Jet City Amplification

[telecopter]

Basically a Chinese built Soldano design...20 watt head that screams. I tried the one that they got at GC today and bought it immediately. $299!!!

Built like a tank and sounds great...report to follow in a few days....:JAM

[~Abstract~]

pics?

[telecopter]

JCA20H

http://www.jetcityamplification.com/

[~Abstract~]

Any real pictures...of your amp?

There's several threads around...haven't seen snapshots yet...

[telecopter]

I haven't got my camera right now, sorry.

[Jim S]

How much gain?

AC/DC
VH
metal

?

[telecopter]

I would say in between AC/DC and VH...

They are gonna sell a ton of these.

[telecopter]

Follow up...I've used it at home quite a bit since I first got it...GREAT o.d tones, but alas the lack of clean headroom will not work for me. Back it goes...

[jptortor]

I played one and also bought it instantly. Per Doug, one of the owners of the company, this head shares the preamp circuit of the SLO's normal mode. It has VH gain. Not metal gain. Its very responsive. Very dynamic. Very open and organic sounding.

I can't wait for the 100 watter that apparently uses the preamp circuit from the lead channel of the SLO!

[straticus]

Very interesting.

I've been looking for a cheap 1x12 grab n' go combo and that 20 watter looks pretty cool.

[02Singlecut]

Wow.....2 of Seattle's best went East !:dunno

[LPMojoGL]

cha ching
gotta compete with that egnater dude
long live peavey, home of usa-made, rock-solid product for cheap
sorry, feeling funny, today :)

[LPMojoGL]

And then I discover the new 6505 1x12....
Ooops.
Back to your regularly schedules Jet City Amplification thread...

[James BCM]

Mike did great with this amp and it will do amazing, but make sure all understand, this is NOT a Soldano Custom Amplification amp, nor will it be made in Seattle. They are two TOTALLY different companies. Mike just DESIGNED the amp, but is naturally part of that company.

Some builders bring their offshore products into the same fold, but not happening here.

I'll get one for my nephew who is playing a Peavey Valveking right now since he isn't ready for my Soldano BCM 44 combo or an Astroverb yet. He is too busy in college playing Oboe with a full ride to a Division 1 school.

The Valveking is pure junk as far as I'm concerned, but he is young and needs to pay his dues. The Jet City amp is far better and will be perfect for him.

Mike will get a bunch of dealers and he'll move them by the truckload, but I'm gonna pass since I'm his largest Soldano dealer world wide.

Send me some clips if you guys can or link to your Youtube clips.

Thanks,

LB
BCM

[Rockhound1984]

Repackaged his amp line and sent them to China or Vietnam or wherever.....sad sad day indeed!!! Looks like he sold out to the almighty dollar as well. Looks like I won't be buying any amps from Bogner, Egnater, OR Soldano now.

[Mr_You]

I would love a cheap low watt amp with a "cloned" Soldano circuit, but I gotta have two channels. :(

[James BCM]

Rockhound,

You have the wrong information.

At no time now, tomorrow, or next week will Soldano ever be built anywhere but here in the USA. They are two totally different companies. Mike was approached about designing a circuit and wanted in on the whole deal for control of his design. His Soldano line is still as pure as ever. Nothing has changed.

This is EXACTLY why BCM will never be a Jet City dealer. If I took on both, it would appear as though they were in fact one in the same when they are not.

Rest assured, Soldano is still pure US made rocking machines.

Rock on.

LB
BCM

[ggwwbb]

Repackaged his amp line and sent them to China or Vietnam or wherever.....sad sad day indeed!!! Looks like he sold out to the almighty dollar as well. Looks like I won't be buying any amps from Bogner, Egnater, OR Soldano now.

Whatever.....:rolleyes: :puh

I don't understand why people get so hung up on where stuff is made. I could care less where its made, if I like it, I buy it, no matter where it was made. If it makes Soldano, Bogner, or Egnater (or any other manufacturer for that matter) a few more $$$ and puts some of their amps into more hands that maybe otherwise couldn't afford them, then more power to them and good for the players.

[Rockhound1984]

I think some people get hung up on where something is made because it's important on a larger scale than just getting an amplifier on the cheap. It's about made in USA, its about outsourcing, it's about keeping a manufacturing base in America. It's about people who start companies, make a name then sell out to the lowest bidder that's part of the problem that makes buying anything other than a 250 dollar amplifier difficult, and why we're approaching a 20% REAL unemployment rate, shrinking real and disposable incomes and rising price levels.

I do my best whenever I can, to never buy from companies that shop out their talent, be it skilled or unskilled labor or intellectual property to offshore agents...which in most cases is incredibly hard to do. And this isn't just directed at US companies. This is a global trend that's hurting everybody and should never be encouraged or condoned in any form, and it holds true for everybody; Americans, Canadians, British, German, French, Chinese, whoever. People need to start supporting their own nation's manufacturing base because it's the only thing that will keep a country afloat in the long run, no matter what BS your respective politicians or media organizations may be feeding you.

I'm not directing this directly uniquely at amp manufacturers but rather the manufacturing base as an aggregate. The music industry just happens to be where most of my disposable income gets spent so that's where I can make my voice heard the loudest with my dollars.

Here ends my political/economic rant of the week

-Jeffrow

[Mr_You]

People need to start supporting their own nation's manufacturing base because it's the only thing that will keep a country afloat in the long run, no matter what BS your respective politicians or media organizations may be feeding you.


Not to continue the thread jack, but you should also keep in mind...

In SOME industries companies MUST outsource their manufacturing in order to compete and STAY IN BUSINESS.

[amphead777]

Any update on these?? Do you still like 'em??

[Alton]

Any update on these?? Do you still like 'em??

EXCELLENT amps!

I have the JCA20H. Soldano did a fine job of designing these and specifying components. Doug White did and continues to do a superb job of ramrodding the QC on these amps as well as tremendous customer service.

Their product line continues to expand. The original Soldano designs range from 20wat head/combo to 50 watt head/combo to a 100 watt head. There are modded units available from JCA and a line of speaker cabs and accessories to personalize your JCA amp.

They also offer the Pico Valve designed by Andy Marshall, the dude at THD. It's a 5 watt monster switchable to 2.5 watts and it will run on any power tube you want to feed it.

More products are in the hopper with rumors of a 2 channel JCA20H.

Mods are already happening for the JCA20H by Dave Friedman and other folks NOT connected with JCA.

The JCA20H kicks some serious butt! It likes JJ tubes real well and responds with some incredible tones. It's clean tones are very good but,unfortunately, lack the headroom to remain clean at adequately high volumes. Where this amp really shines is in the crunch to mid-gain regions. Yow! This is one rockin' little amp! I run mine on a Marshall 1960A cab.

I set mine up so I can simply use the volume pots on my guitars to get the tones I need/want for different songs. I can go from clean to a grinding distortion simply by turning up my guitar and then roll right back down to sweet clean without ever using a pedal.

My band is not a loud band so 20 watts is more than adequate to keep up. YMMV.

The insides of this amp are fairly simple. It uses a pcb with nice wide traces. The wiring is clean and the components are the same as found in many other amps made in the US as well as in China/Asia and Europe. there's plenty of room inside for mods. Check the HC forum as one guy has added an FX loop ( I think it was a Metro kit). If I mod mine that's what I will add. The chassis and components are well put together and definitely feel quite substantial (16 ga. cold-rolled steel for the chassis).

This amp can be a little noisey so some folks have been doing what they call the choke mod. They simply add a small choke transformer to smooth out any AC ripple and any other noise. Apparently it's easy to do, low cost and very effective. I found that new tubes and a proper biasing took care of 95% of my noise problems. these are admittedly biased a tad on the cold side from the factory. Setting the bias between 65% and 70% will yield excellent results.

Also, just recently JCA had a price drop. The JCA20H is $249 at AMS. The 50 watt head is $499. The 50 watt head is 2 channel and has an FX loop. I'm seriously tempted to nab one.

I can't stress enough that these are well built, excellent sounding amps. With current pricing they represent a genuine bargain in a tube amp.

[TubeStack]

:worthless