anybody tried Lazy J amps

Gassage

steveh said:

Setzer said:

Has anybody any recommendations for a drive pedal that works well through the J20? Something with a decent amount of gain for home so I would have every sound I need from one amp?

I have a J20 and a Top Hat Emplexador which is about as good as it gets in "marshall" style amps AFAIAC. However, I only nob around at home (and actually spend 90% of the time on acoustic) so I don't really want to keep both, especially since both are expensive amps.

The J20 has astonishing cleans and is really 3D whereas the Emplex does Plexi to JCM800 fabulously; cleans are good but not J20 league - no marshall style is. So, I've been trying a Carl Martin Plexitone (blame Pete Thorn) and I have to say it does work real well with the J20.

The 20 dimed has that real old school gritty blues rock thing going on but theres a lot of flub from the cab (way less than on a typical deluxe mind you) and it's hardly Judas Priest. However, keep it cleanish and then add the Plexitone on top and you can definitely get a Marshallesque tone out of it.

Lazy J + Plexitone is not the Emplex but for my needs it's close enough, so that's the way I'm leaning.

Pedals that work REALLY well with LJ20:

1. Euphoria
2. Cornish CC1, SS3, and G2- specifically the SS3 which was useless with a Hiwatt but is stunning with an LJ- dunno why.
3. King of Tone- superb
4. Effectrode Fire Bottle
5. EP Booster
6. DR S the Elements
7. TS808 style.
8. Skreddy Lunar

What doesn't work:

1. Cornish P1- mush
2. Most hipowered Muffs
3. High powered distortions.

The reasons

The LJ is inherently a single tone, dirty circuit. I have found higain/muff style pedals lose the dynamics that make the LJ so great.

I have therefore found that the best pedals have a 2 or 3 band EQ, and a light to mid level drive. Ideally, you want to push the LJ over the edge but not into saturation. That's not what it's about.

Out of all the SS3 and CC1 were my faves.

Hope this helps.
3. Suhr Riot

57Deluxe

@Skipped - he's not smiling cos he's sight reading his Tab charts...!

IvisonGuitars

Gassage;692812" said:

steveh said:



Setzer said:Has anybody any recommendations for a drive pedal that works well through the J20? Something with a decent amount of gain for home so I would have every sound I need from one amp?





I have a J20 and a Top Hat Emplexador which is about as good as it gets in "marshall" style amps AFAIAC. However, I only nob around at home (and actually spend 90% of the time on acoustic) so I don't really want to keep both, especially since both are expensive amps.

The J20 has astonishing cleans and is really 3D whereas the Emplex does Plexi to JCM800 fabulously; cleans are good but not J20 league - no marshall style is. So, I've been trying a Carl Martin Plexitone (blame Pete Thorn) and I have to say it does work real well with the J20.

The 20 dimed has that real old school gritty blues rock thing going on but theres a lot of flub from the cab (way less than on a typical deluxe mind you) and it's hardly Judas Priest. However, keep it cleanish and then add the Plexitone on top and you can definitely get a Marshallesque tone out of it.

Lazy J + Plexitone is not the Emplex but for my needs it's close enough, so that's the way I'm leaning.





Pedals that work REALLY well with LJ20:



1. Euphoria

2. Cornish CC1, SS3, and G2- specifically the SS3 which was useless with a Hiwatt but is stunning with an LJ- dunno why.

3. King of Tone- superb

4. Effectrode Fire Bottle

5. EP Booster

6. DR S the Elements

7. TS808 style.

8. Skreddy Lunar



What doesn't work:



1. Cornish P1- mush

2. Most hipowered Muffs

3. High powered distortions.



The reasons



The LJ is inherently a single tone, dirty circuit. I have found higain/muff style pedals lose the dynamics that make the LJ so great.



I have therefore found that the best pedals have a 2 or 3 band EQ, and a light to mid level drive. Ideally, you want to push the LJ over the edge but not into saturation. That's not what it's about.



Out of all the SS3 and CC1 were my faves.



Hope this helps.

3. Suhr Riot

The Lazy J Cruiser and Cruiser Deuce were made to work with Lazy J amps, they sound absolutely stellar.

simonk

^ This! The one knob Lazy J 'Winwood' boost is great too.

Gassage

I disagree re the LJ pedals.

The reason being, EQ is the thing that really changes the LJ. So a 3 band EQ pedal is stunning with it.

JonHosker

Looking towards cruiser and j20 combination : finally believe this is the sound I'be been searching for: Vintage Trouble inspired

hotpickups

Then you will definitely have that sound of VT then. The rest however is in Nalle's fingers

JonHosker;693450" said:

Looking towards cruiser and j20 combination : finally believe this is the sound I'be been searching for: Vintage Trouble inspired

IvisonGuitars

Gassage said:

I disagree re the LJ pedals.

The reason being, EQ is the thing that really changes the LJ. So a 3 band EQ pedal is stunning with it.

@Gassage I disagree with your disagreement of the Lazy J pedals. Have you tried one with yours yet? You're welcome to try my Deuce if you like :-)

Gassage

miserneil said:

Gassage said:

I disagree re the LJ pedals.

The reason being, EQ is the thing that really changes the LJ. So a 3 band EQ pedal is stunning with it.

@Gassage I disagree with your disagreement of the Lazy J pedals. Have you tried one with yours yet? You're welcome to try my Deuce if you like :-)

Yes. They are very very good. My route is different though and the point I make is that an EQ pedal is amazing.

crunchman

The Cruiser is a great pedal and I sold my Klon KTR when I bought one, but I ended up selling it on.  I would have much preferred it with some kind of EQ so I could have dialled out just a touch of high end from it.

Majorscale

I love my J20H and won't sell it! :-)

I owned a J40 and preferred the clean tone actually, definitely more clear, sparkly and big sounding, but it would never break up at normal/useful volumes plus it has a low level background hum which bugged me so I moved it on for a Magnatone which is perhaps just as loud but dead silent and has a different tonal flavour from the tweed camp. Would have kept the J40 if money was no object though.

richh

Fantastic amps, I have tried one with a Strat straight in, and I very seriously considered ordering one, it was hugely inspirational!  But in the end I just couldn't justify it, I still thought that it would be something that wouldn't be quiet enough for home practicing, though the attenuator is good.  I ended up going another route, a Kemper, which I'm using a lot, and can get some great tones out of through headphones.  In an ideal world the Lazy J would be great, and I'm sure they will also hold their value very well too.

There is one just come up on Gumtree - http://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/lazy-j-20-guitar-amplifier-with-reverb-and-tremolo.-as-new/1124004230 - a fully loaded J20.  Looks mint condition, but the guy wants the new price for it, on the basis that it is available immediately, instead of the long wait for a new unit.  Personally I wouldn't pay that (£2300) for it, but if you are the impatient sort, maybe it is worth it?

hotpickups

richh said:

Fantastic amps, I have tried one with a Strat straight in, and I very seriously considered ordering one, it was hugely inspirational!  But in the end I just couldn't justify it, I still thought that it would be something that wouldn't be quiet enough for home practicing, though the attenuator is good.  I ended up going another route, a Kemper, which I'm using a lot, and can get some great tones out of through headphones.  In an ideal world the Lazy J would be great, and I'm sure they will also hold their value very well too.

There is one just come up on Gumtree - http://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/lazy-j-20-guitar-amplifier-with-reverb-and-tremolo.-as-new/1124004230 - a fully loaded J20.  Looks mint condition, but the guy wants the new price for it, on the basis that it is available immediately, instead of the long wait for a new unit.  Personally I wouldn't pay that (£2300) for it, but if you are the impatient sort, maybe it is worth it?

I wouldn't pay that either as I'm a patient kind of guy and don't mind waiting and also to have the reassurance of direct customer service with Jesse. Would it effect any kind of warranty with Lazy J when buying second hand I wonder?

One thing's for sure is you won't ever see mine up for sale 'cos it's priceless to me and no one could afford the price tag I'd give it if I had a price in mind LOL

Gassage

@crunchman

The greatest strength of the LJ20 is the one tone control, which keeps a lot of the signal. Equally, it's the biggest weakeness if you wanna mess with EQ shapes.

So, I stand by my comments.

digitalkettle

hotpickups said:

I wouldn't pay that either as I'm a patient kind of guy and don't mind waiting and also to have the reassurance of direct customer service with Jesse. Would it effect any kind of warranty with Lazy J when buying second hand I wonder?

I bought mine used and I've had great support from Jesse on two occasions.

IvisonGuitars

digitalkettle;694429" said:

hotpickups said:I wouldn't pay that either as I'm a patient kind of guy and don't mind waiting and also to have the reassurance of direct customer service with Jesse. Would it effect any kind of warranty with Lazy J when buying second hand I wonder?





I bought mine used and I've had great support from Jesse on two occasions.

This. I've bought both of my J20 second hand and Jesse's support is second to none. I'm sure I've bored you all before with my story of Jesse spending an hour over Skype helping me reverse the previous owners mods and he even sent me some resistors for the job foc. Top Guy!

57Deluxe

I don't have a Lazy J but as my ensign suggests I have a 57 Deluxe 5e3 Tweed. But I agree that some form of EQing, whether outright EQ or in form of a  quality Trans Drive pedal does have a significant effect on your tonal options on a 5e3 design circuit. As I have said in other threads, my PROEL DS10 makes my Tweed sound like it has a Celestion Blue in it and controls any flub or boominess and allows me to dial harder and retain control - not an easy thing on a 5e3.

JonHosker

Tone is worth searching for and trust me I have searched : really believieve the j20 will be the amp and save my efforts, £, and time looking for 'that' sound! Looking forward to effort and time focused on playing more too Thanks for the drive pedal advice too

Wazmeister

@jonhosker - mate, did you get to play one before you ordered ?

pmg

richh said:

Fantastic amps, I have tried one with a Strat straight in, and I very seriously considered ordering one, it was hugely inspirational!  But in the end I just couldn't justify it, I still thought that it would be something that wouldn't be quiet enough for home practicing, though the attenuator is good.  I ended up going another route, a Kemper, which I'm using a lot, and can get some great tones out of through headphones.  In an ideal world the Lazy J would be great, and I'm sure they will also hold their value very well too.

There is one just come up on Gumtree - http://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/lazy-j-20-guitar-amplifier-with-reverb-and-tremolo.-as-new/1124004230 - a fully loaded J20.  Looks mint condition, but the guy wants the new price for it, on the basis that it is available immediately, instead of the long wait for a new unit.  Personally I wouldn't pay that (£2300) for it, but if you are the impatient sort, maybe it is worth it?

Seller says waiting list is 10-12 months.  Jesse told me its 25-30 weeks last Wednesday.