Getting a new amp; the Juke 1210 vs Carr Rambler vs TK Meteor II ?

Another one to look at seriously is Jimmy Somma's "Roaring 20".

See www.sommatone.com

Good luck.

Best, Pete.

 

Hi Threm,
Not sure I can answer all your questions but here goes.

I`ve never played either a blackface or a tweed amp so not sure about comparisons but the eq is pretty wide ranging and flexible so it`s not hard to dial in or out particular frequencies to suit.

The low volume sound is superb to my ears. I use the triode setting and tweak the tone settings slightly and I`m all set. It is very clean at low volumes but that suits me just fine.

My amp has the stock Weber speakers and I have no complaints. Although I haven`t tried any others.

Very quiet amp indeed. I don`t do any recording myself but I couldn`t see any problems with noise at all.

I haven`t played any of the other amps you mention although the clips of the Sommatone amp are very persuasive, it sounds to have a fair bit more gain than the Juke however.

I bought my 1210 without hearing one too but have to say It was a risk that was well worth taking

P.S Completely off topic but my brother lives in Oslo, I may be visiting him later this year although a 1210 is a bit heavy for hand luggage or you`d be welcome to try it.

 

mouldynudger, Bloody hell, you really are a hero!
I haven't tried the Juke but would like to - bring it over!

The thing about the "Roaring Twenty" I like (actually there's lots) is that the gain has a wide spread (as I suspect does the Juke). It has a Bright gain and a Darker gain and much can be gained from mixing them together. It's like a JMP but permanently linked. The back end is a bit like a AC15.
Usually I prefer amps that do one thing really well but this is quite versatile indeed. An ideal "grab and go" amp capable of performing at many sessions. Jimmy tells me that Earl Slick has one on order - Earl can play almost anything!
That says a lot about the amp. It doesn't have Trem but they are fully customizable by Jimmy so just about anything is possible. The Reverb is sublime even when the amp is overdriven - there is a technical reason for this that Jimmy explained to me but it went in one ear and out the other,,,,

Best, Pete.

 

I Honestly love this amp for everything it has and everything it doesnt. It has 4 tone controls and a presence control, with that kind of equalization I dont think theres much you cant do with this amp( with an overdrive pedal for the higher gain stuff, which I dont do much of ). All of your questions would be easily answered by Gary if you give him a call it would be very worthwhile as he knows everything about tube amps and speakers and tone.
Youre looking for a big and bold, clean to semi clean amp with depth and 3D sound qualities: JUKE, thats an exact description for the 1210.
With that type of tonal criteria you will be in love with this amp from the first chord, its that good. I bought 2 and am planning to buy a third.
I cant say enough about these amps I just love them, every single time I turn them on Im amazed.

James

 

I've played all three amps. They are quite different.

The Rambler is a great amp in a BF/tweed kinda way. Steve Carrs stuff feels really good too.

The Meteor is more of a BF and a tweed in a box. It can get quite marshally too. This is a very versatile amp.


The Juke is something different. It has more midrange than the other two and much more of a supro vibe. It can get to black face convincingly, but not as well as the other two. If you like the rolling stones sound, that sort of slight beak uo blues rock sound. The juke does it really well. Bottom like, the juke sounds farmiliar enough to let you feel comfortable playing it but different enough to keep it interesting. The verb is much more subdued than a BF fender, no surf in here. The tremolo may be the best I've heard.

The amp has major mojo..

FWIW, IMHO.

 

Threm, You will not be sorry if you get that Juke 1210... If you contact Gary see if you can get the "C" option ie "1210 C"...
The C stands for custom... That is the three button foot switch for the reverb, tremelo, AND 5 % gain switching...
The tremelo / vibrato is actually just that! TWO features and can be mixed to a certain degree... The reverb is definitely not surf style... It is ambiance all the way! Croteau made sure of that!!!
A work of art, man! The speakers mine came with are the Weber Vintage Classics of Croteau's proprietary design which I would like have copies built in a bad way, but Weber is sticking true and won't give out that recipe... THEY ARE THAT NICE of speakers!!!
One more time... Like I tell everybody, fu(#in' excellent choice if you get a Juke!!!! And again... I've been around a good while to know that this IS THE BEST amp of it's kind on the planet!!!

 

I talked to Gary about 4 months ago and he said he is no longer offering the "C" option for the gain boost, he just doesn't do it anymore.

-TJK

 

Anyone point me in the direction of Juke clips or recordings?
I'd like to hear this thing.

Best, Pete.

 

Gary is a great guy, and very informative, but HATES e-mails so you won't get any for sure answers that way, as for getting him to build you anything besides what production is, I have no idea, because people have been trying to get him to do a head cabinet set up for years and he won't do it, the Juke is meant to be a combo. And a few others have tried to get the 3 button set up for the footswitch as well (which would require a tweak of the amp to allow for the gain boost as well) and he wouldn't do that either. He is an older gent and very firm in his ways because he knows what he is doing... so you can try... but many others have failed

-TJK

 

"Big and bold clean/semi-clean tone with depth/3-D qualities"

I haven't heard the Juke, but I have had the Tone King Meteor II 1x12 and Carr Rambler combos in my music room.

The Tone King will eat the Rambler for lunch!

Good luck in your tone quest.

(Hello Paul.)

 

yes, got it 1/03

i've got a '59 Tremolux and a '65 BFSR and believe i can EQ something close to each - but the Juke remains a Juke

rich

i doubt it would fit.

i've considered what i'd change about it - or order custom, if i could. a Juke 115 is one thought (another is a head-only, another is non-master-vol. version, another is...)

that's strictly subjective. i love the new Emis i've heard. put a Private Jack in my '61 Ampeg Reverberocket and thought it a huge improvement over the original Jensen Concert 12.

but, yeah, i think the standard (custom Weber-Juke) speakers are a benchmark

i love quiet amps (my Ampeg is pretty noisy, BFSR is pretty quiet) and the Juke is the quietest. great signal-to-noise ratio. as quiet as my Komet in "gradual" mode, quieter than Komet in "fast" mode.

no experience here.

that's why there are so many amps&options out there. i was pretty pleased with my Juke when i first got it, but thought the reverb not deep enough and the vibrato not wobbly enough. after some use, though, and very much like a Komet, it got deeper, richer, more responsive. the vibrato even got wobblier, etc. the Jimmy Smith comparison above is quite apt.

thanks for the Dino's pointer. nice to read a new take on the amp. i take it they're in Italy?...

anyway, a forum bro's stopping by Sunday to give mine a whirl. you're welcome to stop by, too, anytime

 

i've had access to a Dr. Z Maz 38 Sr. combo that some folks compare to a BFSR. since i have a BFSR and could compare them, i did. yeah, you can get some of that. the Juke is like that. but it's more fun to just it be itself (& you be yourself ) - your friends will say, "hey, what the heck is that?" when they hear it.

well i've never tried mine with an attenuator (don't need to - it sound great at low levels, too).

hey, that Flex-loop thingie looks really cool

enjoy

 

Well, I'd never heard of the Juke amps until this thread and after doing some research on it...it sounds like one awesome amp!! I have a vintage '71 bandmaster reverb as my main amp right now and like it alot but I know there are some newer boutique jobbies out there that will do the vintage fender bf tone better than the originals.. and I'm eventually going to get one....now I have to add the Juke 1210 to the list of candidates to weed thru and choose between....
The other at the top of my list are the Meteor II as well as the Rambler but have been leaning more towards the Meteor II of late..I've talked to Mark a couple of times via email and I'm very high on his new creation...
I've also considered the Bruno UG30/Cowtipper and the Fargen Blackbird but neither of them have on board trem/vib which is a must have item for me to be true to the bf genre and I actually love the effect it adds and use it quite a bit...and it sounds like the Juke has the defacto best trem/vib of anything ever created? I'm a little concered about the sideband reverb though..it sounds like a unique design that is very well thought out but it might be nice to be able to switch it from the sideband to a regular type if one so desired but it does sound like one of the best designed on board reverbs as well.
Sure would be nice to hear some clips of this puppy as well a more from the Meteor II camp..Mark's had that one soso clip up there forever now and hasn't added any more albeit he has the tba in there...some of you guys with good chops ought to make some trade out offers of clips for amps type deals...