50th Anniversary JC-120

[ElmerJFudd]

 

[Outkaster]

Every reggae band or backine had or has one of these.

[Ivan May]

I have read somewhere that Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield used a Roland JC-120 on Master of Puppets.

[ABECK]

Yup, Kirk had one in his rig for a while.  Wes Borland, another metal guitarist is a long time user too.  I know an amazing pianist who gigs with a Roland Digital piano and a JC120.   Somehow he makes it work really well.

The chorus is fantastic on those.  I believe it detunes the signal between the two speakers.

[JamPro]

My brother has one in his home studio.  It originally belonged to his ex-wife.  She left it there when she moved out - she didn't like it because it is big and heavy and she wanted something easier to move around.

 

And now that JC-120 regularly served our assorted jamming guitar-playing buddies.

[Dave Bryce]

2 hours ago, ABECK said:

The chorus is fantastic on those.  I believe it detunes the signal between the two speakers.

 

IIRC, that (bucket brigade) chorus circuit became the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble pedal.

 

dB

 

[Al Coda]

I remember I tried it when it was released in the past.

There was hype it would be the holy grail for Fender Rhodes,- but it wasn´t (at least for me).

I still prefered my Fender tube amp solution w/ ext. stomp box FX.

 

I guess there was the circuit of a BOSS CE-1 inside JC-120,- so chorus effect on one channel and dry on the other.

The chorus in the JC-120 was as noisy as in the CE-1.

 

 

A.C.

 

[ElmerJFudd]

10 hours ago, Al Coda said:

I remember I tried it when it was released in the past.

There was hype it would be the holy grail for Fender Rhodes,- but it wasn´t (at least for me).

I still prefered my Fender tube amp solution w/ ext. stomp box FX.

 

I guess there was the circuit of a BOSS CE-1 inside JC-120,- so chorus effect on one channel and dry on the other.

The chorus in the JC-120 was as noisy as in the CE-1.

 

 

A.C.

 

But was it as noisy as the chorus on the Juno 106? 😊

[KuruPrionz]

I saw David Bowie on the Low tour and Adrian Belew was using a JC120.

I've played through a couple of them here and there, not my thing but some players make it sound great. 

[Docbop]

As a guitarist I always wanted on but mainly just for the Chorus.   Then Roland came out with the chorus pedal and Paul Riviera came up with a mod to make the pedal stereo after that I lost my craving for the amp.    But I still remember Wayne Johnson's setup was first person I remember getting that Pat Metheny sound live.   He used two JC-120's one on each side of the stage sitting up on the end.  Then he had two of the MXR Digital Delay rack units the first digital delay units for guitar.   Between the JC's and the MXR delays he really got a great Metheny like sound.   Wayne's trio played every week at this tiny Jazz club in Venice and he'd bring the whole setup every time they played. 

[GovernorSilver]

One of the few guitar amps that can handle sustained synth bass without blowing a speaker. 

 

 

[analogika]

CP70 into a JC120 is that sound. 

[Al Coda]

3 hours ago, analogika said:

CP70 into a JC120 is that sound. 

 

no,- CP-70/80 into CE-1 (and CS80 and/or more other goodies from the past),- all into an analog mixer (Tapco or Yamaha) and 2 of the Yamaha 4115H active cabs was THE sound.

And don´t forget to add at least one Roland RE-201 ...

 

 

A.C.

[Dockeys]

Does this mean they might introduce a KC anniversary edition?…….😆

[eric]

I always had a soft spot for the JC-120. When I was in high school in the early-mid '80s, there was a Fender Rhodes at the school that the band director would let me borrow to take home over the summers. I had two guitar player friends that had JC-120 amps and one let me use his for a while. That Fender Rhodes sounded magical through the JC-120.

 

I've often thought about getting one, though I have no practical need for one. I've looked into the smaller versions like the JC-40 and others and just never made a move.

 

I wonder what premium they'll be adding to the 350 limited release versions? Looks beautiful.

[ABECK]

23 hours ago, Al Coda said:

I guess there was the circuit of a BOSS CE-1 inside JC-120,- so chorus effect on one channel and dry on the other.

The chorus in the JC-120 was as noisy as in the CE-1.

 

 

A.C.

 

Helps if you remember to mic both speakers when recording!  (or place it far enough back to capture both).

At the time, was this "wet/Dry" method new?  Curious if it was the inspiration for the Bob Bradshaw wet/dry/wet approach that was big in the late 80s for guitarists.

 

[ShadowMan]

Used one for years with a stage piano and an XB2, then with a CX3. 

Loud but SO heavy,  as it had the heavy duty speakers. 
 

But wow… did the EP’s sound good through it!

[apple]

I've been in two rock bands with guitarists who used JC-120 amps and both sounded screechingly terrible! Maybe it doesn't handle distorted guitar well, or the players are deaf.

[stoken6]

10 hours ago, apple said:

Maybe it doesn't handle distorted guitar well

Not my first choice for a high-gain rock amp

10 hours ago, apple said:

or the players are deaf

Surely not?!

 

Cheers, Mike.

[eric]

11 hours ago, apple said:

I've been in two rock bands with guitarists who used JC-120 amps and both sounded screechingly terrible! Maybe it doesn't handle distorted guitar well, or the players are deaf.

 

The JC-120 excels in that chimey '80s type of chorused guitar sound, like The Fixx, The Police, others I'm not thinking about off the top of my head...definitely not the amp for tube-type heavy overdrive.

[cphollis]

A rhodes through a JC120 on chorus was my rig back in the day.  Now the sound is a preset on my keyboard.