yep...most of the players i saw using these play or played with a clean sound or switched between the JC120 and another amp for cleans and lead... i always think of Paul Simon's 'Graceland' album and the sound of the guitars..i think a lot of the africian players used the JC-120 with the chorus on all the time....some great guitar players,unusual styles and rhythms....like you said ..it is what it is...
I wondered Laurie because, whilst I've never played through a JC-120, I used to have a solid state H & H Combo, which I think is a similar thing and it sounded superb with pedals of all kinds. Like you said though, it also suffered from a lack of bottom end.
I swapped it in the end for a Silverface Fender Champ - which I still have and it gets a run out for pre-gig warm ups sometimes.