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jaymzHal
Silver Member
United Kingdom
297 Posts |
 Posted - 10/17/2008 : 11:45:03
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http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116592/number/00590670/cat/61/begin/1/JSX%3F+Mini+Colossal.cfm
Sorry if this is a repost, but I just saw this and really want one. Although it's just master volume and tone it has a power soak so you can run it on full lovely valvey overdrive, but reduce the volume to comfortable levels. Also, the inclusion of a tremolo circuit is wonderful for it's clean sound flexibility, and the effects loop is also excellent for this wattage. the price is not ridiculous when compared with similarly featured valve amplifiers, and I'd love to have a valve amp break up realistically at low volumes (fender pro junior is far too loud to overdrive at non-neighbour/housemate annoying levels!). It's over twice the price of a fender champion 600 but for all the extra features it's ideal. Any thoughts? |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2008 : 12:37:47
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Hi jaymzHal
The sound demo is a "Killer".
Regards Dr. Bob |
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Erik dP
Silver Member
Sweden
150 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2008 : 13:48:27
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Sounds nice. However there seems to be plenty of effects involved there: phaser, wha...
I'm not sure that I heard its own soundrange. I didn't hear any tremolo. |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2008 : 20:17:32
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Jaymz:
those are decent little amps but overpriced imo... significantly overpriced. i wouldn't really consider one unless you found it for 2/3 of the new price or less.
weaknesses of any amp that small:
tough to project
capped low end
it's class A.
the big JSX's are class AB, which i have a strong preference for since they are smoother. little class A's always seem to bring out the diode sounds in distortion pedals and generally struggle to do a smooth crunch like a cranked AB will do.
not a bad amp, but too expensive for what it is imo. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 20:44:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Bob
Hi jaymzHal
The sound demo is a "Killer".
Regards Dr. Bob
a few usual satch effects going on but still sounds great....i agree with zen on the small class A amp and dirt pedals comment as i find that with my selmer stadium,dirt pedals or compressors don't bring out the best in the amp,a treble booster or my active strat with the clapton mid booster sytem seem to work best with it....i could easily do a blues gig with this amp and the strat once it was miked properly..maybe peavey voiced this amp for pedals knowing satchs assocation with the DS-1 etc or maybe he plans just to overdrive it with the ibanez and use it in the studio..... |
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the-destructor
Silver Member
USA
334 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 22:23:35
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Hopefully it is as under-rated (5 watts) as my Epiphone is. I ran it attenuated & it was unbelievable. Sounds like a cool deal. Let it be known I'm not a huge Peavey fan, but this sounds cool.
 T-D |
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jaymzHal
Silver Member
United Kingdom
297 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2008 : 00:15:11
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| To be fair as Zentropa rightly says the price is quite steep, and for that much I could quite happily sell my Pro Junior and buy a serious amplifier, but it does look pretty damn sweet. as for the volume, it claims to be useable for small gigs but that is pretty subjective. Can anyone recommend any other 5 watt amplifiers for a more reasonable price, other than a champion 600 or valve junior? |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2008 : 11:29:12
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quote:
Originally posted by jaymzHal
To be fair as Zentropa rightly says the price is quite steep, and for that much I could quite happily sell my Pro Junior and buy a serious amplifier, but it does look pretty damn sweet. as for the volume, it claims to be useable for small gigs but that is pretty subjective. Can anyone recommend any other 5 watt amplifiers for a more reasonable price, other than a champion 600 or valve junior?
matamp used to do some small amps quite reasonable for proper handwired valve amps,with the buyer specing what he wanted out of the amp....might be worth checking out,they were or still are based in huddersfield i think or what about something secondhand in the local ad's.i know selmer and some of the smaller british makers from the 60's and 70's like WEM and Park(jim marshalls alter ego) can be still got,some of these makers made little 8 watt combos etc i know selmer defo did..and the chances are you would be getting a proper handwired valve amp,the only thing is they are very basic but have a lot of personality........ |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 10/20/2008 11:44:49 |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2008 : 20:45:04
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Jaymz:
there's a lot of em out there. fender has the super champ and vibro champ XD, peavey has the valve king royal 8, blackheart and orange have gotten great reviews on their small amps, etc.
all class A's get loud, no matter what the power rating. in a live situation, cabinet size, etc. will always affect how much volume you can push.
personally, i find it difficult to establish the tone i want with any of em as they are a bit harsh.
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2008 : 22:28:04
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I find EL-84 amps to be brighter than other types of amps using different power output valves but i think the older stuff for the 60's and early 70's isn't as harsh as some of the newer stuff,if it has to do with the speakers being well broken in or how they voiced the the amps internals i'm not qualified to say,but my little selmer is far from harsh..i suppose at the end of the day tone is subjective to each of us and what we want out of an amp and a guitar and what type of music or vibe were trying to achieve,what works for zen or me might not be the tone for you or what your doing musically...i do agree with the point about class A amps being loud,my selmer is a very loud amp for a 14 watt rating,i've used it on gigs with a mic in front of it with no problem to looks of amazement from other musos when i show it to them afterwards,but then i'm more of a bluesy,country rocker who doesn't mind if the low end farts a bit now and then,i'm not doing palm mute,chugging death metal riffs... ..i read an article with paul cornford one time where he was critical of the amount of treble in a lot of the new designs of amps by some makers,and i've read reviews where people have said his amps are too dark sounding..... if your looking for something on a budget try the thomann website or if your looking for something nearer to home and price isn't a problem you have Cornford,Cornell and Matamp all in the UK..Denis Cornell makes some lovely amps but their out of my price range for the next few years(school uniforms,mortgage etc..) i think one of hs 10 watt combos is a fender clone that can drop down to 1/4 of a watt....some of the you tube clips i've seen with some of the Blackheart stuff also sounds good to me,i think they do a 5 watt amp either in a head and cab or combo form for a pretty reasonable price...DeFrag has some of their stuff so he could tell you more.....
P.S ... i grew up in a block of flats in the centre of Dublin,one of my first amps was a 100 watt Burman stack allegedly once owned by Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy,this thing was seriously loud but it had a couple of gain stages so you could drive the preamp without blowing the roof off the place,but even at that it was seriously f*****g loud.....and i was very lucky that we had understanding and encouraging neighbours in my first forays into playing the guitar,eventully i traded it in for a more modest and portable 1x12 combo..still miss it sometimes as it was a work of art in guitar amps..... |
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starr36
Platinum Member
Canada
1172 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2008 : 20:46:18
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| Mesa Boogie has a cool little combo called a Express 5:25 (5 watts/25 watts); it comes with 10" speaker and while it sounds wicked, it does sound better hooked up to a larger cab. Worth a look. |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2008 : 21:28:12
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| True, EL84s seem brighter compared to most else.. also a bit more midrangey. Most of the Blackhearts run EL84s but with a Special Eminence speaker that's voiced American. I take this to mean heavier in the bottom end. It makes for a great sounding combination especially with an open backed cab. |
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starr36
Platinum Member
Canada
1172 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2008 : 17:20:09
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quote:
Originally posted by DeFrag
... a great sounding combination especially with an open backed cab.
Open backed cabs bring a whole new world of dynamics due to extra air being pushed around ... for all you sealed cab junkies out there .... TRY IT!!! BUT DO NOT CRACK OPEN A CAB THAT IS DESIGNED TO BE SEALED, while it is temping you *may* interfere with the tuning that was done at the factory - there are enough sound engineers here who can qualify my observation here. (not meaning to hi-jack a thread either btw) |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2008 : 17:59:12
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quote:
Originally posted by starr36
quote:
Originally posted by DeFrag
... a great sounding combination especially with an open backed cab.
Open backed cabs bring a whole new world of dynamics due to extra air being pushed around ... for all you sealed cab junkies out there .... TRY IT!!! BUT DO NOT CRACK OPEN A CAB THAT IS DESIGNED TO BE SEALED, while it is temping you *may* interfere with the tuning that was done at the factory - there are enough sound engineers here who can qualify my observation here. (not meaning to hi-jack a thread either btw)
uh oh ..... bit late bro'..i took a jigsaw to the back of a 2x12 i had a while back a cut a big semi-circular hole in to let some air our to try to dampen the volume,i put some nice grillpalte i had over the hole to protect the back of the speakers..... worked as well....i also re-installed some old greenbacks i had around the place at the same time,it wasn't a vintage marshall cab or anything just some old vox P.A cab i got off the drummer... looks like shit ,sounds great..... but i know what you mean if the cab had sound ports...etc...in it....Doh...!.... .... |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2008 : 19:15:07
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I had this idea for my closed-back cabs which you might consider..
I wanted to cut a hole in the back & get some kind of thick rubber or plastic stopper plate that had a angled, flanged edge that would simply snap in. I thought having the best of both worlds (open/closed) would be extremely versatile especially when running multiple amps or cabs & one could "dial-in" the airy sound as necessary.
I never could find an adequate stopper so it remains an idea. Someday I'll find the perfect material!
OT: We're neck & neck in posts. |
Edited by - DeFrag on 10/22/2008 19:16:30 |
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starr36
Platinum Member
Canada
1172 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2008 : 07:10:36
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Hey Franzoni and Defraq ... I was trying to be cautious in my remarks
about cutting up cabinets ... and I think you guys have been around
enough to know the diff between 'what you can hack up and experiment
with' and what you can't (or shouldn't). but you know, if you
do some math on the tuning, and can get accurate measurements of the
INSIDE dimensions etc, I bet one can do some really good tuning on
your own. I have seen many an ugly homemade cabinet loaded with EVs
or Celestions, or Vintage JBLs, and as UGLY as they are, the sound
you get when you do the math right, can be stellar!!! I think its
cool you guys got the balls to hack things up a bit or design from
scratch ... just would hate to see an ol' cabbie get jigsawed by
someone who goes "look at this shit cabinet i got from my uncle" - I
hope we haven't heard too many stories like that!!!
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Edited by - starr36 on 10/24/2008 07:13:10 |
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Topic |
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Joe Satriani Mini Colossal amp.
