fuzzyguitars
Silver Supporting Member
- Messages
- 1,618
I don't see much talk on this board about the Peavey JSX.
I have had one for about three months and like it a lot!
It has an interesting take on EL34 tone. Lots of slice and upper mids with a ton of bottom end. I don't run the bass or the resonance much past half way. And this comes from a guy who always used to dime the bass.
Over the years I have owned a ton of stuff and my bogner 101b was the goto amp for about 5 years.
I eventually sold the Bogner for a Mako which was really good but ultimately wasn't for me.
I had my old standby three channel dual recto which is really good for the nu metal crunch that I dally in, but i was missing something in a all around rocker.
Even though I have made the run of MV high gain channel switchers, I mostly play my 69-72 metalpanel marshalls with a variac and THD attenuator for my gain tones.
But I digress.
The JSX rocks!
It does have a high mid peak that can be annoying but you really have to play with the eq. It is active and a small tweak plays a big difference. You have to careful with the presence and treble because it can slice your head off!
I got the amp from the store and it came loaded with JJ el34's. Interesting thing was that it was biased really hot at 44ma! I adjusted it back down to 40ma which I guess is still a little hot for a el34. I think you want between 35-40. Surprisingly this did not make much of a tonal difference. Just slightly stronger pick attack.
The real difference is in the preamp tubes. It comes loaded with EH 12ax7 in the first three slots, and an sovtek in the PI.
As i said earlier in the post, there was an annoying high mid peak. The first slot EH became microphonic after playing at high vol for 3 months so I swapped it out and did a taste test with a few tubes in the first slot.
Let me tell you. I grininng ear to ear after the first swap!
The best tones were with some old mullard and brimar tubes. very even with great detail and smoother mids without the high mid peak. Just awesome! If I were to record I would definitely put those in.
The best compromise in economical tube with great sound was my old high gain favorite chinese 12ax7. Plenty of punch, lots of bass, and much smoother mids without annoying hump.
Bottom line. great amp for the money! Better amp with a simple swap of the first preamp tube!
I got mine for a thousand bucks out the door.
I missed the Musician friend blow out of 799!
I yeah the cleans are great. I have a 65 super reverb sitting right next to it and I can dial it up the cleans to be almost indistinguishable! It takes pedals really well. This is a good thing because I am a pedal junkie and let me tell ya. Tim in the clean channel really nails a lot of classic rock tones.
The effects loop is much better than a lot of amps that I have in the past , and that includes the bogner and the mesa. My old VHT had a very clean loop though.
anyways that my two cents and I am sticking by it!
cheers
I have had one for about three months and like it a lot!
It has an interesting take on EL34 tone. Lots of slice and upper mids with a ton of bottom end. I don't run the bass or the resonance much past half way. And this comes from a guy who always used to dime the bass.
Over the years I have owned a ton of stuff and my bogner 101b was the goto amp for about 5 years.
I eventually sold the Bogner for a Mako which was really good but ultimately wasn't for me.
I had my old standby three channel dual recto which is really good for the nu metal crunch that I dally in, but i was missing something in a all around rocker.
Even though I have made the run of MV high gain channel switchers, I mostly play my 69-72 metalpanel marshalls with a variac and THD attenuator for my gain tones.
But I digress.
The JSX rocks!
It does have a high mid peak that can be annoying but you really have to play with the eq. It is active and a small tweak plays a big difference. You have to careful with the presence and treble because it can slice your head off!
I got the amp from the store and it came loaded with JJ el34's. Interesting thing was that it was biased really hot at 44ma! I adjusted it back down to 40ma which I guess is still a little hot for a el34. I think you want between 35-40. Surprisingly this did not make much of a tonal difference. Just slightly stronger pick attack.
The real difference is in the preamp tubes. It comes loaded with EH 12ax7 in the first three slots, and an sovtek in the PI.
As i said earlier in the post, there was an annoying high mid peak. The first slot EH became microphonic after playing at high vol for 3 months so I swapped it out and did a taste test with a few tubes in the first slot.
Let me tell you. I grininng ear to ear after the first swap!
The best tones were with some old mullard and brimar tubes. very even with great detail and smoother mids without the high mid peak. Just awesome! If I were to record I would definitely put those in.
The best compromise in economical tube with great sound was my old high gain favorite chinese 12ax7. Plenty of punch, lots of bass, and much smoother mids without annoying hump.
Bottom line. great amp for the money! Better amp with a simple swap of the first preamp tube!
I got mine for a thousand bucks out the door.
I missed the Musician friend blow out of 799!
I yeah the cleans are great. I have a 65 super reverb sitting right next to it and I can dial it up the cleans to be almost indistinguishable! It takes pedals really well. This is a good thing because I am a pedal junkie and let me tell ya. Tim in the clean channel really nails a lot of classic rock tones.
The effects loop is much better than a lot of amps that I have in the past , and that includes the bogner and the mesa. My old VHT had a very clean loop though.
anyways that my two cents and I am sticking by it!
cheers
