Roland JC-120

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.

The JC-120 is your bread and butter amp. It has all the necessary ins, outs and controls you will ever need to shape your sound without having any flashy and useless controls. It's rock solid and works fantastic in almost any application. This is why it has become an industry standard combo amp. Mine was bought new in 2005.

This is where this amp can shine like a star or make you cry with disapointment.

It is a very clean and clear amp, so the weakest link in your signal path (especially the guitar and extra especially - the PLAYER) will be there plain as day for all to hear.

After tweaking - the amp's EQ, Reverb, Bright switch, Chorus (if thats your thing) and adjusting your guitars tone and pickup selection - beautiful tones can be achieved. With the right stompboxes are wide range of different sounds is possible. It is very versatile.

I particularly love my Boss Tr-2 tremelo and Ibanez TS-808 tube screamer through this amp and aim for a fairly mellow, warm tone similar to far more expensive tube combo's.

It has enough power to satisfy anyone interested in a combo. When comparing it to other amps I am always impressed by how 'big' it sounds, the two 12' speakers provide such a wide and deep guitar sound.

However, there are a few downsides to this amp's wonderful sound.
You will never use the distortion. If you do... (without any other effects) I can't imagine you have ears at all. It's very harsh and unpleasant to hear.

Secondly, the amp has a constant 'hiss' to it. You won't hear it in a noisy music store, but you will in a nice quiet room and on your nice clear recording. I talked to an amp tech and it is due to the bright pre amp. You won't notice it when playing loud or playing with distortion but for dynamic clean playing and close mic recording it is clear as day. I nearly gave up on the amp because of this.

The solution? I tried a rocktron hush pedal in the effects loop, it worked but also sucked everything that was nice about the amps tone. Some people say the hush works well at cleaning up noisy distortion pedals without altering tone, I tried it for that too and still disagree. I would love to be proven wrong but for now I would urge anyone interested in a Hush pedal to look elsewhere, there crap.

So, I tried a Boss NS-2 noise gate/suppressor in the effects loop and to my absolute delight it worked perfectly. There was still some hiss while the gate is open but the amp is dead silent when there is no playing even with noisy distortion pedals.

So just by itself the JC-120 might not be the ultimate combo but with the right stompboxes is becomes an amazing sounding, hugely versatile amp.

The reverb stopped working after around 6 months of solid work but was fixed under warranty. No problems since, they have a reputation for being rock solid amps.

I emailed Roland Australia in regards to the amps hiss but they never replied.

I love this amp. If you have a couple of stompboxes then I would definately recommend this amp. It has a wonderful clean and big sound to it.

My playing consists mainly of jazz and blues with my archtop aria, but the amp still sounds great played with high gain distortion boxes and stereo delays/reverbs/flanges etc.

If noise is a problem like it is for me then get a NS-2. Other than that this amp is amazing and is the perfect addition to anyones guitar rig. It's not perfect but with the right gear it gets pretty close to it. I will never get rid of mine.

I think it's one from the 2nd generation...not the best on earth though. I bought it used on eBay for $340 because it looked nice and clean. When it arrived I was blown away because somebody (a previous owner) actually screwed some holes on the sides and put some door handles!...dude...wtf...this was not fukin pictured!!! First thought was 'Fukin eBay (even worse being an eBay employee myself)'...However everything else looked fine, a few scratches here and there...but the main hardware was OK, so were the looks...even with handles on it.
We know about the options, the main ins at the back, footswitch plugs, 2 channels, chorus and vibrato fx, spks out and so on. Just wanted to tell this is an old one...almost abused...but ready for some action.

My rig is a POS bunch of everything: Schecter Omen 6 w/PRS McCarty pickups - Rocktron Austin Gold OD - Fulltone OCD - Korg AX300G MultiFx - ART Tube Pre studio - JC-120. I also have a (POS) Crate GX-65 that's reliable as hell, and some sort of 'start point'. At the time I received the JC, I had original pickups on the Omen 6 and my first reaction was totally negative...of course...just liked using both pickups at the same time. However I play mostly alternative and hard rock so bridge pickups are essential. I then decided to make a serious upgrade, since there are lots of good reviews on the amp when used with good guitars, and also good reviews on the Omen 6 when you hit some serious wire. Once the pickups were installed then the review started and also the great sound I was trying to find. I use the 2nd channel, and was able to find a sweet spot when using the Vibrato with Depth on 1 and 0 Speed, highs and mids on 9 and lows depending on what I need. Since basswood and the McCartys are intended to have this 'dark sound', the Bright switch it's always on...The sound was well focused and meaty, however I decided to add the Art preamp to add tube warmth on the overdrive, and some nice sounding frequencies on clean. This is when everything started to shine. Sparkling highs, bell-like tones, sustain as hell, FX sound nice, screaming overdrive literally, well-defined lows...the amp truly stands out on jamming situations...the pickups are now shining on every position...just waiting to play it live in a couple of weeks.
It is true the amp is not for anyone, due to its particular sound, usually called 'sterile'...It's not sterile, it's the beast's particular sound. There are a lot of other amps that are really sterile, so much they SUCK. Fortunately there are a lot of ways to plug it (i.e., not using the Bright buttons, using both channels at a time, the main ins, spk out as an fx loop, etc) and can be good enough you can use these sounds in case of emergency. Compared to the Crate, it is so clear that seems to be lacking some mids and lows. However the amp's EQ is well distributed, punchy enough and fully adjustable. It can compensate what's missing in your guitar's sound spectrum, it can stand any kind of guitar very well. Could be a little bit noisy, it depends on the guitar /fx/ your local cycle hum...After the pickup change, the litle noise was gone. As previously stated, just admire the Distortion knob's inner beauty. Just use it if you want to add lo-fi fx on something.
Finally, sounds great with acoustics too. I have an Epiphone PR5-E that can make you cry through this amp. I've compared my rig with some others (from friends mainly) and everyone is just staring at the green monster...and listening, which is nice. I like it more than Fenders, due to the many options you have. Every jam session just makes me smile for the joy of hearing this old amp. The 9 is because I needed to add extra gadgets to get the sound I want.

So far, it has not let me down yet...I'm planning to give it some doctor treatment, just to know if everything in it is running fine. The other day I had some volume issues, but found it was a POS cable. If an amp is steady enough to keep sounding great after some lazy added door handles on it, instead of casters...I think its reliable enough..I'll add the casters too. Heavy as a whale.

Haven't tried it yet, you should check other reviews to know about this.

I've playing 11 years, 5 years professionally. I have played at church, bars, outdoor festivals, with a lot of different pieces of gear. Have been testing and using a lot of other people's vintage and new equipment for a while (lack of money sucks big time), and have learned a lot after a lot of issues with old amps and all kind of situations. This is one of the best amps I've used without a doubt. Even with my POS gear, this is able to make me and others smile due to the clarity it has. It feels good to sing and free your thoughts about how good you think your gear is sounding through the rehearsal. I'll buy an old one again if this one dies...a new one? Need to try it first. I'm happy with this oldie so far.

Mine is an older version without effects loop, but with the chorus don't really need much else. Use the amp for church and works for all styles of music. Has two channels but only use primary channel.

I really like the sound. Was using a Fender Twin but much prefer the "clean" of the JC-120, and when you add the chorus it is really rich and layered. As others have mentioned, the built in distortion is not really usable. I'm playing an '84 Ibanez Roadstar RS1300 with dual humbuckers and also have a Mesa Rectoverb I use with the JC-120. Only issue is that the amp doesn't really take pedals all that well. I started using a TubeWorks Blue Tube pedal (has an 12ax7a inside) and it really warms up the sound nicely. Amp has plenty of power with the two 12" speakers - great low end and lots of chime on top. Very pleased with this amp!!!

No issue so far but have only had the amp a few months. Also own a JC-55 which I bought new back in 1987 and never had any problems.

Never had to dealt with Roland so don't know.

Great amp and would definitely look for another if anything happened to this one. Love the clean and the chorus is legendary. Been playing for almost 20 years and haven't found anything I like better than the Jazz Chorus amps for a full, warm, clean sound.

Vintage 1980's Roland JC120. Two channels; one with chorus/reverb/tremelo/distortion, the other with just clean tone. Bass/Mid/Treble. Two inputs per channel; one for higher gain, one with lower gain.

Chorus isn't as lush as people say. A Boss CH-1 Super Chorus or a Electro-Harmonix Smallstone would be the way to go. Though vintage sounding, not the best if you're want that Scofield-esque chorus/flanger effect. (Though Scofield did use a JC120 himself for quite a few years)

Reverb has good range.

Tremelo is...tremelo.

Distortion is close to, if not, worthless. Sounds like the speakers are made of paper grocery sacks when turned on.

Currently using this as my 'all around' amp. It's loud, records well, is durable, looks cool on stage. I tour/gig frequently in multiple groups, mostly jazz. Only complain is that it's freakin' big! 2x12 inch speakers, about 70 lbs.

Plugged in with my American Gibson 335 and 137, it does the job.

Clean is clean, but is a very dull sound. Does not have the clarity that a Twin Reverb or any other tube amp has. I've got better tone quality out of a Fender Princeton Chorus (which aren't as big either)

Again- use it with my 335 and 137 (both semi-hollows). Does good with Jazz, Blues. Does okay with Rock.

The channels are noisy, hissy. Cleaned the pots and still had noise. Maybe cause it was shipped.

Would still work if I dropped it downt he stairs. But I don't advocate that.

Have been playing professionally for 6 years. I have used Fender Twin Reverbs, Custom reverbs, Frontman series (They suck), Line 6's(they suck), Hot Rod Deluxes (they're okay), and other assorted amps (Whatever the venue supplies)

Current gear- Gibson 335/137 into EB Volume Pedal, Dunlop Wah, Digitech Whamme, Boss Superchorus, Tremelo, Smallstone, ProCo Rat, Line 6 DL4 Delay. All sound decent with this amp.

I wouldn't buy it again.

Don't buy this amp if you're a purist. Buy this amp if you like reliablity.