Yamaha JX50

I bought it brand new in 1980 from Japan. It is a pure 50 watt amplifier with stock Yamaha 12" loud speaker (JA-3066) with 60 watt RMS power output and 180 watt Peak power output. This speaker is a very robust driver with medium size magnet. This amp has got basic features like Pull-Gain volume used for boosting up the overdrive and a Fat rotory 3-position switch for varying the amount of midrange to your sound. It is a single channel amp with two Input jacks, one Low and other is High. Two guitars can be played on this amp at the same time but the Low input has lower output power. I found this amp remains clean at high volume but it started to distort at around 8. I myself uses Low input for humbucking pickup guitar and High for single coil guitar. It do not have a effect loop. It do have headphone jack and also for connecting the reverb foot switch at the back panel. I uses this amp at jam sessions and medium live shows. It is very powerful amp with pure sound. I do not like its small spring reverb tank which does make rich reverb sound. I wish it would have a good quality reverb tank and also its cabinet should have more depth around 9~9.5 inches for more rich and deep sound. I like its dark brown color with very attractive grill cloth. If I compare it with the amps in early 80's as far features are concerned I would give it high ranking.

I play all kind of music styles on this amp. It do not have much variety if you compare it with now-a-days amps but it is still a very versatile amp. It has a very warm and creamy overdrive sound and I find it very ideal for soft and medium rock music styles especially for blues it is a real pleasure. The distortion become quite brutal when you engages the Pull-out gain volume. The clean sound on this amp is great which is warm and crystal clear. It is a very quiet amp and does not makes any noise even at full volume but here it is a condition that you should have a good qualtiy guitar with good pickups and shielding of wires. I compared its sound with other amps in 80's decade and I found its overall sound very nice. I still have this amp lying in my bedroom and I regularly maintain it by blowing off the dust and polishing its exterior. Because its condition/sound is so great, my friends hardly believe that it is a 26 years old amp. Comparing to 80's technology I would give it high ranking.

It is a very dependable amp. I have been using it for the last 26 years and it never gave me any problem. Its every part is original.

Yamaha customer support is excellent. I dealt with them twice and they are extremely helpful in this regard.

I have been playing for the last 27 years. I have got lot of gears like Yamaha Studio Lord electric guitar SL-400S copy of Les Paul 1980, Yamaha guitar AES-620, Yamaha Pacifica guitar 412V, Yamaha acoustic guitar FG-470S, Epiphone les paul black beauty, Ovation electric acoustic guitar CS-257, Fender 12-string guitar D-6, Yamaha guitar amps; G50 112 III, JX-50. Fender amp FM-212R and Behringer acoustic guitar amp ACX-900. I have got lot of Boss effect pedals some of Ibanez stereo chorus CS9, Ibanez Sonic distortion SD9, Danelectro tuna melt tremolo, MXR dyna comp, Korg GA-30 guitar tuner and Seymour duncan woody pickup for acoustic guitars.

My JX50 amp was made in 1981. I bought it brand new from Japan. I live in Pakistan. In those days this amp supposed to be one of the best solid state amp. I still have this amp in excellent condition and uses it at home and jam sessions. This amp has got basic features like Pull-Gain volume for boosting up the overdrive sound. It has also got a Fat switch which basically boost and cut the midrange frequencies and I found it extremely useful. It has only one channel with two Inputs High and Low. It do not have effect loop. It do have a head phone jack and Reverb On/Off switch jack. I only wish it should have a good quality reverb unit and cabinet with more depth (only 8") for more deep sound. I used it in mediun to large live situations in my early young day between 1981 to 1987. If you compare its features by keeping in view of the technologies during 1980 then I would give it higher rating.

I found it one of the best sounding solid state amp in early 80's. This amp is capable of produceing almost every sound like super clean to slightly overdriven and then to more overdriven sound. I mostly use it for clean playing and sometime for slight overdriven playing. It has got a satisfactory sound variety if you compare it with 80's amps technology. The clean channel stays very clean while using Low input jack but the overall volume reduces. On High input jack the overall volume is very loud and it starts to distort at around 7 Gain setting. It has got a very creamy and smooth overdrive and I love to play it for blues and other rock music styles. The overdrive really become brutal by Pulling out the Pull-Gain volume with lot of sustain, compression and punch. The overall sound quality of this amp is great and I have compared its sound with other amps in 80's decade and I always found it a lot better. It is a very quiet amp and remains quiet even at full volume. I only wish it should have a better spring reverb and cabinet with more depth around 10" for more deep/full sound. It has got a very powerful loud speaker (JA-3066) 60 watt RMS, Peak Power output 180 watt RMS with medium large magnet. It is a robust speaker as it never gave me problem for the last 26 years.

No match for it utmost reliability. It never gave me problem for the last 26 years. Oh yes I once got it faulty with my own negligence when I mistakenly plug it in to 230 volts while it operates at 110 volts. So got it repaired by replaceing its power transistors by consulting with Yamaha company who provided me all the necessary information.

Just excellent. Yamaha people are simply classic. They are so kind and helpful that you cannot immagine. I have been using Yamaha guitars and amps for the last 27 years and during all this time I found them extremely caring people. That's why I always prefer to buy Yamaha products and I love this Company as it gave me the inspiration when I was a teenager. I live in Pakistan and now they have introduced an authorised dealer here from where I can very easily get the spare parts and other accessories.

I have been playing for the last 27 years and I have got lot of gears like Yamaha Studio Lord SL-400S copy of Les Paul 1980. Yamaha AES-620, Yamaha Pacifica 412V, Yamaha FG-470S acoustic guitar, Yamaha G-50 112 III guitar amp, Ovation CS-257 electric acoustic guitar, Fender D-6 12 string guitar, Epiphone black beauty 3 Pickups, Fender FM212R amp, Behringer ultra acoustic amp ACX-900, lot of Boss pedals and some Ibanez Chorus CS9, Distortion SD9, Danelecto tuna melt tremolo, Zoom G1, MXR dyna comp, Seymour duncan woody pickup for acoustic guitars, Korg GA30 guitar tuner.

Bought this amp new in 1980. It's a 50 watt solid state guitar amp with a single 12" yamaha speaker. Controls: push pull gain/volume, master volume, treble, middle, bass, 3 position "fat" rotary swith, reverb, high and low inputs, phones jack, and a reverb foot switch jack on the back.

I play a '66 strat, a '72 strat, and a '77 Travis Bean (dual humbucker solid body). The amp sounds good with all three guitars. It has a good clean sound that borders on chimey. When pulling the gain switch and turning it up to around 8 it gets a decent, if not spectacular crunch. The amp is versitile enough to play any style of music with the right combination of pedals, but as a stand alone straight through setup it lacks the warmth and feel you get with a tube amp. The fact is that this amp is an excellent small venue travel amp because of its light weight, quality construction and decent sound.

I have probably put 10,000 to 12,000 hours on this amp without so much as a hickup. I take out the chassis about once a year, blow the dust out of it, and spray some contact cleaner in the pots. That's it. I've never had it fixed. To put this in perspective, since I bought this amp, I've owned 14 cars, 9 computers, 6 VCR's, 4 TV's, 9 CD players... you get the picture! I will never get rid of this amp, even though I own better amps. For 19 of the last 24 years, this was my only amp, and I still use it quite a bit.

Never tried to call or write them.

Though this amp doesn't do anything in a spectacular, eye opening manner, it is versitile and very dependable. When I bought this amp, it was one of the best solid state amps made. The twin 12" 100watt amp sounds better, but it was over $400 at the time so I went with the 50. My friend has the JX100, and he has had similar luck with reliability. If stolen, I certainly would try to find it, but would not go out of my way to purchase another since I don't really need an amp in this class anymore.

This particular amp, the Yamaha JX50 was made around '70 or '72, since they weren't made after '72. It is almost versatile enough for my playing style. But since I play mostly bluesy rock, it doesn't cut it, as far as sound quality. I use this one mostly when we play small venues, simply because my Fender Showman just gets too loud for those. It is of course a solid state, which I do not like...I would've preferred a tube in that it would sound better due to the era it was made in.

I'm playing a Fender Strat with reverse staggered pickups and an Epiphone Standard Les Paul. The amp actually sounds more clean through my Les Paul than the strat. It does not make as much of a desired variety of tones, for example: feedback, this amp does not feedback well. The channels to tend to overdrive when you have the pull gain volume on 10 and the main volume on just about anyting.

I have and would use it on a gig without a backup simply because it is made tough and made to last. It has not yet broken down. I would have to say that this is a very reliable amp.

I have not had to deal with customer support yet.

I've been playing for 9 yrs and played through this amp for over 2. If it were stolen or lost I would do my best to find it. the thing I love about it most is that it looks cool and does have a good sound overall. I do not hate anything about it except for it's overdrive. I do wish however that I had another Fender, maybe a Cyber Twin

Standard 50 watt 1 12" solid state. Has a headphone out, wish it had a direct out. Decent reverb, master vol., 3 tone, fat switch, pull gain on high input.

I bought this new in 1980 (1?) and have used it all over the country and on several recording projects. Used w/ guitars ranging from a '53 Gretch arch top to a 2000 PRS and a '98 reissue Strat. Great as a clean amp, the distortion is what you'd expect from solid state in the '80s. Clean is good, can get VERY bright if you crank it. The push/pull gain is almost a necessity for any kind of warmth to the sound. With a good pedal this amp can accomodate 80-90% of the players out there, without giving them a hernia carrying it.

Yamaha solid state. I'd seen them for a long time, had a friend who was a dealer for 8-10 years. (No, I didn't get it from him, wish I would have, but I was on the road at the time.)
If you stuff the cabinet (to make it 1 trip to unload) be careful of the speaker and the leads. Put a little contact cleaner in the pots every couple years, make sure that the dog hasn't eaten the power cord, and play away.
Again, this amp has 2-300,000 miles w/ no factory service and only the speaker lead from my stupidity in 20+ years.

Plenty of service centers, most of the ones I dealt with had some rep training so they knew how to get what I wanted from it.

Been playing since early '70s, all kinds of styles. Been through a lot of guitars, mostly humbuckers but a few notable exceptions ('58 Esquire, '37 Rickenbacker, '64 Es-330.) Tried lots of small amps, this was the best at the time for a small, sturdy road amp.
Would I buy it again? Not now for the purpose I did, but it would be good for a small studio, beginner, keyboard amp., etc. At the time, you bet.

Don't know the year it was made in. I very much like the reverb on this amp with the pull gain. I play Jazz in a blues style. It's made in Japan, 120 watts, has a high and a low input, on the back a reverb footswitch. The color is brown with black nobs. It has a pull-gain nob, a master volume, trebble mid and bass, fat and reverb
I use it with a Telecaster and i especcialy like it with the neckcoil. Super warm sound.
Enough features onboard, like to play clean or with some reverb.

I play with a telecaster with two single coils, also played on it with a stratocaster lookalike, also like the neckcoil. Never played the amp with humbuckers so i wont know.
I like the amp for playing clean. I use the high input, the pull-gain more open then the mastervolume and a slight touch of reverb, very jazzy sound.

Didn't have any problems with it looks solid to me

don't know

I play about 12 years, i have an fender twinbaby amp, an italian tube top with four 15 inch speakers cabinet.
I like the yamaha, has enough output (120 watts)and enough features for me, i would like another one for playing stereo.
Don't know the 75 watt version, i read it was a piece of crap. But i can't imagine its the same as the one i have

The Jx50 looks like it was made in the seventies, or evan the sixties. The amph color is brown and gold nobs, not to classy looking for the 2000's and beyond. I play alot of jazz and blues stuff(steely dan and so on), and the amph does not cut it with the one twelve. I'm not in a band but Ive been playing for about six years.Has high imput and low imput. A pull gain volume and master control volume. Has four equalizing controls Treble-middle-bass_ and some nob called FAT that I have never seen on another amph. Has a very nice reverb though and play Marley tunes quite nice also a reverb foot switch plug in the back, but Ive never evan it. Now the speaker in the cabniet reads a diferent modle #JA3066 60 watt r.m.s. And the amph reads 75 Watts r.m.s. So since I bought it used the first speaker must have been replaced.

I play a Peavey preditor, wich is a strat look alike and a sound alike. I love the pick scrapes and sharp bends and the Jx50 fits my style of play to an extent. With this amph I get no screaming solos. My ground is pulled out of my edison cable so I get alot of scrathy sounds and every now and then I pick up radio station. The bass on the amph sucks bad. No distortion peddles eather the speaker just bottoms out. The pull gain just makes the amph sound worse too.

Besides dirt getting in the pull gain, 999999 times out of a 1000000 it will turn on.

I bought the amph used.

I am nineteen and I feel that by the time I'm twentyfive I will be a damn good guitar player. I would pay somebody steel my JX50 its a piece of crap.