Amp for clean jazz tone with ES175?

[56jnr]

I'm going to piss off the Tubista purists and ask for suggestions for a good sounding SS combo to complement my new 175. The only amp I have at present is a Roland AC-60 acoustic combo which has a mag pickup input. It sounds ok but lacks a little punch. Weight is an issue, as is my back!
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[riscado]

I promise you won't piss off any "tubista purists"... however maybe some "tubista purists" might piss you off with some of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDvB05IZBBU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDvB05IZBBU

 

[56jnr]

I promise you won't piss off any "tubista purists"... however maybe some "tubista purists" might piss you off with some of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDvB05IZBBU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDvB05IZBBU

Very nice but I just sold a ProTube Pro Reverb because the thing weighed something around 85lbs! That's why I need a good sounding SS amp which doesn't weigh a ton and a half.

 

[Jurius]

Polytone is what a lot of guys use. They're light and SS.

You might want to look into Henrikson also. Some of the jazz heavy weights are liking Henrikson better than Polytone.

Sorry about your back. I'm a tube guy, but it takes more than this to piss me off.

 

[Minibucker]

Get a Polytone, or maybe even a modeling amp like the Line 6 Vetta/Flextone for some more possibilities.

 

[el84ster]

Man, I know everyone uses Polytones...but I'm going to come right out and say it: they sound like dull crap. That amp'll kill all the bautiful overtones your guitar is trying to put out! Let's face it, most jazz guys' tone blows.

I don't think you can do any better than a mid-60s or earlier Ampeg! They don't weight very much either, I had a Gemini I that was about 35 lbs. RR's are lighter of course. And serious, serious jazz tone. Made by a jazzer for jazzers.

C'mon man, let the other jazzers' tone suck and be in another league!

All IMHO of course.

 

[Jurius]

Man, I know everyone uses Polytones...but I'm going to come right out and say it: they sound like dull crap. That amp'll kill all the bautiful overtones your guitar is trying to put out! Let's face it, most jazz guys' tone blows.

I don't think you can do any better than a mid-60s or earlier Ampeg! They don't weight very much either, I had a Gemini I that was about 35 lbs. RR's are lighter of course. And serious, serious jazz tone. Made by a jazzer for jazzers.

C'mon man, let the other jazzers' tone suck and be in another league!

All IMHO of course.

Wow, I sure don't agree with "most jazz guy's tone blows". Who in particular are you talking about?

I do agree that you can get much better tone with tubes. But the guy has a bad back.

The Henrikson weighs 20 lbs.

 

[el84ster]

Wow, I sure don't agree with "most jazz guy's tone blows". Who in particular are you talking about?

I do agree that you can get much better tone with tubes. But the guy has a bad back.

The Henrikson weighs 20 lbs.

Well, most modern Jazz players I hear nowadays have a very flat tone. I think that's what many are actually shooting for. Dull and flat so the notes are all even and clear. I think most are looking for a lack of harmonic content in the notes. That's all fine and good, but is the exact opposite of what I like. Johnny Smith: great tone!

 

[mad dog]

Does the ES-175 have P-90s? One of the great jazz tones (IMO) is Grant Greens' ES-330 through the house Ampeg Gemini I in many of his 60s albums, I think it was at Rudy Gelder's studio in Englewood NJ. At least that's what Ive heard. Not sure of how much it weighs, but that Gemini is a fine amp.

 

[Jurius]

Well, most modern Jazz players I hear nowadays have a very flat tone. I think that's what many are actually shooting for. Dull and flat so the notes are all even and clear. I think most are looking for a lack of harmonic content in the notes. That's all fine and good, but is the exact opposite of what I like. Johnny Smith: great tone!

OK then. I'm with ya. Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Grant Green, young George Benson, etc. all great tone. These guys didn't have access to anything but tube amps.

 

[Minibucker]

Why not just get a Deluxe Reverb? Does it have to be solid state and 50+ watts (which in SS, could equal 20 tube watts in volume)? A DR with a clean speaker (like the Jensen NEO 12, which will also save a lot of weight), JJ 6V6 or 6L6 tubes, and you'll have enough headroom/volume for anything Jazz-related unless you're playing some uber-loud acid-fusion or something. If you want it even tighter/more headroom, you could use a solid-state plug-in rectifier with the 6L6 tubes...moving the power up to approach 30W. Play that next to a 50w solid-state amp and see which one wins out. An archtop and Fender cleans for Jazz...not bad if you ask me.

 

[56jnr]

Why not just get a Deluxe Reverb? Does it have to be solid state and 50+ watts (which in SS, could equal 20 tube watts in volume)? A DR with a clean speaker (like the Jensen NEO 12, which will also save a lot of weight), JJ 6V6 or 6L6 tubes, and you'll have enough headroom/volume for anything Jazz-related unless you're playing some uber-loud acid-fusion or something. If you want it even tighter/more headroom, you could use a solid-state plug-in rectifier with the 6L6 tubes...moving the power up to approach 30W. Play that next to a 50w solid-state amp and see which one wins out. An archtop and Fender cleans for Jazz...not bad if you ask me.

Food for thought Minibucker; thank you.

 

[Minibucker]

Plus, with a DR you have the option of something that can sound good with Jazz as well as a lot of other things by easily changing some tubes around here and there.

Rock/Blues: Tung Sol or NOS 6V6s, 5AR4 tube rectifier, pull the 'normal' channel preamp tube (if you only use the 'vibrato'/reverb channel) for a bit more gain, or even set up a push-pull defeat pot on the vibrato intensity (takes the vibrato out of thr circuit), and you have more crunch and compression at a bit lower volumes.

Cleaner Jazz: JJ 6V6s or 6L6s, solid-state plug-in rectifier, keep the 'normal' channel preamp tube in and the vibrato circuit intact for less gain but more clean headroom at louder volumes.

As long as you can rebias between changes ,there's quite a bit of versatility in there.

 

[el84ster]

I just saw a guy not too long ago play in a jazz club with a 175 and a DR. Veeery nice tone!

 

[Minibucker]

Archtops through a turned-up DR that's starting to break up is a wonderful sound...especially with P-90's...great for jump-blues and rockabilly. The brightness of DR's also really compliments a hollowbody, helps it cut through nicely. For jazz, I'd probably want the bright-cap on a switch or push-pull pot. I usually just take them out on mine.

 

[treatmanc]

Ihave 2 suggestions that Ive heard and experienced---check out a Fender roc pro 1000 head,into a mesa EV theile cab--what a really nice sound.Its a very versatile head and uses one 12ax7 to get its tone with a solidstate power section.IIts real cheap too--like under 250 on ebay.
The other suggestion is called a Jazzkat based on the same principal I just mentioned with the Roc pro--http://www.jazzkatamps.com/

 

[roadrunner]

Why not just get a Deluxe Reverb? Does it have to be solid state and 50+ watts (which in SS, could equal 20 tube watts in volume)? A DR with a clean speaker (like the Jensen NEO 12, which will also save a lot of weight), JJ 6V6 or 6L6 tubes, and you'll have enough headroom/volume for anything Jazz-related unless you're playing some uber-loud acid-fusion or something. If you want it even tighter/more headroom, you could use a solid-state plug-in rectifier with the 6L6 tubes...moving the power up to approach 30W. Play that next to a 50w solid-state amp and see which one wins out. An archtop and Fender cleans for Jazz...not bad if you ask me.

Yup... +1.

 

[sinner]

My friend does many gigs with just his ES-175 and little battery operated Crate amp. Carry amp in one hand, guitar in gig bag over his shoulder, and his tone is very good!

 

[FlyingVBlues]

I can suggest two SS amps. The first is a SS Pritchard Jade Dagger, which is great for playing with jazz boxes like the ES-175. You get great Fender cleans, in a very nice and very flexible amp. Here's a link to the website:


www.pritchardamps.com


The other choice would be a SS Acoustic Image Clarus 2R amp paired with a Raezer's Edge Stealth-12 cab. If you like Pat Martino's tone this is the rig to get -- this is what he uses. I'm using basically the same for jazz gigs (I have an older Raezer's Edge cab) with a ES-175 or a L5-CES, and it has a warm, round tone that sounds terrific.

Here are the links:

http://www.acousticimg.com

http://www.raezers-edge.com

BTW, I also have a lot of vintage Blackface Fender's, and a ES-175 sounds great through a Deluxe Reverb, Pro Reverb or Twin if you decide to go the tube amp route. A Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212 will also work well with a jazz box if you want something more reasonably priced.

FVB

 

[56jnr]

Thanks FVB; unfortunately the first two amps you suggested aren't easily available (if at all) in England.
Looks as tho' the Fender road is the one to go down...