How much for a used JC-120

[RezN8]

How much would you expect to pay for a used JC-120?

It's an older model (maybe 80s or early 90s?) and is in great condition. It sounds better and seems better built than the new ones for some reason.

So how much is it worth in US dollars?

Tnx, Rez

 

[jonnyc]

I'd say you could easily snag $500 for it. It's probably one of the best solid state amps ever and is probably in realitively high demand when compared to most other SS amps.

 

[RezN8]

Thanks. I was hoping it would be worth at least that much. Cheers, Rez

 

[marshall409]

just out of curiosity...

could someone explain to me why these things are so great? ive used a jc-77, and obviously it has a pretty nice clean sound to it, but to me, any solid state in that price range has a perfectly clean sound. the distortion sounds horrible to me, but i think everyone think thats right? the chorus and vibrato's nice too....but alot of pedals and even processors could do that just as good, no? whats the big deal about them?

Adam

 

[RezN8]

Good question. For starters, the JC 120s are incredibly reliable, completely consistent in sound, and there's enough power to be heard in a band situation. Never had a problem, ever... and believe me, this amp saw a lot of combat.

I mainly began using a JC 120 for acoustic/electrics back in the day. I was fronting an agressive acoustic funk rock and blues band at the time. We could never hear my guitar on stage, or in the monitors and I had no idea what I sounded like or if I was even in tune. This was back before all these companies starting making acoustic amps.

In the clubs it was obvious how much better (and louder) my acoustic sounded and how much more control I had over my tone. I was used to playing my acoustic pretty hard (I'm a drummer after all) and the amp handled hard strumming very well. You can't always get that from a PA.

When I switched to playing electric guitars the amp still sounded great. The amp is actually very pedal friendly.

At gigs I had one amp with a channel for each guitar. A rock solid gigging amp on wheels, not too heavy, not too big, and always sounded good.

I compared the amp to others back then, but nothing came close. Maybe things are different today, I don't really know.

I do know that it still sounds good and I get asked all the time if I want to sell one or at least rent it out for gigs.

 

[jonnyc]

could someone explain to me why these things are so great? ive used a jc-77, and obviously it has a pretty nice clean sound to it, but to me, any solid state in that price range has a perfectly clean sound. the distortion sounds horrible to me, but i think everyone think thats right? the chorus and vibrato's nice too....but alot of pedals and even processors could do that just as good, no? whats the big deal about them?

Adam

The cleans are really really nice. Not really tubey just straight clean. In fact Metallica used these amps for both recording and live.