Guitar Paradiso - Roland Jazz Chorus Shoot Out - JC40 vs JC120 

I say combine the best of both worlds . JC420 blaze it

That clean tone + chorus and reverb just SCREAMS 80s.

Love the way Pete always seems happy about playing

40 year old amp, and you don't even have to worry about the condition the tubes are in, because there are none! - just plug and play.

Don't mind me. I'm just here waiting for all the people to decide it doesn't sound good anymore once they find out it doesn't have valves.

No. #1 guitar amp among new wave guitarists in the 1980s... VERY GOOD!

I bought a JC40, and it sounds incredible. Really dig the vibe effect. Tad bit more noisy than I expected, but stellar sound overall. Reverb is super. Build quality is flawless.

what i like about these amps is that they sit very well in a mix especially as it does not cloud over the vocals

Thanks to Pete and Mick, and that beautiful intro, I bought a JC-40 (about a year ago) - best amp I've ever played. So perfectly clean. The Chorus is "other-worldly." Add any OD or Distortion pedal for some dirt. This is a great demo!

Not only does that amp sound like the voice of an angel, that deusenberg is a thing of pure beauty

Guys this video was quality, the flow and conversation and linking and description and humour all tied in and it made for such a great video, keep this up the content is greattt

Saturday morning in America with my coffee and Guitar Paradiso. Love, love, love these videos. Such classy players. Cheers, Mick and Pete!

I am primarily a Strat player but the older I get the more I lean toward that smooth Jazz sound. Glad to see that Pete's finger injury isn't severely hampering his ability to do some excellent picking. In fact both of you guys do a wonderful job and I look forward to each and every video. Breathtaking tones!!!

Beautiful sounding amp and beautiful, beautiful playing from Mick and Pete great work guys!

I could listen to that opening jam all day long! Great work guys!

I actually got the JC40 and nothing wrong with that...it's a really good amp, it has "loop" to run in stereo pedal and also stereo "outputs", etc ... nice amp i'm happy with it.

This video put a smile on my face, Thanks Mick and Pete!

Personally I'm a big fan of Johnny Marr and all his jingly jangly guitar playing, particularly the earlier stuff. I'd been playing Fender and Vox amps in search of the right tone on which to base my own, when I stumbled upon these Roland Jazz Chorus amps. Hands down my favorite amps ever. Solid State reliability and killer clean tones. The best sounding chorus in the world. Also it nails all those intros in Cult songs.

I ran a JC120H and matching 4x12 for years, and loved it. Used a Chandler TubeDriver rack (which I still have) for the dirt. Wish I had kept it.

Great work again guys, superb playing with a huge variety of styles to showcase the amps abilities.

wow, you guys sounded fantastic, that was a great vibe you had going in this one. super job

Love it. I remember when almost everyone in LA had a 50w Marshall and a JC-120. They sound great! Danish Pete you playing is super impressive and moving.

Beautiful pristine sounds and lovely playing guys.

Amazing playing! Sweet sounding amps, too! I really like the 40.

some of the best sounding jams for late nights and early mornings, as viewed half last night and half this morning!

Many many users The Edge though out the 80s, good to see the distortion has that same lovely crackle

Man, this brings me back. Love it, simply love it.

Great amps. I really like the 40w. Full sound at lower volumes. Thanks for the tasty demos fellas. Happy New Year!

I hope everyone treasures the amazing music these guys make just "goofing around". I would go buy a Pete & Mick album today! Capt. did right by snagging these 2 players....

Combined with a Boss ME80,this is the best and most versatile amp that i have used,and i have had many over the years. Its a keeper!

Some amazing playing in this one, guys!

That strat is amazing, I can see why you like bringing it in for demos

You guys make beautiful music together!

I didn't know the JC40s existed. I was always thinking about a big JC but they were always to loud. This is brilliant. Gonna get one! Great video!

Wonderful clean, reverb, chorus, vibrato.. gonna buy one!!

This video forced me to buy one ..after all these years..great playing!

Mine's a Roland JC120 from the 1982. 35 years old straight. So - yeah - it's more like toward 4 decades and works amazing! Astonishing! Cheers ;)

Love the sound of those two together...the guys and the axes. I always thought Duesenbergs were big but that Gretsch is huge. They both sound great. I haven't seen colors like that green since the 80s though :) Hahaha loved Mick's Mr Sandman.

I love my Lab series L5... so now I’m looking for this Roland amp.

I love this opening chord progression 👌

It's true James Hetfield does use the JC-120.

i have an old 80's 120 and it's seriously my fav amp ever

Some things they don't say in this vid: - The JC120 has an enormous, bold, loud, beautiful room-filling clean. Something's wrong with the one in this video. I agree with the other commenters that one of the speakers is probably wired out of phase. - The chorus is not just a signal processing effect. One speaker plays the dry signal, one plays a pitch-vibrato modulated signal, and they mix in the air. That's why it sounds so huge. Each speaker is driven by a separate power amp--it's basically a wet-dry rig in a box. - The distortion in the JC40 is a complete redesign as I understand it. Even the greatest lovers of the JC120 don't say good things about its distortion. Given that Roland/Boss also makes the Blues Driver I'd say they should be capable of good solid state distortion. Also, the JC120 is known for its hiss. I haven't yet heard a JC40 live. I'm really curious as to whether they have got that hiss under control as I've heard mixed things.

I played the JC40 in a shop with a Godin 5th avenue -man, that's a nice combo!

I was on stage with Incognito once, when the guitarist was playing one of these. Sounded incredible!! He also had this great guitar, singlecut with a frog on the headstock, haven't been able to find it.

Great review. The sound is stunning!

Both of my band's guitar player's uses Jazz Chorus and Fender guitars. A vintage JC120 and a new JC40. Both amazing sounds. Best clean tones.

Huge presentation, you two are the greatest

Thank you for the demo. The JC amps seem like quite a niche product. The stereo effect with both speakers miked is really nice. Both the chorus and vibrato are great. I don't if anyone ever uses the built in distortion, though - it's just not good. I saw Nokie Edwards of The Ventures using one in one of their live shows in Japan. He seems to like his sound squeaky clean, so this is the perfect amp.

Okay just watching you guys your Expressions on your faces makes me want to buy one thank you for the video

Just purchased the JC 40 to use with my Gretsch. The old Fender Sidekick 30 was not cutting it with the Gretsch. Thanks for showing the difference between this and the JC 120.

Lovely playing, guys!

Strat + Jazz Chorus = ❤️

wow this sound surprisingly great :) pretty nice distortion sounds too ... good for blues

Wow, the JC40 has some sounds that blow me away.

Beautiful music happens when Mick and Pete come together!

Yep. That is a STUNNING clean tone. Stunning. I'm thinking this paired with my JVM205 for a wet dry rig and let the JC40 handle the clean and the JVM do the dirty... yep... item number 3000 onto the stuff I want if I win the lottery list...

10:09 that is the sound I never knew I wanted, sold!

sounds really really amazing

i ordered my jc 40 today after doing some research and im just here to re iterate my love for my decision. :D

Wow... they really did improve the distortion circuit on the JC40. Finally...

Good stuff, this amp takes me back !

As of 7:00 the distortion sounded really surprisingly good. Now I don't think it sounded necessarily tube-y but who cares if it sounds good?

Thanks guys ! Great playing and great reviews ;-)

At 03m50s you sold me the JC40, awesome :-)

The JC-40 amp sounds fantastic!

You're correct James Hetfield does use the Jazz 120 combo on 4x12 cabinet but he also uses head version in his rack for live/studio.

Hey guys, thank you so much for reviewing the JC-40! I've been researching the JC-120 for awhile and thinking about a used one, but now with the JC-40 RI I think it's sealed the deal for me. My only question is, even though the onboard distortion is semi-passable, how does it sound with some nice dirt pedals? Would I be able to get a passable tube emulation sound, or would you recommend running this amp mostly for cleans and a tube amp for dirty tones?? Thanks!

With a little bit of compression, some mild OD ala Boss Blues Driver, a slowly pulsating tremolo and the chorus and reverb kicked in this amp could very well be on of the best rootsy slide amps out there. I NEEEEED one ASAP !

Great reviews guys.

Billy Duffy from The Cult is famous for using the JC120 as part of a two amp rig - surprised Mick and Pete didn't mention it. Still, the new 40 sounds great!

Would you guys do a comparison of chorus effects from different pedals on a popular clean amp vs. effects on the Roland Jazz Chorus amp? I think it would be cool and potentially useful to a lot of people, especially if they are interested in the sound but can't spring for a new amp.

JC40 is fantastic. I'm a fan of 2x12 amps for live situations. particularly if you're the only guitarist performing in a band, but I'm a big fan of both.

Both play so well together

Great demo, nice playing. Also, heheh, Pete sort of turns into Henning toward the end of the video, I neer sawr that before, lol!!

Could listen to Danish Pete play all day, what a legend.

Beautiful sound!

lovely intro solo pete!

I just picked up a JC-120 locally for $535 US. It's in mint condition and serial# dates it from Dec 1982. It sounds SOOOOO amazing. I think my fave guitar with it (although they all sound really good with it) is my centerblock Gretsch. This pairing is so good even at low volumes (guitar vol on 10, amp on 2). So happy to have one of these iconic amps.

I've owned a 1985 JC-120 and a 1987 JC-77 since they were new and love them both. To answer the question of the age of the JC-120 in this video, the fact that it has the big flip switch for the Chorus circuit indicates that it is older than 1990. In 1990 Roland had to change the design to use a rotary switch because that big flip switch was no longer available. So the youngest that amp can possibly be is 32 years old.

Pete amazing as always

Slash used the JC 120 for the clean Paradise City intro

Glad these two fine players were able to have this revelation (mick admittedly more so than pete who was already hip) about this fine amp. I gig solid state amps every week and am able to get great tones consistently. Let's do away with the stigma, shall we, guitar community

that first jam was so amazing. I was just drumming to it lol. :)

I picked up an older JC-55 about a year ago and it’s sweet! But reviews for these newer JC-40 versions are giving me GAS!!

I found out yesterday that Joe Newman from Alt-j uses one of these! That's how he gets his sweet clean tones.

I like that they have the stereo return effects loop for my delay and reverb pedals

Yeah! The Jazz Chorus is definitely one of the best clean amps out there! Damn!

Are you guys reading my web browsing history? I was literally researching this amp last night... Is it you who keeps stealing my underwear?

that intro jamm was the cleanest sound of a guitar amp i've ever heard........JC40 sold to me

I played a JC-120A for years in the 80s and early 90s (the "A" had a thicker chassis, not sure what other differences... heavy as hell!). I loved that amp until I was looking for another sound. Super reliable, indestructible and distortion was as good as the pedals you used. Boss DS-1 was my mainstay for years. Would love to hear my JHS AT through it now ;)

I've hoping you guys would do the JC-40 for a while now and stunning playing. Quick questions tho; does it still sound this rich at lower volumes (e.g. home but not necessarily as low as 'bedroom') and can you get a good raunchy bluesy tone with pedals if you want to?

The JC series of amps are amazing, and versatile. From Donald Fagen to Metalllica and Albert King. I had the JC-120 for many years but gave it to my nephew for touring with his band. I bought a JC-40 instead. Truly solid amps! A JC-40 with 4 10" speakers would be the holy grail. My favorite overdrive tones with JC's is a Boss OD-3 with a Keeley Halo in stereo.

I love when folks balk at solid state amps but... how many of their dirt pedals are tube driven?

What pedal is Pete using at 08:20? I've been looking for a good overdrive to use with the JC-40.

I think you can do another shootout between the JC40 and one of the Cube 40 or 80 that are meant to have a JC kind of clean.

looked at this in Andertons light as a feather-ish but did not try - bought the Victory Duchess which is great, but would like a stereo set up for some funky stuff i do i think this would do it, would like to try with the keeley 30ms.

Fuck me, that clean tone when he turned up the reverb

I bet the speakers in Micks amp arent in phase. That's why chorus fixes it.

Hetfield uses the JC-120, and so did Dime. Although these days it would be an Axe-FX II JC-120 model for Hetfield.