# New amp day, Roland JC-77. WOW!



## zurn

Well I needed light but loud amp with great cleans for some gigs and I found this on Kijiji for 200$ I had read a lot of reviews about the JC-120 but it was way too heavy at almost 80 pounds. From what I read the JC-77 is pretty much the same amp but smaller, it's a 80 watt transistor amp with 2x10 speakers with stereo chorus and spring reverb. From what I have read the chorus is identical or very similar to the Boss CE-1 but in stereo. I gotta tell you, this amps clean tone is VERY good and the chorus on this is phenomenal. It takes pedals really well, even dirt pedals and it is a loud SOB too. There are too 1/4 inch stereo outlets in the back if I need to plug it in to a P.A. It weights 41 pounds so it's not too bad to drag out to gigs plus it has wheels. Being a transistor amp it will last forever and I wont be as fragile when I move it around from my house to gigs and it's built like a tank.

Here's a pic.


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## NB_Terry

I had one of these back in the 80s. Really nice chorus clean tones.


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## Alex Csank

Great score!!!


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## washburned

A classic. Just use your pedals for OD and distortion.


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## Todd68

I bought one of these new in the 80s when they came out. Just looking at the pics takes me back. Great amp.


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## zurn

Yeah i'm really happy about this purchase. My focus has always been on getting tube amps with nice breakup. Don't get me wrong I'm still a big tube amp fan, I just got my Kingsley Keep back from Simon to have bass/treble controls added and a effects loop. I had almost forgotten how a nice a good clean tones feels since I sold my SF Twin. The only issue it has is scratchy pots, doesn't anyone have an easy fix for that? I know pot cleaners exist but how does one go about using it ? Do you just open the amp and spray the pots? Aren't the pots sealed, don't you have to clean the inside of them?


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## greco

zurn said:


> The only issue it has is scratchy pots, doesn't anyone have an easy fix for that? I know pot cleaners exist but how does one go about using it ? Do you just open the amp and spray the pots? Aren't the pots sealed, don't you have to clean the inside of them?


Congrats on the JC-77 .....I'm waiting for some jazz-based clips from you now.

There is usually a small opening in the casing of the pot. You can spray into the pot through the opening.
*mhammer* (I think) posted the name in the past of a product he as confidence in. You might want to PM him. 
You can also take the pots apart to clean them...this would be much more work and it might be easier just to put new pots in, especially if you have to go to all that work for several pots. *mhammer* can advise you on this procedure also.

I'm currently trying out a mint Roland *Super* Cube 60 that was only made in 1984 IIRC. So far, so good.

Cheers

Dave


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## Greg Ellis

I used to play one of these back in the late 80's.

Chorus is to die for.

I found it tough to control the feedback when using high gain - that's the only downside I remember.


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## TubbyTone

I have one of those, great little club amp. you can't beat the fixed chorus setting, great find and good price. cheers on your NAD


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## TubbyTone

greco said:


> Congrats on the JC-77 .....I'm waiting for some jazz-based clips from you now.
> 
> There is usually a small opening in the casing of the pot. You can spray into the pot through the opening.
> *mhammer* (I think) posted the name in the past of a product he as confidence in. You might want to PM him.
> You can also take the pots apart to clean them...this would be much more work and it might be easier just to put new pots in, especially if you have to go to all that work for several pots. *mhammer* can advise you on this procedure also.
> 
> I'm currently trying out a mint Roland *Super* Cube 60 that was only made in 1984 IIRC. So far, so good.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


I cleaned them and the scratch came back after a bit, so I changed the 2 volume pots. and presto.


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## Kenmac

zurn said:


> Well I needed light but loud amp with great cleans for some gigs and I found this on Kijiji for 200$ I had read a lot of reviews about the JC-120 but it was way too heavy at almost 80 pounds. From what I read the JC-77 is preatty much the same amp but smaller, it's a 80 watt transistor amp with 2x10 speakers with stereo chorus and spring reverb. From what I have read the chorus is identical or very similar to the Boss CE-1 but in stereo. I gotta tell you, this amps clean tone is VERY good and the chorus on this is phenomenal. It takes pedals really well, even dirt pedals and it is a loud SOB too. There are too 1/4 inch stereo outlets in the back if I need to plug it in to a P.A. It weights 41 pounds so it's not too bad to drag out to gigs plus it has wheels. Being a transistor amp it will last forever and I wont be as fragile when I move it around from my house to gigs and it's built like a tank.
> 
> Here's a pic.


 

Congratulations Zurn. You got a great deal on a very nice sounding amp. From the responses I've seen from others it looks like I'm in the same boat as them as I also used to own a JC-77 back in the eighties as well. One word of warning, even though this is a very good sounding clean amp, don't use the built in distortion. It sounds terrible. If you want to use distortion use your pedals instead.


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## allthumbs56

I had the even smaller one - JC-55 with 2 - 8"s. Stereo chorus to die for, ugly little monkey, but very useful for smaller gigs and practice. I found the reverb to be iffy and the distortion horrible but a clean tone from Heaven.


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## studiodog

Count me in on the JC train! I picked up a JC-90 a few months back that seems to be nearly identical to your 77 - 2x10" speakers, 2x40 watt stereo output, great cleans and chorus to die for. Mine had the reverb tank replaced before I got it, but as others have noted, not the best reverb I've heard. I also stay away from the built-in distortion - this amp takes pedals so well, though, I have a great excuse for adding to the pedalboard!


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## david henman

..."global" tone. i hope to own a jc someday.


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## mhammer

Stereo chorus is a wonderful thing. Hell, stereo *anythng* is a wonderful thing, although the smaller the speakers, the more closely they tend to be spaced and the sweet spot for getting the stereo benefit tends to be a much narrower arc and closer to the amp.

The chorus is really more in the CE-2 zone than the CE-1. Not only does the JC-77/60/120 use the same delay chip as the CE-2 (MN3007), but it also applies the same modulation waveform to chorus and vibrato, whereas the CE-1 adopts a different waveform for chorusing than it does for vibrato.

The reverb is unfortunately in mono, though the JC-120 schematic suggests it would be a trivial thing to make one channel dry and the other channel reverb only, the way that the stereo chorus is produced. There was an amp reviewed in GP about 10-12 years ago that used separate power amps/speakers for clean and reverb, and they couldn't speak highly enough about it. I think it was a Mark Sampson-designed amp.

Gotta love those casters, eh?


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## zurn

Here's a quick demo I recorded with the stereo out on the amp. I plugged the amp directly into my M-Audio Fast Track Pro and recorded it in Reaper with no post processing whatsoever. The guitar is a a classic vibe tele plugged in straight with no pedals.

http://upload.dazurn.com/JC-77.mp3

BTW, feel free to use my webspace to upload files, just go here http://upload.dazurn.com/

If you upload a file called test.zip your link will be http://upload.dazurn.com/test.zip


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## cheezyridr

ooooohhhh... those clean tones ARE sweet! 
good for you man! nice score.

it must be a roland thing. my cube does nice clean and chorus all things considered, but not near as nice as yours


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## Kenmac

That sounds very nice Zurn, especially the chorus. When I had my JC-77 back in the mid 80's I used to record on cassette tape. I've got Reaper as well but I haven't done much recording with it lately.


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## p_wats

That is a great price for a great amp! The JC-77 I bought a few years ago (for almost twice what you paid) is just about the only piece of gear that has stayed constant in my setup. Even when I moved to building tube amps I still knew I had to hang on to it. Very glad I did...using it at a gig this Thursday night downtown, in fact! 

Congrats on the score!


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## p_wats

cheezyridr said:


> ooooohhhh... those clean tones ARE sweet!
> good for you man! nice score.
> 
> it must be a roland thing. my cube does nice clean and chorus all things considered, but not near as nice as yours


I've also got a Cube 60 (the older, orange one) and it's great too!


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## zurn

It really is a great sounding clean amp, I'm suprised every time I turn it on. I'd say it's as loud as my 15w Kingsley Keep if not louder although not as loud as my AC30. I might do a couple more demo's if you guys want to hear it with a Strat or LP and a couple of pedals, just let me know.


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## cheezyridr

that's what happens when you run your post through a timefactor.


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## zurn

cheezyridr said:


> that's what happens when you run your post through a timefactor.


Huh? Am I the only one who didn't get that?


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## Jean GODBOUT

This is the only transistor amplifier on my list of ''must have amps'' !
Good deal you had !
Jean


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## cheezyridr

zurn said:


> Huh? Am I the only one who didn't get that?


if everyone else enjoyed my humor as much as i do, the world would be a funnier place. 
it was a double post, i was alluding to the cause of it being an eventide delay pedal. pricey but nice:

[video=youtube;5JOLnTT0mh0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JOLnTT0mh0[/video]


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