Roland JC-120

Amp was made in 2006,as 2 channels. chorus, vibrato, I wish it had a decent distortion. I use this amp at gigs sometimes home and studio. solid state. I play mostly Blues Jazz and worship at church. No amp does everything but this one handles pedals very well and because its a 120 watts stereo its pretty cool. Its a loud 120 watts. and you can play two guitar one in each channel and keep one clean and play the other dirty, and they wont effect one another. Iam a strong tube man but this amp is one of the few are maybe only solid state amp I like as well are better then some tube amps.

I use a Godin LG that I put early 60 model P90s in and a Les Paul standard, G&L Tele. This amp will do anything I want and do it well.this amp is a stereo amp and made by roland go to their web site,they have a demo thats pretty cool and they are playing metal and everything else. check it out. this amp is a little noisy but not as bad as a tube amp but I never seen a JC that wasnt a little noisy, but you notice once playing. Ive played it pretty loud and never got it to distort. I dont use the amps distortion cause it stinks why they even put it on there is beyond me. I use a Marshall Bluesbreaker II pedal and get a great sound, reminds me of clapton a great blues sound i like it better then the Boss blues driver. this is a great amp I like tube amps and still have a couple but my JC can stand tall with the best tube amp. It was made to play clean and thats why jazz players all over the world use it for years and still use it and it can play good clean blues and with the right distortion pedal it can do anything else you want, but be careful it will make a guitar player out of you everything you do will be heard clear.

Ive played and own Marshall,Carvin,Fender,Peavey,Vox and Traynor and Ive been playing 40yrs and have had problems with the above but never with the Roland JC 120

never had to deal with them

Been playing 40yrs, I own a G&L tele a Les Paul Standard and a Godin LG with early 60 model gibson P90s in it. Peavey Delta Blues 210 amp all tube,Fender Twin. Fender USA P-Bass SWR 750 workingpro head Aguilar 210 cab and a Fane 15 cab. The JC 120 has its own sound its solid state so I dont compare it to a tube amp. But its a wonderful sound and I like it very much it stands up there with amps like Evans. If your reading this and thinking about a JC go to Rolands web site and watch and listen to the demo its cool.

1975, 1976 and 1977 models...I also had a 1979/1980 model.
Excellent sound for jazz..especially that 70's jazz tone by ECM guitarists..(Pat Metheny..etc.)

I use it for acoustic gigs and jazz gigs...sounds amazing..
uhhh the 1975 has such a unique sound...the amp has changed so much over time...nothing sounds like the first series of these amps...just amazing with the chorus sound!!

I got all of my jazz chorus 120's used...I guess I'm a collector now!
the chorus is very noisy and swooshes a bit...but that's the sound!!
Very good clean sound...excellent chorus AND vibrato...I never liked the vibrato effect...but the effect in the jazz chorus amp is awesome..especially set to slow speed with high depth..very nostalgic sound, especially the 1975 model

seems like a tank!

I'm a big fan of the old JC sound.. I have done hours and hours of research on these amps. There are a few very different versions of this amp. 70's models have the smaller Roland R logo on the grille, 1979/1980 was the first edition to have the bright switches, which the first models didn't have. (The first models also had a black & green color scheme on the face plate, different castors, chrome corners, and different speaker insignia on the magnets). The amp has two channels, so it can handle two outputs at once when used with two guitars, or a stereo device, such as a guitar synthesizer. Roland USA is absolutely worthless as far as helping to date these amps. I emailed many JC owners around the globe as well as Roland overseas to finally get this info. I know for a fact that Roland JC-120's DO NOT all sound the same! The circuitry was changed through the years and the stereo chorus your hear on the newer models is completely different. I have read that these are great with keyboards too, such as a Fender Rhodes (using the chorus), or any modern synth. There aren't many people that know how to date these amps. The legend of how these amps sound is all too true the new ones sound nothing like the old ones..and I'm sure it all has to do with the electronic components that have changed over the decades. The serial numbers can be confusing because the numbers start over again in the 80's. I have done a lot of research and if you want info on how to date these, you can email me. There are many subtle changes in the cosmetics and sound that happed over the years. 1975-1978 series had chrome corners, a green and black color scheme on the face plate, different insignia graphics on the speaker magnets(typically white and black labeled "musical speaker"), there are a total of 6 in/out jacks in the rear and a small trim pot opening, (for the vol of the ext cabinets), the graphics on the face place were different, the knobs were even slightly different, no bright switches, no effects loop, they have a smaller R Roland logo on the grill cloth and the SOUND of these amps is unmistakable..they had the CE-1 Stereo Chorus circuit in them..which is what made these amp's sound so famous. From 1979 to 1981, cosmetically, the amps color scheme on the face plate changed, so did the knobs and graphics (only slightly), there is a small trim adjustment pot next to the output/inpput jacks on the back of the amp..a small hole in the cabinet is apparent--next to EXT speaker outputs, there are a total of 8 in/out jacks in the rear, the castors changed to a more modern style, the speakers had the Roland logo and insignia on the magnets, the amps still had the smaller R Roland logo..(which if you're looking for an older one, is a dead giveaway that it's an older JC). The chorus circuit had the CE-1 and later the CE-2 versions..there is a way to check this with eletronics code numbers...but I'm not good with that stuff..so I follow the cosmetics, serial numbers and sound. From 1982 to the late 80'.. the chorus circuit changed to Roland's more modern chorus sound, the Roland R logo is bigger on these models..(this is a giveaway that the amp was manufactured after 1982), the input jacks nuts on the face even changed cosmetically..from steel/silver to black plastic nuts, the effects loop may have been added in the late 80's. Late 80's to 90's...sound has weakened dramatically from the original version, the amp now has an effects loop, black plastic switches have replaced the silver toggle "bright" throw switches, there is an additional adjustment pot added to the face of the amp in the effects section for the chorus and vibrato control. There is a newer 2000's version that doesn't have the silver cone speakers...

playing for a long time

I have three of them now..sold the 1979 I had

this is a state of the art roland amps, brilliant very famous in the 70's and till now

i am using strat highway one series, just listen to crystal sound of the chorus, it's so bright. if u palying jazz this is the real amp. i've read reviews that was Submitted 12/24/2008 at 09:44pm by Anthony -he mentioned that the distortion sound terrible, of course dear, this amp is NOT design for metal or any hard/power chord, this is legendery design for good clean guitar sound.

u can depend on it

Bought it new in 2000.I exclusively play on clean channel.120 watts are just fine and has casters.Too heavy for a solid state amp-70 lbs.It has two channels-one you never use.Useless distortion that is complete JOKE...

Here I don't agree with majority.Big dissapointment.Playing gibson Lp standard W/burstbackers,Fender USA strat,Ibanez etc.The sound is dry...dry... and dull.Reverb and other settings are not helping.Sorry but other cheap 212 combos at clean channel gaving you much better tone...

After over e year the plastic holders of the reverb unit that is installed inside the chasis broke from moving it and forced to bring the reverb outside.

Never dealt vith them.

I been playin for almost 40 years.Own lots of tube and solid state amps,Messa mark III head ,fender rocpro 1000,fender twin reverb,Yamaha G212,Peavy bandit etc.I will not buy any Roland amps again.Owned Rb 100, AC60 couldn't get rid fast enough.

I just bought my first Roland JC-120 guitar amplifier this week after drooling over them for the past 20 years. I bought mine used from a music studio in California that used it infrequently and it rarely left the studio for gigging. You already know the features of this item, so I'll skip the techno info in this review.

I am a professional guitarist who peforms easy listening romantic solo guitar instrumental music at a fine dining restaurant four (4) nights a week...every week for the past five (5) years. I use my Roland JC-120 amp with my Gretsch Streamliner Historic Series guitar (Made in Korea)...but have used it with my made-in-Spain Cordoba CWE-S cutaway electric Flamenco Guitar with equal success.

I had been using a rare Roland JC-80 Jazz Chorus guitar amp...a single-channel amp...similar to the JC-120...with Roland Chorus and Reverb that has a 15" speaker...which did the job just fine. But I find that the JC-120 gives me an even fuller more "radiant" sound. I am eager to try out a "Y" split 1/4" guitar cable so that I can plug my Gretsch guitar into both Channel 1 and Channel 2 simultaneoulsy to see what additional (stereo?) sounds I may be able to get. Although I have a suitcase full of various guitar footpedals (Peavey DD-3 Delay, Slap Echo, Flanger, Compressor, Flanger, etc.), I have never used them in my public performances. No need to use them...I have found my "Perfect" guitar sound without cumbersome pedals and those awkward, tangled extra cables. I don't need to fix what isn't broken!

The Roland JC-120 makes my instrumental solo guitar music sound much better than I really am. The JC-120's clear, mellow sound using the "automatic" Chorus lever and about 60% Reverb knob setting give my romantic ballads, love songs and classic pop songs and standards of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s a lush etherial sound that is UNMATCHED by any other amp.

This amp picks up every gentle nuance from gentle string-bending to light Bigsby Vibrato Tailpiece depression. I use full Bass Knob (10); full Mid-Range Knob (10); and about 60% Treble Knob Settings. I NEVER use the Distortion...and I never use Channel 1. I keep the "Bright" Switch in the "Off" position. Oh, my! Simply a GORGEOUS sound! This sound alone has made me lots of money over the years. No one else can match it! This truly unique "Roland sound" puts me in a class by myself.

Its been said here many times: It's built like a tank. Heavy and awkward to load and unload, at about 70 pounds. But fortunately, my JC-120 came factory-installed swivel caster wheels...and I get to keep this amp at the restaurant...so all I have to do it roll it out, plus in my guitar and start to perform! All the knobs are already PRE-SET and ready to go when I flip on the power!

Having used a wide variety of Roland equipment during the past 30 years of playing (JC-77; GR-1; GK-2; JC-80, etc,) I have never had to use Roland Customer Support. I'm surprised that Roland even offers Customner Support...that must be a lonely job, since their equipment is built so well!

I am a HUGE fan of Chet Atkins and Les Paul...and my simple melodic style (some call it "Elevator Music") reflects their influence. I play guitar as Johnny Mathis sings...stick to the melody only...no showy jazz riffs, no Johnny Smith fingerboard dynamics, so fancy foot-pedal gimmicks, no pyrotechnics...just simple melodies play from as written from begiining to end...Folks could sing along with my solo guitar and NEVER get lost...bea=cause I am always on the MELODY. The Roland JC-120 gives me the sound that people love. And that's why I am a working professional musician who is always in demand for wedding receptions, community events, non-profit fund-raising dinners, corporate meetings, etc. They LOVE my sound...and it's all thanks to the Roland Jazz Chorus amplifiers...of which the Roland JC-120 is the Patirarch of the Roland guitar amplifier family!

On a scale from 1-to-10, I woud give the Roland JC-120 amp a 160!

Bought my JC-120 new in June 2008 for $650 including shipping on ebay - a music store had gone out of business. It would be nice to have parameters to control the amount of chorus.

The most versatile amp I've ever tried. I use it for everything from country to heavey rock. It's great clean or with outboard effects. I upgraded the speakers to the Celestion Century G12, and now this thing is an absolute beast. I can get about 25% more volume now than with the stock speakers before feedback under high gain/distortion conditions. Throw a ISP Decimator in for feedback suppression & this amp can compete with any of the top amps out there for rock & even metal.
This is the only electric guitar amp I've run across that sounds good with acoustic guitars as well. I play a Les Paul with an LR Baggs acoustic bridge, & run a line out from my small crate acoustic amp into channel 2. Throw the chorus on & I get a great acoustic sound with plenty of volume. I did have to buy an Ebtech Hum X unit for the end of the power chord to eliminate the terrible buzz I was getting from running stereo into the amp from my guitar, but that solved the problem completely.
I couldn't be happier with the sound & performance of this tried & true workhorse.

No problems so far.

Haven't needed any.

I've been playing professionally on weekends for almost 30 years, & this is the best amp I've ever used. I wish I had discovered it sooner. I would definitely buy another if this one was destroyed or stolen.

There's only a gazillion other reviews on the JC-120, so I'll try to keep the obvious to a minimum.

Stole this at Guitar Center as a red tag deal. Same day, my bassist bought a Musicman Stingray for $600.

The Jazz Chorus isn't feature-loaded, and it doesn't need to be. Two channels, reverb, vibrato, and chorus on the second. Pedal-friendly and loud

Schecter C-1 Hellraiser with EMG 81TW/EMG 89 pickups > EH Russian Big Muff > EH Metal Muff > Digitech Whammy (re-issue) > Ibanez PM7 > Ernie Ball VP > Line 6 DL4 > EH HGR > BBE Sonic Stomp > Roland Jazz Chorus 120 (channel 2)

In the two days I've had the amp, my bandmates and I have mainly been playing light post-rock/ambient type material.

The distortion is terrible, worse than I had initially anticipated. I read just about all the reviews here on HC and on MF and music123, but nothing prepared me for this. The Roland Cubes have better distortion than this! However, I did buy this amp knowing I wouldn't be using the distortion, so I'm not disappointed. It's been beaten into the ground, but this amp is very pedal-friendly - my two EH dirt pedals work nicely.

On the flip side, the chorus is really as amazing as people say. In all two days I've had the amp, the chorus has yet to be turned off - and I'm not a big fan of the effect itself (as you can see from my pedalboard setup).

I've heard so!

NA

I consider this my first legitimate amp; I've had a Behringer practice amp, a Behringer V-ampire combo, I played a bandmates Fender Stage 100 for a few months, and I've played through a Marshall MG halfstack for the past year.

If you're on a budget and you're a serious guitarist/musician/gear junkie, you can't go wrong with the JC-120. Used, they seem to go for around $450 to $500 on eBay. It never HURTS to have an amp like the Jazz Chorus around (provided you have the space) - you'll probably keep it the rest of your life. My dream amp would be some sort of Mesa Boogie or Cornford, but that just isn't practical for me right now. The JC does exactly what I need it to do and then some.

I'm the original owner of a 1980 model.

I don't find it hissy or otherwise overly noisy. For those reviewers who hate the distortion - try using the low inputs with the distortion knob at 4 or 4 1/2. Best when your guitar's volume knob is 1/3 to 1/2 way up. This setup gives a good tubey-clean sound. Then for the creamy solos - yes - you'll need a pedal. Even just turning the distortion on but left at zero really helps un-solid state the sound. This setting even works surprisingly well with an acoustic guitar!

My setup runs the electric side of a Godin into Chan. 2 and the acoustic side into Chan.1 and combining the two at all times. Yes, I run both through a few fx first, but after years of learning just how to use this setup for my sound - I am finally happy.

I'm the original owner since 1980. Never had even one problem and use it literally every day (minimal travel, however.) I also have an older model (probably '79) before the design addition of a bright switch. That one has a few problems, but it was on the road a lot and also used in a backline where there is lots of abuse. It still works on channel two and sounds slightly warmer than the 1980 model. This amp also has the distinction of being on a couple of Steely Dan tunes circa "Katy Lied."

Don't know about customer service because I've never had a need for service. That's good!

I'm probably a JC120 user for life.

Hands down the best loud reliable clean amp ever designed. The chorus has no peers, because it is TRUE ANALOG stereo chorus and totally integrated into the amp's design. TWO separate power amps, TWO separate speakers, one being massaged against the other using delay and the chorusing is the result of the phase difference. No gimmicky marketing or modeling here. Only one chorus effect comes close and that is the TC SCF pedal running stereo through two matched separate amps placed correctly. The '79 to '81 models sound the best, A+, '81 to late '80s equally good but chorus a little less magical, and new ones are very good, B+. Distortion crap for most applications, but amazing if you want to destroy a beautiful thing. Reverb is excellent all they up to 10 (doesn't swallow your guitar). Faithfully reproduces guitar, playing, pedals, or whatever you put into it. Put crap through it, get crap out of it. THE BEST PRACTICE AMP EVER, because it really shows your flaws.

A little noisy, but no where near a tube amp. Very bright, but the EQ is high quality at every extreme.

You can throw it off a 20 story building into a pot hole full of water, then have it dragged 3 blocks by the garbage truck, then compacted with your neighbor's **** collection that his wife tossed away the night before, and then rock all night with it until it gets you ****.

I saw this amp sitting collecting dust in the attic at the museum I work at. A forklift had punctured the grill cloth, went through the speaker, cracked the baffle and ripped out all the cleat runners. They said they couldn't even throw it out, because of the bureaucracy in the higher chain of command, so I went straight to the top dog and demanded it. It was missing the back panel too. I put two new Weber California 80 watt ceramics with aluminum cones in it and restored the cabinet, grill cloth, and tolex, and made a new baffle and back for it. $360 in supplies and tools to fix it. The amp was built in 1982 and the chassis didn't have a fingerprint on it. Let me tell you, it was so nostalgic to hear tis great amp again. No other amp has WOWED me with no fx, flat eq, and no reverb on first impression. Just clean plain dry guitar. Beautiful.

My Jazz Chorus amp is a recent model - not sure what year because I bought it used. The features are very straightforward and simple, but it includes all the essentials. The amp has two channels. One channel comes with reverb, chorus, vibrato, distortion, bright, and equalization. I use this channel for all my electric instruments. The other channel includes only equalization and works well with my accoustic guitar. Both channels have a bright input and a normal input.

This amp is all about pure, clean sound - what you hear is the guitar and player's own voice, and the effects you choose to use. It has a rich, sparkling warmth that most other solid state amps lack. It never distorts even at highest volume, unless you choose to add effects. Tube amp snobs that diss solid state have never played through this amp.

It is marvelously versatile and sounds equally amazing regardless of the type of guitar or genre I play. I own a Gretsch 6120 Nashville, a Telecaster, a Schecter, and a Yamaha FG-335 accoustic and I play a variety of genres including rock, blues, country, rockabilly, jazz, and folk.

There are a few minor problems with this amp. It hisses, but I found that mostly depends on electronic interference caused by the outlet you plug into. The distortion is very poor quality - you will never use it, but because the amp is so responsive to fx pedals - you won't miss it.

The chorus is a rarity - a true stereo chorus created by twin amps built into the combo. A tip - the chorus' richness is best heard when you are standing away from the amp, to get the full stereo effect. Close up, the chorus sounds weak, but that is deceiving. Vibrato is good on the lower settings. Reverb is also quite good.

The JC 120 is tremendously responsive to a variety of fx pedals. I use a Boss '59 Bassman pedal, which stays on all the time, to recreate a vintage, fat tube amp sound. With moderate to high gain it adds a great crunch without the ear-bleeding volume for which Bassman amps are known, and I can match Brian Setzer's rockabilly tone or SRV's Texas blues. Through a Boss overdrive/distortion pedal, the Roland can recreate a quality hard rock sound from AC/DC to Zepplin, and I can create a spot-on match to Santana's creamy overdrive. Cleaned up, this amp really shines - it is ideal for country, folk, and jazz; no equals anywhere.

It's solid state and well-built, so I never worry about gigging with this amp without a backup. My bands performs 1-3 times per month, and I haul this amp to practice at least once per week without any breaks or repairs.

No issue.

Quality, clean tone with versatility is what the Jazz Chorus is about. I have played for 30 years in a variety of semi-pro bands, and playing a wide variety of music. I currently play in a showband that covers rock, country, folks, blues, and jazz, so creating a variety of sounds and tones with simplicity mean everything to me. With a quality instrument and the right effects, I can mimic nearly any sound I choose. Above all else, I crave a clean tone - to hear the guitar's pristeen voice. This amp delivers that without equal.