Small amp with jazz tone for home use suggestion

[mefoolonhill]

The Fishman Loudbox Mini sounds great for jazz. They make a regular and a battery-powered version.

[radiofm74]

Yesterday I was playing my archtop at home with a little bit of electric volume, and I was smitten with how good my little Mojotone tweed champ clone sounded. It sounded like a million dollars – one of the best sounds I've gotten out of my DeArmond 1100 so far

Thought I'd share the sentiment here with you ;D

[dwalton]

I’m thinking that there might be a Henriksen amp in my future for jazz stuff - not sure about whether it will be a Bud or Blu, 6” or 10” size. Kinda pricey, but so many players love them.

[Bjbny]

I use a ZT Lunchbox amp as my “move around the house” amp. It is super portable and has very good tone.

[min7b5]

I have an AER Alpha in my office that I use for teaching. Over the years I've had many students plug archtops in and every immediately say it's the best jazz tone they've heard.. I believe Russell Malone used one for a while.. I know for acoustic guitar I've used that amp for many trio gigs and it was perfect.

[Birdbrain]

I bristle at any strict definition of proper guitar tone in jazz. We all know what's typical, right? Except that Charlie Christian sounded nothing like Wes Montgomery, Larry Coryell sounded nothing like Joe Pass, and Bill Frisell is nothing like Michael Hedges. Pat Metheny always has at least one song on every album where he barely sounds like himself!

For more practical advice, I think many amps have potential. I didn't pick my Bugera V5 tube amp specifically for jazz, but turn down the gain and it's fat and full and well-mannered. My other amp, a Boss Acoustic Singer Live gives a crisp and clean sound, with or without the tweeter engaged. With the Chorus cranked, it sound a lot like early Metheny, even though I don't.

At the Rocky Mountain Archtop festival in '19, every visiting virtuoso was playing through small amps from Henrickson, the event's sponsor. They all sounded fine, so that's an obvious choice.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Birdbrain

I bristle at any strict definition of proper guitar tone in jazz...Charlie Christian sounded nothing like Wes Montgomery, Larry Coryell sounded nothing like Joe Pass, and Bill Frisell is nothing like Michael Hedges. Pat Metheny always has at least one song on every album where he barely sounds like himself!

...I didn't pick my Bugera V5 tube amp specifically for jazz, but turn down the gain and it's fat and full and well-mannered...

At the Rocky Mountain Archtop festival in '19, every visiting virtuoso was playing through small amps from Henrickson, the event's sponsor. They all sounded fine, so that's an obvious choice.

In order:

• While it's beyond debate that each player indeed has his own unique tone, there's a generally-accepted common element present in the "jazz guitar" appellation that even relatively unsophisticated listeners know when they hear it - that clean, full tone with wide dynamic range and broad frequency spectrum (most often with an upper-bass/low-mid bump that lends a woody, seductive sweetness), and as much a genre-defining statement as the roar of a Plexi head through Celestion greenbacks is to rock;
• Speaking as a fellow owner, I'm not surprised - those early cathode-bias Class-A circuits defined "jazz tone" well into the 1960's, particularly if you were part of the NY Tri-State area scene where Ampeg (who tenaciously hung onto this first-generation topology in its Jet/Rocket/Reverberocket/Gemini I combos through the end of founder Everett Hull's reign) effectively owned the top studios thanks to the "Key Club," New York's A-list answer to the Funk Brothers/Wrecking Crew - and while it's great for dinner music or doing chord-melody accompaniment behind a smoky-voiced chanteuse, IME the V5 lacks the clean headroom necessary for even small-combo work in a typical modern club setting;
• Again, no surprise - and much like the Beatles adopted silverface Fenders once their endorsement agreement with Vox was up, I wonder how many players would have preferred to use their own gear had Henriksen not sponsored the event...

[815C]

I'm really happy with my little Roland JC-55 2x8 amp. It's pretty small and light weight but sounds great. You can hear it in this video. I cranked up the mid-range and cranked down the high's and mid's.

Since my Roland amp is pretty old, when I go play a solo jazz guitar gig I bring my little $99 Line6 Spider III amp as a back up. It actually gives a surprisingly good jazz tone if EQ'd correctly.

[ssstewart]

imo only, a facsimile of a "jazz tone"- very subjective in itself and a matter of personal preference can be achieved on many amps by manipulating settings but my 1963 ampeg gemini II is stunning for gypsy jazz..albeit NOT portable

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by ssstewart

...my 1963 Ampeg Gemini II is stunning for gypsy jazz...

Not surprised - Ampeg's products were targeted primarily at jazz and studio players (see my comments above about the NYC "Key Club") until founder Everett Hull's departure. BTW I don't know if you're dating your amp using pot/speaker codes, but according to both Ampeg: The Story Behind The Sound (Hopkins & Moore) and late Ampeg guru Dennis Kager (who serviced all my amps - including the top-panel/no 'verb Rocket that was one of the very first amps he worked on when he started at the Linden plant in '64) the 1x12" Gemini I - the first of the front-panel blue-check amps most old-timers associate with the Ampeg name - was designed/prototyped in 1963 and officially released in mid-1964. With the discontinuation of the big-box top-panel amps in favor of a more modern-appearing package, the 30-watt 1x15" Gemini II (among others) was introduced to fill the gap in 1965 and, while they used virtually identical tube configurations, the Gemini II used a topology more similar to Fender's late tweed-era mid-powered amps - and speaking as one who has played his share back in the day, if you need to step out of the jazz mold and get a little down-&-dirty they're an excellent choice...

Here's something you might find of interest:

https://www.vintageguitar.com/23412/...emini-ii-g-15/

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Interesting. I got a couple of old Ampegs laying around down here.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

...I got a couple of old Ampegs laying around down here.

As jazz amps go, the iconic '63-66 blue-check Ampegs are generally considered to be the "good" ones - they're certainly the most numerous here in the Northeast; FYI although many of the blue "random-flair" covered models that immediately preceded them were essentially identical electronically, they're not only harder to find but lack the cachet associated with the blue-check amps which, much like the '64 Fender blackface line, were the last to be designed/produced under their founder's leadership...

[ssstewart]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Not surprised - Ampeg's products were targeted primarily at jazz and studio players (see my comments above about the NYC "Key Club") until founder Everett Hull's departure. BTW I don't know if you're dating your amp using pot/speaker codes, but according to both Ampeg: The Story Behind The Sound (Hopkins & Moore) and late Ampeg guru Dennis Kager (who serviced all my amps - including the top-panel/no 'verb Rocket that was one of the very first amps he worked on when he started at the Linden plant in '64) the 1x12" Gemini I - the first of the front-panel blue-check amps most old-timers associate with the Ampeg name - was designed/prototyped in 1963 and officially released in mid-1964. With the discontinuation of the big-box top-panel amps in favor of a more modern-appearing package, the 30-watt 1x15" Gemini II (among others) was introduced to fill the gap in 1965 and, while they used virtually identical tube configurations, the Gemini II used a topology more similar to Fender's late tweed-era mid-powered amps - and speaking as one who has played his share back in the day, if you need to step out of the jazz mold and get a little down-&-dirty they're an excellent choice...

Here's something you might find of interest:

https://www.vintageguitar.com/23412/...emini-ii-g-15/

OMG! Steve was right i believe.

i brought my gemini II out to burn the tubes (clean) and check the serial # after Steves post. I got this for my 15th birthday ( almost 40 years ago) I had played classical for a few years at that time and wanted to play electric, so my dad who ran a vintage audio and repair shop bought this for me with a 50's hollowbody. as you can see he added a massive transformer (see pic) to allow it to pump out 300 instead of the traditional 30watts from the 15" jenson and put a 300 watt speaker in it (removed and selling wharfdale) , also he changed the caps, etc and tubes-preamp and power- ( he bought out a marconi and realistic tube distribution center and had tons of vintage tubes) he had said it was 1963 and the motherboard was marked the same..but that may have been my dads. this was my baby for the last 4 decades. based upon the serial # i beleive it puts it at 64 or 65? some of the older caps/IFs date to 1963 on them but that dont mean nuttin. thanks Steve for allowing me to learn something new about a dear item ive dragged with me most of my life, appreciated AGF is the most informative library of knowledgable members!

[Bob from Brooklyn]

My Ampegs have accordian inputs and 'echo' knobs.

[ssstewart]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

My Ampegs have accordian inputs and 'echo' knobs.

cools,

this one has the same: 2 accordion and 2 git inputs. speed/intensity/echo knobs etc and has a reverb floating spring system with foot pedal.