should i buy this amp???

[alan hollinger]

a local guitar shop is selling a used Johnson JM250 head w/ the j12 foot controller for $1000... the head is normally like $1300 i think and the footpedal is $300..... so has anyone had any experience w/ this head?? i love a variety of sounds (thats why i'm considering it) but my main tone is heavy.... if i had to pick a desired sound, it would be swedish style melodic death metal... anyway, is it worth it for this price??? should i jump on the deal, or could i do better? any help would be greatly appreciated!

[charger]

To me, that seems pricey. There's a lot that can compete with it, and you can easily get a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier head for less that that used, which will give you a surefire heavy tone. But I would also cheack out the reviews at www.harmony-central.com, and listen to the sound samples at http://www.johnson-amp.com/jm250.htm.

[Lopp]

Mesa/Boogie Rectifier is the way to go for truly heavy tones.

From what I know of the Johnson amps is that they are similar to the Digitec 2120. I had a 2120 and got rid of it because of the crappy tone. I especially could NOT get a decent heavy tone out of it.


Matt

[charger]

That's the same reason I got rid of my 2101. It just never got all the way there for me. I have gotten better distortion from a Big Muff into an Ampeg V4, at a substantial savings. However, if I needed a heavy rig now, I would definitely get a used Dual or Triple Rectifier. You can find them for aroun 800$, and that's about the best amp you'll get for heavy tones at that price.

[jrlemonz]

The Johsnon amps don't sound bad at all, and have LOTS of really cool features. Play with it a lot at the store and see if you like it enough to buy it. For the same cash you probably could pull off a Mesa, and that will be good no matter what, it just won't have all the built in extras (and there are TONS) of the Johnson. They do sound better then the Digitech's, much better.

Jake