Jet City - A Soldano for the rest of us?

[Radioboy950]

Well, very interesting line here.
When I look at gear, I look for price point, quality, tonal possibilities and gain structure...and something a little different.
At first glance, these amps seem to have it all. I'll wait to hear some more demos and swing by GC whenever they get one to try it out.
In Tone King's "sneak peek", I'm starting to like the way it's being dialed in at (:40), with gain at 9 o'clock.
For me, I would have no need to dime the thing.
I'd also like to know if it can do some blues/classic crunchy stuff by rolling back amp gain and/or guitar vol.
One (off topic) comment : I can't stand that fretboard on TK's guitar.

[Jet City]

I guess that does beg another question: given the extra expense and complexity, why did you decide to go with a tube-driven reverb instead of solid state?

Also since I'm asking questions, if a person would get one and it would need repair, is the warranty return-only or will a tech be provided with a schematic to be able to fix it? I think this would especially be helpful once the warranty is over. I ask this too because according to your website, the only dealer near me would be the GuitarCenter 50 miles away. I'm not sure I'd trust those guys to chew gum and walk at the same time, especially after how they tried to "set up" my Floyd Rose

I liked the looks/features of a Soldano 44, but 50W is overkill for me and it's out of my price range by a mile too.

Matt

Hi Matt - not at all Snarky - I'm enjoying the feedback! A few answers here:
Tube driven reverb (and effects loop on 100H and future product) were decisions the Soldano made. He and I have formed a great yin/yang (pun intended) of balancing what CAN we do and what can we fit into our price targets. Mike already had the design for the reverb circuit (Astroverb) ready to go so complexity wasn't a consideration, all I had to do was fit it into our cost. Street price of 2112 is $499. Maybe I could have squeezed him into $449 by cutting a few corners/features, but, when I look at what else is available out there $499 and the feature set seem a strong value. Quick side note - all our rectifiers are solid-state. That's a decision we made for sound, and reliability/tube life, not a cost consideration.

Service and distribution aren't my bailiwick directly, but, I can tell you this: we're just getting started on our dealer base, so if you check the website occassionally you will see it growing. And yes, we DO have service centers lined up and parts on the way to them so we will be field-serviceable. That being said, at $299 street for JCA20H you can imagine we are considering if that particular product should be a simple direct-replacement model. I don't know yet... while I don't manage service, I DO manage the $$, so...

Regarding 20 watt / 50 watts / head versus combos / channels, I do have some comments and also questions for YOU and anyone else who is interested in participating, but that's probably better offline stuff. Anyone who wants to get into influencing our product decisions (COOL stuff coming) please feel free to send me a private message here or at doug@jetcityamplification.com - where I read and reply to EVERYTHING (at least for now!).

Thanks again for the opportunity here guys! D.

[Jet City]

Well, very interesting line here.
When I look at gear, I look for price point, quality, tonal possibilities and gain structure...and something a little different.
At first glance, these amps seem to have it all. I'll wait to hear some more demos and swing by GC whenever they get one to try it out.
In Tone King's "sneak peek", I'm starting to like the way it's being dialed in at (:40), with gain at 9 o'clock.
For me, I would have no need to dime the thing.
I'd also like to know if it can do some blues/classic crunchy stuff by rolling back amp gain and/or guitar vol.
One (off topic) comment : I can't stand that fretboard on TK's guitar.

Hi Radio - thanks for the note, I just want to comment real quick. As a player, and in my musical listening taste, I'm a preamp-full-open-overdrive guy. But I have to say, spending so much time with a 20 watt amp, I am REALLY digging the tone with the master opened up and the gain dialed back (both for tone and volume sake, have yet to play our 20 watters with a drummer which I MUST do soon). I admit, I am not a great player, just a competetent 2nd guitarist with good tone, and to me, riding my ES335 volume control through our 2112 with the master open is just pure clean tone fun (oops talking like a marketing weasil).
AND - I like Louis's fretboard!

[hubberjub***]

Hi Radio - thanks for the note, I just want to comment real quick. As a player, and in my musical listening taste, I'm a preamp-full-open-overdrive guy. But I have to say, spending so much time with a 20 watt amp, I am REALLY digging the tone with the master opened up and the gain dialed back (both for tone and volume sake, have yet to play our 20 watters with a drummer which I MUST do soon). I admit, I am not a great player, just a competetent 2nd guitarist with good tone, and to me, riding my ES335 volume control through our 2112 with the master open is just pure clean tone fun (oops talking like a marketing weasil).
AND - I like Louis's fretboard!

That's how I run my Astroverb. Crank the master and adjust my volume with the gain control. If your amp is a similar circuit to mine that will make for a great value. I love my Soldano even though it is the cheapest model available. My Boogie has been collecting dust ever since I picked this amp up. Good luck.

[marnold***]

That's how I run my Astroverb. Crank the master and adjust my volume with the gain control. If your amp is a similar circuit to mine that will make for a great value. I love my Soldano even though it is the cheapest model available. My Boogie has been collecting dust ever since I picked this amp up. Good luck.

I didn't know you had an Astroverb! I guess I'm going to have to start reading people's sigs more closely

[NWBasser]

I've got a simple question here.

Can I go to your Redmond HQ and try one out?

I live just up the road in Kirkland!

[Jet City]

@ Hubba - yeah, and 20H and 2112 are both based upon the Astroverb circuit but are slightly different. 20H has more gain cos he's just a head without verb, so we could crank him up. 2112 we slightly backed off the gain cos the higher gain with reverb just isn't as desireable. Plus, the 2 extra tubes in the circiut for the reverb itself do change the signal path a little bit. Not sure I can hear it, but it is on the scope. And of course he has an open back.

@ NWBasser - actually, our office is now too small and not so "ready for prime time", but, you could meet me at Soldano's place if we make an appointment cos I don't go there every day. He's in Ballard.

[@nthony]

Any plans for these to come over to the UK?

[Jet City]

Any plans for these to come over to the UK?

Absolutely. My Partner in sales is working on that right now...

[@nthony]

Absolutely. My Partner in sales is working on that right now...

Great news! Thank you!

[marnold***]

Here Tone King's full review:


Sounds like his mic is clipping or something anyway, but you get the point.

He's supposed to have a live streaming thing tonight and talk about these amphs at midnight Eastern (GMT-5).

[marnold***]

They posted some gut shots of the 100W head on the Facebooks. I think this is the direct link. I'd be interested if Tung, DVM, jim p, or some of you other amph/electronics gurus could take a look and tell me what you think from a design standpoint.

[tunghaichuan***]

They posted some gut shots of the 100W head on the Facebooks. I think this is the direct link. I'd be interested if Tung, DVM, jim p, or some of you other amph/electronics gurus could take a look and tell me what you think from a design standpoint.

The main PCB looks to be hight quality. The transformers are nice and beefy. They don't have the "cheap Chinese" look to them. There aren't any surface mount devices (SMDs) which is good. It looks like there is a lot of filtering in the power supply, which contributes to the tight Soldano sound.

The one thing that gives me pause is the PCB-mount power tube sockets. A Soldano SLO has chassis-mount sockets with flying leads going to the PCB. Ideally, that is the way you want to do it. However, the SLO is $3K+. To be fair though, Mesa/Boogie has been building with PCB-mount power tube sockets for years with no problems. Since the chassis sits in the bottom of the head cab and the tubes point up, heat is directed away from the PCB, which is what you want.

To contrast, the Valve Junior's chassis is mounted with the chassis in the top of the cab with the power tube haning down. It is also a Class A circuit which generates more heat than a Class AB circuit like the Jet City amp in the Facebook photos. The VJ illustrates the way an amp shouldn't be. I own, four of them and have never had a problem with them.

There are also PCB-mount pots, and they look kind of small. Again, ideally you want the pots chassis mounted with flying leads going to the PCB.

With Chinese manufacturing, they can build to any level required. But from what I understand, it is important to have a QC guy working for the Amp company but actually in China to ride heard on the Chinese manufacturing facility. Of course, the better the QC, the more it costs to make and the more the product ultimately costs in the North American and European market. It's a fine line between marketing an affordable product and manufacturing it so that it is of sufficient quality. There have to be tradeoffs somewhere.

The Jet City amp looks like a fine, well made amp for its price point. If I were in the market for such an amp, I would definitely check it out.

HTH.

[Radioboy950]

The main PCB looks to be hight quality. The transformers are nice and beefy. They don't have the "cheap Chinese" look to them. There aren't any surface mount devices (SMDs) which is good. It looks like there is a lot of filtering in the power supply, which contributes to the tight Soldano sound.

The one thing that gives me pause is the PCB-mount power tube sockets. A Soldano SLO has chassis-mount sockets with flying leads going to the PCB. Ideally, that is the way you want to do it. However, the SLO is $3K+. To be fair though, Mesa/Boogie has been building with PCB-mount power tube sockets for years with no problems. Since the chassis sits in the bottom of the head cab and the tubes point up, heat is directed away from the PCB, which is what you want.

To contrast, the Valve Junior's chassis is mounted with the chassis in the top of the cab with the power tube haning down. It is also a Class A circuit which generates more heat than a Class AB circuit like the Jet City amp in the Facebook photos. The VJ illustrates the way an amp shouldn't be. I own, four of them and have never had a problem with them.

There are also PCB-mount pots, and they look kind of small. Again, ideally you want the pots chassis mounted with flying leads going to the PCB.

With Chinese manufacturing, they can build to any level required. But from what I understand, it is important to have a QC guy working for the Amp company but actually in China to ride heard on the Chinese manufacturing facility. Of course, the better the QC, the more it costs to make and the more the product ultimately costs in the North American and European market. It's a fine line between marketing an affordable product and manufacturing it so that it is of sufficient quality. There have to be tradeoffs somewhere.

The Jet City amp looks like a fine, well made amp for its price point. If I were in the market for such an amp, I would definitely check it out.

HTH.

Dang, Tung. You sound like you know what you're talking about
Seriously, thanks for your observations here, as I too am going to give this amph a serious look, especially at this price.
I still haven't found any good demo vids yet.
The ToneKing means well, but most of his demos don't sound that great.

[marnold***]

Dang, Tung. You sound like you know what you're talking about

That's why I asked I don't even begin to know what to look for.

Seriously, thanks for your observations here, as I too am going to give this amph a serious look, especially at this price.
I still haven't found any good demo vids yet.
The ToneKing means well, but most of his demos don't sound that great.

I hear you. I'd like to grab my DK2M and take one for a spin. Probably not the 100W version, though

[marnold***]

To be fair though, Mesa/Boogie has been building with PCB-mount power tube sockets for years with no problems. Since the chassis sits in the bottom of the head cab and the tubes point up, heat is directed away from the PCB, which is what you want.

To contrast, the Valve Junior's chassis is mounted with the chassis in the top of the cab with the power tube haning down. It is also a Class A circuit which generates more heat than a Class AB circuit like the Jet City amp in the Facebook photos. The VJ illustrates the way an amp shouldn't be. I own, four of them and have never had a problem with them.

Isn't that going to be the case with pretty much any tube combo though? All of them that I've seen have the tubes upside down (except for a very early Gibson I saw in PG that had the amp itself on the bottom of the combo.

[tunghaichuan***]

Isn't that going to be the case with pretty much any tube combo though? All of them that I've seen have the tubes upside down (except for a very early Gibson I saw in PG that had the amp itself on the bottom of the combo.

It's more of a problem with PCB mount power tube sockets than chassis-mount sockets. The heat rises and can cause problems. That is why PCB mount sockets are not ideal for combo construction. But, like I said, Mesa/Boogie has been getting away with it for years. OTOH, Boogies are handbuilt in the USA and carry a pricetag to reflect that.

One other observation: for a complex, high gain circuit, PCB construction is better from a manufacturing standpoint. Once they get the layout right, the amp can be quieter and less prone to noise than point to point or eyelet/tagboard construction. With a well thought out PCB layout, the results are repeatable. Especially with a super high gain circuit a la Soldano.

[oldguy]

Okay, so I've been checking Jet City Amps website for dealers near me, as Doug suggested. I find two Guitar Center locations not far from where I'm working/staying, in Kansas City. One had a JCA 20H on order, and it was slated to be in Tues. or today. They took my name and cell number, and said they'd call. (The other GC said....uh......not real sure right now.......... that sure was a clue later, but at the time I thought nothing of it.)
Well, I call this morning and a lady says, "yes, it came in yesterday"......so I'm headed that way instantly, as I had the day off today. Half hour later I'm there, 15 min. before the doors open. Apparently they answer phones @10:00 a.m. but open the doors at 11:00 The doors are unlocked around 10:55, I go in, I'm greeted at the desk, "May I help you?"......
I explain that I called last week about the Jet City JCA 20H........ "the what?"
Oh, no..... so I repeat myself........they look it up. "Oh, yeah, looks like that came in yesterday." HOORAY!...........well, not so fast................. "I don't think that's for sale until Friday......" WHAT???????
"Let me go check, sir, I'll be right back."

Then the manager comes out and asks how I found out this amp was coming to the store............. "Uh , I called last week and a salesman told me."
"What salesman?".......... "I don't remember his name, why?"
The manager tells a salesman to bring the amph out for me to see, and play if I want. Then he turns to me and says "I may get myself into hot water if I sell you that amp."

WTF's goin' on here?

Long story short.......... they break the amp out, open it, connect it to the ext. cab, I jam on it for 'bout half an hour while the manager's making phone calls. I'm LOVING the sound of the amp, LOTS of timbre, woody, full tones, and plenty of even order harmonics going on w/ a Les Paul. Doug and the crew have a winner here, methinks. The controls were tight, the shafts turned smoothly, build quality seemed great.

It all goes south........

The Guitar Center manager makes phone calls, people were talking to one another, I'm wondering........wtf?.........I just wanna buy an amph, how hard can it be.........
What NO_ONE told me (until I spoke w/ the manager, and prob'ly 'cause they didn't know) was GC only had one on order, and it is their BLACK FRIDAY promo unit which goes on sale the day after Thanksgiving. First come, first serve, no early sales. I got to play the JCA 20H, and I love the little critter................but I couldn't buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got lots of apologies, "maybe you can be here Friday morning after Thanksgiving bright and early, if you're the first one to ask, it's yours when we open that morning." "Really sorry we can't sell it early, it'd make the other customers who want one mad if we sold it before we're allowed to."
"My manager called his boss, and he called someone, and they said no, it can't be sold early."
They did try to sell me in a nice Egnater, but my interest was waning, and I said no. I really was hoping for the JCA20H the day after my birthday, a nice present from myself to me....... sob, sob, sob. (insert sarcasm smilie here)
So I told Justin, Jason, and the rest no problem, and left.
I'm pretty sure someone let the cat out of the bag unwittingly about the amp arriving there, I don't remember the name (wouldn't want to if it gets somebody in trouble anyway), but I'm betting GC's everywhere will each get one amph, put it in their Black Friday ad, and when it's gone, it's gone.

I think Jet City has a winner on their hands with this amp, I guess I just won't be owning one anytime soon. A lot of people would probably drive 2 hours (I'll be home for Thanksgiving, not at the camper in K.C. so it's a much further drive), wait for the doors to open, and try to beat the rush, but not me. The nice folks there at GC also told me they've had lots of inquiries about Jet City Amps, so I'd bet there will be a few there for the big sale that Fri. morning.

Bottom line.
This 20w head sounds great! Mike Soldano's design, and Doug and Jet City's execution rock on this baby. I loved getting to jam on it! I hope the production steps up, or the dealers increase in our area, or the dealers that exist order more than 1 at a time (and will sell 'em to people), or whatever it takes.
Maybe Doug will chime in here with some advice for me.
Fretter's opinion's welcome, as always. (please, no GC or Jet City bashing, tho. It was, methinks, an honest mistake...... I just wanna get one of these little amps).

[Tig***]

Wow, very interesting story and situation. Bad news for anyone wanting one right away, but I'd bet they will become more available over the next few months.

What's encouraging is how it sounded and played for you. I wonder if it will be the next best bang for the buck amp?

//If that Egnater happened to be their Renegade 65/18, well, it sure costs bunches more, but that is one sweet amp.