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In a previous post I asked about recommendations for a jazz amp for clean chord melody tones using a Korean Joe Pass Emperor. Thanks again for your replies. I guess I didn't realize that the amp I have may be fine. (I pick up the guitar this Sunday).
But I'm wondering what you think here....again no effects other than reverb are desired. I have a solid state Fender 65 (the small one). See pic below. It may need some repair work on the reverb.
The questions:
Do you think the differences between this amp and the Roland Cube 60 are so minor that I should not get the Roland, save some cash, and just use the Fender? I saw a Cube 60 on Craigslist for about $275 or so and it's tempting. I want something as lightweight as possible.
Thanks!
Last edited by angelpa; 03-14-2014 at 08:37 AM.
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03-14-2014 08:25 AM
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I use a Fender Princeton Chorus 50 watt, 2X10 clean with a touch of reverb for both my Godin KP II and Aria FA71. I have no regrets tone-wise with either, I also have a Roland 20X for a grab& go to informal jamming with friends (JC clean +reverb). Again, either guitar, I can get a tone I'm happy with. The 65 you have should do fine with the incoming JP. For the price, that Roland is very tempting, I'll own a 60 or 80 someday myself.
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I like the Princeton 65 much more than the Cubes. A speaker upgrade could be a good idea though.
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How do you set up your amp, how much of trebles, mids and bass?
Originally Posted by RoyaleT
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I am asking because I have one but it seems I have to keep the trebles very low to have a decent sound.
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@Jazz_175: I used to play an Epi Sheridon II thru the Princeton, and I didn't like the sound. It was like you could hear me plucking the strings too clearly, if that makes sense. I'm used to have the treble, bass, and middle all the way up. I just saw a Fender frontman 25r and it's tempting
Last edited by angelpa; 03-14-2014 at 10:32 AM.
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I traded a Princeton Chorus that I bought new in 1996 for a Cube 80XL two years ago, and I am much happier with the Cube.
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My advice is to wait until you get the JP use it for a little while with the Fender Princeton 65 so you can make an informed decision. None of the amps you are mentioning (IMHO) are going to offer you a significantly improved jazz tone over your Princeton. Different strings and picks may have more of an impact than the different amps you are considering. On the Princeton use the less brite input on the right, set the treble and bass between 4 and 6, then season to taste and you will probably attain a respectable jazz tone. After you have tweaked the combination for a couple of weeks and still believe the amp is keeping you from that killer jazz tone, then feed your GAS and have fun shopping.
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With the KP II, it's set right now at Treble 4, Mids 7, and bass 6, minor adjustment with tone knob. The Aria is usually a little higher(5/6) on treble and a touch lower on bass(4/5). Originally Posted by Jazz_175
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Very sound advice. Originally Posted by ESCC
K
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Thank you all. Looks like I may get a Roland AC60 for $280 from Craigslist. Here's a clip of someone playing one on YouTube:
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I would second the cube. Your already getting recommendations for speaker changes etc on the fender. You got to also figure, those fenders are the cheap side, made probably in Mexico, versus a Japanese designed unit, with effects built in if wanted.
I had the Cube 60 all thorough college and uni and it was a great little amp. I tried a Princeton once in a shop and thought it was just way lower in quality.
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What does etc mean? The only suggestion was a speaker upgrade. I tried a lot of 80s and 90s SS amps - they can be had for cheap and have good cleans. In most of them the weakest part was the speaker and it's a cheap upgrade. Originally Posted by GoergeBenson
I also enjoyed the subtle mix of "made in mexico" with "designed in japan". All fenders are "designed in the usa" so... It's "designed in the usa, made in mexico" vs "designed in japan, made in china". Old cubes were made in Japan and sound much better than current ones - and also benefit from a speaker upgrade. But I believe we're talking about current ones, no?
The princeton 65 has some reliability issues I believe and it's always a risk to get vintage solid state amps anyway because some parts may not exist anymore. But I've seen plenty of problems in the current cube line too and good luck fixing dsp... Also I don't think the line of fx offered by the cube would be of any use for jazz but who knows.
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I have a Princeton 65 I purchased as part of a misunderstanding. It has a decent clean tone in a small space. However, the reverb channel is busted (lots of noise) and unusable. It's only worth $100 so getting it fixed isn't an option. If you get a good deal on one, it's not a bad practice amp.
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Lol I think you've pretty much summed up what I was saying no? :-) Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
And IMO the old cubes don't sound any better than the new ones. And yes USA made in mexico compared to Japanese designed a controlled made in china is a big difference IMO. Lets take the early mexican strat and compare it to the quality of the Artcores. Heck lets even take the USA fenders and compare them to the Chinese art cores :-)
In fact lets not compare Fender to anything because that would be an insult to whatever is being compared too.
Sorry, i've gone too far, I just hate fender as a company and their shoddy ethos. I would consider them an embarressment to decency, quality and the musician.
Any who, the early 80's yamaha SS's are actually really good and bloody cheap. I would get one of those.
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No I did not summed up what you were you saying, quite the opposite.
I've seen several cubes to be unreliable, so in that case I don't see the cubes to be any better than the fenders. The fender is all analog and has the schematic available, that's a big plus if you have any problem. As I said, good luck repairing the dsp on a cube. The reverb in the fender is also vastly superior to the weak digital ones on the Cubes.
Also I find the difference between old cubes and new cubes quite noticeable and in general I don't see any difference between US design or Japan design or Mexico made or China made. And that was actually just a way of you avoiding to say what you just said - you hate Fender. That's fair, just say it right away, easier for everyone else
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Paul bollenback was running a roland cube and a polytone in stereo last time I saw him and it sounded great. To me, many of the closed back single 12 amps have a little bit too much directional ice pick in the ear thing going on but when you use them in stereo with a digital reverb pedal it really opens up the sound. Bollenback used to use a pair of the Roland amps in DC when he was living there. I thought the pair of them sounded a bit tighter than the polytone and roland together.
I used to use a single 12 tube amp in conjunction with a roland cube and that also sounded great. Probably the best combination as you get the fast attack and headroom of the SS amp but you get the sweet, bright compressed tone from the tube amp.
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I know this is an old thread but just came across it as i've just picked up a Princeton 65. I really like this amp, i had one years ago and loved it then. But as our gigs got bigger i sold it and used a fender twin. Trouble is i always missed that 'bite' that the little amp gave me and after several other amps i'm now back to the princeton. Sounds crazy i know but it works or me.The only reason i sold it was because the speaker was breaking up at the volume i needed.What i should have done as someone suggested earlier is just upgrade the speaker, would have saved me a lot of money and frustration.On it's own i found the amp just a little dead so i used an ART tube preamp on the way in and it really brings it to life! The spring reverb is great, i've missed that a lot. I'm glad to be back to a normal little amp as i've been using a modeling amp lately, Fender Mustang III and it does my head in. Ok for recording but live, just give me the old fashion knobs to twiddle and i'm happy! Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
No I did not summed up what you were you saying, quite the opposite.
I've seen several cubes to be unreliable, so in that case I don't see the cubes to be any better than the fenders. The fender is all analog and has the schematic available, that's a big plus if you have any problem. As I said, good luck repairing the dsp on a cube. The reverb in the fender is also vastly superior to the weak digital ones on the Cubes.
Also I find the difference between old cubes and new cubes quite noticeable and in general I don't see any difference between US design or Japan design or Mexico made or China made. And that was actually just a way of you avoiding to say what you just said - you hate Fender. That's fair, just say it right away, easier for everyone else
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You are hearing the traditional Fender mid-range scoop. Most jazzers (but not all) using a Fender amp roll the treble and bass down to about 3 or less; if there is a mid control they roll it up to close to full. That basically flattens the tonal coloration of the Fender tone stack. You may have to compensate by turning up the volume a smidge. Originally Posted by Jazz_175
If you have a master volume, you can experiment with turning up the channel volume or gain quite high and using the master volume to set the overall volume- this can help you warm up the sound by pushing the preamp harder. Or you can try the opposite- turn the master volume up and use the channel volume or gain to set the overall volume; in this case you are pushing the power tubes harder and the preamp is cooler. You'll hear different sounds and can pick what you like.
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