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Roland JC120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Combo Amplifier (2x60 Watts, 2x12 in.)

120 watts of power with 2 input channels and two 12 in. speakers.

Overall User Ratings

Overall:
           9 out of 10
Features:
           9 out of 10
Quality:
           10 out of 10
Value:
           9 out of 10
I Want It:
           9 out of 10
Sound:
           9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
           10 out of 10
Support:
           9 out of 10
 
 

Roland JC120 Jazz Chorus Customer Review

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          4 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
          10 out of 10
Submitted: 8/2/2007
Style of Music: rock, alternative, jazz, blues, progressive
Musical Experience: Active musician
Location: Dallas, TX

 

 
Feature:
Classic clean tone, plus a great chorus. The spring reverb is not very useful and the 'distortion' has always been kind of a joke, but who cares? You buy this amp for it's bright clean sound, period. If you want to add overdrive, get a tube screamer or something--although I think those sound better in front of a tube amp. (except if you're using a Pod like me...) Like just about every great piece of gear, the JC120 focuses on doing one thing very well.

Quality:
Seems to work well and take a lot of abuse. Built like a tank.

Value:
Yeah, it's worth it. Definitely.

Desirability:
Let's face it, this amp has a look all its own. If your main concern is lookin cool onstage, get a Marshall stack or tweed Bassman. The JC120 is definitely not "cool". However, I could give a ---- about how it looks as long as the sound is awesome. Most people can't believe I get the sounds I do out of my little setup.

Sound:
The JC120 is an awesome clean amp. Different from a Twin Reverb, but not better or worse. That is why I use it to amplify my PodXt modeler. I played a JC120 at music school in the early 80's and loved it, but then gravitated to the Fender Twin for clean sounds and Hiwatt and MesaBoogie for distorted tones. Now that I use a Pod to model all of those great tube amp/speaker combinations, I needed a combo amp for gigs/rehearsals that would not color the sound of the POD. Lots of people complain about the sound of a Pod through their guitar amp, but if you like what you hear in the headphones, you will like what you hear coming out of the JC120, it's that pristine.

Ease of Use:
Very easy to use and tweak. The EQ is very musical. Makes a great acoustic guitar stage amp, and works well with keyboards, too, although it may not have enough bass response for some synths. I like being able to plug directly into the L & R inputs of the power amp.

Support:
Never needed it.

Overall:
Overall great amp that deserves to be called a classic!

11 of 11 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"Thirty + years and still going strong!"

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
          10 out of 10
Support:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from aol.com
Submitted: 12/3/2006
Style of Music: Rock and metal
Musical Experience: Active Musician
Location: Kelseyville, CA USA

 

 
Feature:
Chorus is perfect. Distortion is lacking.

Quality:
I bought my JC120 30 years ago and have never had any problems with it whatsoever. Not even a fuse.

Value:
Well worth the money I spent.

Desirability:
I like it. Its a good looking amp.

Sound:
It still sounds great with 30 year old speakers. lol. I usually play it around 2 to 3 and it is quite loud. The chorus is great. This is what sold me on it. The distortion isn't so good, so I use a Proco Rat. Its 20 years old and is still going strong too. I would recommend this amp to anyone who wants to start off with a super amp that will last a lifetime. Great Amp.

Ease of Use:
Turn it on and turn the knobs where you want them. Its easy. I use a 30 year old Gibson Les Paul, a hot-rodded Ibanez and an Fender American Strat. All sound perfect with this amp. I also recently added a Carvin 412 speaker cabinet for some added thump. Sounds great!

Support:
I have never needed any support. Never had anything go wrong with this amp whatsoever.

Overall:
I will always keep this amp.

9 of 9 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"One of a kind"

Overall:
          8 out of 10
Features:
          8 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          9 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          9 out of 10
Submitted: 3/5/2006

 

 
Feature:
you have to wire the three footswitches with their own wire. The amp sounds noticeably different when i use the effect loop. i love running my me-50 through it in true stereo. it also lets you hook up external speaker if you want to hook it up to another jc-120. love the bright channel.

Quality:
great quality. The knobs are perfectly smooth and they are big. The knobs are also recessed so they won't break if my amp ever fell over in the car. The input jacks are smooth and dont even make a sound when i unplug.

Value:
better clean than more expensive amps. best chorus than any amp. Not cheap, but good investment becaus eit will last a long time.

Desirability:
i love the look, the big roland logo and the colored control area are better than plain old black. the girlle is perfect beacuse you can see through it at the two beutifal silver coned speakers. Many people will know what is is from far away because of those two big silver cones.

Sound:
its clean sound makes your guitar sound a lot better than you would think. It sounds so good clean that i use my effects less. chorus is amazing and the vibrato can be sped up for a neat effect. i think the distortion is great. you can hear your dynamics and every note when the distortion is on. its sounds bigger than mono amps because it is stereo. big frequency response. even works well with vocals.

Ease of Use:
makes anyting sound great. i find that when the bright channel is on and i use a lot of distortion from my pedal it sounds different. easy to use. sounds great with acoustic/electric.

Support:
haven't delt with them

Overall:
It is not a tube amp, but that is also a good thing. I wish i could use a midi footcontroler. Can be used for many instruments (guitar, acoustic, acoustic/electric, keyboard, vocals, electronic drums, midi instrumet,....)

3 of 3 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"an amp from the heavens!"

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from hotmail.com
Submitted: 2/1/2001
Style of Music: jazz, experimental ambient stuff, and jam-rock/ funk.
Location: new york city

 

 
i have been playing for around ten years, and have never heard a clean tone as satisfying. i use it with a roland space echo 201, and a tube screamer,and play a les paul.
the distortion can, however, only be used as a novelty 'funky' tone.
the stereo chorus is beautiful, and the spring reverb is remarkably responsive and warm.
all the drummers i have played with have hated it- it drowns the drums with the volume knob at 12 o'clock. a truly remarkable machine.
1 of 1 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"For a clean amp, this is as good as it gets"

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from hotmail.com
Submitted: 9/30/2001
Style of Music: reggae
Location: elsewhere

 

 
There is a good reason the JC-120 is a standard backline request for international and national touring jazz, reggae, ska, etc. groups that need a clean, punchy sound. The JC-120 is the best sounding clean amp there is, bar none. The thing has got tons of headroom, the chorus must be heard to be believed. The is plenty of optional inputs and footswitch controls. The only downside is that Roland has cheapened up a bit on the construction. If you want to regularly make a little cash, just use this thing for opening a few national acts. The road manager invariably says something to the effect of, "Hey, we sent the promoter a rider with our amp preferences and they set us up with a (insert your own amp here)... Can we rent your JC from you for the backline?" Hehe... you think I'm kidding but I've already made $200 renting my JC in just such circumstances.
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"DON'T LOOK NO FURTHER"

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          8 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
Sound:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from MSN.COM
Submitted: 5/27/2005
Style of Music: ROCK ALTERNATIVE
Musical Experience: ACTIVE MUSICIAN RECORDING ENGINEER
Location: COLORADO SPRINGS CO

 

 
Feature:
DISTORTION IS USLESS HARSH AND BAD. THEY SHOULD REFINE THAT SECTION.

Quality:
HAVE NEVER HAD TO GET THEM WORKED ON THERE BUILT LIKE A TANK

Value:
BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK

Sound:
I WON 2 OF EM BOUGHT BACK IN THE 80'S ROCK SOLID AMP NEVER BEEN TO THE SHOP..DISTORTION IS USLESS.. I USE AN OLD IBANEZ PUE5 EFFECTS UNIT AND HAVE A PARKER FLY AND STRAT. I HAVE TRIED MANY AMPS SINCE OWNING THE JC-120'S AND I ALWAYS COME BACK TO IT. I'VE TRIED BOOGIE, MARSHAL, AND THE JC IS THE BEST! I HAVE TRIED NEW DIGITAL EFFECTS BUT IT DOES BEST WITH THE OLD ANOLOG. A MUST HAVE!

Support:
NEVER USED

Overall:
VERY HAPPY! PLAYED ALL STYLES OF MUSIC FROM COUNTRY TO HARD ROCK AND ALTERNATIVE

4 of 5 people (80%) found this review helpful. Did you?    
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"Most versatile I've ever found"

Overall:
          9 out of 10
Features:
          8 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          8 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from hotmail.com
Submitted: 1/31/2003
Style of Music: Top 40, jazz, country, classic rock, blues
Location: Austin, Texas

 

 
My JC120 has seen me through 15 years as a sideman as well as stints as a member of several bands. Only complaint is that the volume gets overpowering in smaller club engagements. To 'mic-up', I have to keep the master at about 2+/-.. The amp doesn't really come into it's own at this level.

Cleanest amp I've ever played through, bar none. Wonderful chorus, smooth reverb. I've used it for an acoustic amp as well, to great effect on solo gigs. Does equally wonderful things to the sound on both my Strat and Les Paul.
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"have used mine heavy, since they first came out, not a prob,guitar,piano vocal, super clean sound."

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          10 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from yahoo.com
Submitted: 9/26/2002
Style of Music: Rock n Roll, Country, Gospel
Location: Austin Texas, the new music capital of the world. (Austin City Limits)

 

 
you cant k ill one, it will be going strong when other amps quit. If you are in a battle of the bands they are really nice and want to borrow your amp. just check around, and you will find the best musicians are using them.
GDH
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"If you play Jazz, you will love this amp!"

Overall:
          10 out of 10
Features:
          8 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          10 out of 10
I Want It:
          10 out of 10
User: a customer from aol.com
Submitted: 12/27/2001
Style of Music: Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Location: Olympia, Washington, USA

 

 
I have owned my Roland JC120 for about 6 years. It has a cool, rich tone and the chorus is the best I have ever heard. I play three different guitars through my JC-120, a Fender Strat-Plus, a Gibson ES-335TD and a Ibanez PM-20. All of them sound great with this amp.

A professional guitar amp for a reasonable price!

Good luck and enjoy...
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"Roland Tone - Truly different and a must have amp"

Overall:
          9 out of 10
Features:
          8 out of 10
Quality:
          10 out of 10
Value:
          8 out of 10
I Want It:
          8 out of 10
Submitted: 3/2/2003
Style of Music: Jazz,R&B,Ska-Regg,Blues,Country,Rock
Location: Chicago

 

 
Since 1984 I have played my JC-120 at clubs, outdoor gigs, studios, etc. and for many years the JC-120 was may main amp. It is great for funky-reg, jazz, acoustic, and the headroom is fantasic. In the studio it performs well at low to mid volume. While the Distortion is useless it's defining tone is truly a must in your rig.

Years ago at a rehersal space there was a fire, the place was a disaster. My JC-120 fortunatly survived. . after a good cleaning I turned it on at home and WOW! it still sounds great today. I don't push many effects through it because it's vintage sound is what I want for jazz, funk and lean.fat.clean..sound. Some effects sound great on other amps and are dead on the Roland.
Sometimes I run a POD straight into the two main inputs and bypass the preamp(Stereo), A nice match I must say, great tones. Depending on the gig I usally use a tube Fender or a VHT Pittbull. Guess what. . .My Roland JC-120 always goes along for the ride.

I you want an amp that is built like a battleship(look for an older used one) and offers great tone for Country Rock, Jazz, Funk etc; and you play an acoustic guitar. .go for it. Add a POD and you might not need another amp solution ever again.
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