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With that said, I don't think any of their two-channel amps will do vintage overdrive on the second channel. The JCA20HV is a vintage-flavoured amp, but it's single-channel (albeit with a decent effects loop). To give you an idea, on the JCA100H, JCA50H and JCA22H the OD channel at about 2 gives roughly the same level of gain as the Normal channel on 10.
The only one with a "proper" clean channel is the Custom 22, but I actually think that the drive channel on that has more gain than the other amps, although it does have a different flavour (less Soldano-like, which is understandable given that the preamp was revoiced by Martin Kidd).
All of them can do good clean sounds, depending on what you mean by clean... they will not do the scooped/glassy Fender Blackface type of clean, it’s more a vintage Marshall clean.
The ones I’m familiar with all have overly-bright overdrive channels, but some people want that, and if you don’t it can be fixed with a small pair of wire cutters even if you’re not technically knowledgable.
It’s also possible to reduce the gain on either both channels, or the overdrive channel alone, by changing a preamp valve type - if on both channels, that makes the clean sound more open and slightly brighter.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
With a quick valve change, putting better quality pre-amp and phase invertor valves in and a 12AY (from memory) in the first pre-amp to reduce the gain somewhat.
I would say it was the amp Marshall should be making, great clean, wonderful crunch and heavy rock sounds. Just incredible and the best of classic through to modern. Worked well at home levels too
They are loud (for quiet home use) with the volume and gain on 1. First amp I've had that got the neighbours round All the control knobs are very touch sensitive.
I think the snip ICBM was talking about was clipping out a 470p cap (C23 I think) which definitely kills some of the high end and some hiss. On the other hand I'm going to put a different value in, snipping it out removes too much high end for home use.
You actually don't want a volume pedal in the loop of the JCA50H or JCA100H; because the loop's between the gain stages and the tone stack, and some of the clipping actually occurs within the tone stack itself...if you suck the volume out at that point, you'll lose some of the trademark "zing".
What are the thoughts on a getting a relatively clean sound from channel 1....i’m not after sparkly clean but at something that gives a bit of definition but can also dial in a bit of grit if required.
In fact, I like doing it that way so much that I use my Helix the same way!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
On here, you occasionally see a JCA22H in the £130-150 range.
Generally, selling them isn't worth it - most folk keep them around because a) they're handy even if you're not using them, and b) selling one would barely get you enough to buy a decent drive pedal these days.
I also have a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier and prefer the Jet City.
Shared EQ for clean and drive channels “might” be seen as a downside, but I prefer it - less knobs to worry about!
The feedback on these amps from users is almost always positive and what encouraged me to pick one up.
I also wouldn't suggest V30s at all for home use; they're so efficient that you're going to struggle to get these amps down to a reasonable volume. The Eminence speakers in the Jet City cabs are also "better" from that perspective.
With that said...if you scoop the mids a bit and bring up the presence a touch (from the floor, because I always use these amps with the presence on zero), you can get to roughly the same place tone-wise.
For home use, I'd actually recommend the JCA50H over the lower-powered heads, because to me they're just more controllable at the extreme low end of the volume scale.
If you can stretch the budget a little, though, I'd say try the Jet City 1x12" cab for home stuff. Just don't get the ISO cab, 'cos the general feeling is that it's not actually that good.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein