Roland JC-120

Bought used at Guitar Center for $250 about 2 years ago. Looks like it was left on a construction site for a year but sounded as good as the new one I was considering. Unmatched clean headroom and chorus and reverb effects. Leave the distortion off.

Nothing else I ever played comes close to making my Strats chime like this amp. Very responsive to external effects. Never seams to get muddy. With a few good overdrive/distortion pedals this amp is unbeatable for any kind of music. Use an Ibemez TS-808 for great crunch sound, A Vox Bulldog Distortion pedal and Boss turbo distortion for heavier sounds.

I think it was used to support scafolding and still sounds like new. Not to mention, this is one of the older 1980's models without the effects loop.

Great; Called to order a new grille cloth and got in two days for about $20. Decided I liked the shredded look of the original and never changed it.

Been playing for 35 years in everthing from basements to touring cover bands, country to heavy metal.

Have many guitars. mainly use a couple of 80's Strats with Lace Sensors, modified Fender Lead II, and Les Paul DC.

Other amps I use are a Roland Cube 60 (close to JC 120 but no cigar), Mesa Boogie 50 Cal.+, old Peavy standard, and an old Fender Harvard.

Only downside is that it is a boat anchor at 65lbs.

Looks like this is an original first generation JC-120 due to the fact that it does not have an effects loop which was added to later incarnations of this venerable amp. I'm guessing maybe really early 80's. It has 2 channels - one channel is dry and the other incorporates the chorus, reverb, distortion (if you can even call it that), and vibrato. I bought this amp used and the previous owner no longer had the footswitch for it. However, after hearing this amp sing with its built-in chorus, you won't feel the need to use the dry channel at all.

Does it have enough power? If anybody out there thinks this amp falls short of LOUD, you might need to get your ears checked out. I can barely get the volume past 1 before the neighbors start pounding on the door.

Ok, here is where it gets very interesting. I am going to rate this amp only for what its designed to do best - and that is give you the most neutral clean sound and the most beautiful, lush chorus that the JC-120 is known for. I don't think anybody in their right mind, buys a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 for its trash metal tone so its pointless to critique its distortion.

Here's what I play through: Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus w/ SD JBs > MXR Super Comp > Dunlop Crybaby Wah > Japanese BOSS DS-1 > Nady TD-1 Tube Distortion > MXR EVH Phase 90 > Nady DSP 256 Effect Processor > Roland Jazz Chorus 120.

Guitar playing is a hobby for me and I'll play anything from Tuck Andress to Guns 'N Roses to Eric Clapton to Metallica. Pros: Did I mention that this huge beast does clean like nobody's business? Listen to Metallica's One or Nothing Else Matters. There's your JC-120 sound. Its a known fact that one thing that stayed constant with James Hetfield's rig is his Roland JC-120. And its not hard to see why. Playing through the clean channel, this amp puts my Class A Fender Champ to shame. As a quick A/B comparison, I ran a BOSS CE-5 Chorus Ensemble with the Champ and I still was unimpressed, spoiled by the spacious, liquid chorus that my JC-120 would provide without even breaking a sweat. Next to the Roland, the Fender Champ/BOSS Chorus just sounded sterile and lifeless.

For distortion, I use the Japanese DS-1 for heavy, palm-muted power chords. It won't give you a Mesa Boogie Rectifier (or even a dimed out Marshall) chug but it holds its own. In a perfect world, I would probably run two amps, The JC-120 for clean and a Marshall for the crunch.

This amp is over 25 years old and its first owner never had to take it in for repairs. That should tell you how reliable these original JC-120s are.

Haven't dealt with Roland. I tried browsing through their website for a manual for these original JC-120s but no dice. They do have a disclaimer that they may not be able to service older versions of this amp due to a lack of parts.

I've been playing for guitar since 88 and I've come a long way from the first beat up nylon 6-string I got as a hand me down. I've had souped up Kramers, Ibanez RGs and Fender Strats. I've played through Mesa Boogies, Marshall Silver Jubilees (the undisputed king of all amps, in my opinion), Fenders and several boutique amps. I remember playing through a JC-120 about 7 years ago and I swore that I would own one just because its clean channel is - no joke - to die for. This one came by and at $125 US, I could not pass it up. I was thinking of turning it around to make some decent money off it but after re-acquainting myself with the JC-120's chorus, I don't think I'll ever let it go. Never.

Bought it in 1985...original owner...Chorus/Distortion?Reverb

I use it for clean sounds as he Distortion is non existant...Play A Firebird thru it

extremely reliable...never been down

havent had to use them so I give em a 10

A very good and dependable amp...Great clean tones. I use it as a back up now, but in the day it was my #1 great amp

No, it is not a modeling amp and does not have thousands of built in possibilities, but having said that, it has all the features one would normally use for a traditional amplifier.

Personally, I find modeling amps too complicated to use on stage. I'm a guitarist, not a computer programmer, so I like my simple pedals. And for me, the Roland JC-120 has all the features I need. The stereo chorus is fantastic. The reverb is decent, but I don't use reverb very much. There is also a vibrato effect, but I like my stomp box vibrato better. The only thing preventing me from giving a 10 rating is the poor distortion. I use a Boss Metal Zone for most leads and a Boss DS-1 for a less intense distortion when playing rythym. The JC-120 sounds great with these pedals, better than my old Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Again, this would rate a 10 if the amplifier's built in distortion was usable. But with the proper pedals, this is not an issue. The Roland JC-120 has the best clean sound I have ever heard. Period. And I have used Fender Twin Reverbs and the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and Fender considered to be the Holy Grail of clean sounding amps.
But this Roland sounds even better.

I play mostly oldies and classic rock with some modern rock and metal, so I need something vesatile. This does the trick. My guitar is a Les Paul, and my effects consist of 2 distortions, a DOD vibrato/tremolo pedal, and Ibanez CF-7 Chorus/Flanger (I don't need the chorus any more really, and a Boss compressor which I use for clean lead playing. Keep in mind, I have been a tube amp guy for the past 10 years, but I got to a point where I wanted reliability and consistency that I wasn't getting from my tube amps. I was afraid to make the jump to solid state, but I decided to research to find out what is the best solid state amp on the market. So I went to my music store and plugged into the JC-120 and was floored. I was still worried that, being a solid-state amp, the "headroom" would be minimal and I would have trouble filling the room with sound without playing at insane volume levels. But I've gigged with it in some decent sized rooms now and never had to push the volume higher than 3 or 4. And yes, I walked to the other side of the room with my wireless on and the sound was still rich and full.

The only issue I have, aside from the poor distortion, is that there is a noticable drop in volume when you switch from dry sound to chorus. The chorus effect is outstanding, but when you switch to it, the overall volume decreases.

The JC-120 also works great with all of my pedals. On my old Fender, the sound was kind of muddied with my effects. On the JC-120, the effects are bright and clear, and don't overly color the sound. I can even play full bar chords with distortion without farting out, which I had trouble pulling off with my Fender tube amps.

Having said all of that, this amplifier does not sound exactly like a tube amp, so if you really want legitimate tube sound, this may not be the amplifier for you. It really has it's own sound, not exactly like a tube amp, but just as good in it's own way. Far superior to any other solid state amp I have ever heard - and to my ears, better than most tube amps, but different.

I haven't had it long enough to make a judgement, but it is built to withstand all kinds of road abuse. I would guess from other comments that this thing will last for decades.

Although there are several Roland dealers in my area, only Guitar Center had one of these in stock. Hopefully I won't need customer support.

I have been playing for 22 years, professionally for about 10. It may be early to judge, but I think I have found my perfect amp, and would buy this again if I lost it.

Some have mentioned a slight "hiss" noise, which I did notice when I plugged it in in my basement, but I didn't notice it at all when gigging.

As stated before, I would give a 10 if it had decent distortion, and no volume drop-off when switching to chorus.

I guess everybody knows...

19 years have passed since I got my first guitar.
And now... I will never be pleased to have a Line6 Variax but I would rather have one good Strat, one good Tele, one good Les Paul, one good Martin... You know what I mean?
This amp is made for the Clean Tone, am I right? The best clean tone ever!!! IMHO, this one is so much better than some Fender tube amps in terms of 'clean' and it is solid state. No need to worry about tube problem (no more waste my money for spare tubes...)
And if you have some high gain stomp box, it also turns into a great metal beast. too. The chorus is awesome!!! I use this one with Mesa Boogie and they are perfect match!!!

Solid state!!! And it is tough!

Must have amp for everyone... I think...
The distortion knob in 2 ch. is just... forget it...
But because of the clean tone... you must try or have it. Period.

Bought it from an old bloke - been using it as a keyboard amp since he bought it in 1977!!!!

See previous reviews for features - I have nothing to add here. It has everything I will ever need.

I use a standard Fender Tele - vintage noiseless pickups - through a Boss ME 50 - love it all.

I also use a kalamazoo model 2 with a line out into the amp for that great overdrive sound - love the class A overdrive.

I will soon get a AB switch to allow me to switch between the lovely clear jc sound and the Kally!!!

The guy who sold it to me has never had any trouble with it - it now needs a service but works as good as the day it was created. All original.

Hey - this is where I have issues - have been having trouble from Roland getting the age of the amp confirmed - if anyone knows how to date these amps please let me know - can not believe how hard it is.

It is easy enough to find a service centre.

I had one years ago but had to sell it to eat - now I have another (in better condition than my first) I will never let it go. I will kill the person who steals it - but will definately get another - only an old one though - not a new one - they are made too cheap now - quality has gone down.

2005 ~ Features have been discussed atlength, 2 channels, built in effects,chorus and reverb are the best, the only thing I like about the distortion is the knob,it matches the others. I purchased this amp for the clean sound and to run my Rickenbacker's through. You hook this puppy up with a Jangle box compression pedal and you will completly nail the vintage Byrds and Beatles sound, Vox who? I give it a nine in regards to features, good thing the distortion knob matched the others.

I love the sound of this amp, clean tones are excellent, you need to know how to EQ,set the treble and mid between nine and ten oclock, and the bass at three oclock, adjust the reverb and chorus to your taste, don't touch the distotion knob, just admire it's beauty. This amp also works well with effect pedals.This thing has plenty of power, built like a tank. As mentioned I play my Ric's and Heritage guitars through it all sound great. I have been playing for about 40 years, classic rock,blues, and comtemporary Christian, The amp has been well traveled and no problems.

The amp is solid and I have seen my share of amps, I would and have giged with no fear. One of my other amps is a DR.Z maz 38, in regards to a tube amp you couldn't find any better. I said that to say this, I am surprised how many time I take the JC 120 when I play out.As I have traveld around the country I have seen many guitar players, and this amp was being used by many of them.

I have no beef with their customer support, I have never needed it on this amp,I have used some of thier effect pedals over the years, and they were helpfull when I had questions.

If this was lost or stolen I would at the very least replace the distotion knob, it's beauty is unsurpassed.Seriously this amp is a keeper, and should be included in your amp arsonal. I haven't found anything that compares with this amp in regards to it's intended purpose, it will hang with the best of amps, including some of the finer tube amps,I know this may be speaking blasphemy, and I do agree that the tone of a good tube amp is sweet, but for a solid state amp, this amp gets it done

year:2005 Jc 120 solid state stereo, made in USA /CE

It's very versatile, enough power, very clean, I believe it's the most honest amp available, no adding colour to your tone, It says what it should says.

I Use a Fender Stratocaster 50th anniversary american series 2004 with custom shop 54 pickups. I play Rock music in Church and it was perfect for that purpose. a little hum was there, but its so minor.

the thing I would like to share is that, the distortion, it's so good, I like it...really, but not as a distortion surely, but a gain or clean booster for the lead, I belive Roland Co. should has named it : "GAIN", AND NOT :"DISTORTION", I thing that's the only mistake on this "queen of clean amp"

use it with fender strat and crybaby wah2, for that super vintage wah sound, and it's simply a second to none!!!

very dependable, before this, I gigged with roland jc 120, 1980's version for 3 and a half years and nothing was ever going wrong with the amp, until today, the church is still using it and it still is fine

I have been playing the guitars for 8 years now, tried so many type of amps, this one is the best of all so far, I own many guitars and pedals, and this amp just fits me perfectly, sounds quality is sooo good, It always can satisfy my soul, just one thing I found is not right, It's hard to sing a sad song with a big Grin on your face

1980's stereo solid state amp with chorus and distortion.

My twin was getting worked on and the shop gave me this to use for the gig. I played this amp for 3 nights and hated every night with it.
It was way to bright and brittle sounding using my strat with Texas Specials PU. Tried my using my Gibson 347 next night and it sounded like was going through a bad P.A. system. I am not fond of that 80?s chorus sound, but I did try it and just as quickly turned it off. The distortion is laughable. IMO this would be a better keyboard amp

It worked for the three nights I used it.

Have no idea

I have been playing in working bands since 1985. I have a Fender 66 Vibrolux, 1970 Twin and 67 Princeton. For Guitars I have a 2 1983 Fender USA reissue Strats (57 & 62) a 1970 Tele and Gibson 347 and a 335.
I would not use this amp again if it was given to me.

Early 1980s Roland JC-120. All-original (except the footswitch--try finding an original Roland footswitch for one of these!) -- includes original metal dust cover Roland speakers. I play in a band that bills itself as a "[Classic] Rock, Pop, Funk and Soul" band. This means I have to play a lot of styles, all on the same night, and in the same sets -- I have to have versatility and have it quickly. The JC-120 gives me that versatility, even when used with the most modest of outboard, pre-input jack, set-ups. I played last night at one of the bigger clubs in town with only a JC-120, Boss floor tuner, Vox wah and Rat disortion pedal (one of the early Rats --they are way better than the newer ones--I'd only recommend one of the older ones from the 1980s).

Amp is 2-channel, but, except for special applications, no one uses the plain channel to the left. Why would you? The glory of the JC-120 is its chorus channel. Has the typical outpus/inputs read other reviews for details there. I do occassionally use the line out to a PA board for more out-front presence --just be careful not to have it mixed too bright in the PA.

Just about everyone wishes it had better distortion -- read the reviews. The distortion is just not useable if you ask me. Maybe some people like it... I've thought of getting another 1980s rat and inserting it in the distortion channel of the amp--removing the current one and literally moving the Rat components to the inside of the amp chassis--setting the Rat Filter and Volume controls at fixed points compatible with the channel volume/tonality of the amp, and moving the Distorion control knob of the Rat to the front panel of the JC-120, replace the JC-120's exisitng one. Then I'd be able to increase or decrease the distortion amount just like the stock amp, only it would actually sound good with the advantage of not having an extra footpedal on stage--I'd be able to use the footswitch pedal that I already have for the distortion/reverb/chorus. One day....
I usually leave the bright switch off since the JC-120 is clean and bright anyway.

I use this amp regularly to gig with. Somtimes in combination with a Marshall half-stack. But, if I only take one amp, it's usually the JC-120, and I have lots of choices -- I have about 20 amps--mostly Fender, Ampeg and Marshall -- but just one Roland--this JC-120--it's the only one I've ever needed. I tried to get an older Roland JC-77 recently off EBAY. I bid over $400 for it and didn't win! They sold new for less than that. FYI, it's the smaller version of the JC-120, but still has true stereo chorus. Why would I bid so much on it? Because it's smaller and lighter than the JC-120, but the 10" speakers allow it to be used as a vocal amp. Yes, that's right, a vocal amp. Until you've heard vocals through one--don't dismiss this as folly. While the JC-77 sounds better for vocals than the JC-120, probably due to the 10" speakers, the JC-120 is still very adequate for vocals if you need it for vocals in a pinch in smaller clubs.

The JC-120 is solid state and has two loud 60 watt amps to provide true stereo chorus. Plenty of clean, sparkling power. I sometimes crank the JC-120 up to 6 on a very loud night. Normally it's set at around 3.5 -- which is also loud.

Stereo Chorus is the greatest. The revrerb is very good, though I think Fender amps still have better sounding reverb.

I've owned and played through a lot of amps for a long time in working bands and I think this is one of the most versatile amps you can get. Of course you're not going to use the distortion feature. But, so what? I've used a JC-120 in live and/or emergency situations for the following with great success: guitar (of course), bass (try to keep it down and take the line out to the PA board --adjust tone controls to taste), vocals, keyboards (this is a great keyboard amp--I play in a loud originals band and the keyboard player also plays guitar on some songs and just uses the JC-120 for both).

If you want clean--this is it in spades. The best clean amp ever. I like the tonality of the Fender Twin Reverb, which is also a great clean amp, but nothing is cleaner than a JC-120. And the JC-120 is more versatile than a Fender twin because it can get really loud without break-up/unwanted distortion. If you crank a Twin up to those levels, there will be at least some (if not a lot) break-up because of the tubes.

I use Fender guitars mostly with the JC-120, Stratocasters and Telecasters, though I will occasionally use a Gibson Les Paul --especially if I'm using the JC-120 in combination with a Marshall half-stack. I have the "Fender Noiseless" pickups in almost all my Fender guitars because some of the clubs we play have lots of neon and flouescent lighting along with TVs and these will almost always cause hum with Fender single-coil pickups--depending on proximity to the devices and the electrical circuits of the building. I have Tom Anderson red (bridge) and yellow (neck) pickups in an early 1970s Les Paul Custom I often use. Since they are humbucking, the noise/humn problems are not as bad as with Fender single-coil piclups, so whatever hum exists is usually tolerable with the Gibsons. Still, I always bring a Fender Stratocaster with Fender Noiseless pickups as my backup guitar, no matter what amp I use or what show we're playing.

Amp suits my syles fine -- Classic Rock, Pop, Funk and Soul. But I use a 1980s Rat distortion pedal for distorted sounds. Amp can get loud with very litte noise -- very clean -- no distortion from the amp, even at high volumes. This amp is great if you use pedals because it will project loudly whatever goes in without coloration. The built-in distortion is less than adequate and just leave it off at all times--same as I do with the bright switch.

The vibrato is geat in this amp -- a litte clean tonally compared with a good Fender vibrato, which has a warmer character to it. The reverb is very good as well, but Fender reverb is more pleasant to my ears. But the chorus is unmatched. It's simply the best chorus ever built into an amp because it's true stereo chorus. Anything else is a similation of real chorus. No chorus pedal can match it, and I've had plenty of chorus pedals. No other amp's chorus is as good either. The Roland JC-120 is THE standard by which all other chorused amps and guitar chorus effects are judged. Period. For the ultra clean sound, even at high volume, and the chorus effect, this amp has to get a 10 in the sound category -- these are the two most compelling reasons to buy this amp, followed by versatility, reliability and portability.

The most reliable amp I've ever owned in over 30 years of playing gigs in bar bands. Including mostly Fender, Peavey, Ampeg and Marshall amps. I've been using it regularly now for over 10 years and have not once had it serviced. I've never had another amp (that saw a lot of use) even come close to that kind of reliablity. it simply never breaks down, and the speakers hold up incredibly well. Mine has a lot of external battle scars, but the case is indestructible. Another band member that uses his JC-120 for keyboards and guitar had his backed over by the drummer one night, and while the case took some damage, we re-shaped it, added some wood here and there, and it worked perfectly - no damage to the amp chassis or speakers (luckily)!

n/a -- Don't know. Don't ever want to know. Don't ever expect to know.

I've been playing in bar bands for over 30 years. I own about 20 other amps; mostly Fender, Marshall, Ampeg and Peavey. If stolen or lost, I would immediately look for a used eighties model on EBAY or Craigslist. The Roalnd JC-120 is a real workhorse, and is very versatile and reliable. Love the chorus (who doesn't?), dislike the distortion (again, who doesn't?) -- wish it had better distorion.

I wrote this (now lengthy) review because I truly love to play guitar and am into guitars and amps in a big way. I have always been a regular, blue-collar club player and I am also practical (especially the older I get). If a friend asked me what amp to get for gigging, and they could only get one amp, I'd recommend the Roland JC-120 without a second thought. It's got plenty of power, enough ins/outs to work large or small venues, has a great clean sound to project whatever outboard stuff you want to use, has great durability/reliability/versatility, and the best chorus ever built into an amplifier. It can be used for Country, Jazz, Rock, Pop, Soul, Gospel -- even Punk and Grunge (the built-in distortion actually sounds similar to the Boss DS1 distortion pedal used by grungers). On top of all that, they are very affordable! You can get them for under $500 used all day on EBAY.