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shortpunks
Copper Member
USA
47 Posts |
 Posted - 03/05/2007 : 00:42:00
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I just picked up a really nice Roland Spirit 10A amp from Craig's List and I was wondering how old it is. Is there a resource on the web for Roland amp serial numbers as there is for BOSS pedals?
The Spirit sounds great, by the way--the original owner took great care of it and, as I have read online, it really does sound like a miniature JC-120 when you run a chorus pedal into it.
I bought it for the loops coming from my RC-2 for live shows, but now I'm considering using it for smaller gigs as my primary amp since it has such a sweet tone.  |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 02:07:21
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quote:
Originally posted by shortpunks
I just picked up a really nice Roland Spirit 10A amp from Craig's List and I was wondering how old it is. Is there a resource on the web for Roland amp serial numbers as there is for BOSS pedals?
The Spirit sounds great, by the way--the original owner took great care of it and, as I have read online, it really does sound like a miniature JC-120 when you run a chorus pedal into it.
I bought it for the loops coming from my RC-2 for live shows, but now I'm considering using it for smaller gigs as my primary amp since it has such a sweet tone.
Hi shortpunks
Congratulations, I have had a Spirit 40A for more than 15 years if my memory serves me correctly, it might be even longer.
I have kept mine is (as near to new) condition as I could
It has a single 12" speaker, the reverb springs are very short & that's why it's probably a bit week in the reverb department.
It served me well as a second amp, being all solid state it is very light to carry around, I have even done some small cafe type electric Acoustic gigs with it.
Unfortunately it has a 47K input impedance, which tends to strip off some of the highs from your pickups, but if you put a buffer-booster in front of it, the booster will do a high to low impedance conversion for you, & you will notice that the amp has a bit more sparkle to it.
I have a small (home made) fet buffer that I use in front of it.
It has a reasonable distortion that is foot switchable.
I did a street festival gig with it once, about 3 thousand people, I had the sound guy mike it up & then run it into a DI box into the front of house (2 thousand watts per side PA)
It sounded great, it loves almost any boss pedal.
I have the original user instruction sheet that came with it, I think it also covers the Spirit 10A. I laminated it.
I sometimes use it as for Fold Back.
Hope this info helps you.
Regards Dr. Bob
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 10:25:49
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I've got a Spirit 50 that I bought new 1982. I think the spirit series was launched then so I bought one of the first series. Like Dr. Bob's 40A, mine is a combo amp with a 12" speaker.
The sound is decent and I like the push/pull volume control for extra boost. It's supposed to be 50W but it really isn't. Compared to other 50W amps I would say it's probably about 30W and that's somewhat disappointing.
Haven't seen that amp in years but I suspect my brother in law has it stuck away somewhere in his basement. |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 11:11:57
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Hi Bossarea & ShortPunks.
I have been searching for the laminated instruction sheet (1 page)
I put it in a safe place before we moved, & guess what? It's probably still there.
When I find it, I will get it scanned & post it here.
Regards Dr. Bob  |
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shortpunks
Copper Member
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 18:55:49
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Hi Bossarea and Dr. Bob,
Thanks for the info on the Spirit amps. Until I came across the 10A on the Chicago Craig's List, I had never heard of these models before. I started playing guitar in 1990, so I suspect that by the time I started these little amps were on their way out of production. There is very little information on them online, although there are some good reviews on Harmony Central, and I also found an old advertisement for them which someone was selling on eBay. I'm looking forward to seeing that other info you have, Dr. Bob!
For a small practice amp, I am amazed at how close it sounds to its much larger JC model relatives. I wonder if that has to do with the speaker, which is one of the Japanese-made Rolands which resembles the ones in the JC series. It has a lot of low-end, especially with the humbuckers in my Reverend Charger. I'm looking forward to using it onstage. I've been looking for a JC 77 or 90 to run in stereo with my Peavey Classic 30, and I think this little guy will work well until I can track one down.
One of my cats also seems to like the Spirit. She keeps trying to sit on it, and she's small enough that it works well as a little seat for her...until I plug it in, that is!
Thanks again, guys. I also get a lot of great info on this forum. |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 03/06/2007 : 12:17:35
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quote:
Originally posted by shortpunks
Hi Bossarea and Dr. Bob,
Thanks for the info on the Spirit amps. Until I came across the 10A on the Chicago Craig's List, I had never heard of these models before. I started playing guitar in 1990, so I suspect that by the time I started these little amps were on their way out of production. There is very little information on them online, although there are some good reviews on Harmony Central, and I also found an old advertisement for them which someone was selling on eBay. I'm looking forward to seeing that other info you have, Dr. Bob!
For a small practice amp, I am amazed at how close it sounds to its much larger JC model relatives. I wonder if that has to do with the speaker, which is one of the Japanese-made Rolands which resembles the ones in the JC series. It has a lot of low-end, especially with the humbuckers in my Reverend Charger. I'm looking forward to using it onstage. I've been looking for a JC 77 or 90 to run in stereo with my Peavey Classic 30, and I think this little guy will work well until I can track one down.
One of my cats also seems to like the Spirit. She keeps trying to sit on it, and she's small enough that it works well as a little seat for her...until I plug it in, that is!
Thanks again, guys. I also get a lot of great info on this forum.
Hi shortpunks
You are welcome
I will try to find the single page user instruction sheet that came with my Spirit 40A, but you will have to be patient, it's in a secret safe place.
Maybe Bossarea has the sheet that came with his Spirit Amp.
I once changes the speaker to one out of an old Peavey Amp, it had no label, so I can't tell you what it was.
I very quickly, that same day, changed it back to the original Roland one.
As I said in an earlier post, just watch the 47K input impedance, it can kill the highs off your pickups.
Almost any Boss pedal with a (Hi-Z impedance) input with fix that problem.
Don't forget to try out the built in overdrive.
Regards Dr. Bob 
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shortpunks
Copper Member
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 03/06/2007 : 19:20:27
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Do all of the BOSS pedals have the Hi-Z impedance? Last night for practice I ran my BCB-3 board into the Spirit and I seemed to retain most of the high-end on my Reverend humbuckers (my Reverend Charger tends to be a very bright guitar anyway because of the maple cap on the body). Here are the pedals in my BCB-3:
BD-2 --> DS-1 --> CE-3 (or my RV-3...I like having those stereo outs at the end of the board!)
And I did try the distortion!...It sounded best with my humbuckers and was actually much better than I had read online. I was able to get a very nice crunch. The BD-2 also sounded very nice through the Spirit...very clear and natural, yet another reason I'm such a Blues Driver fan... |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2007 : 07:22:42
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quote:
Originally posted by shortpunks
Do all of the BOSS pedals have the Hi-Z impedance? Last night for practice I ran my BCB-3 board into the Spirit and I seemed to retain most of the high-end on my Reverend humbuckers (my Reverend Charger tends to be a very bright guitar anyway because of the maple cap on the body). Here are the pedals in my BCB-3:
BD-2 --> DS-1 --> CE-3 (or my RV-3...I like having those stereo outs at the end of the board!)
And I did try the distortion!...It sounded best with my humbuckers and was actually much better than I had read online. I was able to get a very nice crunch. The BD-2 also sounded very nice through the Spirit...very clear and natural, yet another reason I'm such a Blues Driver fan...
hi ShortPunks
Here is what I found:
BD-2 - Input Impedance: 1M Ohms
DS-1 - Input Impedance: 470k Ohms
CE-3 - Input Impedance: 1M Ohms
RV-3 - Input Impedance: 1M Ohms
This information, was taken from the actual User Manuals.
So all these pedals have a Hi-Z input impedance.
The DS is what I would call medium-high impedance.
Set up the BD-2 as a clean boost, set th pickup to the bridge pickup to get the most sparkle, & then listen to the high freq's from your guitar, with & with out the pedal.
The Spirit 40A that I have tends to suck some highs, without the FET buffer that I have on it.
I even built a Fender Brown Face (about 1965) Valve front end-preamp that I used with it for a while.
I ran the preamp into the loop on the Spirit 40A, it was & still is really amazing, to play & listen to.
I suppose I built the equivalent of a ValveState amp (Fender-Roland Hybrid).
I can get enough gain out of the preamp to overdrive the power amp section of the Spirit 40A.
I did a heap of blues gigs with this combination, I modified the first stage of he valve preamp, The mod, changed the bias conditions of the first 12AX7 to give me a gain boost, for when I needed to step out above the band, like in a lead break.
You've got me interested in the old amp again, I sort of put it aside as a spare amp, after I purchased my Fender 75 valve Combo.
Yep you guess it, it was faulty as well, & I managed to fix it over a long weekend.
Regards Dr. Bob
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Edited by - Dr. Bob on 03/07/2007 07:25:10 |
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Roland Spirit 10A question
