Jet City JCA2112RC 20-Watt Combo (Part 1)

[CyanideJunkie]

Jet City JCA2112RC

Alrighty boys and girls, today I'll be doing my review on the highly-acclaimed Jet City JCA2112RC 20-watt combo guitar amplifier. Some background info regarding the company: Jet City Amplification is the brainchild of amp-guru Michael(Mike) Soldano and is his foray into the mass-production amp market . Now Mike Soldano is well-known and respected in the guitar amp community for his line of Soldano amps, particularly the SLO-100, famous for it's high-gain tones in both the modern and vintage sense. The JCA2112RC is a 20-watt Class AB single-channel tube amp designed in Seattle but made in China, and is said to be a take on the Soldano Astroverb 16, which in turn can be argued to be Soldano's version of a hot-rodded Marshall 1974x.

Now on to the details:

Tech Specs
Controls: Preamp, Reverb, Bass, Middle, Treble, Master, Presence
Tubes: 3x 12AX7 Preamp / 2x 12AX7 Reverb / 2x EL84 Power
Rectifier: Solid State
Cabinetry: Multi-ply, void-free hardwood
Chassis: 16 gauge, cold-rolled steel
Output Power: 20 watts into 16 ohm or 2x 8 ohm speaker outputs
Input Power: Multi-tapped power transformer at 100v/120v/220v/240v and standard IEC connector
Power handling: 100 watts RMS
Drivers: 1×12” Jet City Custom Eminence Driver at 70watts RMS
Speaker outputs: 16 Ohm(1), 8 Ohm(2)
Bias: Cathode-biased Preamp section, Fixed-biased power section

Construction
I'm no carpenter, but the amp looks reasonably well put together. No peeling of tolex, strong joints, solid baffles on the inside too. The choice of cabinet wood is impressive as well, considering its price-point. Handle has a strong, firm feel to it, so no worries about it breaking off during manual transportation. One of the biggest considerations when designing combo amps are that since the tubes and the speaker are housed in the same enclosure, the tubes are very prone to rattling, especially at high volumes. I am pleased to report that no such effect was apparent, even at home-appliance-shaking levels. My only "meh" was with the power switch; The first few runs of the JCA2212RC sported a metal flick-switch along with a bright blue jewel LED power indicator, but the newer batches feature plastic rocker switches with an integrated LED instead. No biggie, it's just a power switch, but it just kinda brought down the "class" rating for me.

Features
The basic 3-band EQ consisting of Bass, Middle and Treble should be familiar to most. Then there are the Preamp, Reverb, Master and Presence knobs. The Preamp knob handles the amount of gain dialed and the Master knob controls the overall volume of the amplifier. Do note that Mike Soldano designs his amps to attain their distortion from the preamp tubes, not the power tubes, so you should approach this amp differently from say, a VOX AC30 or Fender Tweed Deluxe. The Reverb knob controls the amount of reverb(duh) channeled. It is a tube-driven reverb, great for those haunting, empty-hall styles of reverb, but don't expect any surfy, spring reverb tones from this amp. The Presence knob can be construed as a Top Boost-style control, handling frequencies above the range the Treble knob controls. You can use it to achieve nice, chimey clean tones or ensure that your guitar's tone doesn't get lost in a band mix. Finally there's a Standby and Power switch. I'm pretty sure those are self-explanatory, but a good piece of advice to mention would be when the amp is not in use, be sure to put in into standby mode. Conversely, before use, it is always a good idea to let the tubes warm up and cook for a few minutes.

At the back you will find the port for the power plug, a voltage adjuster to switch between 230V and 110V, and 3 speaker outputs. The attached speaker cable is supposed to be plugged into the 16 Ohm jack, however there have been reports of the amps coming from the factory already plugged into one of the 8 Ohm jacks, so be mindful. You should always try and matcher speaker impedance whenever possible, unless you want to risk blowing a transformer, which can be VERY costly. The JCA2112RC allows you to stack it on top of another cabinet such as the JCA12s or JCA24s, utilising it as either an extension or an external cabinet. Note that the dual 8 Ohms jacks are wired to work in PARALLEL when used together.

The stock speaker for the JCA2112RC is an Eminence driver, "specifically designed" for Jet City Amplifications. I know most people turn their noses up at these OEM speakers, but you might be pleasantly surprised! More details will follow when we discuss...

 

[CyanideJunkie]

Jet City JCA2112RC (Part 2)

Sound
Gear used:
- Fender Custom Shop Nocaster(Ash body, Maple neck & fretboard, Fender '51 Nocaster pickups wired modern style with a .022 ceramic cap)
- Sansamp GT2 MK I(amp modeller)
- Xotic AC Booster(low-medium gain overdrive/booster)
- ESP Andora's Box(low-medium gain overdrive/booster
- Electro Harmonix Memory Toy(analog delay with optional additional chorus modulation)
- Muztek PS-18 Braided Patch Cables, with Switchcraft plugs
- VOX VCC90 coiled cable, VOX VGC Class A guitar cable

Ahh yes, the moment you've all been waiting for. An amp can have all the bells and whistles in the world, but if it still sounds like s***, ain't no one gonna buy it. Now this amp is designed to be a ROCK amp, it's calling card being its crunch tones. But that doesn't mean that it's lacking in the clean department. There's a very good saying that goes: "You can add dirt, but you can't add clean". Mike Soldano understood this well by making sure his amps have a solid clean tone as well. By dimeing your Master, inching up your Preamp and twiddling with the Reverb, you can get a nice, warm clean tone. It's not Fender-warm, but it's very much in the British territory. Good EQ-ing and clever manipulation of the Presence knob can even bring out a VOX-y jangle, great for those Beatles tunes. The JCA2112RC takes pedals very well too. With my GT2 set up to a high-gain British setting, centered mic placement with the gain at 11 o'clock, I was able to get a thick, chugging Marshall tone going. Modulation pedals take well to this amp too. With my Memory Toy set to give a mild delay along with Chorus modulation, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here was a natural fit for this amp.

Bringing up your Preamp gain and lowering you Master volume to match, that's where the fun starts. Now obviously this would be better received if it were done with a humbucker-equipped guitar, but unfortunately the fates have not blessed me with the funds for my preferred Les Paul... yet. So nice, crisp, clear, low-output single-coils will have to do for now.

Setting the Preamp at 9 O'clock, you get a nice "on-the-verge-of-break-up" tone. A light pick attack yields a fat,singing clean tone, but digging in hard gives a bit more edge to your sound, perfect for blues and early rock n' roll like Chuck Berry. Turning my guitar knob down, I was also able to get a nice mellow, jazzy tone. Good enough for guitarists who like that sort of sound, but not good enough to cut the cheese for jazz guitarists; that would require a more bass-centred, mid-scooped EQ setting on the amp.

Turning up the Preamp to 12 O'clock, we start venturing more into blues, southern and hard rock tonal territory. A decent clean tone is still attainable by simply rolling your guitar's volume down, but leaving it on 10 gives you a hairy overdriven tone which is much more addictive. SRV, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Aerosmith tones become accessible here. Step on a TS-style booster and you got yourself a fat lead tone that will sing for days; I jammed to SRV's Tin Pan Alley several times on this setting. Slide work sounds especially at this stage as well; Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ballad Of Curtis Loew comes to mind. Bringing up your Mids easily gets you an Angus Young guitar tone, so all you AC/DC fans will be well-pleased.

With the Preamp at 3 O'clock onwards, that's where the JCA2112RC really shines! Anything from 60s rock to 90s metal is the name of the game here. Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, KISS, Alice Cooper, The Black Crowes. Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Alice In Chains, the list goes on and on. Switch to your neck pickup, roll your tone knob down and wail away on Sweet Child O' Mine. Switch to the middle position, Black Dog anyone? Bridge pickup, volume and tone knob fully open, and it's No More Mr Nice Guy! If you desire a heavier sound in the style of let's say, Whitesnake in their 1987 record, you will need a booster to tighten things up. Even with the Preamp knob maxed out, you will find your distortion to start fuzzying ever so slightly on the low end; This good for achieving those NWOBHM tones. Stacking two such of the aforementioned boosters together, I found myself in the same tonal vein as Rust In Peace-era Megadeth, believe it or not(on a Fender Nocaster too!).

The stock Eminence speaker performed well throughout the test, exhibiting a focused low-end, punchy mids and sweetened highs. I see no need to replace it unless it gets damaged

Conclusion
Pros: Excellent performance rate considering it's price-point. 3-band EQ + Presence provides plenty of tonal possibilities. Stock speaker is good enough. The presence of a Master volume knob allows for bedroom-level playing, while retaining overdriven tube tones. Overall a great amp for home use and if mic-ed up to a good PA, gig use as well.

Cons: An effects loop and a matching amp cover would round it off to the perfect low-cost package, but oh well. Having a 4 Ohm speaker jack wouldn't hurt too. And there's still that thing about the power switch, but that's just a personal thing.

Place of purchase: Davis Guitar
Price: $395


READ ON FOR MORE MISC INFO(PARTICULARLY FOR THOSE WHO WANT OR WOULD LIKE TO DO TUBE-SWAPPING)



DISCLAIMER: ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS CAN INVOLVE DEADLY AMOUNTS OF CURRENT. UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE, HAVE A CERTIFIED AMP TECH PERFORM THE SERVICES FOR YOU




Alright, I'm sure you guys know the tube-complement by now. Feel free to scroll back up if you forget. The one important thing that Jet City didn't make easily accessible to the public(unless through email) is the roles of the different tube positions. Before I get into that, I'll just let you know the brand and type of the stock tubes. The preamp tubes are all Shuguang 12AX7-B tubes and the power tubes are Shuguang EL84s. The 12AX7-Bs are similar in nature to the Sovtek 12AX7-WB in the sense they have a higher gain rating as opposed to other normal 12AX7s. Now the stock tubes are actually pretty alright, but as the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.

Okie dokie, on to the tube positions. With the power tubes on the first row, the positions will number off left to right, down one row, then right to left.

V1 - First gain stage
V2 - Second and third gain stage(also provides drive to the reverb)
V3 - Reverb depth and tone stack
V4 - Phase inverter
V5 - Power tube
V6 - Power tube
V7 - Drive return

Another thing is that even thought the power section is fixed-biased, it does not mean you are unable to adjust the bias. There is a small trim-pot on the PCB for you to adjust the bias. To the best of my knowledge, that amps leave the factory are biased cold. Have fun twiddling!

 

[CyanideJunkie]

At the back you will find the port for the power plug, a voltage adjuster to switch between 230V and 110V...

Slide work sounds especially *_______* at this stage as well...

Apologies. Meant to say 230V and 120V. And insert *smooth*.

 

[An Kerreng]

Holy cow! You realy type all these?
Thanks man! Now i found a decent
review of the amp. Now that the amp
only have afew(or two? i can recall
which one he said at davis), i dont
think i cud get it by end of month. The
VHT combo left one unit. My potential
amp buyer MIA. Next stock is 3-4months
time. Now, i have to suck thumb and
wait. If not, i'll just sell off my amp head
cheap and get the JC's picovalve or the
whichever in stock first. Kinda sad man
when my buyer went missing. I oredi have
the confidence to buy it by this weekend.
Oh well... I'll wait.

 

[CyanideJunkie]

What can I say... I love writing!