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Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
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There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
I also have a Custom 22 that I bought as a back-up and for a bit of variety. The OD channel on that is a bit too gainy for me, so I tend to use that as a single channel amp on the clean channel with pedals.
I would probably pick my JCA 50h as backup for my VH4 at this point over my JVM.
It's louder than you'd imagine (I've had the neighbour's round, first time, after two years with a Marshall DSL 50).
Weirdly (to me) it "takes pedals" better than the Marshall. I can finally hear the Phase 90 when I'm attempting Van Halen stuff
One annoying thing about JCA amps is biasing. Apparently they're biased quite cold so I want to do this (I read about 40% at idle on one website!), but the company keep insisting this isn't necessary, and installing 1ohm resistors involves either cutting traces and drilling holes in the PCB, or buying a bias probe for another 40 quid or so for an EL84 version, which I'll have to track down. Looking forward to hearing what comes out when this is done
I’m no expert by a long shot but it makes you wonder about Mesa’s claim that if you throw in a set of their tubes biasing is never necessary. If they are as cold as some claim just about any tube will work, no? I’m sure IC will be along to put me right soon lol.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
I have always biased my own amps all the way back to the 80s but have never bothered with any of my Jet City amps.
I have literally hundreds of gigs on Jet City 20w EL84 amps and not only do they sound great at high volume, but I have never even replaced any power valves.
Every other EL84 based amped I've gigged has needed new valves every couple of months or so.
Don't overthink it, seriously, just plug and play and bung new valves in whenever you feel like it, like everyone did in the old days.
He then uses a scope to bias the amp and find the sweet spot. I have no idea what he’s doing for the most part but it’s still interesting to watch.
I’m out at the mo or I’d search it up and post the linky.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
I had one of the JCA22 amps, changed a few of the valves when I got it to improve the quality of the valves a little, and more importantly take a little of the gain out of the cleaner channel.
Best bang for buck I've ever had, good for home use but also very loud.
Just a classic rock sound, highly recommended
https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Jet-City-100H-LTD-Valve-Head/2DWQ
I've known of the JCA range but this looks new to me?
The simplicity of a single channel is a welcome and familiar return for me. Lots of options with a few pedals. Lack of reverb was sorted by the astonishingly flexible HOF mini.
I'll still sort out a biasing solution. Not being a FB user I'm not familiar with the posts you refer to, but equally there are plenty of people on forums rebiasing the low powered JCAs and feeling a benefit.
I've biased all my amps over the years since I heard how better my 2104 sounded 25 years ago when I re biased it. I can't imagine why an amp currently biased at 40% at idle won't sound better at 65%, my experience with a lot of old Marshalls, even my DSL, suggests biasing in the right zone for that amp is a win.
We'll see. I can always re bias cold again
and I’m selling it