Audio RS10
Redstone Audio RS8

...but the AI Clarus w/Raezer's Edge Twin 8 is my all-time favorite. :up:

Sorry. I just noticed you specified COMBO AMPS in the title of this thread and I mentioned the AI w/Raezer's Edge cab.

Of the combo amps I've owned and played, I'm a big fan of the Fender 68 Custom Princeton Reverb. Not a lightweight amp to be sure, but sort of the poor man's Deluxe Reverb. Sounds nice but a bummer to carry to the gig.

If I had to choose one of my solid state combos, I've used the Roland JC22 more than the others. I used to use the Polytones a lot in the old days, but I just think the JC22 has a nicer, cleaner tone, a nice reverb and it's quiet.

I just got the Henriksen in the last year, and haven't used it much. It's the lightest of the amps I have and seems like a nice quality amp.

At the end of the day, I choose the aforementioned Clarus. I know you're looking for a combo. You've gotten some great suggestions. Good luck!

+1 for Henriksen bud ten.

The 5-band eq for each channel is very useful. People trends to set it neutral and affect of touching it, but it's not only for decoration. If you really want to have a good tone, you need to twist it a bit or even a big turn.

For people who like the tube sound, I add a tube preamp (Radial firefly) before the Henriksen, it helps a lot. Of course there's Henriksen solution (The Forte) if that's what you want.

Others are:

1. Volume is more than sufficient.
2. Reverb is nice.
3. It has a headphone output
4. Only 20Ibs

I bought my Henriksen the bud ten at the beginning of 2020, still love it so much!

Good stuff, thank you!

Raezer's Edge has come out with their own line of solid state amplifiers and combos. The Centauri Hybrid combo looks like an impressive amp with a high voltage tube preamp and class D poweramp. Very light, 200 watts and a variety of speaker combinations available. From the demos I've seen and because of the speaker choices/open back, I suspect that I would choose this over the Henriksen:

https://www.raezers-edge.com/products/centauri-hybrid/

There is a good thread on Jazzguitar.be about it, including video demos:

https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guit...aezer%27s+edge

Roland Cube 30 works well for me.
Fishman Loudbox does not have the right sound with the Archtop.
I have a Peavey delta blues amp, but I don't use it much. I sounds good with the archtop but it is a bit large.

I'd be very surprised if it didn't - a mid-powered tube amp with a 15" speaker is a classic early jazz amp if there ever was one...

A Roland Blues Cube. I have a BC-60 from the '90's. Built like a tank solid state with nice, sweet fat sound.

I've been using the Bud10 (Henriksen) exclusively for several weeks. It's exceeding my expectations. I've yet to perform "out" with it but have been using it exactly in the way I plan to use it out.

- Heritage H-575 guitar into channel 1
- Dynamic vocal mic (Shure Beta57A) into channel 2 for vocals.

The eq is powerful and I'm able to dial in excellent tone on both sound sources. The reverb is nice, not the best, but perfectly usable.

The compact size and weight is exceptional. Good build, smart design. Bluetooth can be a little glitchy.

With just this amp (no other PA) I expect I'll be able to provide plenty of sound for the performances I have this winter/spring.

So far no regrets all at with this amp.

I have a Peavey delta blues amp, but I don't use it much. I sounds good with the archtop but it is a bit large.

I forgot to say it is the 2 10 model. 2 10inch speakers. It does have a good bass tone.

Jazz amps....
 

Anybody have experience and comments on the heavy Schertler "Charlie" vs Schertler Jam 400? After an archtop hiatus, I have a birth year ES-175 and two year later '56 ES-175 DN inbound. Unfortunately, I sold my mint '77 Polytone Mini Brute II and JC-120 when I sold the '65 ES-175 and a few 335's about a dozen years ago.

Looking for that smooth jazz sounding amp. I have a Schertler Jam 400 that I use for acoustics in home, a Fender Mustang III v.2 for Strat and Tele and a Fishman SA220 that I used for playing out.

Looking to you jazz pros and aficionados to see if you think my Jam 400, Mustang modeling amp and or SA220 might suffice or if I should consider a Schertler "Charlie", Henriksen, AER 60 or?

Of course I'll have a little better perspective by end of week after the 175's land.

Thanks gang!

Robbypad

The Roland JC-22 doesn't get a lot of press but has many good reviews.

Jazz Amps for archtop guitars
 

Thanks m_g!

I will do research on the JC-22. I've noticed its model but hadn't been provoked into reading about it and examining reviews and specs. I am guessing because I liked my little 1977 Polytone Mini Brute II better than my JC-120.

I am interested to know your opinion on the comparison of the JC-22 and the JC-120.

Now to read about the 22.

Thanks again for your input!

Robbypad
Bruce

I use either an older model Henriksen or a Polytone.

With both, I use a Tech 21 blonde modelling pedal if I want to get a more "tube amp" sound.

Jazz Chorus is tremendous but just too heavy....Henriksen and Quilter will float your boat. My own sitution for an ES-175D is a ToneMaster Deluxe Reverb at 22lbs it's highly transportable. If i were to travel by public transport I would fall back on my tc electronics BAM200 head fixed on top of a Toob Metro 6.5BG speaker - it all fits in a small sports bag and weighs nothing for 200w solid state output. Lots of comments over at jazzguitar.be. I run a Fender tre-verb in front but hall of fame or any other decent reverb pedal will do...... Always useful to have an eq pedal to help you fine-tune your sound for each venue - I have an mxr 6-band

Jazz amps Rivera.
 

I've watched a lot of videos and my favorites are the Rivera Jazz Recording 50 single channel and the two channel, older, Rivera Jazz Suprema that has the clean channel the Jazz Recording was modeled after. The second channel is not for jazz, having more gain. Anybody with Rivera experience and opinions?

[deleted post]

Rivera Jazz Recording 50
 

Rivera Jazz Recording 50 shipped today...........ES-175 (1954 burst) arrived yesterday. 1956 ES-175 DN arriving Monday. Fun to come next week when Rivera amp lands!

Thanks to those who provided input!

Bruce

Holland Amps Jazz 50.

SO many choices ...I second what many have said here.
My favorite is my 1966 Ampeg Gemini VI but no way it leaves the house because it`s so heavy and bulky.
I`ve been through Quilter 101, Acoustic Image Chorus, Demeter Mighty Mini and to me the Henriksen is the clear winner over the other lightweight solutions.
That said ...I`ve been on a search for some serious iron with octals to get a deep punchy grunt over a drummer .
I have a Sano 2 x 7591 head.... in search for a lighter Ampeg sound.
I have a feeling that those power tubes are a big part of the Ampeg sound that I love.
AND ...I commissioned an FYD Town & Country ...2 x KT88 with octal pre.
Played one and loved it and ordered one. It still hasn`t got me sold.
My next experiment is the Milkman "the Amp" as a hopeful light package that still carries a tube fingerprint.
Anyne in the archtop world settled on the Milkman?
I WILL be getting one.
BTW ...my archtop is a 15" Koll sand F holes with Guild mini`s so the goal is a hybrid between a 335 and an L5 ...hopefully more L 5

Here`s an example of me and some friends through a Henriksen ...keep in mind the video cam has its own compression.
https://youtu.be/vV5IoYiGFwU?t=13

Those Gemini combos were the go-to amps for in-the-trenches NYC musicians in the '60s; the "Key Club" (NYC's A-list answer to the Funk Brothers/Wrecking Crew) set up a batch of them in the NYC studios - along with B-15's for the bassists and B12-XT's for the keyboard players (and the occasional guitarist who wanted a fatter Twin-style tone) - whose on/off switch was replaced with a tubular lock (hence the name), and keys only available to select players through AFM 802. Used a few of those Gemini I/II combos back then myself, and an organist buddy used to run his Farfisa Compact Duo through a B-12XT (complete with personalized Portaflex nameplate); shame Ampeg never promoted the -XT - if you ever have the chance to play through a good one you'll never be satisfied with a blackface Twin again...

FYI there's a certain amount of common DNA (Gregg Hopkins' book Ampeg: The Story Behind the Sound covers it in more detail), and while not in common use among other guitar amp manufacturers some of the early hi-fi guys (Fisher in particular) used them with some regularity in their low/mid-powered power/integrated amps - which leads me to:

They are - especially with the octal preamp tubes used in the pre-1965 small combos, including the top-panel/no 'verb Rocket R-12A I bought brand-new in 1964 (Ampeg guru Dennis Kager checked it out shortly before his passing, and said it was one of the very first ones he worked on when he joined the Linden operation); a lot of guys made the mistake of converting to 6V6 (actually used in the first-edition Rockets - the "A": used 7591's) or 6L6 when NOS 7591's became difficult to find - fortunately they've been re-sourced through the former Soviet-bloc tube manufacturers, so they can be restored to spec...

This sounds interesting - I played through a 200W Marshal Major with KT88's about 40 years ago, and unless you've strapped into a dragster and hammered the throttle (I have) there's nothing that compares to the experience. Wonder if Dan Lurie can build you an octal preamp stage with a Baxandall-type Gemini tone stack - a little bit of Linden-era tonal mojo with SVT-style "big clean" grunt should make for great headroom for a jazz-oriented amp... :guitar:

My 1963 Ampeg Gemini II sounds awesome with my 29 stewart archtop and a cling on pick up on the end of trapeze tailpiece, can produce a very clean jazzy sound.

DV Mark Guitar Friend 1x12
 

Hands down, the DV Mark Guitar Friend 12 small, powerful, very light, and with huge jazz tone, this ended my search for a quality jazz combo amp without having to spend a ton of money.

Cheers,
Arnie..

https://i.postimg.cc/rprtLYc3/dvc-gf...sampling-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/vB7g4g4v/dvc-gf...sampling-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/gjNfksmb/dvc-gf...sampling-2.jpg


Click here to see in action!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Bfvt2uYyc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bnV3XTP-sk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9PJZLAOnEM

DV Mark 12 Jazz - I use with my Ibanez AS200
Another vote for the DV Line - made in Italy. This one the DC Mark 1 Jazz - purpose made for the job.
50W RMS@8ohm, beautiful clean tones for pretty much anything, takes pedals really well. It works very nicely for a stand alone acoustic amp too.
Weighs only an unbelievable 19 lbs. Also available as a 212.

http://www.dvmark.it/product-detail/dv-jazz-12/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skEAFRF9vK8

Only one vote for the AER Cube 60 so far. Here is a second. For me just the right mix of tone, portability, and a good second channel. Very versatile little amp and easy to gig with. The carrying bag has enough pockets to carry a ton of stuff.

Downside? Mine is about 15 years old at least, it only has 24v of phantom power on channel 2. I think the newer ones have 48.