JCA OWNERS!!! (RE)JOIN THE JET CITY LOUNGE!!!

[Jay]

Haha. Well I just picked ANOTHER Jet City 4x12 yesterday off CL for $100 so I definitely have a candidate for a matching snakeskin cab. (Guy sold me two 4x12 Jet City cabs for $265 total)

I did offer to make my wife a snakeskin miniskirt with the leftover material. She did not say no . . .

You lucky fool. On BOTH counts of course.

[Hipster Salad]

Cale, how is that 2x12? I have been thinking of getting one of those for my 20H

The 2x12 is FANTASTIC. The stock V30s are nice, but to pair it with my Friedman JCA I much prefer the Lynchbacks in that cab. My other guitarist runs a Bogner Shiva into a Marshall cab with a V30/T75 combo, and my rig can definitely hang with it

Now plans for the two JCA 4x12 cabs . . . .

One will definitely be re-tolexed in Snakeskin, but I may try different speakers. I would like to stick with Eminence only because I have the Celestions I want in my other cabs. Maybe the CZ-75 would do the trick

Other cab probably load it with Eminence Wizards or Governers. That would make a very broad range of coloring with cab/speaker options.

I will say this, the stock Jet City speakers certainly aren't bad. I've played through bad speakers, like the Celestion Rocket 50, and the Jet City ones are decent enough to probably leave in one of my cabs. Especially for lower volume playing, I prefer those much more than V30s. I've found that V30s are good only when you have some power behind them.

[Jay]

Sounds like you have some good plans. I have a pair of mid-'70s 25m Blackbacks that I would like to put in their own home and free up space for either some Greenbacks in my 4x12 or some Creamback 65Ms. I don't play out ATM so a 2x12 makes more sense to me for now.

[Hipster Salad]

Sounds like you have some good plans. I have a pair of mid-'70s 25m Blackbacks that I would like to put in their own home and free up space for either some Greenbacks in my 4x12 or some Creamback 65Ms. I don't play out ATM so a 2x12 makes more sense to me for now.

If you can find a JCA24SV I would highly recommend it. Bedroom playing, live shows; it can handle it. I've been told (by a GC employee so take it with a grain of salt) that they have been discontinued. I was lucky enough to snag a new one off eBay but seems like they are hard to find.

[Jay]

Hey guys. I've been searching both here and on google with no luck. Is there any threads/post explaining how to add an effects loop to my JCA2112RC?

I plan on adding one to my 20H at some point. I'll try and get on it soon and take detailed pics.

[Jay]

Sounds like you have some good plans. I have a pair of mid-'70s 25m Blackbacks that I would like to put in their own home and free up space for either some Greenbacks in my 4x12 or some Creamback 65Ms. I don't play out ATM so a 2x12 makes more sense to me for now.

If you can find a JCA24SV I would highly recommend it. Bedroom playing, live shows; it can handle it. I've been told (by a GC employee so take it with a grain of salt) that they have been discontinued. I was lucky enough to snag a new one off eBay but seems like they are hard to find.

Always my luck. I'll have to do some digging soon.

[Hipster Salad]

Sounds like you have some good plans. I have a pair of mid-'70s 25m Blackbacks that I would like to put in their own home and free up space for either some Greenbacks in my 4x12 or some Creamback 65Ms. I don't play out ATM so a 2x12 makes more sense to me for now.

If you can find a JCA24SV I would highly recommend it. Bedroom playing, live shows; it can handle it. I've been told (by a GC employee so take it with a grain of salt) that they have been discontinued. I was lucky enough to snag a new one off eBay but seems like they are hard to find.

Always my luck. I'll have to do some digging soon.

Here's where I got mine:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jet-City-JCA24S ... 19fc359490

[midnightlaundry]

Triode Mode.

I'm surprised nobody has done a Triode mod. It's super easy, and adds a cranked tone and cuts the power at the same time. There's a noticeable volume drop which is cool for low volume playing.

All you do is use the amps existing Screen resistors, and connect them to the Plate supply coming from the Output Transformer. I used a beefy DPDT switch to go from Pentode to Triode and back. I think this is a simple and worthwhile mod on the 6L6 amps. You can do it to the EL84 amps too. It's way easy to try out to see if you like it. Just lift the one side of the Screen resistor, and solder that end to the Plate supply of the power tube. Make sure your caps are drained first.

Warning: I did not go for a clean install on this one , but it's easy to see what I did.

[Jay]

^

I had actually gathered all the parts to do this on my 20H, but life got in the way and amp builds/mods took a back seat. I also got obsessed with fuzz and other pedals.

I'll do this on the 20H and an FX loop install at some point soon.

[Tortuga]

Wow - everytime I think this thread is dying, something big comes outta nowhere!

Cool snakeskin, Sahl. Love it!

Jay! Good to see ya, buddy!

Midnight - that's something I would seriously like to check out. Any chance of a diagram to make it a bit more clear? I think I can see where a few of the wires are going, but it's not clicking with me. Great job, though!

Did you guys see that Doug dropped in?

[Meelocheck]

Good to see Doug here. He sent me a new bias pot for my 22 when mine started acting wonky. Nice guy and a pleasure to deal with. Would bang.

[slash123]

Hi, can you recommend a kit to add an FX - loop to my JCA20H ?
Consider that I 'm in Italy , if you advise me some shop in europe ...
I had seen this :
http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Kits/M ... :5973.html
Thk

[spadearcher]

After the disappointing experience with the Zoom G3 in the loop of my Jet City JCA100H, i have just bought a Zoom MS-70CDR to cover my chorus, delay and reverb needs. Plus it has a good noise gate! I kind of decided to roll the dice, since there was the risk that it had the same issues as the G3 in our Soldano-like loop. But Zoom's webpage says it has "Stereo line-level output and input", and I saw a post in another forum where a guy claimed to be using a Zoom MS-70CDR in the loop of his JCA100H with no issues...

After a couple of weeks of use, I can say that it works really well and handles line-level signals with no issues at all. Plus it has a huge variety of good quality delays and reverbs, and a good and usable noise gate. It also features a built-in tuner (though the loop is obviously not the best place for it). Still have to check the chorus sounds, phaser, flanger, etc.

I can say it is giving me everything I wanted from the G3 (actually they use the same DSP), and in a very compact package, same as a Boss or MXR pedal!

So, GRIMESPACE, feel free to add it to the list of Multi effects units compatible with our picky loops, just in case it may be helpful to others... Thank you!

[Jay]

Effects loop

This one works well from everything I have heard about it. Sorry, it's not from a European dealer, though.

[Jay]

Hey Grime!

How's the tubes treating you?

It's been a while. Getting back into the JCA game.

[Tortuga]

Hiya Jay - great seeing you back in JCA territory! I thought you had posted something recently about a 20H, but wasn't sure what you were doing with it. Do tell, eh? Also, would like to get a bit more info on the SLO mod (see your thread for Q's) - I may give that a run sometime later this summer.

Tubes treating me pretty good. I keep forgetting I need to send you some bux!

Been saving my pennies and nickels to buy a DSL. Can definitely break into the piggie bank and get something for you, though

Also been plotting a rebuild and some mods (tweed channel, blackface the rest, etc) on my old Fender Pro Reverb. Might even do a head conversion on it. I'll keep everything (cab, etc) intact so it can be returned to stock one day, if I wanted to, but more interested in being able to use it with my other speaker cabs than the stock combo format.

How'd you like with midnightlaundry did with the triode/pentode switch above? Sounds like a pretty cool mod to me, just not 100% clear on the details.

[maynardo]

Wow - everytime I think this thread is dying, something big comes outta nowhere!

Cool snakeskin, Sahl. Love it!

Jay! Good to see ya, buddy!

Midnight - that's something I would seriously like to check out. Any chance of a diagram to make it a bit more clear? I think I can see where a few of the wires are going, but it's not clicking with me. Great job, though!

Did you guys see that Doug dropped in?

Damn didn't notice, I REALLY wanna ask him about the post master loop in the big amps just like the 22h, I remember he mentioned the last time he answered questions here, I'm curious if in fact they made the changes

[guitardave]

Hey Guys, I've been searching for a Jet City forum as I've just ordered some of their gear. Looks like I found the place to be!

On order is a Jettenuator, a JCA22H, and a 12S+ cab. I will of course post photos when it all gets here :-)

Very excited to get my hands on it, I've read nothing but good things about Jet City!


One question that springs to mind... It seems that a fair few people replace the tubes on these. If I were to do that, can I buy a full matching set from somewhere, or do you buy them individually? Is it an easy job to do?

Thanks :-)

[js635]

My JCA20HV is waiting for pick up at the local UPS store. Pics to come shortly.

I bought the original 22H as soon as it came out. I had the very bad (and apparently very uncommon) luck of getting one with a short in the standby switch. Sent it back, the new one had the same issue. Both amps gave out on me in the middle of a rehearsal. I couldn't justify getting this brand again, but the tone was so sweet that I have to give it another try.

Went with the vintage because I like a few OD/Dirt pedals. Hoping this bad boy takes them well.

Really wish it was lunch time. I want to pick this thing up.

[juicecity]

Hey guys, so glad I found this forum. I've been slowly working my way through all the pages.

So I got kinda screwed on a deal. I bought the jca20h on reverb and they said the head would come with the original baffle but it didn't. It was also missing 3 chassis screws from the bottom which is great... Aside from that it's all good.

I know you can buy the black baffle with the new logo from jet city but I really love that original blue baffle with the 333 logo.

So, has anyone found a place where I could purchase it? Or even just the orignal 333 faceplate would be great.

Thanks for the help!

[philosopher]

Hey there from me too

Recently grabbed a 2nd hand 2212c and loving it.
Have already swapped V1,V2 and V5 tubes which made an immediate improvement.
V1 was noizy and worn, so swapping that alone was enough.

A JJ El84 set is on its way. Haven't checked the bias of the current chinese el84s yet, will open up and do so when the jj's arrive.

Nice thread, I see lots of mods here!
See ya around

[guitardave]

In the JCA22H, are the tubes labelled inside, V1-V5? Which is which? Anyone have a photo? Got some new tubes coming next week :-)

[Hipster Salad]

General rule of thumb for any amp (JCA22H is no exception), V1 is typically the closest to the input jack, then they go in order from there. I believe they are labeled on the chassis. Which ones are you looking to replace?

[guitardave]

I've ordered two Tung-Sol 12AX7's to start with, so I was thinking of swapping out V1 and V2. The guy I ordered from says it's the first tube that the guitar input hits that makes the most difference to the sound, which is why I'm just doing these for now, and I'll look at replacing some more in the future if I like how the sound changes :-)

Do you just take the back panel off the head to replace them, or do you have to take the whole thing to pieces? Never done this before so not sure how big a job it is...

[Meelocheck]

You can just pull the cover and do it, no need to remove the chassis...although it is only 4 more screws and will make life a LOT easier. The two you want to change will be right behind a transformer, so it may be a bitch from the back because you won't be able to see them. Just make sure you have the pins aligned correctly before you stuff 'em in the sockets.